So I bought a Ms Pacman Today

Walkamo

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Ok, So I went to the Compton Auction today and picked up a Ms Pacman and a Street Fighter 2 Pinball...

I bought the Ms Pacman because the screen looked good and the cabinet looked OK (someone had painted it black)..

I paid 200 for it... Not sure if it was a good buy or not..

I got it home and the control panel has been rigged (No hinge and a couple of screws holding it on)...

The game runs really fast. I think it might have an upgrade board (See pics)..

I am trying to figure out of it is worth restoring (I do want a nice Ms Pac)..

Also, about 20 minutes ago the color on the screen got a little weird.. Anything that was yellow (Ms. Pac) is now kind of orange.. It changed in the middle of the game...

Can anyone tell me if this a original cabinet?

Sorry for the all the questions.. Just not sure if I made a good purchase or not..

Thanks,

Chris
 

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Looks like a Pac cab to me. The upper marquee bracket is even with the top of the sides. On a Ms Pac, the sides stick out a bit above the upper marquee bracket.
 
yep, it's a pac cabinet. and you're also missing the bracket for the daughter card (small board connected with ribbon cable) as well. that is an actual ms pac board, which is a pac board with the small board connected making it play ms pac. you most likely have the speedup rom on there making it play fast. not a bad deal for $200, though. i'd say you made out ok.
 
yep, it's a pac cabinet. and you're also missing the bracket for the daughter card (small board connected with ribbon cable) as well. that is an actual ms pac board, which is a pac board with the small board connected making it play ms pac. you most likely have the speedup rom on there making it play fast. not a bad deal for $200, though. i'd say you made out ok.

Is there a way to get rid of the speed up mod?

Also, is it worth trying to restore it to a Ms. Pac Look or just go back to a regular Pac Cab?

Thanks everyone.. I did not have a chance to meet anyone today.. It was my first auction..

I am pretty happy.. I was able to fix the color problem.. Looks like it was just a loose connector.. I cannot get over how good the screen looks.. It had about an inch of gook on the screen...

Thanks,

Chris
 
yep, it's a pac cabinet. and you're also missing the bracket for the daughter card (small board connected with ribbon cable) as well. that is an actual ms pac board, which is a pac board with the small board connected making it play ms pac. you most likely have the speedup rom on there making it play fast. not a bad deal for $200, though. i'd say you made out ok.

Plus there are single chips in place of VRAM-Addresser and the Sync-bus controller which is great. I would love to have those chips on my board instead of the damn elevated daughter cards.

I wouldn't restore it to a Ms. Pac unless you really want too. Restoring it to a Pac and throwing a multi-pac upgrade on your board is a good way to go. That way you can play both pacs and some other versions depending on the upgrade you get. Fast is the only way to play the Pac games... Especially if you have a multi-kit. Once you play the fast version, the slow is way too slow. If you want to slow it down, you just need to change one ROM out off the board to make it go the normal speed if you prefer (and some people do). Most kits allow you to choose Fast/Slow when choose the game too BTW.

Either way, looks like you got your monies worth to me.
-VJ
 
Plus there are single chips in place of VRAM-Addresser and the Sync-bus controller which is great. I would love to have those chips on my board instead of the damn elevated daughter cards.

I wouldn't restore it to a Ms. Pac unless you really want too. Restoring it to a Pac and throwing a multi-pac upgrade on your board is a good way to go. That way you can play both pacs and some other versions depending on the upgrade you get. Fast is the only way to play the Pac games... Especially if you have a multi-kit. Once you play the fast version, the slow is way too slow. If you want to slow it down, you just need to change one ROM out off the board to make it go the normal speed if you prefer (and some people do). Most kits allow you to choose Fast/Slow when choose the game too BTW.

Either way, looks like you got your monies worth to me.
-VJ


Thanks for the info...

I think I will go for the Pac Man restore... I see lots of different multi-pacs online.. What is the best one to buy?

I would like the option to play at normal speed...

Also, where is the best place to buy a PacMan CPO?

Thanks everyone...

Chris
 
I can mod your board to a 4 in 1 that will play pac and mspac fast and slow. Its menu based, nice little mod.
Thats definitly a pac cab, you can tell by the curve on the sides. On a mspac the cab curves in alot more. Also, mspac coin door sits a few inches lower. Im willing to be the serial number on that machine is fairly low since it has the customs instead of the daughtercards. Im also willing to bet there is some decent artwork under the paint. It would be worth a shot to get some citri-strip and see what kind of condition the original art is in.
I have a couple sets of the customs, use them to work on boards since the cards cover up stuff.
If your interested in a 4-1 send me a PM and I will make you a good deal.
 
Fast is the only way to play the Pac games... Especially if you have a multi-kit. Once you play the fast version, the slow is way too slow.

Bah! Fast is just too easy...you can play forever and there's no challenge when you're that much faster than the ghosts. I say - F the Speed Chip! :)

What I like on Mike Doyle's Multi-Pac is Pac-Man Plus or Ms. Pac Plus ...everything's faster proportionally - so it's still a challenge.
 
Ok,

So I found some pics of how the control panel is installed.. It uses the standard metal clip fasteners...

Does anyone know where I can buy these?

And of course now I need a marquee, bezel, and graphics to bring it back to it's original condition...

Chris
 
Like others have said, it is definitely a Pac-Man cabinet (or a Galaxian, which was the same cabinet).

And definitely see if you can remove the black paint without harming whatever is beneath it. I've used Goof Off Graffiti Remover for that before and it works really well (don't use regular Goof Off). You might get lucky and find original artwork in nice shape under there.
 
Riptor did my 4n1 Pac mod and it is GREAT!!! Menu based and no switches.

I used to think that the speed up was Pac-blasphemy but I love it now. Of course the boards up to the first 3rd Act are simple but it does get challenging. After a while the ghost do not change upon eating power pellets and after that they actually speed up after eating the power pellets.

Have Riptor do the 4n1, you will not regret it.

- Mike
 
I really like Mark's Spaeth's 6-Pac kit too since it is the cheapest kit that is menu driven. Unfortunately, I don't think he is selling them at the moment. Any kit from the 4-in-1 on up is cool since it gives you the speed variety and the choice between pac/ms pac.

You should go back and look at some of the restore threads where people remove black paint and found the original artwork in great condition. It really is worth trying. The black can actually end up preserving the original artwork as long as you can get it off without doing damage. Take a look at this post to get an idea of what it can look like.

http://forums.klov.com/showpost.php?p=525293&postcount=4

Edit: I didn't know anyone was doing the menu based 4 in 1, so that is way cool and Riptor sure does know his stuff.

-VJ
 
you really don't need a lot to make it a pac, and because they're fairly common partswise, i'm sure you can find most everything you'd need on here. the 6-pac kit made by mspaeth is great. i have it, it gives you pac/mspac/pacplus each fast or slow, you'll need to pm him for more info.

but what you'll need to make it a pac -

new control panel overlay
bezel
marquee,
monitor plexi (the smoked plexi that goes between the bezel and monitor - it's missing.)
 
Looks like an original cabinet. Wood looks ok. I vote restore.


That would be a PAC MAN cab...not a Ms. Pac... I know from too much experience...I've already had 3 Galaxiga's...

EDIT: Seems like I am late to the party.

:)

I am trying to find a Widel kit myself. Good luck with that one. He won't be making any new ones for some time to come. Oh...and if a HS SAVE option isn't important to you, Lizardlick.com sells a 24-in-1...
 
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As everyone's pretty much said, it's definitely a Pacman/Galaxian style cabinet. I would bet it's a Pacman since it's really easy for an operator to upgrade to Ms Pacman from a Pacman. If it's a Galaxian, then there's more work involved. Anyway, there might be some kind of identification tag inside the cabinet near the back or a tag that gives the dip switch settings which would likely be for the original game. A lot of times you can see yellow over spray from the factory if it's a Pacman as well.
 
Well I went out this morning and picked up some citristrip... Sprayed it on, waited 15 minutes and then came back and began very gently wipe it off.. Well, lets just say the citristrip worked way too good... Well here is the pic......


Looks like I will have to sand and completely repaint the cabinet...

Chris
 

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I've come to the conclusion that ANY cabinet that was originally sprayed and not decal'd is doomed to be recovered if oil based paint was used to cover the artwork. Man that's too bad. Those early machines are the worst to restore.
 
I think its a decent buy .

Restore that back to Pacman and do the multi pac .

I have a 96 n 1 from Mike Doyle and I love it ! It has some extra games like Pengo .
 
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I've come to the conclusion that ANY cabinet that was originally sprayed and not decal'd is doomed to be recovered if oil based paint was used to cover the artwork. Man that's too bad. Those early machines are the worst to restore.

I doubt the black paint was oil-based. Either way, the problem is that he used CitriStrip:

Use CITRISTRIP®'s all-purpose stripping gel to remove multiple layers of latex and oil-based paint, varnish, lacquer, enamel, polyurethane, shellac, acrylics and epoxy from wood, metal and masonry surfaces.

In other words, CitriStrip is designed to strip everything, including Pac-Man sideart.

As I mentioned earlier, Goof Off Graffiti Remover is ideal for such a project, because it is specifically designed to remove spray paint and whatnot while not harming most original factory finishes because they are typically more durable/different composition.

Also regardless of what product you use, it is always a good idea to test it on a small inconspicuous area first. I guess it doesn't matter now, as what's done is done; though he could still try a more appropriate product for stripping the black paint and then try to touch up the area that CitriStrip ruined.
 
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