Opininions from the purists welcome

chris25810

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Opinions from the purists welcome

Several of you know that i picked this up a few months ago at a very nice price. This is a complete original machine with all numbers matching and it had a dead board when i got it.

lunar1.jpg


Now here's where i'd love to hear a purists point of view. This cabinet at a quick glance doesn't look too horrible however, this cabinet was pulled from some shitty old storage facility and dropped on the auction floor in all it's filth and wetness. The front two corners have since swelled to 1 1/2" thick, the bottom plywood is full of moldy residue, it's bubbled all over the cabinet inside/out, the bottom 4" of the cabinet inside/out are swelled bad enough that i'd have to disassemble the thing just to fix it and this thing stinks so bad inside you can't even stand it. I've had the back door(which is also swelled) off this pile o crap for over two months and it still smells like like a one nite stand i had back in my younger years so what do i do with it?

Option 1- I could scrap it and make a shitpile of money selling parts to everyone here that needs em. This would be very easy since i now have the board fixed and another working one to boot.

option 2- I could easily find another Asteroids game around here that would love to be scrapped for the cabinet but that would raise hell with the purists.

Option 3- I could rip the cabinet apart, drive a 1/2 mile up the road to the cabinet shop and have them spit out a new cabinet for $240 which would be real easy.

Option 4- I could spend a hundred hours taking this thing apart, bondo and sand till my hands fall off and in the end i'd still have a stinky cabinet that's full of bondo. Is this really a great option just to save a classic cabinet?
 
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Hmm. I would probably find a new/different cab and swap it all over, then give the old stinky cab away if anyone wants it. If I could make the smell go away with some type of sealer, then I'd keep it, smother it with hardener, sand it back to original width, get a new back door cut, and keep it...
 
Hmm. I would probably find a new/different cab and swap it all over, then give the old stinky cab away if anyone wants it. If I could make the smell go away with some type of sealer, then I'd keep it, smother it with hardener, sand it back to original width, get a new back door cut, and keep it...

Smell will never go away Steve, the mold is trapped between the laminate on both sides.
 
If you like the game (or if you can resell it whole), option 3 or 4. If not (and if the cabinet is really that bad), put it on the chopping block...
 
Yeah, I hate to say it, but some things really aren't worth saving. If this was Polybius or Sundance that would be different but as it is I say give away the cab if there's some purist who is so into Lunar Lander they want it to survive and if they won't take it, then bye bye. The parts will help revive other dead cabs so it will, in some way, help the game's survival overall. I mean, if you go to get a new one churned out, it's not really the same cabinet anyway and the cabinet is getting maimed... so you may as well either part it out OR move the parts to a new one and sell it whole (unless you really want it, in which case, definitely do number 3. The cab will never be good enough to keep as is, just remake it and give those parts a better home. There's more to a game's survival than just the wooden frame and I'd say it'd do the rest of the parts more good overall.)
 
I would prob find a nice Asteroids cab, if smell could not be eliminated. I heard a rumor sideart might be reproduced:eek:
 
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Yeah, I hate to say it, but some things really aren't worth saving. If this was Polybius or Sundance that would be different but as it is I say give away the cab if there's some purist who is so into Lunar Lander they want it to survive and if they won't take it, then bye bye. The parts will help revive other dead cabs so it will, in some way, help the game's survival overall. I mean, if you go to get a new one churned out, it's not really the same cabinet anyway and the cabinet is getting maimed... so you may as well either part it out OR move the parts to a new one and sell it whole (unless you really want it, in which case, definitely do number 3. The cab will never be good enough to keep as is, just remake it and give those parts a better home. There's more to a game's survival than just the wooden frame and I'd say it'd do the rest of the parts more good overall.)

But this goes completely against the KLOV motto doesn't it?
 
Smell will never go away Steve, the mold is trapped between the laminate on both sides.

I had the same problem with a Klax cab that was used as a litter box for quite a while. After some attempts with Kilz sealer, i finally stripped the cab and...

CatKlax.jpg
 
Lunar Lander in an Asteroids cab would appeal to me enough to go that route.
"perfectionist's" have way more time and money than I can ever hope to have so I'd make it "roadworthy" and be happy with it, unless a LL cab popped up reasonable...
 
This also goes against the KLOV motto doesn't it?

You're confusing the KLOV motto with the VAPS motto. KLOV is about video games, and if you still have a game (swap to another cab) or make a dead game work (sell the parts) then you are still helping video games. VAPS is more about preserving ALL games, but sometimes you have to cut down one tree so another can grow...
 
Option 5: Buy a huge supply of nose plugs, and keep the game out on the back porch...
 
Asteroids is common, you can probably find an already gutted cabinet, assuming you dont already have one.

For that matter, is there more demand for Asteroids parts than for LL? If so, gut one, save a few other Asteroids and save a LL, win win.
 
Option 6: Quit buying games you want to keep that don't meet your standards, no matter how good the price. Spend the money to get the good ones...


:D ;)
 
I have every intention of producing a beautiful LL machine when this is all over, the question is how am i'm going to do it?

Well then, I'm sure nobody cares. You have an LL now, and you have an LL later. I'm sure when you're done, it'll look so good nobody will care - or know, unless you decide to tell them. And I'm sure they'll all shake their hand and say, "Good Job!" Just reproduce the serial number tag with this one's number, and it's as if the factory made you a replacement...
 
Option 3 if art is available, because;

1: Screw purists. Ever notice the purists and "$50!" are the same people? Wonder why...

2: What's your time worth trying to clean this one and fix it, if you can have someone make you a new cab for $240?

If we kept everything original, there would be no HS save kits, no board mods...and nobody's shit would work. We'd have empty, ugly do nothing boxes in our homes.
 
It's a trap!

its-a-trap.jpg


Next he's going to say he bought that palatial estate from the monitors of 1000 burned LL's :p

Seriously though, you make option C (rebuild) sound like a cakewalk for you, so I like it. If the cab truly can't be saved; be it stank, soak, or otherwise - you're experienced enough to know when to throw in the towel. And there's the trap.
 
The front of that cab looks pretty damn good to me. Take pics of the sides, back, and inside for a more honest assessment.
 
option 20.

dissassemble the cab. replace the swelled /stinky bottom panel.

cut the bottom LHS swelled portion off the side panel, cut a replacement section and use cabinet joinery/grafting to rejoin together and some thin strengething plywood laminate glued on the inside to recover the side panel.

ditto rhs panel.

ditto front panel.

reassemble and touch up paint.

bingo! original, all numbers matching cab that has been suitably "preserved" !
 
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