Arcade Resources
Exidy’s Arcade Warehouse Raid Video
Ever experienced a ‘warehouse’ raid? This is the term arcade game collectors give to the event where you find an old operator’s warehouse full of classic games waiting to be purchased in a bulk buy. This video of Jon Exidy finding a warehouse of games is one of the better ones with so many popular games – Q*Bert, Defender, Star Wars, every popular game is in this warehouse, it is every collector’s dream. (more…)
Winter Indianapolis USAmusements Auction January 2008
I was pretty bummed that I didn’t make it to the Indianapolis USAmusements arcade game auction for the first time in a year and a half. But, with an opportunity like the Tiger Fantasy Spring Baseball Camp, I had to make an exception.
I asked Mike if he could take photos and prices of the arcade games, and like a peach, he came through. Huge nod to Mike, thanks so much.
All that he had to say was that there weren’t a ton of items there, as you will see from the photos, and everything got to be really expensive, especially the typical items like the Ms. Pacman(s) and the Galaga(s).
Maybe March will be better. I was just glad that two of the games I have been waiting to pop up here didn’t come when I left, an Xevious and / or a Mappy.
Here is a list of the pinballs not pictured above that were at the auction with prices;
- Championship Pub – $1850
- World Cup Soccer – $1000
- Kick Off (Bally EM) – $250
- Theatre of Magic – $2100
- NBA Fastbreak – $750
- Monopoly – $1850
- Gladiator – $675
- Goldeneye – $975
- Jurassic Park – $800
- SpaceJam – $725
- Dracula – $1000
- Congo – $950
- Tales from the Crypt – $875
Happ Vision Pro 19″ – $135 Feb. 2008
Got a call today from the local Happ representative, Jill Reams. I had contacted her a couple of times this month to see if Happ Vision Pro monitors would be going on sale again anytime soon. She gave me a call today and let me know that they are on the sale flyer for the month of February 2008 for $135 plus shipping. (I believe they ship out of Chicago) If you buy four or more you can get them for $130 price point.
I will be getting at least one this time around, if not two, another one for a friend on his behalf. The last time they were on sale I believe was last October, and at the time I didn’t think it was a good decision to get one. I have one brand new Vision Pro 19″ in my Jr. Pac-man, and you just can’t beat that brand new monitor. The one I am getting this time around will either go in my Pengo, which has an old, crappy, Electrohome with a good amount of Pac screen burn, or in my Mame machine that maybe one day I will finish.
Get yours now, this is a pretty good deal. I think they come out to about $150 with shipping if I remember right.
Pengo Numerals CPO Vectorized!
I got an email about a week ago (January 8th) from Chris. I knew that he had been working on the other Pengo CPO and it was a nice surprise to see that he had finished the final vector details.
Chris had a scan of the Pengo numerals control panel overlay, and he had completely vectorized the artwork in Paint Shop Pro awhile back. I had tried to convert that artwork, to bring it into Illustrator (A couple small things needed to be done, like the lettering and dot gradient and I don’t know PSP), but after a ton of hours searching I had no luck.
Well, in the meantime, Chris went out and taught himself Illustrator and did a bang up job tracing the Pengo CPO in one of his first vectorizing jobs. but he’s a small cookie anyway, he is a MIT grad! Here is a small image of it.
I am going to email him with some of my thoughts and opinions about some of the accuracy of the details. It might come down to a matter of preference between one artist and another, who knows, but we have had some good theological conversations about arcade reproduction artwork and everything will probably work out alright. Each arcade vector artist will trace something a little differently.
Having most of the Pengo artwork is a great start. We have a vector Illustrator file of Sega’s Pengo numerals CPO finished, sans color matching. As always, continue to follow Rotheblog for Pengo reproduction updates.
How do I preserve and save flaking arcade game artwork? (Ms. Pac-man)
Back in December, I managed to be the first in line to purchase an old Ms. Pac-man, sitting in a barn in Sagatuck MI. The game has great pink sideart, and is in really good condition overall, plus, I got it for a song.
Well, it sounds like the game will be making its way down to Indianapolis the week of the 21st – 27th. My main concern is that the artwork has some flaking. I don’t know how to preserve it and clean the machine. There is a good amount of dirt ground into the cabinet, like most old games, but I know that if I wipe the game down I will take some of the artwork with it.
Here is a photo example, the only one I have right now, of an area around the kickplate. I think I read somewhere about putting a clear coat on the stenciled sideart of arcade games to give them a shiny finish, and it also helps preserve the painted artwork.
Can anyone give me any suggestions on how to preserve the artwork on the Ms. Pac-man game, and keep it from flaking and peeling off any further? What cleaner, sealer, or other household product can I use to preserve the arcade artwork?
I did a search on the Klov and Google forums, and most of the flaking is related to glass marquee and bezel artwork, but not how to preserve flaking cabinet artwork. I also did a search on the pinball forums, which seem to have a more rich base of information, and the only tip I found there was “use a sealer”. Just like I thought.
- How do I stop cabinet flaking – Google Collecting Groups
- How do you stop cabinet flaking? – Google Pinball Groups
Has anyone used either of these products to seal their flaking arcade cabinet artwork?
The product on the left is Varathane Diamond Water-Based Polyurethane, and the product on the right is Krylon’s Crystal Clear Glaze.
Looking at the website, the Crystal Clear Glaze is advertised as a hi-shine sealer. I imagine that is dependant on the thickness and the coats, but still, that may not work. Thanks to Leinhit for suggesting this to me as an option, whether it may or may not be appropriate for the cabinet artwork vs. glass artwork pieces. Still, my main concern is how I get the dirt off. I doubt that “dabbing” lightly with a wet sponge is going to get all of the dirt out.
Can anyone help me with ideas? Leave a comment with your ideas.
Here are my posts in the different forums about preservation ideas for flaking, if you are interested;
Removing Masking Tape Residue on Arcade Games
On my long to do list of small arcade maintenance activites, here is a photo of my Pengo.
I think the previous owner of this Sega Pengo also couldn’t figure out how to tone down the sound on the game, so they tapes something over the speaker and left it for quite some time. You can see the thick resilient masking tape residue.
Here is what you will need, pretty simple actually.
I started out with a rag and soaked it with Goo Gone, dabbing it on the residue. But I wasn’t able to apply it as thick as I wanted.
Then I figured out to soak the Scotch Brite pad and then apply it to the underside of the cabinet to start to break down the masking tape remnants.
Then, carefully after a few minutes, I scrubbed carefully in a circular motion (not pressing too hard so I didn’t make tiny scratches in the paint) until most of the residue was gone. Here is the underside of the Pengo cabinet under the marquee after I was finished. It isn’t perfect, but it is a lot better and satisfactory for me.
Installing Mark Spaeth’s Jr. Pac-man Toggle Speed Chip Kit
Took me over a month to finish installing Mark Spaeth’s Jr. Pac-man speed up kit, but I can finally rest easy know that my switch is no longer hanging out of my coin door. There was a couple page thread about the kit on the klov forums, mostly people looking to make their Jr. Pac-man gameplay faster. But, towards the end of the thread, there were some good photos and some advice as people started to get the chip replacements in the mail. (more…)
