local Asteroids cab. / connection methods for swappable CP's

[Louis Tully]

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[TopJimmyCooks]

To quote the american antique pickers:
"The time to by a beat up Asteroids cab is 'when you see it' "

(guess I'm saying I would buy it.  Beat them down to $67.50)

Wait a minute- has the control panel rusted through the CPO?  Fugeddaboudit.  it would be a lot of work to make it look good, I would hold out for something in better shape, bigger monitor support setup, etc.

HTH

[boardjunkie]

There is no overlay.....its painted on art. I dunno what the 2 extra buttons up near the start buttons are there for.....hack job. I guess you could use a plexi over it and make yer own layout. I wouldn't pay 75$ for that POS. Hell...I only paid 50$ for my nice complete Asteroids UR.

I can't imagine there's a shortage of 19" cabs around. There should be all kinds of orphaned Dynamo and other generic cabs around since operators dumped them for 25" cabs in the 90s.....

The only advantage to a beat up un restorable Asteroids cab is the large control panel that lends itself to MAME well. Yer call....but it would be a lotta work to get it solid again.

[Dervacumen]

If you want to end up with a working Asteroids machine, I would pass unless it was $25 or less.
If you want to part it out you might be able to break even.

The thing with Asteroids cabinets, IMO is that they come up pretty often for $200 or so complete with monitor and board as well as a fully populated CP.  By the time you got the board set, monitor, buttons, even without the art you're looking at more than $200.
I found mine for $100, fully working with a minor board glitch that I had fixed for $60.  The CP is similar in shape to yours but the cabinet is solid.

[Mikezilla]

If you want to end up with a working Asteroids machine, I would pass unless it was $25 or less.
If you want to part it out you might be able to break even.

Im with this. If you can get him down to $25 bucks, then I would get it, if not, then tell him forget it. He will probably come around in a day or so because nobody else with any type of arcade knowledge would buy that POS for that much money.

[opt2not]

Those corners look too damaged for simple bondo to fix. You'll probably need to cut off that one corner (the worst one) and replace it with a piece of wood, using dowels, glue and wood-filler to secure and smooth over.
The rust on the CP can be removed by scraping it with a wire-wheel in your drill chuck, then you can just repaint/seal it and get a replacement CPO -- unless you know someone that can silkscreen it back to original.

There are no pictures of the side art condition, but given that you've got a lot of corner work needed for the sides, you might need to get new side art that will cost you over $100 (gameongrafix has the set for $189.00).

IMO, even if you could get this for $25, there's way too much work and cost involved in getting it to a decent shape. Probably run you close to $500 in costs and labour.
I'd pass on it entirely and find a better conditioned cabinet to Mame.

[Louis Tully]

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[Louis Tully]

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[Q*Bert_OP]

And you've got a Bally/Stern pinball MPU board in there too 

[yotsuya]

I paid $60 for my first gutted cab, $30 for the second one. You'd spend at least $100 for cabinet grade wood. Have fun with it!

[javeryh]

It would be awesome if you restored it back to Asteroids.  Even if you had MAME running under the hood.

[TopJimmyCooks]

Louis -I'm interested in the Bally MPU if you want to unload it. 

[yotsuya]

Louis-

This thread will be your friend:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=49927.0

I know it was for me!

[Dervacumen]

I didn't realize there were a few boards in there.  Anyway, you're right; for $40 as long as you have the room and the time it looks like a good find, especially if you want to use it as a tutorial cabinet.  That's what I did.  I got a good deal on a cab and tried all kinds of restoration techniques on it to see first hand the results.
Nice grab and I'm glad we saved you $35.  Go have dinner with a friend on BYOAC!

[Louis Tully]

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[Thenasty]

$75 is a steal if the Monitor is included  

Restoring it, it's worth. just be prepared for the hefty price on Vector monitor.


Last option is to MAME it. For $75, it still worth it.

[Louis Tully]

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[boardjunkie]

The board  mounted to the side of the cab is the original Asteroids board. Do they still have the monitor that "died"? If so get it and take it with you....

[D_Harris]

$75 is a steal if the Monitor is included 

No monitor. 


It still had the monitor and service manuals sitting inside. And these two boards.

I'll take some pictures soon. It's out in the workshop. The volcano buttons seem like they're still in good shape. The front corners are as ---smurfy--- as the pictures show. The cab isn't that bad though. Needs some casters bad. It's a clunky SOB. The people I got it from said that everything should work still. They said the monitor died and they hooked up an old tv and Atari for a little while and then it just sat in the corner. 

-L

I think you definitely got a great deal.

I personally don't think it is a good cabinet for MAME though.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

[Well Fed Games]

Unless a person is independently wealthy, any cab is a good cabinet for MAME. 

I personally don't think it is a good cabinet for MAME though.

[D_Harris]

Unless a person is independently wealthy, any cab is a good cabinet for MAME. 

 

You have to be independently wealthy in order to have a good MAME cab?

Nevertheless, perhaps I just have high standards, but I don't think that any cab would be good for MAME.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

[Louis Tully]

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[Well Fed Games]

Sorry, I mean, compared to trying to restore a cab to factory conditions, finding all original parts, etc.;  Sticking a TV in, tossing a PC in there and making something creative is much cheaper.

Unless a person is independently wealthy, any cab is a good cabinet for MAME.  

 

You have to be independently wealthy in order to have a good MAME cab?

Nevertheless, perhaps I just have high standards, but I don't think that any cab would be good for MAME.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Edit: I always mess up the formatting of quoted posts.

[D_Harris]

I personally don't think it is a good cabinet for MAME though.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=114134.0

Really? I just brought it in the house this afternoon and I'm loving it. What, in your opinion, is wrong with this cab. for a MAME setup? It's a pretty standard design, from what I can tell. The control panel is massive. Tons of room for custom layouts.   Just curious about your point of view is all, not starting ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.

-L

Personal preference. It's great for Asteroids. I have one myself. (But I am a classic gamer whose very first quarter went into an Asteroids machine).

For MAME I'd use a cabinet where the monitor isn't as low and "sunk" in and a control panel that is closer to horizontal.

Perhaps being 6' 2" tall is a factor in why I feel an Asteroids cabinet isn't ideal.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

[Louis Tully]

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[Louis Tully]

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[boardjunkie]

Big fricken deal. I have 2...an upright and a cocktail. So what?

[TopJimmyCooks]

Let there be an end to the poo flinging.

If that cab shall be called a holy relic by the denizens of the arcade, let it be restoreth to thine proper glory.

If that cab shall be a busted up asteroids, emptied of soul and display by the forces of the elder op's and uncaring, unwise previous owners, by all that is good, let it be resurrected as a heathen multigame device, or a taxidermied goat, or even lit afire and doused with urine if it pleaseth its owner.  

Go in peace, that is all.

[Louis Tully]

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[TopJimmyCooks]

I am also going to have to second the comment by TopJimmyCooks. This is a great cab for mame. Open/shut case.

Yea verily, I wasn't trying to taketh sides.  Just to steer this thread back onto it's righteous path to enlightenment. 

-OM-

-OM-

out.

[Vigo]

Wise clarification, Zen Master TopJimmyCooks. Since the asteroids cabinet was dubbed many times over by the arcade denizens as too expensive for $100, I presumed karma declared it's Mame fate to be a suitable reincarnation.   

[D_Harris]

Perhaps being 6' 2" tall is a factor in why I feel an Asteroids cabinet isn't ideal.

I can see how that would be a major factor. I'm only 5' 11" and I've accidentally bounced my forehead off the metal marquee holder once. It'll probably happen a few more times before I learn not to do that.  A bar stool will fix that for sure.

I assume that you've given some thought to putting artwork on the control panel.

Will you be having a custom made overlay?

And are you going to fill in the button holes and start from scratch or use them and add more holes where needed?

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

[Louis Tully]

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[D_Harris]

I assume that you've given some thought to putting artwork on the control panel.

Will you be having a custom made overlay?

And are you going to fill in the button holes and start from scratch or use them and add more holes where needed?

I came up with this a few days ago. Going to print it out at Kinkos and sandwich it between the existing CP and plexi. If the original button holes cause any problems I'll just jigsaw the general area and toss some thin plywood underneath for stability. Plexi - artwork - metal CP - plywood. That's the plan anyway. If that doesn't work, I'll just make a CP out of some leftover MDF or plywood.

I was trying to visualize how you can actually make it look nice. I assume that you will be drilling bolt holes for the plexi. Also unless the plexi wraps down and under the control panel you might not like the way it looks.

And making a wood control panel for an Asteroids machine wouldn't be a simple project. (It would be something to see though).

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

[Vigo]

I was trying to visualize how you can actually make it look nice. I assume that you will be drilling bolt holes for the plexi. Also unless the plexi wraps down and under the control panel you might not like the way it looks.

And making a wood control panel for an Asteroids machine wouldn't be a simple project. (It would be something to see though).

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

You should check out Louis' Star Trek Cocktail. He knows his ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. 

I have no doubt he will make an outstanding CP, whether it is wood or metal. It will look nice. 

[Louis Tully]

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[D_Harris]

I was trying to visualize how you can actually make it look nice. I assume that you will be drilling bolt holes for the plexi. Also unless the plexi wraps down and under the control panel you might not like the way it looks.

And making a wood control panel for an Asteroids machine wouldn't be a simple project. (It would be something to see though).

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

I don't plan on covering the entire control panel in plexiglass, just the artwork area. I'll bolt it on, sand down the edges sort of like this...

top of the plexiglass   _________
top of the metal cp    __________\
Forgive the terrible example. But you get what I mean. Round it off so it's nice to the touch.

Making the control panel from wood wouldn't be that bad.

I saw over in the ever saddening Game Room Pics thread (Cenobyte should have a forum sleepover, that's all I'm saying) and recently Jessybr shared some pics and there's an Asteroids cab. with joysticks. From what I can tell, it's the original CP, painted with .... maybe plexiglass or wood? attached to the top. Something like that. I think it looks good. It's along the same lines of what I'm going to try. So, I think it'll end up ok.

...

If you click the link to the picture you can see it better. It's pretty large picture.
Sorry to borrow your picture, Jessybr. If you read this and want me to remove it, just say the word. Diggin' your little R2-D2's btw.  

There was someone with a Moon Patrol inside of an Asteroids cabinet for a very long time on Craigslist in this area. For some reason it is not there at the moment. But it looked terrible.

I'd suggest using relatively thin plexi. I just don't know if the scratch resistance will be the same as the thicker material, but it would be cheaper to replace.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

[Dervacumen]

I came back to this thread to see what was going on with the cab and found a mess.  For what it's worth, I put fur on my tempest cab when I MAME'd it.  And I also have a fully functional Asteroids cab that I saved from ruin.  And I think I need to redo the CP because it's rusted so I'm interested in seeing what happens with the artwork under the plexi.  SCORE!

[bradx]

a vector cab is kind of a lousy choice for mame in an artistic sense and lack of respect for the vector classics, but yeah, its a common cab and as long as someone is enjoying it and its not going to rot i think its ok.  its a double edged sword because the same art that makes it sancrosact to people who want it restored 100% is the same thing that makes it desirable rather than using a generic cab or building one from scratch. 

whatever, dont mess up the sideart or do anything you cant undo and part out the stuff you dont need to people who do and i dont have a problem with it.  at least it will be used and not sitting in the rain somewhere or at the dump broken...

[Louis Tully]

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