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Post by Emig5m on May 9, 2017 22:49:51 GMT -5
Been hooked on Missile Command and Asteroids Deluxe on the PS4 and wanted the real thing. Found one on Craigslist for $600 fully working (a refurbed one goes for around $1500 from a retailer). I get halfway there and the guy calls me and said there's a problem- Monitor isn't working but the game starts up and plays fine as you can hear it play through the speaker. I tell him I'm going to pass as I didn't want to deal with another broken game and he says shoot him an offer and that he just wants it out of his house. Looking for a place to do a U-turn I shoot him a real low-ball offer of $100. He slowly say ehhhhhh...........the cabinet has to be worth $150!?!? I think to myself for $150 it's worth a gamble. Either I can fix or get another monitor and be good to go or I could part it out for a profit. I pick up the game and it's dirty, real dirty.....  No neck glow on the monitor, it's dead but is surprisingly very clean on the inside....  I order a rebuild kit for the Wells Gardner 19V2000 Black & White Vector Monitor and get to work..... All new caps + reflowed all the header pins in case of cold solder joints.  Monitor springs back to life......  Monitor has a good strong neck glow.....it's ALIVE...  |
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Post by Emig5m on May 9, 2017 22:56:26 GMT -5
I get to work on further cleaning, 37 years of dust build up on the two-way mirror.....  One swipe with Simple Green......  Two way mirror crystal clean.....  Brand new black light background from Phoenix Arcade ($170 shipped, ouchy!) compared to the old faded original.....  Installed in the game.....  Those some dirty grimy buttons....  Cleaning the buttons with Simple Green......  |
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Post by Emig5m on May 9, 2017 23:09:02 GMT -5
Cabinet cleaned up so well that you can now see reflections in it....  The grimy grungy white is cleaned back to white.....  On second thought, I'm putting brand new buttons on it......  New black light and starter installed so that I can see how good that new black light background looks....  Tada!!! Holy bright background, Batman!  Pretty neat effect with the black light background and two way mirror. It make the game play look like it's floating about 7 inches over the background, pretty neat effect!  I did have to fix a sound issue on the game board. I noticed after the first enemy saucer appeared it would lose the player 1 thrust, fire, and shield sounds. I was able to fix it myself by replacing three chips- the LM324n (OP Amp), Atari POKEY chip, and 555timer. So the game is now complete and working. Let's go over the total cost.... $150 for the game playing blind. $170 for the new background shipped. $85 for the discharge tool for the monitor. $20 for the cap kit, big blue + the parts I didn't use. $32 blacklight + 2 starters + new buttons Total: $457.00 + my own labor Not bad plus I learn something new every time I fix one of these things, lol. This is now my #1 favorite cabinet and it's got a spot all to itself and no games are planned to go next to it, hehe.  |
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Post by Cop on May 10, 2017 9:51:44 GMT -5
LOL @ piece of cardboard costing more than the entire cabinet itself...
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Post by Emig5m on May 10, 2017 14:43:39 GMT -5
LOL @ piece of cardboard costing more than the entire cabinet itself... Well to be fair once you include gas money and tolls crossing the GWB to pick it up the game was slightly more....hehe. But shipping and gas aside they where both the same but still funny a piece of cardboard cost as much as the game did, heh. Either way the end price for the end result is still a steal....love this game. |
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Post by Cop on May 10, 2017 23:49:55 GMT -5
So it's your last, huh? I believe you |
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2017 19:33:07 GMT -5
So it's your last, huh? I believe you Probably not enough room. Plants, china cabinet, etc. need their places in order to maintain the 70's home aesthetic.  |
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Post by Coolverine on May 12, 2017 10:54:59 GMT -5
You put a lot of care into restoring these old arcade machines and I think that's awesome.
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Post by Emig5m on May 13, 2017 0:47:43 GMT -5
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Post by Ambience on May 30, 2017 16:24:02 GMT -5
You'll be back with another one.
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Post by Emig5m on Jun 5, 2017 22:06:58 GMT -5
You'll be back with another one. Well I do have a certain game on my mind. My co-worker will be going to visit his relatives sometime over the summer where this particular game resides (6hr drive from me). This one however sells for $2500 all day, and people in-the-know, know that they'll get that price. So I'm hoping this particular owner of the game doesn't know its real worth and if I can get it at a bangin' price maybe I'll have another arcade game. Otherwise, this is seriously it, lol. The game in question is pretty rare, highly wanted, and uber cool with its control scheme and theming. And not to mention, most important of all, great and timeless gameplay. |
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Post by Cop on Jun 6, 2017 11:12:32 GMT -5
Are you challenging us to guess what it is or what? Cool control scheme and theme, timeless gameplay... Operation Wolf?  |
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Post by Ambience on Jun 6, 2017 11:40:41 GMT -5
I'm going to throw Tron or Spy Hunter out as a guess.
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Post by Emig5m on Jun 6, 2017 22:42:13 GMT -5
Are you challenging us to guess what it is or what? Cool control scheme and theme, timeless gameplay... Operation Wolf? Yes, this is another guessing challenge, lol. No it's not Operation Wolf. Loved that game as a kid but I hate rail shooters now. Tron is a cool looking cabinet for sure but I don't like the "gameplay" enough to eat up the space of a fridge, lol. Spy Hunter....well.... That was one of the first arcade games I would play repetitively since it and Pole Position was right down the road from where I live at one of the many local ice cream parlors we had in the area. I might own a Spy Hunter if space/money wasn't an issue just for nostalgia aspect but I don't think it's really fun to chase high scores on which really gives games like Centipede, Missile Command, and Asteroids Deluxe great replay value which is a real important aspect to me with owning these things since they take up a lot of space and replay value and gameplay is a must-have. It just sucks for me that this particular game I like is also a rarer and pricier "collectors" game just like Tron. I don't really consider myself a collector in the hobby, I consider myself more of a player than a collector and the collectivity value of a classic arcade game is a much lower priority than gameplay and replay value. The rest is just icing on the cake for me. Do we need hints? Hint #1 it came out before 1985. |
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Post by maniac on Jun 6, 2017 23:34:10 GMT -5
I don't know enough about arcade games to have even the slightest clue what it could be.
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Post by Cop on Jun 7, 2017 10:16:20 GMT -5
Is it Star Wars? Though I seem to remember you didn't want that one last time we played this guessing game? It's the only one I can think of though.
Maybe Break-Out? Didn't that have a weird controller as well? Can't see that one being particulary wanted though...
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Post by Emig5m on Jun 7, 2017 23:50:07 GMT -5
Hint #2: There's 'kinda' a adult version (for adult venues, no nudity or swearing, mainly just the theme) and a version geared more for children/family venues (again, mainly theme - gameplay is identical). Should be real easy now, lol. |
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Post by ForRealTho on Jun 8, 2017 2:00:44 GMT -5
Hint #2: There's 'kinda' a adult version (for adult venues, no nudity or swearing, mainly just the theme) and a version geared more for children/family venues (again, mainly theme - gameplay is identical). Should be real easy now, lol. Backdoor Sluts 9? |
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Post by Ambience on Jun 8, 2017 10:49:23 GMT -5
Mortal Kombat?
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Post by Emig5m on Jun 8, 2017 18:00:03 GMT -5
Release date: August 2, 1992. Hint #1 The game I would like to own was made before 1985. And I don't remember Mortal Kombat having a separate adult and child themed cabinet? You know, one for Chucky Cheese and one for the bar.... BTW, the Xbox 360 has the childs themed game on the Xbox arcade...hehe. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2017 18:47:28 GMT -5
Frogger
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Post by Emig5m on Jun 8, 2017 22:22:30 GMT -5
Nope, no two separate adult/children venue cabinet/themes with frogger, hehe. Frogger is a uber classic for sure, but I don't like the gameplay enough to own one at home.... Remember, the one I want there was a separate cabinet and theme for both adult and children/family venues (no pr0n or vulgar language just the one theme was thought to be inappropriate for children - both have identical gameplay). |
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Post by Cop on Jun 9, 2017 0:03:37 GMT -5
That beer tapper game?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2017 9:17:11 GMT -5
Nope, no two separate adult/children venue cabinet/themes with frogger, hehe. Frogger is a uber classic for sure, but I don't like the gameplay enough to own one at home.... Remember, the one I want there was a separate cabinet and theme for both adult and children/family venues (no pr0n or vulgar language just the one theme was thought to be inappropriate for children - both have identical gameplay). Admittedly, I looked up pictures of Frogger arcade cabinets. I found that Frogger had few cabinets with different artwork as well. For the kids:  Adult (serious business) themed:  For the environmentalist/tree-hugger?  |
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Post by Babel-17 on Jun 9, 2017 9:44:20 GMT -5
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Post by Cop on Jun 9, 2017 10:16:29 GMT -5
That documentary I gotta see and luckily it's 'available'...
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Post by Emig5m on Jun 11, 2017 0:58:20 GMT -5
Yup. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2017 9:36:02 GMT -5
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Post by Emig5m on Jun 11, 2017 18:40:08 GMT -5
They removed Tapper on Xbox live? That's gay. :/ Well I already had it purchased but my Xbox isn't even hooked up currently. Not to mention, I want to play it on the original arcade hardware, heh. I just don't know if I'll actually ever own one. $2500 is a lot for a single arcade game. I suppose I could trade my R-Type II since mine is two of a kind in the entire country (and possibly the world) and is much-much more rare and should be an easy trade for me (I was already offered $3000 for it but the guy is all the way in Texas).
Should I...
A) trade my ultra rare R-Type II straight up for a Budweiser Tapper and have no money out of pocket and never see a R-Type II again (I suppose I could always purchase another R-Type II PCB in the future and put it in my R-Type 1 cab on a JAMMA switcher and run both games in the same cab but the PCB is super hard to find and will probably be selling for $450+ by the time I run into another one for sale, if ever)
or...
B) Hold onto my restored and one of two of a kind R-Type II and just wait a couple/few years to save up for a Tapper and have something to look forward to in the future?
My friend at work claims when he goes to do some family visiting this summer that he knows of a Tapper that's for sale but not really being advertised and maybe I can get lucky and get it for much cheaper than the going rate if the owner hasn't been keeping up on it's current worth?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2017 11:50:06 GMT -5
They removed Tapper on Xbox live? That's gay. :/ Well I already had it purchased but my Xbox isn't even hooked up currently. Not to mention, I want to play it on the original arcade hardware, heh. I just don't know if I'll actually ever own one. $2500 is a lot for a single arcade game. I suppose I could trade my R-Type II since mine is two of a kind in the entire country (and possibly the world) and is much-much more rare and should be an easy trade for me (I was already offered $3000 for it but the guy is all the way in Texas). Should I... A) trade my ultra rare R-Type II straight up for a Budweiser Tapper and have no money out of pocket and never see a R-Type II again (I suppose I could always purchase another R-Type II PCB in the future and put it in my R-Type 1 cab on a JAMMA switcher and run both games in the same cab but the PCB is super hard to find and will probably be selling for $450+ by the time I run into another one for sale, if ever) or... B) Hold onto my restored and one of two of a kind R-Type II and just wait a couple/few years to save up for a Tapper and have something to look forward to in the future? My friend at work claims when he goes to do some family visiting this summer that he knows of a Tapper that's for sale but not really being advertised and maybe I can get lucky and get it for much cheaper than the going rate if the owner hasn't been keeping up on it's current worth? My vote is Option B. You seem to be great (or lucky) at sniffing out deals, so give it some time. Also, I can tell that you'd regret losing R-Type II. |
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