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Bought Twin Eagle...now what?
cbmeeks:
Man, I found a Taito Twin Eagle cab at a thrift shop and bought it for $30.
On a scale from 1 - 10 with 10 being perfect, it's about a 6, maybe 7.
I have not fired it up yet but here is what I have been told and/or saw is bad:
1) Monitor *MAY* not work. However, even if it does, it has burn-in pretty bad.
2) Towards the bottom of the cab, the wood is "puffed" out a bit. Not real bad, but noticible if you look.
3) The t-molding is coming off just a little-bit.
4) The plexi on the CP is cracked.
5) Looks like someone tool the twin speakers and replaced it with a bigger single speaker that I have no idea if it works.
The good:
1) Small cab that probably could be a good conversion or MAME.
2) CHEAP!
3) The buttons could be cleaned but appear to be fine.
4) The two 8-way red-ball joysticks appear to be ok. One has a little bit of the red paint chipped off but could easily be painted.
5) Coin door looks like it is in nice shape but I don't know if it works. It is missing the locking bolt but that is easily replaced.
6) The back door works but the key is gone so the locking bolt will have to be replaced.
7) It weighs about 200 pounds LESS than the 38" wide MDF cabinet I am building....LOL
So, here are my questions:
1) Restore it to Twin Eagle?
2) Convert it to another game I love? (Frogger, Dig Dug, etc)
3) Make a devoted MAME box that only plays a handful of the classics I really love?
I am leaning towards #3. I'm not a big fan of Twin Eagle but I would probably include it in my MAME list.
Oh, does anyone know if the cabinet was a design from another game? Or was it designed from Taito for this game only?
<pics to come later>
Thanks!
-cb
RayB:
Umm... You want us to comment on the cabinet style without us seeing it?? The bottom line is that Twin Eagle was a conversion kit. I never saw an original dedicated version (except possibly this big huge cab that was kind of slanted without that "hood" part most cabs have. Anyways, post pics ASAP because there's no way to comment on that question otherwise. I betchya though it's either a generic cab or it used to be some other game.
On to your questions and comments:
--- Quote ---1) Monitor *MAY* not work. However, even if it does, it has burn-in pretty bad.
--- End quote ---
Once you get it working you can judge the burn in when graphics are visible. If you still see alot (can be distracting sometimes!) you might want to try tinted plexi over it and see if it helps at all.
--- Quote ---2) Towards the bottom of the cab, the wood is "puffed" out a bit. Not real bad, but noticible if you look.
--- End quote ---
That would be water damage. That's hard to fix cuz the wood tends to just crumble to sawdust at this point (what's holding it together is the laminate or paint).
--- Quote ---3) The t-molding is coming off just a little-bit.
--- End quote ---
Not a big deal. It's cheap to replace and makes a cab look so much nicer when new t-molding is applied.
--- Quote ---4) The plexi on the CP is cracked.
--- End quote ---
Cheap and easy to replace.
--- Quote ---4) The two 8-way red-ball joysticks appear to be ok. One has a little bit of the red paint chipped off but could easily be painted.
--- End quote ---
Ummm, if those joysticks are PAINTED, you should replace them. Red-ball joysticks are made of red plastic, so I don't know what's going on here where the joys would be painted. Weird!
--- Quote ---6) The back door works but the key is gone so the locking bolt will have to be replaced.
--- End quote ---
You can drill out the lock with a good drill bit or carbide tungsten cutter bit.
--- Quote ---7) It weighs about 200 pounds LESS than the 38" wide MDF cabinet I am building....LOL
--- End quote ---
Hmm. Definitely small! I wonder if it's one of the little generics like I have...
--- Quote ---So, here are my questions:
1) Restore it to Twin Eagle?
--- End quote ---
No, Twin Eagle was a kit, not dedicated, so don't bother. Find out what the cab used to be though... (easy: post pics!) Besides, Twin Eagle is a SHORT game, and once you beat it, it's not that fun.
--- Quote ---2) Convert it to another game I love? (Frogger, Dig Dug, etc)
--- End quote ---
I wouldn't convert it to a single game if that's not the cabinet for that single game.
--- Quote ---3) Make a devoted MAME box that only plays a handful of the classics I really love?
--- End quote ---
Probably your best bet given the condition. But let's see pics first!
--- Quote ---Oh, does anyone know if the cabinet was a design from another game? Or was it designed from Taito for this game only?
<pics to come later>
--- End quote ---
I'll leave one for the psychics out there.
~Ray B.
fredster:
Twin eagle may have been a conversion game of twin cobra. It's in a centuri cab. The same cab was used for time pilot, mat mania, etc.
Open up the back and look inside. Sometimes there are old instruction cards stapled to the inside.
I can't believe you didn't try it out. Like, what did you have to loose?
If I were you I'd plug it in and see what it does. Keep the back off and plug it in.
Wait a minute, listen for any kind of crackling and burning smells. If that's cool, then coin it up and see if plays blind.
If it does, all you need is to figure out what's wrong with the monitor and you have a game.
If not, strip it and mame it. It's cheaper than trying to build one. The MDF alone would cost you more than $30.
I don't think they are worth a lot of money. I got a twin cobra for $65 working at the auction last time. Monitor was a tad green, but the thing works pretty good.
It's Jamma. You can use it for vertical Jamma games.
cbmeeks:
--- Quote ---I can't believe you didn't try it out. Like, what did you have to loose?
--- End quote ---
Because right now, it is sitting outside of the thrift shop and there is only one little old lady running the place. I have to wait on my friend to bring his truck over to haul it to my building.
To me, the cab was worth $30 empty. I spent that on MDF for my other cab.
I will probably just make it a MAME box for my favs. Oh, and I will post pics soon. Didn't have my camera with me and I bought it on my lunch break
cb
RayB:
Meeks, is Fred right? Is it in a Centuri cabinet? (brown wood grain sides? Start buttons on the FRONT of the panel?)
If so, you could convert it to a Frogger.
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