ARCADE STUFF

THE ARCADE

 You might notice that the machines are topped with stuffed animals instead of airplanes. The aircraft are in their own workshop now and the wife likes the stuffed animals mixed in the arcade. How many wives would allow their home's first impression to be Space Invader wall graphics? I can't complain about a few animals.

Current state of the arcade:

RENOVATION

In progress, the carpet is being replaced with appropriate arcade commercial carpet, new paint, blacklights for the carpet, mirror ball and spotlights, mirrors and infinity lighting, wall speakers connected to the juke, and much more.

Part of the Pinball room    Lights   Carpet    Mirrorball

Well. the carpet is in, remote controlled lights, disco ball, black lights, and gear are in.

1   2   3   4

A bit more progress

7 8 9 10

Carpet and black lights done in the arcade area

Nearing completion, the main work is done and the details are getting tied up. A bit more polish and it will be done.

Pinball Room   Other side

Beer tap and parts going in

Ceiling Asteroids, still needs score text

House Rules sign

Neon

Door sign  another one

One of the little details

Pinball Room

One set   The other side with juke and consoles

Asteroids Deluxe: This one is original, works perfectly. 

Sideart  Front

Q*Bert: This one is actually a MAME game that was originally a POW game that I converted to a Q*Bert. It has a fixed vertical monitor. Arcade games are about 50/50 split between horizontal and vertical orientation. I loaded all the vertical ones on this game and the horizontal ones on the other one this lets me have the right orientation as well as reducing the number of games on the menu by 50% making it easier to find the game you want.

3/4 View   Front

Playchoice 10: Now completely restored! I had problems finding good Nintendo monitors, I bought one on ebay and got burned with a DOA. After that I bought two new ones from Betson Imperial and used the SYNC inverter boards from the Nintendo monitors to get the proper sync. This machine was used mainly in front of retail stores in the 80's and it runs the same software as the NES so that one could try out a game before buying or play if you didn't own a NES.

Head on  New side art/Topper

PacMan: I picked this one up at the 03 auction, It was converted to a Mrs. PacMan and was in rough shape. I got it for a steal and after selling the bootleg Mrs. Pacman board I just about got it for free. The paint, graphics, and controls have all been overhauled. The graphics are all new production licensed by Namco. I went with a MAME machine on this one as well but with a twist. I just loaded the PacMan series of games, about 24 versions and spin-offs.

Front    Control panel and bezel   during construction  construction2

Space Invaders: Another 03 auction score, what a classic. This one was bought from an arcade in 79 and spent only one year in the arcade environment. It has all the paperwork, receipts, manuals and is in fantastic condition.

Side/front  Front

Moon Patrol: Probably one of the best games of the era in terms of artwork, the game play is great and it is great in it's original form as well as the Atari 2600 rendition. This one is in fantastic shape and gets steady use. I did replace the joystick centering grommet in July of 04.

Front

Galaga: Probably THE definitive classic, and most recognized of them all. I got this one on Ebay in the summer of 04 and got a great deal. It was a first time seller with 3 of the top classics up for auction, grainy pics and no real description. Since it was local I figured I could bail if it was junk when I got there. Not only was it in near mint condition it had hardly been used over the 12 years it had been in this owner's air-conditioned and finished basement. Play counter was very low. Then when I got there she had an Asteroids Delux that she needed gone too, easily an $800 plus game in that shape, I got it for $150.

Front

Outrun: Sega's classic driving machine from 1986. It has revolutionary graphics and some great audio/ music. The cab is in fair condition and will need some TLC on the trim pieces but the major parts and electronics are in great shape.

Front  front

Centipede: I picked this up at auction for pocket change, it had been converted to a Street Fighter I. You almost couldn't recognize it was a centipede cabinet. I restored it using full side art from Phoenix arcade, a new CPO, a NOS marquee, and all the buttons, trackball etc. are new other than the volcano buttons which are original.

As it came from the auction   After restoration

Defender: Arguably the most advanced game of the classic arcade era, too many groundbreaking features to list. This one was freshly restored with new paint, new monitor, power supply and a mint marquee and control panel. Defender was on the top of my list and this one was the only one at the auction and the nicest one I have ever seen.

Front   Side  1/2 view

Jukebox: Another one at the top of the list and I came away with a great one. It was very clean to start with and had a few mechanical issues, mostly timing, but the electronics were top and sound is clean. I got the record player working in fine form in a day and the next day I added an MP3 player with a remote. It switches cleanly between the MP3 and 45 RPM sources.

dark    light

Updated it with a Roku ethernet media player. It is a much more practical setup now because the music library is always read from my server and there is unlimited space so no more choosing what to burn to disk or having to update the disk. It also adds a volume control on the remote which is a great feature. I installed the unit where the bill acceptor was and created a faceplate for it from Lexan I bought at Home Depot. I used masking tape to define a window then shot the back with lexan safe paint.

Remove the bill acceptor   ROKU unit installed in space for bill acceptor  The ROKU unit  ROKU unit installed with blackouts  window plate over ROKU  The faceplate  In opperation it looks like it belongs

MAPPY: A great classic that isn't seen at the auctions much these days. I have seen one other in the last 4 years. This one will need a new front art and some minor work in the marquee. I can't seem to find the front art anywhere, if you have some please get in touch with me!

front sideart

JOUST: Sort of a close cousin to Defender. This one didn't need much at all to be in top shape appearance wise. Everything functions perfectly.

front  sideart

Donkey Kong: Nintendo's real starting point in the U.S. for successful arcade machines. The machine was working during preview time but someone reached inside and pulled a few cables to screw it up. Unfortunately at auction sometimes people do this in an effort to buy a game in good shape for less as non-working games sell for less. It is also an important reason to preview the machines so you know what is in what shape. After about an hour of readjusting all the monitor trims and such it was back in perfect order.

front

Bubble Bobble: A very addictive puzzle game that is one of the best two player games in terms of game play that I have ever seen. This one is in great shape electronically but needs a new coat of paint and sideart.

Update: The more I looked at the paint, the more I didn't like how it looked for adding another coat. I started to remove the pain and get down to the base coat and there were FIVE coats of paint, three of them different colors. The top coat was peeled off in huge sheets. Underneath all that was a 1981 taito cabinet of unknown original name. Since the cabinet needed so much work and Bubble Bobble was a conversion I decided this would be the new home for my horizontal MAME rig. I will be finishing it in the Bubble Bobble conversion style.

front  removing paint  and still more paint  cabinet unbolted for finishing  Sides being sanded   Sides Painted    Bolting it together    marquee light    MAME machine    Monitor in and running    More complete

Sidart on 

Restoring a KISS pinball:

I have been after one of these longer than I have been collecting. But finding a good one that is the right deal is difficult. For some reason you either find a junk one for $1500 or so, or a really nice one for far more than is reasonable. I found this one for $2000 and it was in great shape to start with but I wanted it to be perfect. Most of the work is filling small dings, and a repaint over the original paint that is actually in good shape other than the fading from being 30 years old almost. When you pull the coin door the paint under the strip is brilliant white and blazing orange, not the cream and yellow it has faded into. The faces were actually in pretty good shape and on the right side they look new so they are staying as is with the background only being repainted. The playfield was a freshly installed one and the backglass was perfect so it really was a solid start.

In terms of the electronics and mechanicals, the same old story was true. Someone trying to "fix" a problem is usually the root of most pinball issues and that was the case here. The two things that didn't work were the KISS logo lights on the backglass and the left flipper. The flipper was just adjusted wrong so the end of stroke switch would activate shortly after you pressed the button, easy fix. The KISS logo has a dozen lights that are controlled by the CPU through a PCB that is loaded with SCRs. From time to time an SCR will fail, and this PCB in Bally machines is notorious for the pin's solder joints cracking. As they crack and as SCRs fail the lights stop working. Someone decided to fix this by soldering jumpers to the bulbs that worked. Of course that defeats the purpose of individual bulb controls and the animations of the letters didn't work right. The load being transferred to the remaining SCRs caused them to burn out under the increased load. After removing all the jumpers and fixing the pins it was clear that 11 of the 12 SCRs were bad. With the electronics and mechanicals checked out it was time to tear it down and get to work.

Repainting the cabinet is time consuming but not hard. The best method for a game with side art that has faded or has other damage but is generally visible is to cover the entire side in clear shelf paper (well clearly it isn't paper but that is what they call it) and then use a scalpel to cut a line along the color lines. Mask off everything but one color at a time and the artwork comes back to life.

Game setup after delivery  Side art not too bad   Backglass perfect   new decals will fix this   All the PCBs were corrosion free   parts getting masked for spraying  The playfield and plastics were perfect   After repaint, background colors are new, the details are mostly retouched  The score box

The final result was worth the work. Here is the finished product minus the playfield glass so that the playfield shows rather than the flash on the glass.

Right side   Left side   Playfield   Backglass

Computer Space

Computer Space was the first production arcade video game and was introduced in 1971 by Nolan Bushnell, the same man who created the Atari 2600, Pong, and even Chuck E Cheese. This one was acquired in fair shape and is getting a full up restoration. This is the holy grail of arcade machines. While I am repairing the monitor the game is sitting in the arcade. It will get a full cabinet "body work" and paint job.

As it is now

Electronically and functionally restored

Stripped for painting

Cocktail Multigame

 I picked this up at the 06 auction and placed it in the kitchen after some minor reworking to get it "my way" I also installed a 60 in one multiboard.

Cab as it sits in the kitchen

Missile Command

Found this one listed on Craig's list nearby and it turned out to be in good shape. I did a cap kit and new Tmolding and put it in place, everything else was great. The machine has the multi missile kit which has the ROMs for Missile Command and Missile Attack.

Front   Side

Japanese Anime Slot Machines

Not your vegas fruit machine. This thing has a 20inch high def monitor around the wheel display window. It has interactive play with Samarai, Robots, monsters and a Samarai robot monster. There is also a Popeye in this theme which I saw first but this theme appealed to me more.

Picture and Video

Yet another Japanese additon, Stary Wars Pachinko. This one has an animatronic R2D2 a nice big LCD and many other features

Star Wars

Added in a Galaxy Railways pachinko, it is a great aname and a great game as well. In addition I added a Popeye slot that is the same basic design as the previous slot. A great solution for a stand was an aquarium stand. It can take the weight and is just the right size.

New Slot and stand   New Pachinko  Popeye

For my local EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) I rethemed a slot machine for our clubhouse.

EAA1  EAA2

Bad Cats Pinball

Created by Williams, a must have for the family. This one is cat themed with allot of really good sound  and animation. Probably one of the best Williams that came in between their too complex and too simple phases.

1 Front  2 Side

Gorgar Pinball

A devil themed pin with the first speech based audio. Just needed a good cleaning and shop out.

Front  Side

XENON Pinball

#2 Pinball only second to KISS. This one is a SciFi themed pin reminiscent of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. A must play and a fantastic game to restore.

Front  Side

After allot of work, and some of the most twisted problems I have seen it is done. I added neon to it in a few locations.

Backglass lit  Undercab neon  Playfield   Playfield lit

Family Guy

A worthy legacy to the tradition of pinball. If this is the last generation of pinball, then it goes out with a bang.

In the pinball room

Dungeons & Dragons

This one was my take from the 07 auction, it was clean and in fairly good shape. A handful of parts later and some nice things like replacing the 20 year old paper cone speakers with nice Boston acoustics has the machine ready to go.

D&D lit   D&D backglass (happens to be the original art from the red books)  D&D playfield

Power Drift

The most modern game in my collection. Powerdrift was the follow on to Out Run that Sega did some ground breaking graphics and gameplay on. You could say that it was the last of the golden age like Golden Axe, also a Sega game, or that they were the beginning of the new era. Either way they were far more true to the heritage of great arcade games even though they had a WOW factor that hadn't been seen in years. I picked this one up with a so-so board set that had some graphics issues and this boardset it not a friendly one to repair. I found another boardset about 6 months later and replaced the 15 amp power supply which seemed strained with a 20 amp unit.

From the front

Ice Cold Beer

This one is a coin op bar game, you balance a ball on a bar and each end of the bar is controlled by joysticks. You walk the ball around the bubbles to the one that is your current goal. The soundtrack has beer chugging, flushing, and some good quips. This one just needed new T molding, and I replaced the orange plastic joystick handles with beer taps.

Front  Tap handles

The Ice Cold Beer is part of a general focus on getting my bar and barcade area set up right.

Barcade

Dragon's Lair

A work in progress. All new components and it will be a Daphne / multi cab from the ground up

CPO   Side Art

MISC:

Added some neon, 1 2

Got some flyers framed and hung: Mrs Pac by the door  Donkey Kong

  Altered Beast side art

Thermostat   Fridge

Console area  Updated Console Area

New curtains in the arcade 2

Various Nintendo decor added over time;

Goomba 1

Goomba2

Shell w/ sound

And who else would you expect

1up and health shrooms

Arcade temporarily becomes a hangar, yes that is a real airplane wing

Roomba PacMan

AUCTIONS

These are one of the top sources for arcade games. Ebay and word of mouth can produce some deals for sure but there is nothing like entering a warehouse full of over 1,000 arcade games, jukeboxes, pinballs and what not. The auction is held once a year in this area and is always a must do highlight of the year.

03 Nov 15th

Defender and Moon Patrol  A typical row  Another row 

There are usually two groups at these auctions, collectors and arcade/skating rink etc owners. The two groups are not often after the same games, although that does happen. The auction company often lines up the best of the classics in the first row because pockets are fuller and inexperienced collectors will blow a ton on one game with no idea of what they normally go for.

Classics in a row   More classics  and even more

Auction starting   The Space Invaders I won at the auction 

Part of the auction is walking around with your extension cord plugging up all the games you are interested in and checking them out.

Another shot of pre-auction activity

My Holy Grail, KISS pinball, This one is a target for the 04 auction. This one went for 2,500 at the 03 auction, I have never seen one so perfect.

A few more pins

04 Oct 30th

Damn what a great year at auction. I can't believe how well it went, if only there had been a KISS pinball it would have been perfect. There was a smaller than usual turnout, combined with the vast selection of slot machines and other non-arcade stuff taking money away from the floor the prices were lower than usual and the selection was nearly as large as last year.

On the way in   Some Coke machines   Rows building   Classics and Jukebox  Mrs Pac  Checkin out the pins  Unloading more  Testing one out  A vendor  My Defender arriving  Two nice pins Pre auction activity  And still more   Defender Unwrapped  The jukebox I won

05 Oct 29th

Still no KISS pinball this year but the deals were pretty good, and prices were low in many cases. Due to the storm damage in Florida (where many of the big dealers come from) we expected large crowds and fewer machines. The stock was only slightly smaller and the crowd was smaller for sure and seemed to be less eager to bid up games. Two rare cocktail cabinets (frogger and galaga) went for a fraction of their usual prices. I got a Joust from the first row for less than half of what one sold for last year. Not all the deals were that good.

Quite a mix   the buy it now section  nice juke  some pins  really clean classics mix of old and new pins  no shortage of slots  trucks unloading filling up right before start

07 Oct 27th

Having already found a KISS last year and a Family Guy, Gorgar, and Xenon this year I went light this year but I did a broadcast from the aucion for Retrogamingradio.com and picked up a nice Dungeons and Dragons pin.

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