Like everyone else from the era, I enjoyed my fair share of arcade games. The only one I ever really got into, however, was Zaxxon. There was one in a local convenience store in San Diego that I played regularly, and I became pretty good at it.
Life moved on, and after decades living elsewhere, my wife and I started working on a place to enjoy retirement, returning to our youth, in the city where we met.
After periodically searching Craigslist, I found a Zaxxon for sale not too far away, in good shape, and for what seemed like a reasonable price ($575).
Now that I am its proud owner, I appreciate it even more.
I purchased it from its original owner who told me how as a young man he and his father went into business together, hoping to capitalize on a new fad. While it would be asking too much to find the exact same Zaxxon I played as a kid, I was nevertheless delighted to learn that my Zaxxon nevertheless had followed me around to some of the same places that were important in the story of my life.
It has only needed a little work. The fire button on the flight stick wasn't functioning, so I rewired it and took that as an opportunity to powder coat the shell and re-chrome the trigger. The keys to the back panel and coinbox were lost, so I had to drill them out. While I was hoping to find a fortune in forgotten quarters, there was all of 75 cents left behind. Following a tip I read on this forum, I used gaffer tape to fix up some of the black trim. I filled in areas where the side decals had rubbed off with black contact paper. To better secure the coinbox, the original owner had added an additional locking hasp, which I removed, filling in the holes with plastic plugs. I also disconnected its loud fan. With that, and a little bit of cleaning, Zaxxon is nearly fully restored.
I have enjoyed poking around its innards and learning about its history. As an early personal computing enthusiast, beginning with a homebrew Intel 8008, I was excited to find that Zaxxon's beating heart is a Zilog Z80, a chip that has been manufactured continuously up until its discontinuation this month. Another pleasant surprise is that it was manufactured in San Diego—a homecoming for both me and Zaxxon.