Galaga by Bally/Midway, 1981
STATUS:No Longer In the Collection
Originally when purchased:
Final Restoration:
Description of game:
Unofficial sequal to Galaxian, this is one of the most popular classic arcade games. Can’t count how many people have asked if I can find one for them. This cabinet is even more popular because it is a cocktail style cabinet, which is easier to keep in your home.
Different games that this cabinet plays:
Can also play Mappy and maybe some others. Not too sure.
How I got it:
When I purchased this I thought it was a Mappy. I got it home, turned it on, and the monitor came on but the game was dead. Found a power plug not connected that had some charring on it, cleaned it off, plugged it in and BOOM! Galaga!
Restoration Details (Completed 3/19/2000)
When I began the restoraton, the game is not in terrible shape, but it was in a Mappy cabinet. I’m not sure if they used exactly the same cabinets, but this one seems a little different. There are more grills (vents) and a wider opening over the control panels than my new underlay had. Probably later product enhancements but I’m not sure. I purchased new cocktail graphics (reproduction). Below is a picture of what it look like before I began.
As you can see, it didn’t look too bad. Obviously, the graphics had to be changed. I also needed to remove the lockbar. Inside, the game was still in great shape, just needed cleaned up. The only step that I did not do to this machine is to replace the woodgrain vinyl. Here’s what needed to be done for this restoration:
- Remove all old Mappy graphics
- Sandblast and paint all black metal parts (glass clips, coin door, control panels, vents, and speaker grills).
- Remove lockbar and fill holes
- Clean out interior
- Install new cocktail graphics
- Install new 3/4″ T-molding. The 1″ t-molding was still in good shape, and was a little difficult to find at the time.
- Trade for a nice Tempest!!!
This game already was fully functional. The boardset had the Namco ROMs in it. I’ve already played it for hours and it works great. The monitor had just been recapped by my good friend Jeff Bovee (before I started doing my own cap kits). The picture looked great! Has anyone ever noticed that every time you move a cocktail, the monitor needs degaussed. After a while it ends up degaussing itself. It’s a good thing, because I’ve been too cheap to buy a degaussing coil!
Step 1: Remove old Mappy graphics
Well, luckily the top glass was clear with a Mappy underlay. The only thing I had to do to remove it is to remove the glass clips and pull the glass off the top. The control panel overlays were another story. After a little time with a heat gun and a scrapper, they were removed. Below is the player 2 overlay.
I saved them in case anyone was interested in making reproductions for this. They are not in the greatest shape as you can see, but with a little cleanup they will be fine. I ended up giving them to Jeff Rothe of Rotheblog
Step 2: Remove metal parts for painting
I removed the control panels, coin door, glass clips, and speaker grills for repainting. After looking closer at the coin door, I decided to skip doing it and just touch it up. At the time I thought that there would be way too much that I could mess up by sandblasting and baking the coin door. There really was only one small spot that needed paint. Here are a few pics of what it looks like when you remove these parts:
What a mess of parts! Below is a shot of the graphics that were to be installed later. They were very nice!
I took the parts in to work and sandblasted them during my lunch. I then phosphate coated them (for paint adhesion and corrosion resistance) and baked on a nice black paint. You’d need a sandblaster to strip them!
Step 3: Rebuild the control panels
Once the parts are painted, I could apply the new control panel overlays. The hardest part of this step is to get the overlay on straight. I actually forgot to mark on the joystick which way was up, but luckily I guessed correctly on both panels!
Step 4: Clean out cabinet and rebuild
Finally time to rebuild the cab. I took time to sweep out every area possible. I figured that there was a either a broken top glass or broken monitor in it at one point since there was broken glass still in the cabinet. I also wiped down the entire cabinet, trying to remove any leftover dust on the outside. It sure builds up on a cabinet in 18 years or so. I then reinstalled the pieces and the new top glass underlay. Finally, I applied the new t-molding and the game looked great!
Without t-molding.
Complete, with new t-molding installed
Step 5: Final testing and approval
The last step! I had to get an expert to try out the game to make sure everything worked properly!
What it still needed when it left my collection:
It could still use new vinyl over the wood to really make it look new, but that project is for the new owner.
Who has it now:
Traded it to Brian Penzone for a Tempest. I did see that it ended up on Ebay and sold for what I thought it would. Brian definitely got the better of me in the trade. The Tempest was not really in good shape. The monitor failed shortly after I got it. Then the PCB failed. I finally sold it after having it repaired just to get rid of it. Oh well, I wanted to have a Tempest really bad. I’m also a little disappointed that I didn’t get to be the one to give the Galaga to the final owner.
Links:
Screen Shots:
