You know you’ve got a problem when your hobby spills over into other parts of your life. Clothing, novelty toys, board games and food just to name a few. Today my wife surprised me with a cool arcade themed cake for my birthday. I think it turned out great and tastes delicious.

I had a chance to empty the coin boxes and compile some data from the very successful game party we had early in November. I was surprised at the outcome, especially with the Warlords UR. I guess the game is just fun to play, regardless of the configuration. Games with a zero in the table were either dead (TSPP, Satan’s Hollow and Gorf which is missing in the stats) or still on free play (Mad Planets, GnG multi and DK multi). The Ms. Pac-Man CT multi was on freeplay as well, but still got 11 tokens Next party I should have everything on tokens so I’ll get a more accurate picture of game play.

The recent release of reproduction Tron handles has caused quite a stir in the collecting community. NOS handles are difficult to find and command a premium when they do pop up for sale. The fact that Randy over at GroovyGameGear is selling his “factory original” reproductions for a mere $24.95, with a trigger and top screw, is a big deal.

I ordered two handles on Sunday and received them today via USPS, pretty quick. Do the handles meet collectors exacting standards? How do they compare to an original or a previous reproduction handle? Let’s find out. Read the rest of this entry »

I get this question a lot from fellow collectors and my answer is always “Yes”. If you have any money into your collection such as NOS artwork and parts, full restorations, HUO or NIB games, you might want to think about insurance. Having 10, 20 or 30+ full size arcade games can really add up to a big loss if you ever find yourself in a disaster situation. Throw in a few pins and the number gets even higher. Now if you rent a good renters insurance policy might be an option, although it can be pricey for larger dollar amounts. If you own, your home owners policy will only cover up to the stated policy value for all your personal belongings. Often you need to increase the amount or specify items in a rider or policy addendum which of course leads to a higher premium.

Luckily, I stumbled across Collectibles Insurance Services LLC at the Chicagoland Show a few years back. They specialize in insurance for collectibles of all types. You inventory and value your collection, then choose the coverage amount you’d like to carry. I’ve had insurance with them for a number of years and have zero complaints. I’m able to insure items in my home and storage unit, without issue. It’s easy to make changes to the policy if my collection changes due to buying and selling and the people have been friendly and responsive to my questions. Of course I recommend that you shop around and compare prices, but I would highly recommend their service. Good coverage for a surprisingly low annual cost, you can’t go wrong.

Today I took my oldest son with me to visit the Chicagoland Antique Advertising, Slot-Machine and Jukebox Show; or Chicagoland Show for short. The show is a Spring/Fall bi-annual event held at The Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles IL. The show has been going on for years and is usually packed with unusual items to buy.

This time I was on a quest to find a good sign for my game room, something token related. 4 tokens for $1, Tokens Only, Machines require tokens, etc. Anything token related. Read the rest of this entry »

Every 5 or 6 years I have been the lucky recipient of a fantastic company bonus. The first one was a NIB Lord of the Rings pinball from Stern in 2002, this time it was a NIB Simpson’s Pinball Party from Stern. This game came from the most recent and final short run and has a manufactured date of October 24, 2008. Here it is after the driver dropped it on my driveway.

I was anxious to open it up and move it into the game room, but I’d need help. I called my friend Bill K and he agreed to come over. Read the rest of this entry »

Our first annual party was quickly approaching and I only had a few weeks to finish up the space war. I wanted to move it into the game room for people to enjoy. The cosmetic restoration to the cabinet was done, I just needed to finish putting everything back into the cabinet and hope that it fired up. The only thing holding me back was the control panel. The powder coating turned out too grey for this panel and would need to be painted again. I gave the panel a light sanding on the visible surfaces only and then a coat of black oil base Rustoleum satin paint. I used an HVLP spray gun and sprayed two light coats in short intervals. The paint stuck to the powder coating without issue.

I allowed the paint to dry a full day before I put on the clear coat. The finished panel looked great so I put it on the side and moved on to the next step. Read the rest of this entry »

Wow, what a party! With about 60 people in attendance and about 45-50 in the house at one time, we had a blast. Food, drinks, talking and gaming, it was a lot of work for my wife Lisa and me, but it was worth it.

We had an interesting mix of people at the party as Lisa had invited lots of old classmates and friends through her facebook page. We also invited the neighbors (of course), co-workers, my friends and then the open invite on KLOV. Lots of people RSVP’d and even more showed up. Read the rest of this entry »

Picking up from where I left off with the restoration (part one), I got a postcard from Menards stating that my laminate was ready for pickup. The box it came in was huge. I got it home safely and pulled out a sheet of the wood grain laminate. To my surprise the stuff was longer than a sheet of plywood by about 4 inches.

This would allow me to cover a whole sheet of plywood with room to spare, good if you’re building cabinets, but a pain to work with for a cabaret. Read the rest of this entry »

I recently lost my black light carpeting to water damage. (Black Light carpet bites the dust!) It just couldn’t survive the last soaking, so it was time to pull it and search for another option.

I hunted online for ideas and decided that epoxy floor covering would be my best option. Easy clean up in case of water and it wouldn’t impact my already low ceiling height. The only problem is that plain epoxy is boring, so with some help, I worked up some stencils. Read the rest of this entry »