First Machine - Galaxian - How did I do?

marsman2020

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After doing some research on various sites and forua, I picked this up from a guy on Craigslist. (I'm six years too young for when it came out, but Galaxian is my favorite classic arcade videogame)

http://imgur.com/a/LpT1l/

It plays just fine; the CRT likely needs to be replaced, it was swapped from a Pac-Man and has the maze burned into it. Also some wavy motion to the video which I expect re-capping the board the drives the tube should fix based on the monitor section of this forum.

The guy I bought it from said he had had it for ~15 years and that he bought it from the original owner who had it in their den with the Pac-Man that the CRT came from. The increment counter behind the coin door is incremented to quite a high number though, so I wonder if it was actually in an arcade.

As far as I can tell it doesn't look like anything has been repaired or replace from the photos I've seen of original machines, except for the swapping of the CRT. The marquee and right side art are in reasonably good shape; the kick plate art is worn (looks like where everyone rubs the toe of their left shoe on it) and the left side art has a bit more wear. One big blemish on the control panel overlay where part of the yellow/text by the 1P/2P start buttons is missing.

I wanted something I could have in my entertainment room and play without worrying that I spent so much $$$ on it that I wouldn't want to touch it, and this fits the bill. It plugged in and started up perfectly after the 120 mile road trip in the back of my little pickup truck (wrapped in 5 furniture pads and plastic cling wrap before covering with the tarp).

So, for a first purchase, how did I do?
 
Nice truck, you must live in the southwest to have one of those that isn't rusted away into nothingness. I really miss mine.
 
Congrats and welcome to the club! Don't sweat what you paid for it, as long as you enjoy it.. It's a good game to get the addiction started.. :D
 
Looks like it is in good shape. I have grown to like Galaxian quite a bit after never really giving it a chance in my youth. Fantastic side art.
 
I paid $325 + ~$45 in gas to go get it. Based on what I could find that seemed reasonable and I am happy.

The truck I got back in June, I love it, runs great and only six months younger then me ;)
 
I bought a mint looking 86 model (last year they made them) in 1996 and even by then they were incredibly rare. A lot of people thought it was brand new.

I paid $325 + ~$45 in gas to go get it. Based on what I could find that seemed reasonable and I am happy.

The truck I got back in June, I love it, runs great and only six months younger then me ;)
 
Looks pretty good. Very nice that its not "smoker yellow" like the ones that were in bars. I've had two, one was ugly smoked pretty bad but the wife (yes, wife) and I were able to clean it up. The other originally had a 25" monitor but was missing at the time. I installed a good working G07 and it turned out to be a fine machine. I would like to have one to keep this time.
 
After doing some research on various sites and forua, I picked this up from a guy on Craigslist. (I'm six years too young for when it came out, but Galaxian is my favorite classic arcade videogame)

http://imgur.com/a/LpT1l/

The guy I bought it from said he had had it for ~15 years and that he bought it from the original owner who had it in their den with the Pac-Man that the CRT came from. The increment counter behind the coin door is incremented to quite a high number though, so I wonder if it was actually in an arcade.

Way too much kickplate damage for that to be a home use only machine. Most games that people claim to have bought new were probably purchased when operators were unloading them during the 84' crash. The majority of true home use machines that pop up were game show prizes or belonged to people who worked for the game companies.
 
I think you did fine. Too bad about the monitor, but the orignal might have been k4500 which is probably worse. Maybe you can do a tube swap down the road.

I would not mess with the pcb if its working. the socketed chips at the bottom of the board are very fragile. The legs are probably all black looking.

Since your just getting started, here is some advice. Make a list of games you want and try to find them. Don't buy games just because they are cheap. You will have a hard time getting rid of them down the road when space becomes an issue.

Also since your much younger then most people collecting classics, your probably going to be looking for jamma games. Keep an eye out for a nice jamma cabinet Street fighter or mortal kombat would be good. Even if you don't care for the game, they will be very useful for you in the long run.

In the future, when you move games, make sure you open the back door and look at things inside before you turn the game on. Riding on its back and then standing it back up can make a screw, coin mech, coin bucket, coin, ect... fall into the wrong spot and damage your game. You occasionally see the neckboard vibrate off the tube too.

You should also check to see if the monitor is properly secured in the cabinet. I have seen games whthe monitor in the cab might have no screws holding it in place. I have also seen monitor chasis with no screws holding them.
 
Thanks for the advice! If I were to make the list of games that I want, Galaxian would be at the top. In fact it'd be a small-ish list because I wasn't really allowed to play a lot of arcade videogames as a kid (with 4 kids quarters for a trip to the arcade can get expensive) so I'd need to go to some arcades and spend some time figuring out the rest of the list ;) Centipede is probably the only other one I'd really consider getting now, maybe Missile Command. But there is also the more modern solution of

I am a bit of a tinkerer with things electromechanical, so a tube swap is a high likelihood (screen burn - lesson #1 to ask next time). Unfortunately after I drove 2 hours down there, the owner didn't have the key to the rear door (are all keys available - lesson #2 to ask next time), so I'll need to drill that lock out. I took a look in the coin door with a flashlight and everything looked okay before and after moving - including verifying there were bolts holding the CRT in - but plugging it back in was probably premature.

I do look forward to getting the screen sorted because it will make it feel like it's "mine" in that I did some work on it. Might do the kickplate artwork, although I'm usually the type who sees wear that doesn't affect the functionality of an item as part of its character.
 
Nice pick up. Galaxian is a great looking game and fun. I had one and regret selling it off years ago. The kickplate wear is pretty much to be expected, it was much worse on the one I had. The side on yours looks good.

If you're really interested in tinkering, I HIGHLY recommend you at least keep your eyes open for a pinball project. If you have the time, it will keep you busy. The pre '78ish electromechanical game are all about switches, contacts, relays.. You'd have a time working on and adjusting one. The solid state games that came out around '78.. I'd recommend finding an early Bally SS game, as there are a ton of replacement electronics, power supply kits, parts, upgrades..
 
Thanks for the advice! If I were to make the list of games that I want, Galaxian would be at the top. In fact it'd be a small-ish list because I wasn't really allowed to play a lot of arcade videogames as a kid (with 4 kids quarters for a trip to the arcade can get expensive) so I'd need to go to some arcades and spend some time figuring out the rest of the list ;) Centipede is probably the only other one I'd really consider getting now, maybe Missile Command. But there is also the more modern solution of

I am a bit of a tinkerer with things electromechanical, so a tube swap is a high likelihood (screen burn - lesson #1 to ask next time). Unfortunately after I drove 2 hours down there, the owner didn't have the key to the rear door (are all keys available - lesson #2 to ask next time), so I'll need to drill that lock out. I took a look in the coin door with a flashlight and everything looked okay before and after moving - including verifying there were bolts holding the CRT in - but plugging it back in was probably premature.

I do look forward to getting the screen sorted because it will make it feel like it's "mine" in that I did some work on it. Might do the kickplate artwork, although I'm usually the type who sees wear that doesn't affect the functionality of an item as part of its character.

don't let keys stop you from buying a game. Locks are like $3. A screwdriver and some force will open any game. Usually you can get into the back door and then open the front. Sometimes you can shove the screwdriver into the back door lock and turn it. Always worth a try on atari games.

Yes, front drawer access is cool. My jamma cabs are atari family cabs. But you can also make great use of the empty space of a mk cab. You could mount 8pcbs on the cabs sides and move the jamma connector to each from the coin door.
 
You should also check to see if the monitor is properly secured in the cabinet. I have seen games whthe monitor in the cab might have no screws holding it in place. I have also seen monitor chasis with no screws holding them.

LOOK for this. Just recently my buddy Lanky Kong and I unloaded a couple of Neo Geos at my place and one of them had not a single screw holding the 25" monitor in place AND the two strips of wood that position the glass bezel were missing AND the control panel wasn't latched down. It is amazing it even made the trip without damage.

Don't worry about keys, for some reason you almost NEVER get keys when you buy a machine.
 
$325 for your favorite classic arcade game, working, in good shape? You scored, man, and you should enjoy it. Definitely not a HUO game, but very likely spent more of its time in homes than arcades. It looks really nice, and it will clean up great if you put a bit of work into it.

Just about any classic you pick up is going to have screen burn. Hell, I got a Neo-Geo with some of the worst burn I've seen on any game, and it's half the age of the real classics. I wouldn't hold out for a burn-free tube, but it is a bit of a downer that it's burn from a different game — that's much more distracting.
 
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