While a few arcades still exist in the wild, they are typically filled with redemption machines and kiddie rides. You might get lucky and find a random pinball machine or arcade game, but who knows if it will be working properly. Today’s arcades are nothing like what I remember from back in the day.* These days, the very best classic 80′s arcade collections are in the hands of private enthusiasts. This trip would prove just how true that really was.

First stop was New Albany, Ohio to visit the Freecade! Greg and his lovely wife Christy were gracious enough to let us stay at their home during our trip which was a big help. We arrived late on Friday and socialized a bit in the arcade while finalizing our plans for the weekend. The Freecade is an amazing place. While I had seen the before and after photos of Greg’s basement arcade, the pictures didn’t do the space justice, you really had to see it in person.

Saturday morning we spent some time helping Greg move stuff around. We moved a gutted Omega Race out of the basement and a nice Crystal Castles in. Moved a High Speed pin into his garage and while we were there, decided to organize his projects into a nice row. We managed to get all evidence of arcade related stuff out of the living room and we’re now Christy’s favorite guests. There was a kid party planned for that afternoon and when the guests started showing up, we disappeared into the basement. Jeff and I pulled out the non-working Chicken Shift and Arch Rivals and had them both up and running in about 20 minutes. I had to play Chicken Shift. We would have tackled more but the kids finally discovered the basement and quiet time was over

Greg’s space is divided into two main sections. At the bottom of the stairs sits the full wrap around wet bar, token machine and pool table area. There was a Wii hooked up to the big flat screen and a Rampage and Gauntlet sat alone near the washroom. This was the perfect hang out space, I got to chill with a cocktail while watching TV and simply enjoying the arcade ambiance. The orange cove lighting surrounding this space gave off a nice soft glow and set a relaxed mood.

To the right of the pool table is the first row of arcade games and to the right of the stairs is an alcove full of more games. Walk through the aisle to the other side and behold two more long rows and a center row of cockpits! I didn’t count all of the games in the space, but I’d guess there were at least 40 to 45. Greg has a great collection of fun games along with a couple odd balls like Flicky and Chicken Shift which I had never played outside of MAME. Jeff and I played games all day and night on Saturday. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a marathon gaming session before and it was fantastic. Unfortunately the Star Trek cockpit and a few other games were down, but there were so many good working ones, it didn’t really matter. The cove lighting in this section was loaded with black lights and they put out a good amount of light as everything was glowing nicely.

We did meet a few of Greg’s non-arcade buddies and fellow collectors Kyle and Trent from the Ohio area. Trent and Kyle were destroying high scores everywhere. I developed a new appreciation for Dragon’s Lair which I have always disliked, Chicken Shift which was just too fun, Omega Race and Spy Hunter. Played the crap out of those games. It was after 1am by the time I gave in to exhaustion. We had a full day ahead of us, it was time to get some sleep. I had a great visit at the Freecade and hope to make it back again soon.

*Of course there are exceptions ~ the Galloping Ghost arcade in Brookfield, IL and John Yates Arcade Museum in McLean, IL are full of vintage arcade games and NO redemption. If you have a chance to visit either of these fun filled locations, you should! Worth the effort.

Due to its massive size and height, a missing step makes this game pretty tough for little kids to play. I would need to recreate the step so my boys could enjoy the game and with Fall quickly approaching I wanted to get this done ASAP! I had nothing to start with other than some basic dimensions from the void at the front of the cabinet, but a request for help out to fellow collectors yielded great results.

Another collector and SAMI owner, “lostarcade” on KLOV, had access to his game and was kind enough to take a ton of pictures of the step. He also worked up a quick drawing for me to reference. Thanks! This is exactly what I needed to get started. I quickly cut the needed parts from some sanded surface plywood and a 2×3 I had on hand.

I positioned and mounted the front panel blocking with glue and staples, adding some extra blocking just in case as it wouldn’t be visible anyway. I used a biscuit joiner and biscuits to add a little strength where the two pieces of cut plywood join. Then plenty of glue and staples to hold it together, with clamps in place while it dried overnight. The blue tape is holding some small pieces of plywood I glued back into place after they lifted from stapling.

The next step was patching, sanding, priming and more sanding before I gave the front and bottom a nice coat of black oil base rustoleum paint. I opted to only paint the edges of the top panel because I would be gluing on rubber matting anyway. This would prove to be a minor mistake later.

Once the first coat of paint was dry I gave it a light sanding, wiped it down and painted the final coat. Once that was mostly dry, I sized the rubber matting a rough cut the shape. I then used a straight edge to clean up the rough cut edges. Next was a thinned down coat of contact cement to both surfaces. After it dried out a bit I carefully matched up a corner and rolled the mat onto the plywood. With a pair of work gloves on, I rubbed out all the air bubbles. I used a large flat piece of MDF and clamps to clamp the surface and allow it to set overnight. I’ll need to wipe off the excess glue and touch up the edges (that I should have painted black!), but I think it turned out great. I’ll install the two leg levelers and the step will be ready to bring SAMI back into the game for my kids!

Special thanks to The Arcade Flyer Archive for the use of the Midway SAMI flyer image. Take a minute to check out the site, tons of info.

I didn’t have any other projects at the time and decided that I would do a cap kit, clean it up and even re-stencil the side art. I got started by stripping the cabinet and taking lots of pictures for future reference. Taking lots of pics during a tear down is a great idea no matter what game you’re working on. If you end up having to shelve the project you can always refer back to the pictures. The game had a Willis control panel overlay on it and a crackled original underneath. Little did I know that would lead to another whole project…

After a complete tear down I started sanding down the side and repairing the hidden damage with bondo. The wood must have sat in water for awhile because the plywood had taken on the soft, brittle quality. A pain to repair with bondo. I only managed to do a first coat on one side before I got the golden egg dropped in my lap. A warehouse raid and bulk buy 5 minutes from my old house. Bezerk would have to wait, but stay tuned!

It’s pretty deep at over 35 inches, not including the gun stock, so it was a slight pain to get in the back of my Toyota 4 Runner. I’ve packed a lot of games into this truck and most fit with the door shut. This one needed tie downs to keep the door closed. The tech helped me load it up and I was on my way.

While it has many of the key parts in fantastic shape such as the gun stock, trigger guard and bezel glass, there are some issues. Vandals at some point attempted to gain access to the side panel and ultimately kicked in the front. My guess is that the operator found it easier to just replace the damaged wood with this mismatched peg board front from another EM. They also put a metal plate over the access panel. Add a couple of lock bar holes and you have yourself the makings of a nice restoration. I know many EM collectors believe it is better to keep it original, but I’m not so sure in this case.

Inside the game was the original key, a manual of sorts and a schematic. The game also powers up and the recoil works perfectly. Shots register and Charlie moves around, but the animals don’t. This should be fun to clean up and fix. Another EM collector alerted me to the pinball pal website, a treasure trove of restoration parts for the old EM games, including Wild Kingdom. Stencils, belts and even new 8 track tapes are available. Excellent.

I’ve been told that Wild Kingdom is one of the better EM shooters, mostly because of the competition between the shooter and “Charlie”. I can’t wait to experience it first hand. Enjoy the pictures, I’m happy to be part of the EM club now!

This one is a pretty cool looking Sega Combat EM game. According to Marvin’s site, you control a tank and blast away at targets with only 12 shots. I really wanted to grab this one as it was in great shape, just didn’t have the extra money or space at the time. My friend was interested in these…

A pair of 1974 Midway Chopper’s according to Marvin’s site. Amazing to find one, but two was unbelievable. Even stacked on top of each other, they still looked to be in great shape. A fun variation of the typical helicopter themed EM game such as Whirly Bird.

While trying to climb over stuff to see what was there I saw a few Davy Crockett’s, a Midway Dog Fight, Fun Land (or Play Land?) and a couple western themed EM shooter’s. There was also a Pitch and Bat or two and a handful of older pins. Unfortunately for us we waited too long to follow up. A collector off the RGP forums (Mark the fireman in Hoffman Estates ~ I don’t like you!) swooped in and picked up 8 or 9 of the best games in the warehouse. Lesson learned for me. If you find something good you’d better make the deal and haul it away, don’t wait or hesitate, you’ll be sorry later. Oh well, I won’t make the same mistake again. Mark, if you’re reading this, I’d like an invite to play Combat once you get it working