Finally got a Bubbles!

TheShanMan

Well-known member

Donor 2011, 2024
Joined
Sep 9, 2008
Messages
5,657
Reaction score
725
Location
Hillsboro, Oregon
It's my wife's 2nd favorite game, so it's been at the top of my want list for a couple of years. Local collector ihavethatpma picked up a Black Tiger in a Bubbles cab, and the Bubbles side art was intact, albeit not in the greatest shape. He wanted to restore it as a Bubbles but later decided he wanted to eliminate some projects, so knowing how much I wanted one he contacted me.

When I got it from him it had no Bubbles stuff with it - no cp, bezel, marquee, boards, or dc harness, but he had already purchased the main 3 boards from YellowDog. So I collected a few parts from some of the locals, a new set of harnesses from Dokert, and artwork plus converted cp from YellowDog. Later I discovered that the cp and NOS cpo I got from YellowDog are specific to the optical stick (hole is 1.75" - way too big for a dust washer), so joeycuda was kind enough to sell me his spare optical stick.

Long term this game could still greatly benefit from a nice restoration (stencils, etc) and is next on my list of tube swap candidates, but with the exception of a marquee light, the project is complete for now and in the game room, getting plenty of play.

I also would like to find some nice original joust/bubbles blue buttons because the Arcade Shop repro joust buttons aren't as close of a match as I had hoped, but they're definitely good enough for now.

Big thanks to everyone who helped me out: ihavethatpma, oregonarcade, dokert, yellowdog, joeycuda. I hope I haven't forgotten anyone!

2012-12-30BubblesArcade001_zps51be8c97.jpg


2013-01-28BubblesArcadeGame002_zpsf0328f9b.jpg


2013-01-28BubblesArcadeGame003_zpsfc1a944a.jpg


2013-01-28BubblesArcadeGame004_zps62d9afd9.jpg


2013-01-28BubblesArcadeGame005_zps13148cbc.jpg


2013-01-06BubblesArcadeGame003_zpsb1443545.jpg
 
One joystick and no buttons.......along with Pacman , the best game to play while drinking a beer .......
 
Man that is awesome, nice job! Last time I saw a dedicated Bubbles was at Shakey's Pizza in Winona MN back in 1984. Parked on either side was Jungle King and Dig Dug. Have fun with it!
 
It looks great! Just my opinion but I wouldn't touch the sides. That art has been through and seen a lot in it's lifetime. One awesome game!
 
Thanks guys!

Looks great! Glad you got it running.

Now it's time for you to get yours running. :cool:

This Old Game has them.

I on the other hand, have the marquee lamp plate that you are missing Jeff.:eek:

I only need to get a bulb. The fixture is present. If you happen to have one of the cp brackets or the cp sash chain, I'll gladly buy those from you though! The sash chain I saw at home depot is much beefier than what the original was from what I can tell (haven't checked lowes or ace yet).

Oh, and one other thing I could is an instruction card. The instruction window on the bezel is blacked out, but I would imagine if I had a card to put in there I could scrape off the black safely. Not a really big deal though because it's not particularly noticeable the way it is now, and who reads instruction cards anyway?!

It looks great! Just my opinion but I wouldn't touch the sides. That art has been through and seen a lot in it's lifetime. One awesome game!

The worst part about it is the bottom edges - the outer ply is chunked off all along the edge due to sitting directly on the ground over the years. However as far as the sides overall, I might just live with getting a paint match and then touching up here and there.
 
Congrats on getting the game all together and working. I haven't seen or played a dedicated Bubbles since the 80's, I doubt anyone in Fl. even owns one.
 
Nice game, TheShanMan! I love playing it on my 19-in-1, and it's great to see this one brought back to life!

It looks great! Just my opinion but I wouldn't touch the sides. That art has been through and seen a lot in it's lifetime. One awesome game!

I agree with arcadefan85. A little battle damage wouldn't bother me on a nice survivor like this.
 
The worst part about it is the bottom edges - the outer ply is chunked off all along the edge due to sitting directly on the ground over the years. However as far as the sides overall, I might just live with getting a paint match and then touching up here and there.

If that's the case, and due to the complexity of the art, I'd do what you say.. repair the bottom edges and feather in a match on the paint. There was a factory black plastic molding that went along the side edges on some Williams cabinets, but I doubt it has held up on many cabinets. It's still on mine, but as you can see, mine has seen better days. My cabinet has a good bit of wear, but I'm going just clean up the paint the best I can with Novus 2 and only touch up if I can't stand to leave it alone:

IMG_4341.jpg


IMG_4340.jpg
 
Back
Top Bottom