I have several arcades and like to swap them out once in awhile just to keep the lineup fresh. That being said, I have 4 that I would never part with. Tapper, Wacko, Qbert, Galaga and Tron. Opps, I guess I have 5 I would never part with.

Just finished a restore on my Qbert. It is a really early one. The hang tags inside the game all say "sample test". Sadly someone butchered it by painting it with the same color paint as the lines in the street. Had to remove all of that and start over. It came out pretty good.

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That is interesting and makes a lot of sense. I'm glad all the boards were left in my game. All the serial numbers match and they are all rev 01 boards.

Put a Jrok / Mylstar board in my Qbert as a solution to my high scores always getting corrupted and then I realized the board played Mad Planets also. I like Mad Planets a lot so It was time to make an alternate control panel for my beloved Qbert. Gottlieb parts are expensive and hard to find so I improvised. The joystick came out of a Gorf and the spinner is from a Tempest. After some metal work and some soldering I had this.

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Here is a shot of my Mad Planets control panel installed. I was even able to light it up since it was originally a Gorf joystick. Optical joysticks really are the best. I actually made it plug and play with the factory Qbert wire harness. Qbert used a 9 pin connector but only uses 7 pins. I added 2 more. 5 Volt for the optical joystick / spinner and a trigger fire button. It takes about a minute to switch back to the OEM Qbert control panel.
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A question to fellow arcade owners. I'm a purest and all my arcades have CRTs. Recently I purchased a High Score Save kit for my Tron that also plays Satan's Hallow. While the Tron looks perfect on my CRT, Satan's Hallow does not. The Tron burn-in is very visible on the much lighter background on Satan's Hallow and getting a good replacement tube is getting tough. As a result, I'm considering for the first time a LCD monitor replacement. So my question is - Should I do it?

It's great but takes a bit of effort to install. You have to swap out a lot of chips on all 3 boards. They are all socketed so it's not that bad. The worse part is installing the daughter card. It spans 4 sockets. It is tough getting all those pins lined up.

Thanks for the warning but I'm well aware of the problem you mentioned. Included with the purchase of the LCD monitor is a chip that corrects the video issue. It seems Arcade Shop is the only vendor stepping up to the address the issue. At this point I'm going to wait until I'm done with my restore and re-evaluate the final results. I do hate seeing the Tron cone floating in the middle of screen when playing Satan's Hallow.

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The restoration of my Tron is complete. I still have the CRT for now. Hoping to find a replacement without burn-in soon.

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I been working on fixing up my Wacko this past week. It had a couple of blown out corners I had to fix. I'm on the fence about a total restore on it. I do have the art kit if I decide to go that down that path.

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The plates are screwed in but still on the light duty side. I'll swap them out if I need to. I have wheels on my games so I can move them around easy in my shop. As for the restore, I really am on fence. Being in California it is tough to get an oil-based paint match and the art is OK but not great. My fiberglass Bondo patch work is drastically improving the look of the game but I can't get a good color match. If I do a restore I would break out the paint gun and hit it with Rust-Oleum classic navy (which is very close). My art package seems good. It came from This Old Game and is no longer available. I'll finish fixing it up and reevaluate the final look before I move forward with the total restore. It is best to not be haste.

Nice - to me it looks like you have a plywood cabinet version of the game. Those are way better than the particle board version. If you decide to redo it it is one of the easier cabs to redo. Just make sure you paint it and don’t do the crappy decals. I kinda of like the vintage look on that one myself.

What color are you going with? Vinyl looks great but is delicate compared to oil based paints. Everything but black is a little on the translucent side. When I do vinyl I always prime my cabs with primer that is tinted to the color of vinyl being installed. Getting vinyl to look correct takes a lot of effort. The cabinet has to be perfectly smooth.

Hey arcade collectors. There are two stickers on the back of a Wacko that I want to reproduce. The first one I have. See below. I believe the second one was the game’s serial number but I don’t know what it looks like. I have my serial number just not the sticker. Can someone post a photo of one so I can get mine remade? Thanks in advance.

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Found the answer to my question on the web. How do I give myself a thumbs up? The missing sticker isn’t the serial number as I suspected.

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The last couple of weeks I've been working on a Galaxian that was painted blue and converted to a Ms. Pac-man. Had to take it down to bare wood and start over. It is turning out pretty good but lots of my parts are stuck in USPS hell at the moment (like the art). I made a high end all original parts controll panel and a second one from a junker I bought on eBay for a Multicade. Might keep this one as a multicade since Galaxian isn't worth much. At least I saved the cabinet.

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The longer Covid lasts the nicer my personal collection is becoming. The art and glass arrived for Galaxian. This one is done and took about 60 hours. I was even able to save the metal plate on the backside. It was covered in blue latex paint but cleaned up nice.

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Thanks - I did very little to it. Had to make it a back door and update the aging capacitors. I don’t know why but half the games I end up with are missing their doors. I have become a master at recreating them.

Anybody install a Jamma Pandora Box DX yet? The game list is impressive but I’m not sure it supports a trackball or spinner. Those are must haves for some of the games listed (Tron, Mad Planets, Discs of Tron and Kozmik Krooz’r to name a few). Any insight would be appreciated.

This Old Game just recently did the CPO for that.

https://thisoldgame.com/shop/ols/products/carnevil-cpo

Write them. I think they are in the process of moving. I still think they can accommodate you but might take some time.

I officially turned my Galaxian into a Multicade. It now has two control panels. One is a restored original and the other is a restored multicade control panel. I bought all the multicade boards and determined they all suck. The least sucky one is the Vertical Game Elf 412 in 1. There was no thought about how the games were going to be controled when they were added to these boards. This makes playing many of the popular games on a given board impossible. Most play ok but some used the exact opposite controls and were unplayable because of it. At first I thought I could get the spinner to work for games like Tron. In theory it did work but the spinner lag made it unplayable. The only game that benefits from the spinner is Tempest so I kept it on the control panel. In order to play the most games possible I made a switch bank of 7 three way switches. I can now swap controls to play the most games possible.

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I also paid a visit to my powder coating palce and got two other panels coated besides my Galaxian. Powder coating is the best. The results are impressive. I'm also a fan of old school silkscreened CPO(s).

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Covid boredom has forced me to restore my $400 Wacko. I took it completely apart, fixed all the crappy particle board and polished all the metal. It was a total repaint and all new art. Took me about 60 hours.

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What’s up with the exposed bracket on the control panel of the Qbert? It looks like it is assembled wrong. Isn’t that the piece the control panel locks into? If so, it shouldn’t be visible at all if installed correctly.

Ms. Pacman was a painted cabinet. Decals look wrong on it in my opinion. You need a stencil kit. I get mine from This Old Game but he is out at the moment. Phoenix Arcade is good for everything else.

That's my guess also.

I love those Sanyo monitors. They always look great after a recap and don’t seem to burn in like other brands.

Real Qbert(s) are tough to get. That is one game that nobody seems to part with. Took me years to get mine.

But an original Qbert is the BOMB (and surprisingly heavy).

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For the record, I really like this thread. Classic arcades and cool custom cabinets are so nice to see. My very favorite part is none of the contributors are pushing those crappy wannabe cool (but not) Arcade1up games. Those just suck in my opinion. Old school rules!!!!

I brought this 90s classic out of storage.

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I just moved my multicade to my vacation house in anticipation of my new arrival. Snagged a "grail" game I have never seen in person. I'll post some photos if it gets here safely. It was on the top of my wish list and something I thought I would never get. More to come...

Ok - we can play that game.

First clue: 1982 release date.

Nope but that is a cool game.

Second clue: hard to spell

Nope

Third clue: it is blue

Nope

Fourth clue: the game shipped with a footstool

We have a winner. Now it just needs to arrive safely.

Kozmik Krooz’r has arrived! Been giving it the once over today. This thing is 100% original.

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Thanks - I love the Midway MCR games. Some of the best arcades ever made in my opinion. Kozmik Krooz'r is a little more of a novelty but still pretty fun. Does anybody have one of these things? Is the ship turning if the game is on? Mine does and it seems like the few others I've found on the web do as well even when the game is sitting idle. Seems odd to me but I guess it just goes with the game.

Super nice but you better still do the re-cap. I'm sure those capacitors are hanging on by a thread. My Kozmik Krooz'r had the same monitor with 3k on the meter and every cap was out of specs on my tester.

Nothing wrong with that collection. Ice Cold Beer, Qbert, Rootbeer Tapper and Zeakes Peak are very desirable games.

I just updated my list of arcade games on KLOV. I also have 2 multicades but those don't get mentioned on the KLOV database. To me, KLOV is reserved for the preservation of the originals.

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There is a guy in SoCal looking for a Paperboy. I don't know him personally, but he has called me many times. He seems to have some sort of disability, but he is friendly and courteous. If you list a game on Craigslist with a phone number (any game) you'll get a call from him asking if you have a paperboy for sale. It has been going on for years. I wish I had one to sell to him. His persistence is impressive.

What does a NBA Jam go for these days? I have been offered that game more than any other and have always passed on it. The theme doesn't interest me, and the weight makes my back hurt just thinking about it. I also found two Rampage World Tours in the wild that were converted NBA Jam cabinets. Seems like that game was in low demand for a long time. Have things changed?

The businesses already mentioned are my go to for caps kits. Arcade Parts and Repair has the best selection. He also sells pot kits by monitor model number. Those usually need replaced too.

Nice job getting the black paint off the cabinet.

I like pretty much all solid state pinball, but I find only early 80s arcade games appealing. It might have something to do with my age, or it might be because they are the best games ever.

I transport this way all the time. Oftentimes, I will find things missing that make laying the game down problematic. Check to make sure the monitor is still bolted to the cabinet. There is also some sort of a bezel brace that needs to be present in most games which keeps the glass stationary. Make sure all the boards are secured (including the transformer) and remove the coin box for travel. Once everything checks out, you are good to go.

Sometimes, rare is awesome.

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Nice, but those flight stick screws have to go.

Those look great. Nice score!

$800 to $1500

https://www.arcade-classics.com/exidy_arcade_price_guide.html

I usually prefer the upright cabinets but this might be the exception. The cocktail is damn cool. Nice find!

That is a great game. One of the best ever made. That being said, original Tappers don't come up that often. I am afraid you're going to have to find one being offered in the wild and do a smell check to make sure it is not a scam. If you do find a dealer with one, the price is likely going to be crazy high. Reproductions are a different story and easily found. I would hold out for the real deal. Reproductions kinda suck in my opinion. Technically, it is really the only adult video game Midway ever did. Collectors don't like to part with them.

Now all the Tapper owners are just bragging about how good of a deal they got back in the day. I'll brag a little too. $810 in 2016.

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I would never go over the old one. If it is bad enough to redo, the old one needs to come off. Sometimes the replacements aren't as thick as the originals. If your metal is recessed to accommodate bolts you may want to fill those spots in with bondo or epoxy. That way the replacement is nice and smooth.

Rapid tac is a great product. It allows you to reposition the CPO / decal while it is wet. That being said, it does not work well with stiff CPOs that need to be bent during installation. Any where with a bend is going to need dry adhesive to hold the shape. Each install has it's own challenges. I just used Rapid tac to install a Apron decal. Super easy. You just need to squeegee out the excess product and then let it dry for a couple days.

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KLOV is the correct answer but it sucks in comparison. Pinside is well oiled machine. KLOV feels like a bunch of smaller arcade forums held together with baling wire. You're probably better off asking your questions here.

Try this for an arcade price guide. It does get updated so the prices are fairly accurate.

https://www.arcade-classics.com/exidy_arcade_price_guide.html

The price doesn't sound crazy. The game is fun until you finish it (which doesn't take long). It is good if you have guests over a lot. It didn't last long in my collection. I maybe had it a month.