Author Topic: Introduction and Road Trip  (Read 7047 times)

muhome

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Introduction and Road Trip
« on: October 21, 2011, 05:32:50 PM »
I found this site a few months ago when I decided to start building and collecting the arcade games I played as a kid back in the 80's.  I recently finished a home theater build so I thought tinkering with a few classic arcade games would be a good thing to keep me busy this winter. 

I was always a big fan of Track and Field growing up but I knew my wife a big Pacman fan so I thought it would be smart to get Pacman as one of my first games.  That is how I found this forum, I stumbled across Superully's Pacman restoration because I wanted to stencil both a Pacman and Burger Time cabinet for my collection.

Finding CGA monitors at a reasonable price in the US has been a real challenge.  I happened to come across a gentleman with several storage lockers of arcade games he wants to sell because he no longer wants to pay storage fees.  Later this afternoon, I'm headed out to look the games with my eye on the Asteriods, Centipede, Space Invaders, Space Invaders 2 and Galaxian games he has for sale.  This should be fun!  Worst case scenario I will be able to purchase a few CGA monitors at a decent price which has been my biggest obstacle the past few months.

Wish me luck on my first road trip, I will post some pictures later tonight.

Muerto

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Re: Introduction and Road Trip
« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2011, 05:49:13 PM »
WOW!!! Welcome here muhome!
Can“t wait to see the pictures!! - and of course my fingers is crossed!!!

DarthNuno

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Re: Introduction and Road Trip
« Reply #2 on: October 21, 2011, 06:24:39 PM »
Welcome to this board Muhome  :)

Wow, Pac Man as a first game collected, not too bad! In addition that one will pass the WAF with no doubt in your case ;)

Good luck for your first road trip!

Belike

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Re: Introduction and Road Trip
« Reply #3 on: October 21, 2011, 09:09:37 PM »
Take all those cabs!!! ;)

muhome

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Re: Introduction and Road Trip
« Reply #4 on: October 21, 2011, 09:51:23 PM »
Thanks to everyone for the kind words.  This day seemed to last forever but I hit the road in 10 minutes.  I'm not looking forward to a 2 hour drive but this should be a fun evening.

Even better than the games, this road trip gets me out of the house and I don't have to see my mother-in-law tonight who is visiting us this weekend!  :-)

scr33n

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Re: Introduction and Road Trip
« Reply #5 on: October 21, 2011, 11:18:23 PM »
Welcome here muhome!!! Enjoy this great forum  :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:
PROJECTS FROM SCRATCH:

Galaga - PacMan - Donkey Kong Red Cab - Track & Field Upright - Tempest - Burgertime - Gyruss - Defender - Track & Field Cocktail - Robotron 2084

RESTORATIONS:

Q*bert - Timber

Etienne MacGyver

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Re: Introduction and Road Trip
« Reply #6 on: October 21, 2011, 11:35:24 PM »
Welcome, hope you take alot of pics  ;)

Q*ris

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Re: Introduction and Road Trip
« Reply #7 on: October 22, 2011, 01:15:12 AM »
Take all those cabs!!! ;)
+1!!!! This would be an awesome "start", a classic gameroom in one single roadtrip.
Welcome here you lucky muhome  ;).

muhome

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Re: Introduction and Road Trip
« Reply #8 on: October 22, 2011, 04:15:25 PM »
I would guess the seller had 35 games including several Pacman and Mrs Pacman games with the original painted side art that was in good condition.  However, none of the boards appeared to work correctly and I fear the owner is going to throw in an LCD monitor and 60-1 card based on our discussion.  I wanted a Pacman but he was not willing to sell them.

I tried to take pictures but it was dark because the storage units had no electricity so a gas powered generator was used to test the games.  I was told most of the games would be sold for $75 USD.  As we tested the games, they would power up but the PCB boards or monitors were defective.  The gentleman then said, this game only needs a simple repair I think and you will have a really nice game so I need to charge you $250 or $300 USD.  I was very frustrated.

I understand as the owner of the game you get to set the price.  However, if you are asking the buyer to pay the price for a working game you should make the necessary repairs before they are sold.

I did select a Cetipede, Space Invaders and Space Invaders Deluxe game to purchase.  I was trying to settle on the price but then was told by the gentleman he didn't own the games he was just an agent for the seller.  This made arriving at a price even more difficult because the seller would only speak to the agent on the phone.

Again, I was frustrated but we reached an agreement on the Cetipede game.  It was a long night, 2 hour drive to the storage facility, 4 hours looking at games and a 2 hour ride home.  Lucky for me, my parents live 20 minutes away so I stopped to visit.

There is some good news, the agent has 10 buyers coming to view the games Sunday and what doesn't sell he might offer to me on Monday at $30 USD per machine.  I was hoping to purchase more games but it was fun talking to the agent about the games as well as testing and playing some games.

Overall, a good learning experience but I'm affairs this is not the best road trip story for the readers of my post.  I do look forward to my next road trip.

Sonic 1992

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Re: Introduction and Road Trip
« Reply #9 on: October 24, 2011, 06:14:20 AM »
Welcome Aboard!   


Look foward to hearing your stories!  ;D

muhome

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Re: Introduction and Road Trip
« Reply #10 on: October 24, 2011, 05:01:07 PM »
I enjoyed tinkering with the Centipede game this weekend.  I was not sure if the game functioned but after a few very basic fixes the game started up and was playable except for the trackball.  The CPO needs replaced and despite being cleaned the trackball is not working.

However, the artwork and marquee are in very good condition so I'm determined to repair the trackball.  I took apart the game this weekend for two reasons.  First, I needed to clean the cabinet inside and out.  Second, my friend that helped move the game inside and into my man cave was not very strong so I wanted to make the cabinet as light as possible.

I was happy to see the serial number on the cabinet, PCB and monitor all matched.  The cabinet still had some Atari paperwork inside as well.  I will try and post pictures in the next day or two to show the condition of the cabinet and get some advice on how much restoration work to complete.

I also purchased a Track and Field PCB from another person this weekend.  After I'm done restoring the Centipede it looks like I will be building a Track and Field cabinet from scratch unless becomes for sale locally in the near future.  :-)

gyruss

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Re: Introduction and Road Trip
« Reply #11 on: October 24, 2011, 05:07:12 PM »
Congrats with your centi, it was my first real classic cabinet too.

But if you want to make a road trip topic you should at least post some pictures.  ;D ;)

muhome

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Re: Introduction and Road Trip
« Reply #12 on: October 24, 2011, 08:09:19 PM »
Thanks again to everyone for the warm welcome.  I will post some pictures of the Centipede game in the next day or so as I get time.  I wish I could have taken better photographs of all the classic games but it was late in the day and there were no lights in the storage units.  I had less than 30 minutes of day light and from there we used flash lights.

Here are a couple of low quality pictures I took with my phone......

I was hoping to get this Pacman since it was the in the worst shape out of the group but still the owner was not open to selling it.



Here is the inside of the trackball, is was rather gross.  The photograph shows a roller I just cleaned and one waiting to be cleaned.



I guess there is a reason why they call a classic game, well...a classic.  Our 8 year old had never heard of Centipede but that didn't stop him from playing even while I was cleaning out the trackball.


level42

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Re: Introduction and Road Trip
« Reply #13 on: October 24, 2011, 08:14:11 PM »
I'd replace the rollers and bearings. No way they are going to be working smooth.