Tokens Only » coin door

Anti Cheat devices for coin operated games

cnlmoore — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:53:17 +0000

I have been sorting through the big box of arcade paper that was my part of the haul from the road trip to pick up Jeff’s HUO Pengo. There are some really odd things in the lot, the first bit of info was about the wild and wacky Arcade Outpost. This time I want to share some industry info I found about anti cheating devices. Apparently back in 1981 cheating operators out of a quarter or two was a big problem. Operators must have been losing some big money and subsequently complaining to the manufacturers; because all sorts of anti cheating devices were developed for the various coin mechanisms and coin door configurations. I guess those sneaky kids back in the arcade had figured out numerous ways to get credits for free or for much less than a quarter! Shame on you. Anti penny, anti nickel, anti stringing and anti wire modifications or mechanisms were available and well documented to stop those thieving kids!

Midway and Coinco had service bulletins covering the topic in detail. There was even some info published in the “Franks Cranks” column from Play Meter magazine. If you think about the progression of the coin door, it is easy to see how theft played a major role in the subsequent design changes over the years. From the classic Midway Ms. Pac-Man style door (easy to trick), to the newer over-under coin doors with perpendicular coin mechs and complicated components that make it tough to add credits for free. Enjoy!

Coin Door Inserts for Tokens

cnlmoore — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 05:39:54 +0000

My memories of the arcades from the 80′s are firmly wrapped around the sound of those little gold tokens spitting out of a change machine at the Aladdin’s Castle. So when it came time to decide between free play, quarters or tokens in my game room, it was an easy choice.

Of course it isn’t so easy to actually find the plastic inserts to modify the coin reject button for tokens. 25¢ inserts were standard and are easy to find, you can even buy them new. Atari and a few other game manufacturers had their own custom graphic inserts, but a generic “tokens” insert is a rare item for some reason.

Of all the games in my game room only one had a coin door with an insert that said “TOKENS” on it, so it would have to do. I pulled it out and scanned the insert (above). I decided to try my had at using Adobe Illustrator and while I was doing OK, the original font had so many bleeds and errors in the print that I decided to take a different route. I did a font match and simply re-typed the text. I figured that since I could put whatever I wanted, “TOKENS ONLY” would be appropriate.

I finished up my first illustrator file and filled up an 8.5 x 11 space with my new insert. I used a laser printer and printed on vellum to get the desired transparency. My toner didn’t print the blacks as dark as I’d like, but still a good first effort. I used an extra piece of vellum to back up the printed image, which made it a little closer to the original effect.

Thanks to mikesarcade for the 25¢ insert image which can be downloaded from his site for free. If you’re interested in printing your own “TOKENS ONLY” inserts, drop me a line. Can’t wait to get all my coin doors properly labeled! Happy gaming.

Space War Coin Door restoration

cnlmoore — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 03:18:08 +0000

A smaller subset of the larger restoration, but still important, is the coin door. This particular door wasn’t too difficult to restore, with the 12 carriage bolts on the front causing me the most grief. The completed door looks great and I can’t wait to put it back on the cabinet.

To begin the restoration I stripped the parts off and put them in a plastic tote for safe keeping. Then I shipped off the metal door and frame to the powder coating facility I’ve been using recently, Pro-Tek. With the weather starting to change here in the Midwest, I didn’t want to risk painting this myself. Painting a framed coin door that cannot be disassembled requires a little skill, patience and time. There just wasn’t enough time. Pro-Tek would be running the color I needed, satin black, in a day or two so I sent over enough parts to qualify for the basic lot charge. A few days later I had the finished door in my hands and it looked fantastic, with a smooth and even finish. No wasted time or concern about cold weather. Here are a few before and after shots of the door before painting.

With the door ready to go it was time to find replacement carriage bolts. I didn’t have the 1 inch 10-24 black carriage bolts on hand, but I had a plain steel version. A common problem with new carriage bolts is they tend to have raised lettering on the top. Not something you want displayed on your newly restored control panel as the original hardware was smooth. This door used 12 carriage bolts, ugh. Plus the control panel has a bunch in the same size. I took a batch out to the garage and used the bench grinder to remove the lettering. I followed that up with a course and then fine grit sandpaper step to smooth out the rough marks made by the grinder. I didn’t do this by hand; I put each bolt into my cordless drill and spun it at the maximum speed. It worked well. To paint them I stuck the bolts into the edge of a scrap piece of cardboard. I lightly primed, then painted with black Rustoleum with a final clear coat for durability. Overall this was a pain and I will be ordering some carriage bolts for next time!

The coin mech assembly was simple, but had some parts that couldn’t be disassembled completely. I was able to rotate a few parts around on their rivets and did my best to clean everything using a toothbrush and some simple green. Lots of crud came loose. After drying everything completely, I used a product called Never Dull metal polish on the chrome and any easily accessible metal surfaces.

Never Dull is sold in a small metal can and looks like a big roll of cotton wadding. Most automotive stores sell it or some variation of it. It smells, but it sure does take the dirt and grime off metal parts. A shame the big chrome components aren’t visible from the outside as they turned out great. The return buttons were corroded and polishing them by hand would be a pain. I loaded them into my cordless drill and spun them at high speed, this made the cleaning and polishing quick and easy. I couldn’t get all the pitting out, but they looked better than before. The exterior coin return chutes were plastic and cleaned up with soap and water, so did a pair of “brownie” style .900 token mechanisms that I’ll use to replace the metal quarter mechs. Once it was all dry, I put the door back together. Here is the result.

The next step in this project is to finish putting the control panel back together and then putting everything back in the cabinet. The basement water issue has delayed my progress on this, but I hope to have it back up and running by the end of this month.