The "Who Owns a Particale Cab" Thread

squall280

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Just wanted to poll the community and see who owns a particle cab.
If so, what is the game and what issues if any have you had with it as far as when you purchased it, restored them, or how time/weather has been to them.
 
Plenty of my cabs are particle board. As long as they were not swelled from water/moisture when I got them there have been and should be no issues as long as they are kept in a dry environment. Not really harder to restore than a real wood cab. As for which games. All 4 atari system cabs, 3 atari system 2 cabs, 720, pepper II, centipede, tempest, millipede and the list goes on.
 
Killer comet, Racin Force, Pacman cocktail... There are a lot of them. Only problem I had was the corners always seen to be broken when I get them. They absorb water easy but if your not an idiot or get lucky with flood seasons that shouldn't be a problem.
 
I've got a particle DK Jr. cab. It's in really nice shape (aside from some brown paint on the bottom side I need to figure out how to remove). I'd call it an 8 or 9 out of 10.
 
Lots of games are particle board. Anything Atari is going to be particle board. I've got a couple in really nice shape, and I've had others that were a total loss due to moisture damage. But, as long as the cabinet is in decent shape when you get it, there's nothing really wrong with being made out of particle board other than the fact that they weigh a ton.

Some games aren't particle board - they're MDF. (Think "really thick cardboard") That stuff is just as bad. It fuzzes and frays and swells. Galaga is made out of MDF. Again, if you get one in good shape, it's fine, but many aren't in good shape.

The plywood cabinets are arguably the best - stuff like Ms. Pac-Man, Williams games, etc. Of course, plywood isn't perfect either, it delaminates and chips/flakes apart at the bottom if the game is slid around without leg levelers. The advantage to plywood is that it's easy to glue back together, it doesn't just absorb moisture from the air, and it's a lot sturdier. On a few games that were badly splintering at the bottom I was able to just squirt glue in between the layers of plywood and clamp it back together. Then, once it was dry, I installed that aluminum edge channeling on the bottom, to keep it from splintering more. Not original, but a good way to hide the damage.

-Ian
 
LOL.. I think EVERYONE here has at least a few cabs made from particle board. Its the number one reason the first question you ask about a game is ..does it have any water damage or swelling... that material is like a sponge. Even if the cab never sits in water but is stored in a humid or damp environment..it will swell.
 
Particle board is really common, The only problems i've ever had is when the leg levelers are not being used and they are sitting right on the floor. Keep these cabs from sitting on the floor especially if they are on concrete floors, they will wick mosture like crazy. Just my 2 cents.
 
Just wanted to poll the community and see who owns a particle cab.
If so, what is the game and what issues if any have you had with it as far as when you purchased it, restored them, or how time/weather has been to them.

You have a lot of particleboard games in your sig.

Just make sure your orange DK isn't soft at the bottom, or appear swollen and you'll be fine. If it's seen a touch of moisture no big deal.
 
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