Not the most exciting piece, but even boring control panel overlays have a place in arcade history. If you hung out at the arcade back in the late 80′s or early 90′s, you probably saw more than your fair share of generic control panel overlays.

This one is a standard space theme overlay, meant to be used with any number of space conversion kits or simply as a cheaper alternative to the pricey OEM* replacement parts. (more…)

If you haven’t seen it before, this is the Willis version of the Nintendo Popeye control panel overlay. Produced using high quality 3M paper with die cut holes and four or more colors in the silk screening, it was certainly a quality product.

However, the original was reversed screened on lexan and the artwork was a little more refined than the Willis attempt. I keep thinking about prismacolor markers when I look at the details. (more…)

Fellow collector “Steve23″ has been cleaning out his warehouse full of arcade stuff and trimming down his collection. He generously offered to send another batch of arcade paper work and some miscellaneous parts. (Missed the first donation? Check it out here.) Luckily for me he has a customer in the area and was able to piggy back a couple pallets worth of stuff along with a part shipment. I just had to head out to the facility to pick it up. I grabbed an enclosed trailer from Uhaul, which has to be the roughest riding trailer I’ve ever pulled, and headed out. I couldn’t take any pictures at the business, but here is a shot of all the stuff unloaded in my garage.

I haven’t had a chance to go through every thing, but skimming through the piles there were a couple interesting items. (more…)

OK, simple frog pattern on the right to mimic the original tire tracks, pointing frogs around the joystick to indicate jump direction, got it. But what’s going on with that background? Is that supposed to be pavement or some kind of Rorschach test? I keep staring at it with my eyes a little squinted, hoping the secret message or shape might appear before my eyes.

It does bear the Willis name and even a part no, so there is no doubt that this version is the actual Willis Frogger reproduction overlay. It will hop on over to the archive. Enjoy!

Stern did a nice job with the artwork on Scramble, a fun scrolling horizontal shooter. The stainless steel panel, the partially suggestive bezel, stenciled side art and the marquee blend to give the bright yellow cabinet a unified look. While the artists at Willis tried, I think they missed the boat on this replacement overlay. Using the stylized “worms” from the marquee isn’t very original and gives the cpo a flat and boring appearance. Great game, not so great overlay. At least the piece is in excellent shape and will make a good addition to the archive.

When I think about Q*bert, I think distinctive yellow cabinet, hopping orange character and colorful bad guys that might cause the occasional @!#?@! to escape your lips while playing. I certainly don’t think drugged out green guys wearing shades, pink pigs or snakes. Someone did though, as can be seen in this bootleg version of a Q*bert control panel overlay.

While the artwork leaves something to be desired, at least the production quality of the overlay is good. 3M adhesive backed paper and clean die cuts for the buttons and joysticks. There are no markings anywhere on the overlay, so this gets filed under bootleg in the archive. If anyone has more information or has seen one in the wild, drop me a line! Happy gaming.

If you know anything about classic arcade games, the name Wico should be familiar. They’re the famous makers of the Wico 4 and 8 way leaf switch joysticks, a “must have” for many classic restorations. While they were standard equipment on many of our beloved classics, finding complete NOS Wico joysticks gets harder and harder every day. Those knock off replacements just don’t stack up to the originals. So what does Willis have to do with it? I’ll tell you. (more…)

Here is another fine example of Willis artwork, this time a replacement overlay for Donkey Kong Junior. While this may not be the best choice for fixing up your DK Jr, you have to admit that Willis produced a quality product. I’m not talking about the design, bash that if you want, I’m talking about the materials. Quality screen printing on 3M paper with clean die-cuts, better than many of the overlays produced back in the day. (more…)

Here’s another promotional mailer, this one from Midway about their electro-mechanical (EM) game called White Lightning. This particular card is unused and in great shape with a vibrant yellow background that really sets off the game.

Most EM games are big, monster games, that are a ton of fun. I’ve never played White Lightning before, but what isn’t fun about shooting steel balls at an unbreakable Lexan target? I’d love to have a nice line up of EM shooter’s in the house, but I’d need some more floor space. Dining room’s are highly overrated I think

This pop-up mailer was included in a batch of documents I purchased from Art Mallet, or artfromny, as he’s known on the forums. Bally Midway had a good advertisement system in place, sending post cards to customers on their mailing list whenever a new game was released, amongst other things. This card is for the new release of Mappy, a whimsical game with a trampoline bouncing mouse in a house of burglar cats, fun stuff. The card is in great shape, with vibrant colors and a cute little three dimensional effect. A nice piece of arcade history, enjoy.