Another Project: Dominos (this one works!!!!)

[CheffoJeffo]

I was looking for another, mostly working, project and came across RayB selling his beloved Atari Dominos cab.

We made the deal and met up at the better part of the Starburst/Playdium auction here in Toronto.

For those who don't know, the Starburst/Playdium (Starburst in the Canadian distributor for Happ and bought Playdium a few years back) auction happens every other month or so here and the best deals are always had in the parking lot next door. I had to make a pair of round trips (fortunately under 20 minutes each as I live near by) because I didn't have a truck to haul cabs away in bulk, so I missed a bunch of the dealings. I think it would be fair to say that the deals "next door" were worth well more than the items at the auction. I saw about 15 nice pins change hands, not to mention a number of cool vids -- 2 of which came home with me.

One of the attendees (who is a cool guy -- never had a trade with him, but we have discussed NAOMI hardware at length at a prior auction) put a video up on YouTube including pics taken from the events surrounding the auction ... I will note that he missed most of the exchanges by taking pictures early (I made two appearances before the auction even started and those pictures predated my first arrival). I do not appear in the pictures presented, although my Robotron can be seen early on in the bed of a pickup beside a Mario Bros and a Joust-become-NeoGeo).



For me, the highlight of the day (aside from getting to see RayB, who is a stand-up guy, typically an auction good-luck charm, and the only other BYOACer there) was b1bug hauling a pin from the parking lot over to the warehouse where the auction was, using their power cords and then selling the pin right there on the spot.

Buyer's premium: $0!

Nice.

So, awaiting nothing more than a cosmetic resto, is Atari's Dominos:



My daughter (not pictured) absolutely adores this game -- RayB has taken wonderful care of her  (the game, not my kid) -- she is 100% working and just needs some TLC.

For those who may consider buying from RayB in the future, DO SO!

RayB was completely clear in his description of the cabinet (including offers of live video) and included an original copy of the manual (I have always been happy with PDFs before ... never again ... it's cool to be able to actually read the schematics) AND a very cool keychain featuring the original flyer. I imagine most folks are thinking "yeah, cool, but ..." ... let me tell you, it is very cool and I have put Mrs. Cheffo on eBay-alert(tm) to buy original manuals for all of our dedicated cabs and will be putting together keytags for every machine. He also included a marquee retainer than wasn't original, but was pretty damned close. I have already ground it down to fit (was 1mm too wide!) and it is installed.



The best part of this is that RayB has high-res scans pics of the CP, so the hard part of the resto is done made easier.

 

I know that some of you think that this game is boring ... you are right ... but it is important in the grand history and it is really cool to have one in my collection.

Raw pic taken after I hauled the newly-acquired cabs in from the impending rain and before I haul them to the basement:

[RayB]

Thanks for the kind words Mister! Glad you like it, and it paid for my Omega Race, so it worked out great!

I'm gonna email you those scans now. I'm not sure what route you should take though. The panel's orange enamel is the original finish. You could put an overlay to have the original art and lose the "finish", or just sand & repaint it and not have art. I've seen that same Orange, in enamel spray paint, at a TCS store ("The Country Store").

~Ray

[Level42]

Are those scans of your CP or another ? I think my CP is in somewhat better condition than yours, that is the artwork is a little less worn.......I've got lots of rust bubbles in it though 

Ah......if only I could get a working board for this one.....

[RayB]

Photos of a near-mint control panel were taken for me by someone on RGVAC 4 years ago.

[CheffoJeffo]

Thanks for those pix Ray ! 

Yeah I'm kinda torn as to what to do with the CP -- the orange gloss has a unique (in my collection at least) character.

I was thinking of looking into what Letraset has that might be useful to put over a repaint, and then clear coat over that. It's been a lot of years since I've used their stuff and I haven't had the time this week to check it out.

Or, I could have a normal CP printed, but lose the richness of the glossy panel.

 

[Level42]

Ray, I may well have forgotten but did you ever mail those pics to me ? If not, I'd be interested in them too....

[CheffoJeffo]

Hey, Level42 -- you can grab them from here:

http://216.176.56.158/arcade/dominos/dominos1.jpg

http://216.176.56.158/arcade/dominos/dominos2.jpg

[ChadTower]

Nice... nice.  I love resto threads like these.   

[Level42]

Thanks !

So we need someone who can make this into a vector file and then cut some stencils......