Games and condition

Tombo

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Not sure about all you's guys (hey, I'm from Jersey) but I think a good part of the 'arcade' nostalgia for me is a game with cig burns, dings and dents. Much like my naked self in the light, my games look like hell. BUT in the dark, thats a different story.

I started thinking about this last night while working on my Pacman mini. It has some pretty serious cig burns on the cp and frankly, I couldn't care less. Just imagine the cool mo fo' who rested his cig there while playing a game with 5 or 6 (lol) hot chicks hanging off of him watching him play.

Thoughts?

Tom
 
My games are a combination of original and some amount of light restoration. Mostly original, though. I like to see some reminders of when they were new, and then got the hell beat out of them; i.e. cig burns, hand wear marks on the side art, etc. One thing I couldn't stand was rusty periscope parts on my Sea Wolf, though. Those I had to sandblast and repaint...
 
I prefer a restored machine... but that doesn't mean all my machines are restored. Neo-Geo... for example... seems to sort of "demand" some battle scars...
 
if i have a game with a minor flaw in it.. i... hell i smash the entire game and throw it into the burnpile. Then i CNC out a new one, put on new art. etc..

The Arcade i grew up in as a kid has absolutely pristine games. No smoking, food or drink allowed, and everything in there looked box new, that's how i want my stuff to look. Once i do my 'cade everything in it will be mint.
 
This is the great dividing question in our hobby: restore, or leave well-enough alone?

I'm firmly in the "leave well enough alone" camp. The idea of anything that's already in pretty good shape being restored to excellent shape drives me nuts.
 
I just want it to play well (and be reasonably presentable). After all, that's what they're for.
 
The cigarette burns and nasty damage bother me. My basement is finished and in fairly nice shape so a beat to hell game is a little out of place down there. I only have 3 cabs too so they stick out as it is.

I like the idea of original paint and whatnot but once it gets to a point of being an eyesore I say restore. If it's been painted before, I have no qualms with stripping it down and redoing it.

On the other hand, I've got a Red DK that's got some cab damage but I wouldn't do more than touch-up paint on that one. You can't beat original japanese Nintendo finish. Sooo smoooooooth and shiney.
 
My Ms. Pac had no ciggy burns except on the kickpanel paint... :)
Really, it depends on the game.
 
I don't mind some issues with my games. My Tempest sideart is peeling a bit near the CP, and that bugs me though. I can handle CP flaws as long as they don't interfere with playing.
 
Games looking like new is the only way I can convince my wife that they belong in an "entertainment room" inside the house and not in the garage. And I'm in Texas, the garage is a shitty place even for a car 5 months out of the year. hahah
 
I don't have a preference really. They all have their place. I like full restorations. A brand new game looks incredible and I like putting a lot of work into it to make it run and look right. I like original games with a few battle scars. Beat up but all original parts is cool and has character to it. And I like weird conversions. All depends
 
i like the inbetween - fading and some scuffs/scratches are fine...but cig burns I find disgusting and were never a part of my arcade youth experience
 
Like a lot of others, I enjoy a wide range of conditions for my games. I won't redo a whole cab because of some wear and tear, but stuff like water damage and cig burns are a turn off to me. I played in smoked out game rooms as a kid, and I hated that shit then, as I hate it now.

CPOs are something I'm dealing with presently...do I replace them if damaged, or is some damage OK. Right now I'm leaning towards keeping them if they are glued down tight and sporting some damage like a cut or gouge, but replacing if they are pulling up and cracking. In the end it'll be the "bugs you" factor....if I always look at something and it bugs me, I guess I'll have to fix it.

Presently I have bigger fish to fry, like getting all my games working!
 
Not sure about all you's guys (hey, I'm from Jersey) but I think a good part of the 'arcade' nostalgia for me is a game with cig burns, dings and dents. Much like my naked self in the light, my games look like hell. BUT in the dark, thats a different story.

I started thinking about this last night while working on my Pacman mini. It has some pretty serious cig burns on the cp and frankly, I couldn't care less. Just imagine the cool mo fo' who rested his cig there while playing a game with 5 or 6 (lol) hot chicks hanging off of him watching him play.

Thoughts?

Tom

I'm not really into "restoring" games unless they are in pretty bad shape. A lot of times, people will restore something that isn't really that bad. I don't mind doing some touch up but to totally tear down a game, repaint and what not, its got to be pretty ugly. A little "character" never hurt a game. After all these things are supposed to be commercial equipment and anything commercial placed in public gets beat up at least a little.
 
Yeah I don't like restoring games. I like playing them.

I have taken a couple/few games that were converted to jamma shit, and restored them to near perfect. But the only time I think it is a good idea is when I'm done with it.

I like to rebuild my monitors, troubleshoot and learn, but beat up a little is fine with me. If I have a cab with no sideart, yeah maybe I'll put some on. Find a better marquee than what I have, sure.

I'd rather buy one of phet's cabs than put in the effort that he does.
 
After going through restoring my GORF, I can honestly say that although it is fun, a single dent or ding on the freshly restored game is gonna kill me. So therefore, in order to save my sanity, I do cabinet swaps whenever I find a game with a better cabinet. I did it with both my Galaga and my Warlords and I am perfectly content with the upgrades. That way if it gets a small ding or scratch, its whatever, and I dont waste money in artwork that may or may not get damaged again anyway.
 
I'm not very picky with usual surface wear. Water/structural damage I avoid like the plague, and if a cabinet is missing huge chunks of artwork I'll replace those spots, but in general I keep my games original. I have the utmost respect for people who restore all their games (I'm going through hell just attempting to restore one, from the 90s no less) but for me it's more about playing the games, and the games I play in the wild aren't perfect either. Every hour spent carefully retouching CPO overlays is an hour spent not playing my games with friends and I'm too busy to have many free hours these days...
 
My Xybots has a cig burn that kinda melted the t molding a bit into a U shape, just above CP. It's in a convienient spot, I now rest my cig there.
 
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