New game pickup Saturday - Centipede, Space Invaders Deluxe

MadocOwain

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New game pickup Saturday - Centipede, Space Invaders Deluxe

I had a lead on a couple of games in Greensburg IN last June - a non-working Space Invaders Deluxe and a non-working Centipede - and never followed it up. At the time, I was preparing to move, had a full storage unit, and didn't want to spend the time and money on two non-working games at the time. Now that I'm all moved in and the Barcade is nearly completed, I thought it might be a good time to re-visit the subject and see if I could get the games.

I pinged my contact and her husband still had the games available, and would meet me at his mother's garage to help load the games. Through rain-threatening clouds I drove, 50+ miles to the garage. For $50 each, I'd be happy if the games had ANYTHING salvageable. When I arrived, I found both games were unconverted, but had some water damage. The SID, especially, had lots of crumbling particle board. The Centipede game had separated at the bottom right a little, but was generally in better shape. The seller told me he got the games from a woman who dated his father. She had several games still, and had given him two of the games as reward for helping her move. I'm hoping to follow the lead up and pick up some more games for the Barcade soon.

Got the games home, unloaded, and inspected them. The SID was completely locked up, power cord was inside, and I'd not been provided with keys. The coin door looked like someone had been trying, unsuccessfully, to pry it open. Luckily, I had a screwdriver, hammer, and a better idea of the anatomy of a coin door lock than the previous owner. Soon as I got the door open, I grabbed the spare key from the hook inside the door and opened the back. Checked for loose connections, missing boards, etc. and found it looked good to go. When I plugged it in, I figured it would not power on but maybe I could get it going enough to determine what worked, and part the game out as necessary. Imagine my surprise when the game came right up! After some warm-up time it looked great!

Centipede however was no picnic. I plugged it in and turned it on after an inspection. The red light came on for the board, and the monitor displayed a picture - a compressed green mess. Tried putting it into test mode, coining up, etc., nothing worked. Went back to the back of the game and noted a new light that wasn't there before.. the AR/II-02 board's R30 was burning merrily! So, I've at least established the monitor is partly there at minimum, and the boardset is at least partly there. I've ordered a repair kit from Bob Roberts, and have identified at least one wire in the edge connector that is "iffy". The sideart is good though a little bubbly in places due to the water damage mentioned earlier, the marquee and bezel look great. The CP is trash however but the cones are intact and light up. I've ordered a trackball replacement kit from Bob Roberts. The game came with a NOS CPO, so I've removed the old CP and stripped the art.

The goal is to get Centipede working 100%, and install it in the Barcade - $50, $77 in parts and a little elbow grease is well worth the effort. The SID is available for trade. I'm looking for a nice DK, Missile Command, Gyruss, or Dig Dug, and wouldn't be opposed to adding a bit of cash as necessary to complete the trade.

Thanks for reading!
 

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Great pick-ups! That's some good luck on that SI, but let's hope the Centipede can get back on its feet. Down, but not out!

I know how that is with the wood crumbling. My Phoenix left a trail when I rolled it into the living room...
 
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