Author Topic: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!  (Read 138489 times)

jcp

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Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
« Reply #15 on: April 26, 2013, 05:23:54 PM »
Congrats André and more pics asap please  :).

ckong

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Re: Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago.
« Reply #16 on: April 26, 2013, 05:25:36 PM »
very nice, congratulations.  :)

Your first real Japanese cab, which makes it even better.  :)

And bringing such a rare game from 020 to 010 ......  Boy, you must feel great.  :spaceace:
« Last Edit: April 26, 2013, 06:04:44 PM by ckong »

DarthNuno

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Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
« Reply #17 on: April 26, 2013, 06:23:57 PM »
something in my car right now. .......

Awesome! Congratulation André... Galaxian rules in every way!  ;)

 :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:

oh, stupid initial title "Please my last posting was not 40 seconds ago" modified in respect of Galaxian!  ;D

Etienne MacGyver

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Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
« Reply #18 on: April 26, 2013, 07:34:52 PM »
I knew it !

Congrats mate !

Will investigate it some saturday soon  ;)

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Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
« Reply #19 on: April 26, 2013, 07:45:28 PM »
Thanks guys, it's safe in the gameroom !!!

First of all I feel like kissing Béla right now because he was the one to _really_ put me on track of this !
(If Béla will not receive my kisses I will give them to Zita so she can pass them on  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D)

I had actually also seen the ad on Marktplaats about the Ms.Pac Man cab too (still thanks a lot for posting it RonaldReadan, without you I would have missed this !!!! ) but I skipped over it because I already have one of course....I didn't pay enough attention to see what was standing next to it but thanks to RonaldReagon's posting of the ad here and Béla who noticed I had a second look and I could not believe my eyes.....

This was a Namco Galaxian, and not the Italian Bertolline version but the REAL JAPANESE GALAXIAN !!!!!!!!!

My jaw dropped to the floor, realizing there are only two of these cabinets that I am aware of.

One is at Namco Headquarters in Japan, the other at the Japanese arcade museum
(which Gyruss visited, see here: https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=1975.0 )

I have never seen anyone else owning one, I might be wrong of course. I did play a cabinet like this in the UK but that was a Tank Battalion.

SOOOOOO after recovering a bit from my amazement I hit the "send e-mail" button and asked if the Galaxian was for sale too...
Next day I actually missed the seller's phone call but he sent me an e-mail in return saying he was amazed that I recognized the (well not I really ;)) Galaxian from just such a small part on the picture and that he indeed wanted to sell it too.

He asked a price on which I didn't need to bargain on.............

However, I could not immediately go pick it up.

For the second time, one of the more amazing game finds in my life was located in a place I usually refer to as 020, but I may have to change my opinion about this city a bit because it has been so good for me with regards to this hobby  ;D ;D ;D
(It is Amsterdam :) )

I spent a couple of days in rather nervous condition because I feared that maybe someone else (not forum members but you know, there are also a lot of lurkers here) might have e-mailed the guy too....
Although I would be working in Amsterdam next week again, it is a long weekend here because of the crowning of our new King (yes Ully, I know King's should be a thing of the past....) and the last "Queen's day" next tuesday so I didn't want to wait any longer and grabbed my afternoon off (after working at night) to go get it !

To be continued....

« Last Edit: April 26, 2013, 07:47:23 PM by Level42 »

level42

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Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
« Reply #20 on: April 26, 2013, 07:48:41 PM »
The pictures of the ad:

It's the rectangular P1 and P2 buttons that gave away that it was the Japanese one...

The seller told me he bought it a LOT of years ago from...........you're going to guess it => Belgium !

It had been working all along only after he moved it to his business it stopped working....well we'll see about that, it wasn't all that important to me :)
« Last Edit: April 26, 2013, 07:50:38 PM by Level42 »

anunaki

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Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
« Reply #21 on: April 26, 2013, 10:38:29 PM »
The PCB pictured on KLOV looks like yours if I remember right



doesn't it?

it only doens't have the small extra board on top
« Last Edit: April 26, 2013, 11:31:18 PM by anunaki »

Laszo

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Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
« Reply #22 on: April 26, 2013, 11:48:04 PM »
Hey André,

Nice score man. Really cool.

level42

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Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
« Reply #23 on: April 27, 2013, 01:47:10 AM »
So it was finally the moment to go grab this piece of arcade history !!

I had spent the last days in pretty nervous state. Although the communication with the seller was excellent (we phoned and I already said I agreed with the price) you never know if someone else would notice from the Marktplaats ad, or maybe a lurker here would try to go for it....

It was a bad time to go pick it up though. I had been working the last two nights and after sleeping out I had the afternoon off to go get it but it was the start of a 2 week school holiday here and our new King will be installed next tuesday (the last Queen's day, from now it will be King's day and moved to 27 april, W.A.'s birthday) so a lot of people (like me) took the monday off to have a nice long weekend .....anyway that meant very busy roads already in the early afternoon with lots of traffic jams. It was also raining and this never helps on Dutch roads as most drivers seem to think cars can only go 80 km/h when there are three drops of rain falling....

OK a short trip in km's, but I'll have to do some re-routing to avoid the worst traffic jams:


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

Yep, traffic jams on the other side already...


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

...and of course, no road trip is complete without....


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

My re-routing works relatively well and soon enough I get near Schiphol airport


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr


Now it gets interesting, driving on a brand new piece of highway near Amsterdam. Doesn't happen to me every day I drive a highway I have never driven. It is also not totally completed, the final connection to a new tunnel is missing still so the road is very quite


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

Yes, new road indeed, my navigation thinks I'm driving through the polders:


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

....almost there....


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

Hey this reminds me of my Funspot visits...I am very sure the price tags are "somewhat" higher here....


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

Yes nice modern company buildings...getting close !


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

Here it is ! Buildings with small business units for small companies...


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr
« Last Edit: April 27, 2013, 09:45:08 AM by Level42 »

level42

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Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
« Reply #24 on: April 27, 2013, 02:06:53 AM »
So I enter the seller's business, he's already outside and has the overhead door open so I immediately see the cabs :)

The seller owns a business in ......printing banners, flags and other promotional stuff so maybe there is a nice new contact made for the future ;) ;) ;)

We talk a bit. He had bought the cab from Belgium a lot of years ago he says. He used to have a game room but then het got children and had to made room and get rid of most of his machines (including pinballs). The Ms.Pac and the Galaxian were the only one's left and he moved them to his business.

He imported the Ms.Pac himself from the US so he paid a lot for shipping (by air). I told him about Paul's 50's container and that this made his Ms.Pac a lot less wanted, I know I would have been all over the Ms.Pac too if that container (and Erik's awesome deal :) ) never had happened....

Anyway there it was.....the Galaxian I have wanted since......well since I learned about it's existence really :)
I never remembered the original cabinets I used to play BITD. I do remember playing a button controlled version (likely the Bertollini version) which I totally hated so when I had to chance to buy one of those many years ago in Germany I passed on it (also because it was in really poor shape). This was at world of arcade IIRC...

Anyway: here it was !!!


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

I almost did a little dance again but was able to control myself...because we had agreed on a price already I explained a little bit about the cab and it's rarity and the seller jokingly replied "so I asked too little for it" but he immediately said he liked that it was going to someone who was really fanatical about it so he  kept to his deal. In fact in the very start I think he would have taken a bit lower price because he asked "well do you think it is something for you ?" but really I payed a fair price for something so rare so I said yeah sure :)

Nice thing: Japanese Galaxian cabs have WHEELS on the backside so it was easy to load, put the car right in front of the loading area and soon enough I was on my way home....

Passing Schiphol again (waving at the air traffic controllers, my family was lucky enough to visit that tower, which is extremely rare to happen...)

Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

I back-track almost the same route to avoid even more traffic jams and it works pretty well. Only near Rotterdam there are some light problems, but nothing seriously:

Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

Crossing the Brienenoord bridge and I'm almost home:


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

So, I unloaded the cab and grabbed my proper camera to take some serious shots:

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE that marquee it is miles better than the Bally version imho (and I already like that one a lot !!! :))
I also like the "artwork" on the top retainer which is huge. This type of cabinet was used for Tank Batallion, Galaxian, Puckman and Galaga and all of them have this same "artwork" but the colors differ for every game.


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

The top is rather oddly constructed compared to the US version. The top is flat and the marquee retainer is "hold up". You also see two bloks to which metal handles were installed, I noticed them on Pieter's pictures from the Japanese arcade museum. They remind me of the metal pieces that Japanese Taito cabs have. I assume these were used to lift the cabs with some crane of sorts ? If so the wooden construction will have to be pretty strong....


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

The front. Love the colors, love the artwork:


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

The famous bezel and CP integrated plexi. Alas it is broken on one side. I'm not too worried about that as Etienne already has the Euro version file, we should be able to easily adapt that with this original at hands :).

I am also lucky because the fire button and even the joystick are the original (the one at the Japanese museum has a black stick, but the flyer shows a red one...)


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

Here's the crack on the plexi, too bad....


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

I am also a little less lucky with regards to the famous Namco P1 and P2 buttons. Did I ever mention I hate smokers...well at least those who thought CP's/buttons were the ideal place to rest their cigarettes on.... :twisted: :twisted: :evil: :evil: :twisted: :twisted:

P2 is relatively OK:


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

But P1.....:


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

Sigh.....it is also installed upside down for some reason...

I think there is very little I can do about these and finding replacements is close to impossible AFAIK....if anybody has a set for me PLEASE let me know...
Maybe we can 3D print these one day ??

Now...this must be the weirdest hack I've seen on any CP so far.....

Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

I guess it's a power led ??

The instruction inlay has also seen better days. Red is not the ideal color to last very long....I'm having some hopes that combined with Gyruss' pictures we might be able to reconstruct this (Etienne ?? ;) ;) ;))







« Last Edit: April 27, 2013, 10:29:49 AM by Level42 »

gyruss

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Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
« Reply #25 on: April 27, 2013, 10:51:44 AM »
So cool, congratulations with this awesome find!! One of the best looking cab ever imo.

level42

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Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
« Reply #26 on: April 27, 2013, 10:59:21 AM »
OK, so let's have a look at the sides:


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

VERY happy about this. The colors are still very strong and the artwork is simply amazing IMHO....
Yes there are the usual scraps and small bumps but nothing serious. The dirty area is just that, dirt and will be solved with those wonderful magic erasers for sure !

Notice how much the artwork "fills" the side to the edges. It also seems to "sit higher" compared to what we are use to on the US cabs...
Strangely, there is about the same area of dirt on this side too...it looks like something has been covering the sides partially for a very very long time....


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

On the back, the details we all love so very much....


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

I guess NGL means Namco Galaxian. The serial nr. starts with 79 which is of course the production year !!!! Definitely older than any US Galaxians I bet...


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

Some kick plate area shots:


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

Coin door is in great condition, I expect it only needs some good cleaning.


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

The coin mech is the same one as on the Puckman at the Japenese arcade museum......

I really love this piece:


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

Notice the black stripes on the right side: that is where the speaker is !!! This is a bit sad IMHO because it means it will not sound as nice as the US version. This will produce a lot less bass sound and it is also not appearing to come from the screen. The US speaker setup in the marquee area is really brilliant that way because the sound reflects off the bezel towards the player.

This set-up reminds me of Nintendo's cabs, also not exactly know for their great sound.... :S

The backdoor was there, but as I entered it was not on the cab and it looks like the floor has been cleaned a couple of times, water crawled into it... :( It doesn't seem to be rotten or swollen though...strange...


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

...and it has an instruction sheet...yeahhhh (although I don't understand a thing about it :))


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

So....the next step was looking inside. I have never seen any pictures of the inside of such a cab so this is going to be one big surprise. Here we go:


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

After some looing around I realize that there are two monitor chassis ! On the left the original Toei chassis, on the right a familiar Hantarex !!


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

Very nice of them to leave the original (apparantly defective) chassis in there ;)


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

Removed HV cup of the original chassis:


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

Hantarex chassis:


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

With it's familiar (dreaded) HV cup:


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

However, there has been more hacking going on...

This looks to be the 230V to 100VAC transformer, installed rather amateurishly to the side of the cab...still very happy it is in there, this means that I don't need to find one or use/buy an external one. I think I will move it to the bottom though...


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr


Original power set-up. Look at that cool Namco sticker on the transformer :)


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

...but here's a typical "modern" switcher PSU hacked in:


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

The PCB set was hacked too. Of course firstly to have it run on DC instead of AC, but more interestingly, there was a hacked-on top board containing just EPROMs. There is also this ugly adapter soldered to the edge connector which I find rather strange...


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

For a moment I feared there was a completely different game PCB in there:


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

Another nice instruction sticker:

Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

So I had to put the cab away because it started raining again but I quickly removed the PCB for further investigation...





level42

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Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
« Reply #27 on: April 27, 2013, 11:12:37 AM »
The PCB (set):


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

Some addes instructions for DIP switches. Scoring set-up looks familiar (4K,5K, 7K). One of the settings is marked "Geen" which is Dutch for None so I guess the cab spent it's life in Flanders...

Some markings on the extra board...not very clear. The blue says something like Gala.... but I'm really not sure.


Untitled by Level_42, on Flickr

My guess is that this might be some Galaxian upgrade hack. I will read some of the EPROMs to see if I can ID it but at least it looks like it should be possible to convert it back to Galaxian.

Does anybody know if original Namco Galaxian boards are without any markings ? I can't find any Namco sign or name....

All in all, the cab is in nice condition. It's not as good as the one at the Japanese museum but hey, I had little choice.

The rareness of this cab is of course both a blessing and a curse. The curse is that there is nothing available for them. The T-molding looks a lot like the flat Nintendo T-molding but hey, where am I going to get it in green ? The green color also looks different from the US green color and it is damaged at some places.

The P1 & P2 buttons are the other "big things" of course...

I am really really really happy with it...a unique chance to get this !!!!

BIG thanks too RonaldReagan and Belike, without you guys I wouldn't have had this now !!! (Sorry Gyruss, I hope you and RonaldReagan will remain friends now ;) ;) ;)

I'll see if I can power it up today because the seller told me it only stopped working after he moved it to his business.

DarthNuno

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Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
« Reply #28 on: April 27, 2013, 11:15:33 AM »
Awesome catch, congratulation!  :P
What? That game was originally located in Belgium? Damn it!
I'm wondering how a Galaxian Japanese model landed there...
Anyway, it's now in really good hands! So, yeah... shoot a max of pictures and take care of ... 'her'  8)
I'm officially jaleous! That Japanase Galaxian would be perfect close to my Japanese Galaxian3  ;D

level42

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Re: Hail to Galaxian... by Namco!
« Reply #29 on: April 27, 2013, 11:23:29 AM »
Thanks Bruno !

Yeah Belgium seems to have been really  a "hot spot" for classic arcade games ! It must have been imported there by some company BITD, my guess is that it was before Bally-Midway came out with it...

Alpha1 mentioned (on Facebook) that he had seen one for sale in Belgium many years ago so maybe this was the one ?

Anyway, I just wanted to post the flyer here, my machine looks exactly the same including joystick and coin-mech. Looks like I'm missing the yen coin door sticker though ;)