Got a Ms. Pac today...scrapin' off black paint!!!

RareHero

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A friend IMs me this morning, asking me about Ms. Pac-Mans...his buddy was about to buy one for $500 off CL that was described as "Mint" (HAH). I told him I could get him one cheaper. So - also on CL there's an ad w/ a Galaga Mini and a Ms. Pac (painted black) that's been up forever...figured they were gone by now ($300 for both). I called the guy - Ms. Pac was still available. I went and snagged it for my friend's friend.

The paint on the front scraped off pretty easily w/ a credit card...I didn't get it all yet, but check it out:

PacBefore.jpg


PacAfter.jpg


The sides don't seem scrapable like the front...I hope that doesn't mean it was sanded. What type of paint stripper are you guys using these days for this type of job?
 
Ive heard goof off works wonders, but I honestly dont know. Just wanted to say: why would anyone paint over that? The front looks like it just came off the assembly line. Hope the sides come out that way.

Also wanted to say: A Galaga and Ms. Pac, $300 for both? Why the hell didnt you jump on that one sooner?
 
Ive heard goof off works wonders, but I honestly dont know. Just wanted to say: why would anyone paint over that? The front looks like it just came off the assembly line. Hope the sides come out that way.

Yeah - the pinks are great...no fade! Looks like the black paint protected it. I found a manual on the inside for converting a Pac to a Nintendo Vs. game...so maybe they planned on converting it but just left it.

Also wanted to say: A Galaga and Ms. Pac, $300 for both? Why the hell didnt you jump on that one sooner?

Psychological....1.) I haven't been buying that many vids 2.) I kept seeing it reposted, so I figured they were beat to shit/not worth it. *shrug*
 
The game looks really nice; I hope you can get the paint off the sides without wrecking the original artwork! Let us know how it turns out...
 
Even if you can't get the sides clean...the front looks mint...well worth the price you paid and you saved your buddy a few hundred bucks...Not likley they used different black paint for sides..maybe just need to use a little heat first to see if paint will bubble and then peel..I stay away from chemicals until last resort..no matter what brand...just too much of risk of damaging nice art underneath..see if heat will take that off first before applying anything...if the front scaped off chances are the sides will too with some elbow grease.
 
Don't you wanna find the guy that painted black and have "words" with 'em? ;)
Are you gonna go for a restore? How was the Galaga, I always liked the minis.
 
Is there a chance that this is one of the late runs of Ms. Pacman and has the decal sideart instead of painted sideart? That would explain the paint coming off much easier.
 
He probably would have noticed that. I think the decal Ms. Pacs had blue t-molding, but I guess that could have been replaced. Chances are it just got painted before it faded.
I agree with trying to use heat. Goof off works great on some games, but I think it would kill the original art on a Ms. Pac.
 
You could try soaking a paper towel in goof off, then stick the sheet to the side of the cab. Let it sit for a good while then peel it off and if you are lucky the black paint will come off with it and leave the original artwork intact underneath. I've heard this does a good job of separating the black paint from the original paint since the black paint soaks into the sheet.

Worth a shot.
 
Not sure why I get a kick out of seeing Ms. Pacs with Blue eye shadow on the front. I wish there was a page showing all the differences between runs of Ms. Pac art from the factory. Can't wait to see how the sides come out.
 
Not sure why I get a kick out of seeing Ms. Pacs with Blue eye shadow on the front. I wish there was a page showing all the differences between runs of Ms. Pac art from the factory. Can't wait to see how the sides come out.

Oh, is that an oddity? I never noticed that detail before.

I was looking in another thread about using a heatgun to bubble up black paint ...you guys think I can use a hair dryer - or is that not hot enough?
 
Oh, is that an oddity? I never noticed that detail before.

I dunno. I'm sure someone else now is going to think they have some super rare version with blue eye shadow and try to sell one for $10k.

I've seen it before, but I haven't seen a lot of Ms. Pacs. The marquee has them, but the stencils don't have them, two-bits doesn't have them, I think the last vinyl Ms. Pacs had them (yours isn't vinyl or at least isn't the version I'm talking about).

To me, It's a just cool bit of random trivia that I like to see.
 
I dunno. I'm sure someone else now is going to think they have some super rare version with blue eye shadow and try to sell one for $10k.

I've seen it before, but I haven't seen a lot of Ms. Pacs. The marquee has them, but the stencils don't have them, two-bits doesn't have them, I think the last vinyl Ms. Pacs had them (yours isn't vinyl or at least isn't the version I'm talking about).

To me, It's a just cool bit of random trivia that I like to see.

I just looked at some pics of Ms. Pacs - and I also noticed that mine has Pink outlines around Ms. Pac and the ghosts....damn I might have to keep this thing now. ;)
 
Cool, I always focused on the eyes and didn't notice that. Let's see the sideart to see if we can spot any differences.
 
Cool, I always focused on the eyes and didn't notice that. Let's see the sideart to see if we can spot any differences.

The sides are going to be tougher. I'm going to borrow a heat gun tomorrow and see what I can accomplish. I don't know if it's a different paint on the side...but it doesnt just peel off like the front does. I tried to scrape a little w/ my fingernail - and some of the blue came off w/ the black. :(
 
Heat gun doesn't sound like a good idea to me. I've heard many recommendations on a few different chemical brands and seen actual results. I've never heard of anyone using a Heat gun unless they took everything off. Not saying it won't, I've just never read a restoration doing that.
 
The sides are going to be tougher. I'm going to borrow a heat gun tomorrow and see what I can accomplish. I don't know if it's a different paint on the side...but it doesnt just peel off like the front does. I tried to scrape a little w/ my fingernail - and some of the blue came off w/ the black. :(

i'm sure you know but i'd just be careful and do the very bottom corner or whatever so you don't pull off and of the art, just the blue paint worst case.
 
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