Craigslist Space Invaders

[grbgemen]

So i picked up a working space invaders from craigslist last night for $100.  The cabinet has some serious water damage/rotten wood around the bottom.  I have seen some of you guys on here fix cabs with these problems but im not sure if im capable of the task.  before anyone asks, i will have pictures in the next couple days.

so anyways, back to why im posting.  i played the game a little bit before i decided to buy it and when i got it home, i unloaded it and noticed a little brown strip that goes across the monitor.  i did not see this when i was in the sellers garage.  the strip almost looks like a long film negative and it "appears" to be on top of the monitor.

me being not old enough to remember space invaders in the arcade, nor ever seen a dedicated machine that i can remember, have never seen this strip.  is it supposed to be there?  it looks as if it colors the UFO that flys across the screen during a game.

and finally, once i get the chance to actually take a good look at the game, i will decide if im going to restore it.  i really want to but i gotta see how bad the damage really is.

[SirPeale]

Space Invaders had a color overlay to give the different invaders their colors.  It sounds like it's missing some of these strips.

[grbgemen]

hmm well i just did a quick look on ebay and the first auction i clicked on has the exact same strip and mine.  here is the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/original-Space-Invaders-arcade-machine-works-100_W0QQitemZ170274091037QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item170274091037&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1423|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

i looked at a few others and i can make out the same strip also.  just one however. 

[Kevin Mullins]

It's generally just taped to the monitor screen itself.
Bet if you open it up and look at the screen you'll be able to tell exactly where it came from. (dust line on the screen)
It's what gave a little bit of color to a black and white game.

Pretty sure it was just the green strip at the bottom for the bases and such.
The manual only lists one overlay as well.

[grbgemen]

hmm so your saying there should be only one at the bottom?  or two? or am misunderstanding. 

not a big deal, was just curious.  actually when i unloaded the game, i saw the strip and i thought the monitor got screwed up during transportation.   but the game played fine. 

anyways, pics to come.

[SirPeale]

Red at the top (saucer)

Green at the botton (shields)

and I guess it depends on what game you're playing for the rest.  My Sega Space Attack (SI knock-off) has an overlay over the entire screen.