Just arrived from Miami! Vectorbeam Space War

CaptainHendry

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I found out this might be available several weeks ago. After talking to the owner and finding out we had a lot in common, he agreed to sell. Only catch...I'm in southern California and the game was in Miami, FL. So this is my first real shipping experience. I called Michelle Bianchi at Precision Transportation and the cost to ship was just under $440.

Space War left Miami on the 18th and arrived today, a day late, because I missed the first call to schedule delivery. It arrived all wrapped in blankets and plastic which the driver cut off once it was in my garage. Here are the first pics I snapped (if it looks huge that's partly because it's on a roller dolly):

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It looks remarkably good I think! Just a little bit of crumbly wood on the front left. The side art is original. It was masked off and someone painted around it. I peeked inside the coin door and saw a lot of dust but no animals living or dead.

Now I just need to get it working again. This should be fun...
 

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Wow that looks like it's in incredible shape, very nice find!

I'm really pleased at how good it looks. You can't see it because of the reflection but the cardboard bezel around the monitor looks really clean (for 38-39 years old). Those buttons will need some retrobrite though. They are a bit yellow.
 
Congratulations on getting Space War. For being nearly 40 years old, that game looks to be in really good shape! Can't believe how good that side art looks.
 
Awesome grab! I love the vectorbeam cab compared to the cinematronics cab. The game is super fun as well. This game is easily in one of the top favorite vectors, and I know it'd be very hard to part with mine. Changing the mods mid game is one of my favorite things about this game. Congrats on an awesome pickup, hope you enjoy the game as much as I do!
 
Awesome grab! I love the vectorbeam cab compared to the cinematronics cab. The game is super fun as well. This game is easily in one of the top favorite vectors, and I know it'd be very hard to part with mine. Changing the mods mid game is one of my favorite things about this game. Congrats on an awesome pickup, hope you enjoy the game as much as I do!

Thanks! It is such a cool looking cab in person. I am really looking forward to playing this with my kids once I get it going again.
 
Congratulations on getting Space War. For being nearly 40 years old, that game looks to be in really good shape! Can't believe how good that side art looks.

Yeah on that left side the art is really clean. The other side has that one groove carved near the back, but it's not too bad. Overall it looks great for its age for sure.
 
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Welcome to the vector beam family. I think yours looks a lot cleaner than mine. Oh by the way dont use those dry eraser cleaning on the side art. It will take the ink off of the side art..
 
Congrats, I actually saw this in person when it was in Miami and it's clean, post pics when you get it working.
 
Welcome to the vector beam family. I think yours looks a lot cleaner than mine. Oh by the way dont use those dry eraser cleaning on the side art. It will take the ink off of the side art..

Thanks for the tip! I will keep the magic eraser away.

That's a great looking cabinet.

Agreed. It's a standout.

Congrats, I actually saw this in person when it was in Miami and it's clean, post pics when you get it working.

I will. I'll get a start on it this weekend. My fingers are crossed the board is not in need of major work.
 
Great pickup, cab looks to be in fantastic shape. I had to restore mine and its one I don't think I could part with. My kids play the crap out of it.
 
Great pickup, cab looks to be in fantastic shape. I had to restore mine and its one I don't think I could part with. My kids play the crap out of it.

I love to hear that. I think my son really prefers games we can play together (even if that means shooting each other with lasers).

You are putting together an impressive collection of vectors! Congrats!

I really do like them best...always have since I was 12. And I should have another one coming in about a week!
 
A few more pics

I got a chance to open the game tonight and look it over. The main board looks very clean but the sound board had a bunch of paint over spray on it. I guess they didn't remove it when they painted the sides.

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The power supply has obviously been worked on. There are splices here and there and those big blue caps (18,000 uf 50V) look new-ish. I could be wrong about that though.

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The monitor looks pretty clean as well but that's not the original HV unit. It has been replaced by someone.

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I decided to try plugging everything in to see if the breakers would trip or if (hopefully) I would hear some deflection chatter. But I heard nothing except the hum of the power supply. No neck glow on the tube. The red light on the board came on and stayed on. I unplugged it and looked everything over again.

That's when I realized the molex carrying power to the monitor had been unplugged. I plugged it in and tried turning the game on again.

Tube began to glow which was good! Then I heard small sound and noticed the resistor in the back left corner (behind that molex connector) was starting to glow! I quickly unplugged it. Obviously I have a short. Since that resistor is right next to the connector leading to the bottlecap transistors I'll start with those.

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The game will be worth whatever effort it takes but it's not looking like a quick fix.
 

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Good luck on the repairs, hopefully it isn't too much trouble to get it running. Again, I love the game and really think you'll enjoy it. It's great that it's ONLY two players, so you and the kids should have a great time!
 
Truly one of my Grails... would LOVE to have one of those.

Good job!
 
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