My first classic, and man is she pretty

TK_Monkey

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Saw a listing on CL for a Millipede last week, caught it like a day after it'd been posted and figured it was gone, but emailed the guy anyway. Still available but "lots of interest". I'd had Centipede on the want list for a while, but nice ones around here seem to go for like 500, which was a tad more than I had in the budget. I saw this Millipede for a decent bit under that figure, within the budget, and figured it would have some issues. I shuffled my feet for a few days, finally said the hell with it, I'll email him again to see if it's sold yet and when I refreshed my inbox before sending him mail, there was an email from him saying it was still available and was I still interested in it. This my friends is fate. Said I'd need a day or two to put gear/borrowed truck/extra hands together unless he could deliver. He said "how about tomorrow between 11 and 1" and we figured things out. I tried the klov standard of offering beer for delivery, but he's not a beer guy, so it goes.

He pulls up yesterday in a minivan, was a really nice dude, and as soon as the back of the car opened I tried to keep my jaw off the ground. From the inital look, the machine was in really, really, really good shape. Once it came out I knew I'd really lucked out. This thing is damned near pristine, the art is in amazing shape, with a couple scuffs here and there that are easily removable assuming it's safe to use a magic eraser to get rid of crayon on this artwork w/o damaging it. There's some cracking on the marquee where it bends just above the monitor and I think a bearing or roller is wonky, have to pull the trackball assembly apart and will probably get the trackball restore kit from arcadeshop (I think I remember that being someone here) when I order the multipede kit. No keys, it'd been on freeplay, so I picked the back door (that pick kit I got based off the thread a while back is one of the best investments I've made in arcade stuff) and was treated to a basically untouched and very pretty inside, back door sheet perfectly intact with the manual still in the plastic bag on the door, and the serials on the board, power supply and ARII all match the plate on the machine, UR01776. Monitor is bright, sharp and though I haven't popped off the plexi on the front, looks to have zero burn in. Must not have been on route too long, as there's only 6668 clicks on the counter.

I am a very, very happy man, and since "pics or it didn't happen", here ya go:

millifront.jpg


millileft.jpg


milliright.jpg


millikick.jpg


That's the art, more pictures including the internals at http://coinop.clubseal.net/millipede/ . I realized I didn't want to put my computer chair back in there with the Milli on the end so it's now in between my two other cabinets for protection. Thank you Atari for having the good sense to put wheels on your cabinets so that I could move this thing by myself between two other machines without screwing up the artwork or dropping it on myself.
 
wow wtg super nice game! Did you buy it for the 500 or did you get a lower price?

Did he charge too have it delivered too you?
 
wow wtg super nice game! Did you buy it for the 500 or did you get a lower price?

Did he charge too have it delivered too you?

Oh I just meant Centis around here go about 500 in nice shape and that was a little steep. Paid 350 for the machine, slid him 20 for the delivery. Not exactly the $50 klov standard for cab purchases, but it sounds like a lot of people were trying to talk him down in price and missed out because of it. 370 delivered ain't cheap, but I think it was a damned nice price for a Milli in this shape.
 
yea I saw that one on craigslist but I couldn't swing that kinda dough...such nice shape! I tried to lowball the guy and never heard back...it works every once in awhile :)

nice pick up!
 
I think that is a great price considering the shape it is in and the fact that he brought the game to you. Well played sir..
 
That is one sweet cab TK. Great choice :)

Now all you need is a dedicated red Z cab to put your SFII CE on. I'm almost finished restoring mine :)
 
I don't even like Millipede but that is one minty looking cabinet. The CPO looks brand new. No nasty cracking at the bend or anything. Very nice cabinet.
 
That is one sweet cab TK. Great choice :)

Now all you need is a dedicated red Z cab to put your SFII CE on. I'm almost finished restoring mine :)

Yeah the 3-Koam is also on the list, I want to do a proper CE in it. The one there with the CE marquee is a machine I got that was converted to hell and back which I'm turning into a multi-fighter with a 6-1 switcher. Couple CE boots, Soul Edge v 2 and another board if I ever find it. I have a nos full set of the black/yellow conversion artwork that I want to scan and get repro'd and drop the repro art onto one of those big red cabs.

That's way down the road though, after figuring out if the slightly finnicky track ball is just a lubrication issue or a "time to get a full set of rollers and bearings" thing I'm going to try to finish off the multi fighter. I've got a new CPO and have to get a button overlay I'm cleaning up in photoshop (modified Capcom vs SNK set, it sounds awful but the finished product should look decent for a conversion) and I have to do the +5 and service mod to the 6-1. Probably going to replace the relays on it as well so I don't wind up with a 3-1 over time because they fried. That's all when I can find the time with work/life/other hobbies going on.

So can anyone confirm if it's safe to use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on the crayon on the kick plate art without destroying it? That and the couple other small scuffs should be magic erasable but I don't want to wind up destroying the art in the process.
 
Yeah the 3-Koam is also on the list, I want to do a proper CE in it. The one there with the CE marquee is a machine I got that was converted to hell and back which I'm turning into a multi-fighter with a 6-1 switcher. Couple CE boots, Soul Edge v 2 and another board if I ever find it. I have a nos full set of the black/yellow conversion artwork that I want to scan and get repro'd and drop the repro art onto one of those big red cabs.

That's way down the road though, after figuring out if the slightly finnicky track ball is just a lubrication issue or a "time to get a full set of rollers and bearings" thing I'm going to try to finish off the multi fighter. I've got a new CPO and have to get a button overlay I'm cleaning up in photoshop (modified Capcom vs SNK set, it sounds awful but the finished product should look decent for a conversion) and I have to do the +5 and service mod to the 6-1. Probably going to replace the relays on it as well so I don't wind up with a 3-1 over time because they fried. That's all when I can find the time with work/life/other hobbies going on.

So can anyone confirm if it's safe to use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on the crayon on the kick plate art without destroying it? That and the couple other small scuffs should be magic erasable but I don't want to wind up destroying the art in the process.

I would say it is safe, but just don't scrub too hard. Try without it first. I got rid of a lot of scuffs on mine easily just with 409 and a paper towel.

Also, just rebuild the trackball and forget about it. The $30 is well worth it, and it will probably last a very long time with home use. Every used trackball I get is rebuilt now. It is a very noticeable difference even if it already feels pretty good.

Have fun with it, this is a great game. I finally broke 100k and now have my initials saved. It took a while, this game is pretty brutal. After you have had the multipede kit for a while, please post how you like it, and how often you play Centipede. I am thinking about getting one, but it is expensive for me right now, so I am a little reluctant.
 
I would say it is safe, but just don't scrub too hard. Try without it first. I got rid of a lot of scuffs on mine easily just with 409 and a paper towel.

Also, just rebuild the trackball and forget about it. The $30 is well worth it, and it will probably last a very long time with home use. Every used trackball I get is rebuilt now. It is a very noticeable difference even if it already feels pretty good.

Have fun with it, this is a great game. I finally broke 100k and now have my initials saved. It took a while, this game is pretty brutal. After you have had the multipede kit for a while, please post how you like it, and how often you play Centipede. I am thinking about getting one, but it is expensive for me right now, so I am a little reluctant.

I've always thought of 409 as a fairly harsh cleaner, but I guess the art on these things was made to put up with some abuse on location. There's a bit of a stain on the CPO I will have to see if I can get off of there with just water.

The trackball rebuild kit is actually only $20 at arcadeshop, I was getting ready to ask if there was a difference between that one and the one bob has, as bob's is 5 bucks more, which is unusual for him. I'm getting ready to pop the trackball assembly out and see what's in there, if the rollers are worn I'll just order the kit.

Will definitely post a trip report once I get the multipede installed and have a chance to mess with it for a while.

*e* Pulled out the track ball and looks like the rollers are worn and there's a flat spot on one of them. Figured as much when I heard the clickclickclick. Bearings on that one are rusted to hell too, yay full rebuild kit added to order.
 
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