Galaxian: Restore or No?

wadehavens

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I purchased this Galaxian 2 weeks ago. It was really dirty but all original and works great. I'm on the fence about restoring it, so i thought i'd ask your opinions.

What would you do?

Thanks!
 

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Fill out the coin door and put on new t-molding, if the bottom isn't all flakey it's a great example of a survivor! I wouldn't touch the art!
 
Fill out the coin door and put on new t-molding, if the bottom isn't all flakey it's a great example of a survivor! I wouldn't touch the art!



I agree! Do the basics with the t-molding and populating the coin door. Other than that, just shine her up! She looks great.
 
The fronts nearly always look worn, but there's no repro artwork that looks exactly like the original, texture wise. I'd leave it alone. I've owned 2 and wish I still had one.
 
That's what I was thinking. I have all the coin door parts. I needed to clean everything so they are soaking, and I put a fresh coat of paint on the coin door to stop the rust. I do have one repair spot I need to take care of, it's on the top in the back by where the serial number is located. I was thinking of repairing that, and painting the top and the back. I can't take a picture of that right now, but the wood has lifted. It's about a 4 inch spot on the very top rear. Should I fix that?
 
ditto

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Fill out the coin door and put on new t-molding, if the bottom isn't all flakey it's a great example of a survivor! I wouldn't touch the art!
 
Your "Before" picture of your Galaxian looks better than my "After". I would say just leave it alone and enjoy it!
 
Your "Before" picture of your Galaxian looks better than my "After". I would say just leave it alone and enjoy it!

You should've seen it when I picked it up. It was outside in Palmdale, Ca, which is nothing but desert and dirt roads. I didn't spend much time looking at it before I picked it up. I wasn't sure it was salvageable. But after I spent a few hours cleaning it up I was surprised to see how good it really was. It has all the original tags for the serial number, dip switches, warnings, fuse values, pretty much everything. The monitor didn't work, but after a good reflow it's perfect. Has the original smoked monitor bezel that sits under the glass bezel with the Midway copyright sticker still in place. Very happy with it overall, just wasn't sure if I should make it cleaner or not. Glad I asked!!
 
I'll agree with others, do all the detailed stuff, and it will make that cabinet look wonderful. It's a great example of a survivor. Love to see more pictures of the inside, and cabinet bottom, the art work. If there is no repro from art, maybe consider scanning it for the people with really really bad cabinets. Congrats on the nice find you have there
 
That is a nice survivor.

I have a Galaxian with the 25" Electrohome G02 monitor. Sadly, it was not stored correctly.... it was in a metal 2 door garage with no doors on it and a hole in the roof. It was in those conditions for 10+ years, with drifting snow in the winter, rain, etc.... I picked up 11-12 games in that lot, one was disintegrating on site, and I parted it out right on the spot. I then subsequently parted two of them due to widespread minor swelling in the cabs. Most of the remainder will be fixed.

The Galaxian's artwork sadly didn't survive cleaning. 75% or more of the black on the artwork came off. I'll probably put it between 2 other games once I get it up and running, but someday I'll probably cosmetically restore it with replacement art. I wish the art had survived... especially since this is a 25" monitor version.
 
I'll agree with others, do all the detailed stuff, and it will make that cabinet look wonderful. It's a great example of a survivor. Love to see more pictures of the inside, and cabinet bottom, the art work. If there is no repro from art, maybe consider scanning it for the people with really really bad cabinets. Congrats on the nice find you have there

Thanks, I'll take some more pictures tonight.


That is a nice survivor.

I have a Galaxian with the 25" Electrohome G02 monitor. Sadly, it was not stored correctly.... it was in a metal 2 door garage with no doors on it and a hole in the roof. It was in those conditions for 10+ years, with drifting snow in the winter, rain, etc.... I picked up 11-12 games in that lot, one was disintegrating on site, and I parted it out right on the spot. I then subsequently parted two of them due to widespread minor swelling in the cabs. Most of the remainder will be fixed.

The Galaxian's artwork sadly didn't survive cleaning. 75% or more of the black on the artwork came off. I'll probably put it between 2 other games once I get it up and running, but someday I'll probably cosmetically restore it with replacement art. I wish the art had survived... especially since this is a 25" monitor version.

I'd love to see that 25" monitor and a picture of your cab. Mine came with one of the 1st G07's made (At least that's what I've read anyway.) It's the CA0 (big board) version. Even the tube has a sticker that says Midway 1979.
 
thats a nice looking machine to me..

I would rather have a C condition survivor then an A+ restore and that to me looks even better then a C condition game.
 
I usually start with diluted simple green to get off surface dirt.. it does a pretty good job of calming down any funky smells also.

If you are lucky allot of the dirt and gunk will come off with that.

I planned on doing that with the wood parts of the inside. But the electronics, specifically the transformers, I'm a little hesitant to use simple green on them. I didn't really want to gut the machine to clean, because I know I'll have to wait for everything to dry and I really don't have patients for that. LOL I'll want to play the game wayyyyyy before they dry. :)
 
I planned on doing that with the wood parts of the inside. But the electronics, specifically the transformers, I'm a little hesitant to use simple green on them. I didn't really want to gut the machine to clean, because I know I'll have to wait for everything to dry and I really don't have patients for that. LOL I'll want to play the game wayyyyyy before they dry. :)

Everyone is different but I dont go too nuts on the inside especially if the game works the way I want it to.

Use a hand vac to vacuum up whatever you can get at and simple green the inside wherever you can.

The only time I would go so far as to rip it apart is if it had some water damage or smelled pretty strong. I dont want stuff in my house that stinks.. they all have a smell to a degree but some are way worse then others.

I have a few games that are a bit cruddy still on the inside but they work great and always have so why take a chance and mess that up.
 
I planned on doing that with the wood parts of the inside. But the electronics, specifically the transformers, I'm a little hesitant to use simple green on them. I didn't really want to gut the machine to clean, because I know I'll have to wait for everything to dry and I really don't have patients for that. LOL I'll want to play the game wayyyyyy before they dry. :)

On mine, I just sprayed some 409 on a rag and wiped everything down as best as I could.
 
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