Well, perhaps not exactly NOS as I just pulled it from the game I’ve been working on. I figured that since I spent the time to clean it up I might as well take a few pictures and add it to the archive for future reference. Hopefully it won’t be hanging around too long as the Tapper will be hitting the auction block once it is up and running.

This marquee is reverse screened on glass and in great shape overall, with none of the typical flaking frequently seen when artwork is printed on glass. It was a little difficult to photo graph and even harder to scan. The reflective quality of the glass was creating some weird shadows during the scanning process making the scans worthless. Anyway, a nice marquee for a great game.

Patient: Poker Machine UR, manufacturer unknown
Technician: Chris M
Problem: Game will not power on.
Troubleshoot: This poker game is in very nice shape other than a broken corner on the coin box door. I’m used to seeing these poker’s in horrid shape. This one was so clean I was hopeful for an easy fix. I unloaded the game in my garage and gave it a quick once over. Checked all the fuses and they were fine. Looked over all the connections and found a bad crimp on the single crimp wire near the transformer, the wire just pulled right out. Must have been a bad factory crimp as the wires were stapled in place and not easy to move around.
Solution: Pulled off the bad connector and extracted the pin. Crimped a new male pin in place and put the connector back in place. Powered it on and game fired right up with a nice picture on the monitor. I played a few hands and everything seems to be working just fine. I have no space for this game, so it will be hitting the sale page. Drop me a line if you have any interest in a nice working Poker Machine.

Not too exciting I suppose, but Galaga is a true classic and worthy of recognition, even if it’s just about the cpo. This is one of the Namco reproduction overlays that I picked up awhile back to use in my Gaplus project. I have a Galaga UR and wanted to add Gaplus to the cab. I figured I could just install one of the double jamma adapters from Mikes Arcade and have both games in my Galaga cabinet. Gaplus uses an 8-way joystick and I wasn’t about to hack up my nice Galaga panel, so I picked up a crappy one and cut a hole for the 8-way joystick. (see that post here) This overlay is destined for that panel, if I ever get around to finishing the project!

After numerous unsuccessful attempts to sell my non-working Bud Tapper upright, I have decided to bite the bullet and restore this game myself. Once it’s cleaned up and brought back to life, it should bring a few bucks on eBay. Even with the depressed market on video games, a few classics still bring in more than average and Tapper is one of those games. (more…)

Victim: Exidy Clay Pigeon upright no. 17970

This rare piece of arcade history came my way thanks to Jon Jamashid, or evil exidy on the forums. He was moving cross country and had to unload some games. I ended up with Clay Pigeon and Hit N Miss. I shipped them all the way from Florida to the Midwest because Exidy cabs are somewhat scarce in these parts. I’m a huge fan of the Exidy 440 series of games and was looking forward to installing my multi-Exidy kit into a cabinet. (more…)

The Tron control panel overlay by Willis was a decent attempt at capturing the feel of the original cabinet design in an aftermarket product. A step up from some of the random artwork jumbles commonly seen in bootleg artwork, this cpo was produced by Willis in 1983 with quality materials and an attention to detail. While the artwork is vaguely similar to the original overlay, there are some notable differences. (more…)

At some point in this crazy hobby you’ll find yourself buying something on eBay or through one of the newsgroups. It’s a part or piece you’ve finally found after months or even years of searching. The last piece of the puzzle to complete a restoration! Except, the guy selling doesn’t care as much as you do, and it shows in the most painful way. In the packing. (more…)

I’ve been working on a Reactor restoration for a friend, a very patient friend, because I think it was about an eternity ago that I started the project. I plan to wrap it up this winter and thought I would share some pictures of the artwork before it all gets applied. It’s very nice stuff. (more…)

I got lucky with this game pickup, right place right time and all. Way back in November 2004, I was returning a Uhaul trailer to a location in Cicero after having just hauled home a load of games. I noticed some commotion in the Uhaul garage and heard some familiar sounds. I went to check it out and there were two employees playing an upright Galaga, pretty funny to see at the time because it was cold out and they were bundled up in winter gear. (more…)

Patient: Vectorbeam Space War UR
Technicians: Mark H, Bill K and Chris M
Problem: Slightly shaky graphics during game play.
Troubleshoot: After discussing the problem with Mark H, I pulled the monitor and got it over to his place for testing. He didn’t find any issue with the monitor and suspected the ribbon cable, which I hadn’t brought along. Apparently the ribbon cable is a common failure point on the old Vectorbeam and Cinematronics games, similar to those crappy MCR ribbon cables that are always brittle and prone to failure. Good idea to just replace it. Here’s the old red ribbon cable attached to the monitor/pcb. (more…)