Atari Football questions

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I picked up a (really) cheap 2 player Atari Football a little while ago and it's kind of been on the back burner but I've been thinking more about it and would like to get into restoring it. It's in decent shape with some wear on the control panels and a chunk of wood grain vinyl missing on one side corner. Also I'm not getting any raster on the monitor at all, but when I plugged it into a monitor in another game it worked like a charm. So a few questions I had:

-My control panels have a lot more graphics on it than the repro ones phoenix arcade sells - I take it there were two different versions? Which one was the original? My machine has the green overlay so I assumed it was an original run. Was a repro ever made of the other one? Also considering the original graphics were silk screened onto the actual metal, does a stick-on overlay even come close in the first place?

-Has anyone replaced the wood grain vinyl before? What did you use?

-Does anyone sell repro decals of the side art? Mine are in good condition but if I'm replacing the vinyl I assume I'd need a new pair.

-Do I need a 4" trackball rebuild kit or 4.5" kit? Different sites have conflicting information.

-Any other games use the same size monitor? Not sure I will be able to fix this one, as parts don't seem to be common.
 
so the game works minus the monitor? Working board is the hard part...

I am not sure on the monitors size, but maybe something like sprint 2, lemans or gran track would have a monitor you could use.. I yhink football uses a 23" monitor. I am 99% sure canyon bomber has the same size monitor, but don't pick on that game..

Trackballs should be the same as missile command. So 4" rebuild kit.
 
I have a rough cabinet, collection of parts, and it's on my bucket list. I'll try to answer all of your questions.

Yes, 2 different factory versions, both original. The simpler one was reproduced on an overlay by Phoenixarcade. The quality of that is perfect. It is different in that the original was screen printed on the metal panel, but the overlay material is the same as games which actually had overlays - Space Duel, Food Fight, Tempest, etc..same material, so it appears original and works well. The overlays that Phoenixarcade did ARE screenprinted, but reverse screened onto the overlay material.

My plan is to build a new cabinet, use vertical grade Formica laminate, in a reddish woodgrain close to the original, then the sideart decals that were run. Again, this sideart from thisoldgame.com IS screenprinted, but on vinyl instead of over the woodgrain laminate on the original cabinet.

Someone is talking about reproducing the green overlay. There's an interest thread on here, try searching for that.

There aren't a ton of those monitors around, but I've fixed them with only a cap kit. If all else fails, you could send the chassis out for repair, not a big deal. As long as the tube is intact, it's probably still repairable. Buying a working monitor doesn't make sense, as the shipping would be high (if you could ship without breaking it) and you can have your chassis repaired by someone more knowledgeable. Folks on here could walk you through removing the chassis to send it out, if it comes to that - very easy. Any monitor this old will need the caps replaced and basic things resoldered/touched up.
 
Have you looked at http://www.atarifootball.com/joomla/?
Lots of good info for Football restores.

Mitch
Yes this is one of the sites with conflicting info - it says you need a 4.5" trackball kit, whereas arcadeshop and others list 4.0

Sounds like I will make due with my control panels as they are - screen printed on metal is so much nice than regular overlays.

I do have an original green overlay in good shape.

Like I said, the monitor isn't even getting raster so I assume a cap kit won't help...but maybe that is a bad assumption. Someone installed a switching power supply at some point too.

Good to know about the decals...now all I need to do is find similar wood grain laminate.
 
Atari Football repair

"Yes this is one of the sites with conflicting info - it says you need a 4.5" trackball kit, whereas arcadeshop and others list 4.0"

There actually isn't a 4.0 trackball. I investigated this a lot when I worked on this restoration. Different sites list either 4.0" or 4.5". The sites that list that they have a 4.0....really have a 4.5" trackball. I purchased the reproductions from RAM Controls...they are very nice one.
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"Sounds like I will make due with my control panels as they are - screen printed on metal is so much nice than regular overlays. "

Actually, I was impressed with the printed overlays I purchased. When you run hands over them…it "feels" like you are feeling the metal panel. The material they do the reproduction on (Lexan) was an excellent choice.
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"I do have an original green overlay in good shape."

"Lucky you…I still don't have one."
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"Good to know about the decals...now all I need to do is find similar wood grain laminate."

The laminate is the toughest problem. The stuff I got looks good…but it isn't as close to the original as I would have preferred. BUT, I emailed people all over the world (literally)…there just isn't anything that looks exactly like it, or that has the same feel as the original.
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Good luck on fixing your game up.


Rob
- AtariFootball.com
 
Do you have pics of the control panels?

I used to own one that had these graphics on the CP's.

DSC01883.jpg


The repro ones have a coach speaking to a player instead of the QB.

It also had the "punt" play option.
 
holy resurrected dead thread batman...

My control panel has the full graphics as seen on the VAPS page in the second two-player picture. The empty area around the trackball in the later control panels just looks weird and a little ugly to me.

And I can't agree that an overlay feels *anything* like metal. Two completely different surfaces that look and feel completely different. Same thing with Missile Command - no overlay can compare.

Mine is for sale btw if anyone local is interested.
 
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