Should I fix this, or gut it? (Head-On 1979)

[Gehrig]

Just picked up an old arcade called Head-On (1979).  The lady was selling it for $25 bucks, so I figured I would pick it up and just gut it.   Well... picked it up tonight, and was kind of suprised how good the condition was for a 1979 game.  I mean.. it is far from perfect,  but better than most arcades I seen being sold from the early 90s.  The game doesn't work.. just the audio.  Anyone think this game even has any value if I fixed it? Or should I just go ahead and gut it?

[SithMaster]

If its fixed it should be worth more than the 25 dollars you paid for it.

Keep in mind people on this forum would say you should restore it and that you shouldnt gut it or anything.  I say if you can avoid any major cosmetic damage to the cab then maybe use it for mame (if thats your plan).  Im sure others will chime in but it is now your cab and you can gut it if you want though i wouldnt.  If you can just fix it up and sell it for an empty cab that can be used for mame (except if it is a star wars cab).

[tristan]

That looks like a good candidate for repurposing to me!   

Seriously, I'm getting ready to gut a perfectly good Millipede cabinet because I can't get rid of it(DFW!!!)...

[KDOG]

Ask yourself do you like the game.  If not your option would be if someone close to would trade it generic cab. Part it out, some one may need the parts then mame it.

 Another  would be to save it and use the dimension to make your own.

[SithMaster]

o okay i just checked the pics on klov and you can just make a new cp and remove the rest.  the monitor might be worth something to someone though and id advise against throwing parts away in case you need them later or if someone here could use them.

[Kremmit]

Head On?  What should you do with it?

Apply directly to the forehead!







[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is3icfcbmbs[/youtube]

[mushmouth]

If it's highly repairable, I'd fix it. Then I'd sell it because I remember that game and it blows. lol By "just the audio", do you mean the game plays and you can hear the audio, but have no picture (toasted monitor?)?

From KLOV (sounds like a pretty rare machine if it's original, should get some decent coin...):

Scarcity in collections (VAPS.org)

Uncommon - There are 7 known instances of this game owned by one of our 900 members. Of these, 6 of them are original dedicated machines, 0 of them are conversions in which game circuit boards have been placed in another game cabinet, and 1 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

Of the 38,314 video games (3,074 unique) tracked by the Video Game Preservation Society, this game ranks a 7 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most commonly seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on ownership records.
Wanted - We currently do not know of any VAPS members that have gotten around to adding this game to their wish list. The wish-list system is fairly new (not all VAPS members have filled one out) and there are probably a number of collectors who might purchase this game if offered one at the right price.

[Gehrig]

Hmmm.. I haven't decided yet.  But, since I am a novice, I already signed up for Randy Fromm's tech section.   Once I do some major reading/watching, I will try to troubleshoot it.  It would be nice to know what actually works in it.  Looked at the monitor from behind and it looks toasted to me.   I figure I can use this as a very good educational experience.
 
Yeah.. the game sucks.  But, I think Pac-Man sucks as well and some people love that Retro stuff.  Read that Head-On was the first game made where you eat/drive over the dots.   You have to avoid being run into, head on, by the cpu cars.

[mushmouth]

Pac-Man sucks? Wha-wha-whaaaaat?

[Gehrig]

Heheh.  Well if I was 10 years older I would probably think differently.  I am only 28, so I was too young for that golden age of arcades.  My best memories of arcades were of the late 80s/early 90's

[XyloSesame]

Am I the only one who loved dodgem?

[Circo]

Yes

[XyloSesame]

Yes

XyloSesame (to psychiatrist): My troubles all started with Dodge'Em. All of the other kids made fun of me...

[SavannahLion]

Heheh.  Well if I was 10 years older I would probably think differently.  I am only 28, so I was too young for that golden age of arcades.  My best memories of arcades were of the late 80s/early 90's

How could you be too young? My earliest and fondest memories of the arcades involved Tempest, Ms. Pac-Man and Dig Dug. Even though they were released in 1980, '81, and '82, they still persisted in the arcades as main fixtures for years.

BTW, I'm not thirty yet.

[ChadTower]

Depends where you lived... I never played the arcade versions of any of those games until I was an adult (I'm 32).  I grew up with them on the 2600 (except Tempest).

[shardian]

Pac-Man sucks? Wha-wha-whaaaaat?

I can only stand pacman if I turn the sound off. Ms. Pacman is another story though.

[Gehrig]

Yeah.. they probably had those games in the arcades...but neither my friends and I had any interest in them.

[MaximRecoil]

Heheh.  Well if I was 10 years older I would probably think differently.  I am only 28, so I was too young for that golden age of arcades.  My best memories of arcades were of the late 80s/early 90's

How could you be too young? My earliest and fondest memories of the arcades involved Tempest, Ms. Pac-Man and Dig Dug. Even though they were released in 1980, '81, and '82, they still persisted in the arcades as main fixtures for years.

BTW, I'm not thirty yet.

I was born in January of '75 and I never saw any of the late '70s or very early '80s arcade games at the places I went to (I started playing arcade games regularly in '84). Wherever I went, they had all current games, and things like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong were considered old news. For example, in '84 I started playing Karate Champ VS, and that was the first arcade game I got good at. And then Punch-Out. Both of those games came out in '84 and so I was playing them the same year they were released.

The very first arcade game I ever played was Pac-Man, in the mall in '80 or so, but that was just one time and I didn't even know what I was doing (I was only 5 years old). And of course, in '84 I was well aware of the late '70s and very early '80s  arcade games, because my older brother and neighbors had played them and talked about them, plus they were famous in general. Also, I had some of the ports for my Atari 2600 and ColecoVision. But as far as seeing them in the arcades, in my area they were extinct. They also seemed very dated to me. If you compare the graphics of Pac-Man or Donkey Kong to Karate Champ or Punch-Out, you'll see why.

I don't care much for Pac-Man or Donkey Kong, aside from their historical and cultural significance. I wouldn't go out of my way to own either machine. There are a few "before my time" arcade machines I'd like to own though, e.g. Asteroids, Missile Command, and Defender. I never saw those machines in the arcades either, except for Asteroids in '81 at a country general store in the tiny town that my great grandfather lived in—but I only watched my older brother and his friends play it.

[BrentRadio]

Please don't gut it. Sell it to someone who will appriciate it. You don't see those everyday. Gut a common game like Pacman before you do it to a game like that.

I just sent someone an email letting them know you have this game. Maybe you can work something out. His name is Dan.

Brent

[BrentRadio]

Am I the only one who loved dodgem?

No, I loved it as well.

Great game.

[ChadTower]

Generally speaking, if you're even asking the question, the answer is no.  The ones that are partouts/conversion candidates are obvious.

[Stray_Catalyst]

If it had been a good game, I'd agree with the people who say you should repair it...  but I've gutted an Astro Fighter, partially because the game wasn't interesting.  If it were one of the famous games (Space Invaders, Pacman, etc) then I'd say sell it.  As it's neither fun nor famous, gut that thing and MAME it.

Stray Catalyst

[ChadTower]

Interest is relative.  Astrofighter could be someone else's all time favorite game - and they'd trade you three gutted cabs for it.  I've never been a fan of gutting a reasonable game just because you, as current owner, don't like it. 

Of course, the other has every right to do so, but I try to avoid it whenever possible myself.

[Stray_Catalyst]

I got the Astro Fighter cab with a non-working PCB - the game was somebody else's project that they got tired of and left in their back yard for some unspecified length of time.  As such, it was either a cab to salvage or trash to push to the curb.  I've posted the PCB on the "free" list for anyone who wants it - so far there's been little interest, even for free.  As I said, if it were a working game, or a popular game that didn't work, I'd have tried to keep it together.  An unpopular game with bad reviews, that ALSO didn't work?  Well, it'll have Astro Fighter again - it'll just have it running through a Pentium instead of the old PCB.  (it will also have a variety of other games, of course - but Astro Fighter will be the default)

Stray Catalyst

[ChadTower]

Well there you go - it was an obvious case, which fits my criteria.