In 1982 I was 15-years-old and living in the Northern Virginia suburbs. My best friend and I both loved arcade games. My favorite was Asteroids. His favorite was Tron. (He wanted to be an artist and the art of Tron had really inspired him.) But Tron never made it to 7-11 or the drug store near my house, both of which had a rotating selection of games. The only place we could play Tron in 1982 was a drug store that was 2 miles away on Main Street.
So every few weeks, we would load up on all the quarters we had and walk the 2 miles to play Tron. There were lots of great arcade games in the late 70s and early 80s, but Tron seemed extraordinary to us even then. The cabinet was so cool with the blacklights and amazing art. It was as if a piece of Hollywood magic had claimed a tiny outpost in our otherwise bland world. We'd play for maybe an hour or a little more (I was never very good, my friend was better) and once we were out of money we'd walk 2 miles back. That was 35 years ago now, but I still remember it all like it's something I did last month.
Needless to say, I've been on the lookout for a Tron since I got into this hobby. I got one this summer from my friend Kalan. It was a project. It didn't turn on. The art was missing or shot, but the cabinet itself was solid. No water damage or swelling. Everything was there. Here's what it looked like when I first got it home:
The side art was missing on both sides. One side seemed to have been used for archery practice or something. There were small divots all over the place.
The other side looked better:
As I mentioned, the art was pretty rough. The front of the control panel overlay is chipped exposing some rust underneath.
The shroud looks faded and some of it has chipped off. The interior art along the side is still bright but it has been beat up as well.
So it was definitely going to be a project but I was so happy to have it. I walked out into the garage a few times the first night just to stare at it. For me, it really brings back good memories of 1982.
So every few weeks, we would load up on all the quarters we had and walk the 2 miles to play Tron. There were lots of great arcade games in the late 70s and early 80s, but Tron seemed extraordinary to us even then. The cabinet was so cool with the blacklights and amazing art. It was as if a piece of Hollywood magic had claimed a tiny outpost in our otherwise bland world. We'd play for maybe an hour or a little more (I was never very good, my friend was better) and once we were out of money we'd walk 2 miles back. That was 35 years ago now, but I still remember it all like it's something I did last month.
Needless to say, I've been on the lookout for a Tron since I got into this hobby. I got one this summer from my friend Kalan. It was a project. It didn't turn on. The art was missing or shot, but the cabinet itself was solid. No water damage or swelling. Everything was there. Here's what it looked like when I first got it home:
The side art was missing on both sides. One side seemed to have been used for archery practice or something. There were small divots all over the place.
The other side looked better:
As I mentioned, the art was pretty rough. The front of the control panel overlay is chipped exposing some rust underneath.
The shroud looks faded and some of it has chipped off. The interior art along the side is still bright but it has been beat up as well.
So it was definitely going to be a project but I was so happy to have it. I walked out into the garage a few times the first night just to stare at it. For me, it really brings back good memories of 1982.

