Restore or keep original? The collector's dilemma

pringlez

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We've all wondered it, is it best to give your cab that all new, right out of the factory look; or is some wear and tear a sign of character in an older game?

I've run into this with my BurgerTime, where my CPO is worn, bezel faded, side art flakey. At first I was saying I'll replace this, and get a new that, etc. But then I thought about getting rid of an original piece of Bally hardware, that saw the excitment of the arcade, and it made me sad.

Now, I've run into a new issue; a bit more personal one. My grandparents have a ms. Pac cocktail, converted from a pac (Pac man topglass, cpo's), and it's been in the family for years. I've recently started to think about the possibilities if I were to get it. This thing would look amazing with new art, it's been huo for most of it's life. So, what would you do? Keep it original, and how you and your family played it for years, or make it look totaly diferent, and new? I'm not even sure that I would want it now, knowing the urge to replace things would drive me crazy.

So, in this thread discuss:
1. What would you do if you were in my position?
2.what's your pesonal preference/goal of a restoration (ie: to keep all original if possible, perserving arcade history; or restoring it to a near-new standard? Or somthing in between?
 
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We've all wondered it, is it best to give your cab that all new, right out of the factory look; or is some wear and tear a sign of character in an older game?

I've run into this with my BurgerTime, where my CPO is worn, bezel faded, side art flakey. At first I was saying I'll replace this, and get a new that, etc. But then I thought about getting rid of an original piece of Bally hardware, that saw the excitment of the arcade, and it made me sad.

Now, I've run into a new issue; a bit more personal one. My grandparents have a ms. Pac cocktail, converted from a pac (Pac man topglass, cpo's), and it's been in the family for years. I've recently started to think about the possibilities if I were to get it. This thing would look amazing with new art, it's been huo for most of it's life. So, what would you do? Keep it original, and how you and your family played it for years, or make it look totaly diferent, and new? I'm not even sure that I would want it now, knowing the urge to replace things would drive me crazy.

So, in this thread discuss:
1. What would you do if you were in my position?
2.what's your pesonal preference/goal of a restoration (ie: to keep all original if possible, perserving arcade history; or restoring it to a near-new standard? Or somthing in between?

I'd leave it like it is. I have a Pac-Man that I don't have sentimental value for, but it is in pretty good shape and all original. The t-molding is faded, but I can't bring myself to make the t-molding look new on it! I already bought new t-molding just in case, but I haven't been able to do it so far.
 
The ms. Pac isn't mine, yet (lol). But I think I would keep it as I remember it from many Christmas eve's ago : ). Don't let this be the death of the thread though, I'd still like to hear opinions of the other KLOV'ers.
 
We've all wondered it, is it best to give your cab that all new, right out of the factory look; or is some wear and tear a sign of character in an older game?

I've run into this with my BurgerTime, where my CPO is worn, bezel faded, side art flakey. At first I was saying I'll replace this, and get a new that, etc. But then I thought about getting rid of an original piece of Bally hardware, that saw the excitment of the arcade, and it made me sad.

Now, I've run into a new issue; a bit more personal one. My grandparents have a ms. Pac cocktail, converted from a pac (Pac man topglass, cpo's), and it's been in the family for years. I've recently started to think about the possibilities if I were to get it. This thing would look amazing with new art, it's been huo for most of it's life. So, what would you do? Keep it original, and how you and your family played it for years, or make it look totaly diferent, and new? I'm not even sure that I would want it now, knowing the urge to replace things would drive me crazy.

So, in this thread discuss:
1. What would you do if you were in my position?
2.what's your pesonal preference/goal of a restoration (ie: to keep all original if possible, perserving arcade history; or restoring it to a near-new standard? Or somthing in between?

It's neat to have some character in your games. If I ever had a very "personal" game I would mostly like to keep it as it is. I may repaint the coin door add new coin return inserts or fix and technical problems with it. But I'd rather not do much to it.
If there is some "flaw" that really bothers you about the machine every time your thinking of it, It time to fix that.

But all and all, it's your choice what you do with it.

Ghost :cool:
 
So this is a Ms. Pac pcb in a Pac-Man cocktail. Maybe ask other family members for their opinion whether they'd like to see a new Ms.Pac cocktail. I prefer the bolder look of the Pac-Man cocktail topglass and cpo, compared to the Ms. Pac version.

If everything is there and nothing is really damaged, I'd leave it alone. If you feel you want to spend money on the cab, just buy a Pac-Man pcb to switch out once in a while.

I have a Mario Bros. cab and the only thing that really needs replacing is the cpo since some of it is worn down and torn off. So I'll do that, but leave the rest alone since it's working fine as-is. It has a scratch on the side art here and there, but the side art is complete and factory original. However, no one sees it anyway when it's placed between 2 other games.
 
If sentimentality supercedes the need to make things new,then leave it be. If you get an overwhelming,incessant urge to make it sparkling clean and new,then replace everything that needs to be.

Aside from the Street Fighter II I recently picked up,all my games have some minor to major "character". The minor stuff I'm letting it slide.My games don't HAVE to look showroom ready,although they do look very bad ass in that condition.The major stuff is a different issue.
 
I hate to admit this but, when I was a kid I remember always seeing cigarette burns above the player 1&2 buttons. When I bought my DK Jr machine I ALMOST bought a pack of cigs just to put some burns on the plexi to bring back those days.
 
Ha this reminds me of how people ridiculed me for buying secondhand inserts and even repro inserts for boxed Transformer toys. Basically it all comes down to you and no one else. If you do not care what other people think about the authenticity of your items then why should you? THis is of course, as long as you do not say that either you got it that way or everything is original.

Does it really matter? All that matters is if you are happy with your item really.
 
I'm going through this with a Galaga. Everything is worn, and could be fixed / replaced, but it's like an old car almost. I think I may just fix the technical stuff, spray the coin door, and magic eraser the rest. Maybe put Galaxian green t-molding on, but as far as all new art and a paint job with full bondo repair on beat corners / edges? Probably not... It's amazing how nice a dinged cab can look if you just scrub on it with a magic eraser.
 
I've said this a million times already, but since I dont' have any resources to do all out restorations, most of my games are slightly-fixed-up. I started to do a pretty deep resto on the Asteroids cocktail I recently sold, but other than that mine are players.
 
I'd post a couple pictures so we can make an educated decision.

I could post pics, but I will have to make a trip to my grandparents home. It's def. a converted pac, the Ms. PAC is speedy, and it says "Super Ms. Pacman" I've heard of this before and searched for it, but does this mean that it's a bootleg or a hack on the PAC-board?
 
it's amazing how a New Molding and a New CP OverLay Makes the game Look.

BTW I've never heard of Ms Super Pac-Man Only Super Pac-man.
 
personally I would leave the pac as is because of sentimental value. That is if you get the pac. With regards to any other game I would replace any parts that are damaged and have quality reproductions available. As for everything else, it really depends on the quality of your restorations. I've seen "restored" games that should have been left original if you know what I mean. IMO beat up original is better than poor quality restoration.
 
Two machines in similar shape: original always wins.

Original in slightly shabby shape vs. restored machine: original always wins.

That's my preference, especially if I'm buying something. Let me restore it or have someone restore it later on.
 
I'm all about nostalgia myself but not if it still looks and smells like a bar. If i can't clean it up and put new stuff on to make it look better, i scrap it. I used to have a heart when it came to "so so" games but not anymore, if it isn't going to be restored and end up in my collection, i'm not even bothering to waste the time doing simple repairs just to move it on down the line at a loss.
 
Well if it was originally a Pac then its most likely got a painted glass top and you wouldn't be able to change it to a Ms. pac top unless you took a razorblade to the paint and scraped it all off. As for the game board its the same exact board as Pacman just with an extra board added with a ribbon cable and 2 ROM's changed on the mother board. So if you wanted to change back and forth between the two your only going to need those to ROM chips. It would take 5 min to change the game back to pac or vise versa.
 
I'm struggling with this decision on a Ms. Pac that I recently acquired. This particular cabinet has some severe graffiti, etched into the cabinet (down to the wood). One side is nearly completely filled with people's names, years, band names, etc. The other side isn't nearly as bad. It's not nostalgia, as much as just a cool epitome of the years that this particular Ms. Pac spent in the arcades. I'd almost feel bad removing it all, like you'd probably miss a tattoo that you got removed.

Then another part of me wants a perfectly restored Ms. Pac, and thinks that with the very small amount of cash I have into this one, it could be a decent candidate for restore.

Decisions, decisions.
 
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