Galaxian Cocktail Table

[InsaneDavid]

When I moved back to Silicon Valley I had to leave my Pole Position upright (MAME conversion) at my parent's house a couple hours away. Not only was it too tall for the rental truck (only by like an inch where the door was), I didn't have space for it nor the desire to lug it upstairs - Pole Position uprights are notorious for their bulk and weight. Rather than get rid of it I moved it to an extra room there and covered it up for the day I'll have a larger - and land level - residence.

However since leaving it I've genuinely missed having an arcade cabinet in the home, so when California Extreme (http://caextreme.org/) rolled around I was on the lookout for affordable arcade cabinets that had a smaller profile. I had been tossing e-mails back and forth about a Klax cabaret that was listed on craigslist the week before but CAX would give me the chance to really give a possible purchase a hard playthrough and a two day stability test. Sadly the Bosconian cabaret there wasn't for sale but there was a Gyruss upright for less than $300.00 that peaked my interest. It did have very small sprite glitches in the center of the screen and needed a little work but was in decent shape. However the bulk was the problem - for the current situation of my girlfriend and myself hauling the thing upstairs a cabaret would have to be the target size, or a cocktail... yeah right, a cocktail in good shape I could afford...

As the show wound down on Sunday night I made myself comfortable at the lone Galaxian cocktail at the show, a game that didn't get much play that weekend. I sat there and played the elegant space battle while listening to 80's music videos on the giant screen behind. My girlfriend joined me soon after and we sat there for almost two hours playing against one another. The machine was in beautiful shape and a little while later I mumbled out longingly "this is really what I would like to have." However the price was more than double what the Gyruss cabinet was stickered at, and we had to work hard to budget the Gyruss price to begin with. I figured if anything I'd write down the contact information and maybe give the owner a call in a week or so once I had a better idea of what I could spend.

With about an hour to go the owner showed up to pick up his machine. We got to talking and I basically was honest in what beautiful condition it was in but that I just couldn't afford it right now. He offered to work down the price a little but I told him I couldn't do it right on the spot. We took down his phone number and I told him I'd let him know later in the week. As some of you know I've put up a rather large Buying and Selling thread (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=119504) to raise money. That thread will remain as it contains stuff I'd like to get rid of and I really could use the extra cash. The money has been raised though, mostly through sale of the book incarnation of my English Sailor Moon manga on eBay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260266211191). I called the owner again today and basically put the machine on hold until Tuesday evening when I'll be able to pick it up.

So here are some pictures (from the show) of a soon to be mine Galaxian cocktail table for $500.00...

http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/DP-GalaxianCocktail001.jpg
Over all the machine is in excellent shape.

http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/DP-GalaxianCocktail002.jpg
Player 1 control panel, call me crazy but I've always loved the unique control knob joystick replacement the Galaxian cocktails used.

http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/DP-GalaxianCocktail003.jpg
Player 2 side, as you can see it needs a new control knob over here due to some slight damage but it works 100% and plays fine - it's a very minor gripe and something I can replace eventually.

http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/DP-GalaxianCocktail004.jpg
Side profile, great shape with a perfect coin door, tight lock and credit switch installed although the coin mech functions properly as well.

http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/DP-GalaxianCocktail005.jpg
Closer picture of the topglass and underlay. The underlay is 100% in tact with no tares or bubbles. The glass has the usual scratches but none that are deep or that can be seen when playing the game.

The owner said that it runs solid (it was rock solid all weekend) and works great, has given him very few problems. It's an original restoration and from the look and feel of the cabinet it seems like it was in excellent condition to begin with. The monitor is bright and true with a great picture. He said he had the board serviced recently by a professional technician to make sure it was solid before the show. He also said that he was thinking of replacing the topglass simply because "in the right light you can see the scratches" but also claimed that's because he's anal about stuff like that. In other words it's been taken excellent care of.

So what's the verdict? How'd I do? Also what would one set the value of an original Galaxian cocktail at these days?

[RadiantSvgun]

Thats some serious dedication. I hope I can have the same when I start my selling next week for my Candy cab.

Good luck, that cocktail looks amazing!

[Gapporin]

That cocktail simply looks beautiful.

But what I think blows my mind more is that you were able to cover most of the cost just by selling your set of SM manga. Obviously I have no idea how much that series is worth -- but if I do say so myself, I think you came out ahead in the deal.

Enjoy it! Galaxian is fine choice to make.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Man that's awesome!!!..congrats on a sweet looking machine..I love cocktails..thanks for sharing the story on how you got it etc,,
Playing Galaxian with 80s music in the back must of been so awesome


If you eever get any waving in the monitor ..or hum..check the fuses-connections-clean in the fuse blocks..the fuse blocks are the culprit for problems,some that may seem to be something else
http://www.twobits.com/Humbar/

If you need the glass..or parts
http://www.pac-man.com/galaga/cocktail/

I ordered my Ms Pac top glass from them and overlay..they shipped it real fast..
I used the box to store the old stuff:D

[diskoboy]

Sexy.

[InsaneDavid]

Thats some serious dedication. I hope I can have the same when I start my selling next week for my Candy cab.

Good luck, that cocktail looks amazing!

That's how I knew I really wanted this cocktail table, when I looked around and said "I don't play this" or "I don't use that" but "if I wanted this or that later on down the line, I could get it again." Spending the weekend in a giant room filled with vintage arcade and pinball machines contributed quite a bit as well...

http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/DP-CAX001.jpg
Top picture is near closing with all the house lights on, second picture is Saturday night between 10PM and midnight when the lights are dimmed to darkness (very cool to see all the vintage pinballs lit up), third picture is of the usual light level - although the camera makes it a little brighter than it actually is.


That cocktail simply looks beautiful.

Enjoy it! Galaxian is fine choice to make.

Thanks! I've always loved the simple challenge of Galaxian once you get past the first couple flags. A very complex game of reaction and strategy in disguise.


But what I think blows my mind more is that you were able to cover most of the cost just by selling your set of SM manga. Obviously I have no idea how much that series is worth -- but if I do say so myself, I think you came out ahead in the deal.

Crazy about the manga isn't it? Cover price was less than $10.00 per book and a couple more bucks for the first one. That means they've about tripled in ten years considering the first ones (the flat out Mixx imprinted ones) were printed in the late 1990's. All are first editions and as stated in the auction, none were really read. Demand for those books is through the roof simply because it's a series people miss and due to licensing restrictions it will never be reprinted. That and of course people that couldn't afford them years ago and have the money now will pay. I've seen complete sets peak around $700.00+ but also go as low as $250.00. I think my history with the franchise helped get my BIN, also was a great price considering a good condition read set went for $510.00 around the same time (my auction would have ended 3 hours after that one if not for the BIN). Also consider I was missing book 18, which alone goes for $10.00 - $40.00 on average.

Big change from a few years ago when the Japanese manga would fetch that and the English books were way under cover price - now you can get complete Japanese original sets for $50.00 with some searching. The individual English issues (printed like traditional USA comic books) have dropped a bit, nice because those I'm keeping and I'm only missing a few. They don't hold anywhere near the value of the books though and they only ran for about half the story - same exact content page for page until ending though.

I figure the books will decline in price eventually, I really don't think they can go any higher but I do expect to pay about $250.00 - $300.00 for a complete set again. However I can get that another time, a Galaxian cocktail in the condition above local to me, that I never see. The boxed subtitled DVD releases of season 1 (Sailormoon) and season 2 (Sailormoon R) average about $300.00+ each too, amazingly enough. (the official ADV ones, not the bootlegs obviously) I know of some "moonies" that put themselves through college funded in part by dropping as little as half of their Sailormoon collections. LOL


Man that's awesome!!!..congrats on a sweet looking machine..I love cocktails..thanks for sharing the story on how you got it etc,,
Playing Galaxian with 80s music in the back must of been so awesome


If you eever get any waving in the monitor ..or hum..check the fuses-connections-clean in the fuse blocks..the fuse blocks are the culprit for problems,some that may seem to be something else
http://www.twobits.com/Humbar/

If you need the glass..or parts
http://www.pac-man.com/galaga/cocktail/

I ordered my Ms Pac top glass from them and overlay..they shipped it real fast..
I used the box to store the old stuff:D

Thanks for the links! Amazingly the cocktail operations documentations came up on eBay a couple days ago so I'm going to pick those up (unless a set comes with the machine, may very well happen). I know most manuals can be found online as PDF's but I prefer to have a book on the floor with me while I'm poking around in a machine.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Very nice dude, that is in some kind of beautiful shape.

There's nothing like having a cocktail table in the house!

Hope everything goes smoothly with the sale.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Thanks for the links! Amazingly the cocktail operations documentations came up on eBay a couple days ago so I'm going to pick those up (unless a set comes with the machine, may very well happen). I know most manuals can be found online as PDF's but I prefer to have a book on the floor with me while I'm poking around in a machine.


Ha ha...Me too,me too :D

[InsaneDavid]

It has arrived! The gentleman that sold it to me was a class act and delivered it, even helped me carry it upstairs! He also made sure it was working properly, gave me the contact information of the person he uses for repair on his PCB's, went over any problem the machine has had since he owned it, etc. It is amazingly clean inside (sorry no pictures of the internals) and has the cleanest power supply, monitor, board, wiring loom, etc. that I have ever seen on a vintage cabinet. He also sent me PDF's of the operations and troubleshooting manuals. (I'm still going to order that cocktail Galaxian manual I found last week)

So Galaxian cocktail table #0367 now resides with me...

http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/GalaxianCocktail-001.jpg

http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/GalaxianCocktail-002.jpg

The picture is beautiful and beneath the smoked plexi (which is also in amazing shape) there is zero burn in. I may have a new piece of glass cut later on down the road since this one is pretty scratched up, but it's no big deal right now. The underlay is an aftermarket replacement since it's not silkscreened onto the glass. It's also missing a two of the glass clips, but again, that's no big deal. The player 2 control knob is, as stated earlier, a replacement made out of metal - it's actually a pretty crafty replacement part, you can tell someone spent some time fabricating it. It also needs a new coin mech since it doesn't have one. The switch is there, slot, rejection button, etc. just no coin verifier. I'll probably put one of those in and splice the external credit switch leads so that it can operate both via the credit switch and coins. I'll also probably replace the player 2 control knob, just to get everything equal on both sides.

I really don't see how I could have done much better with this. :) Top score is currently 14930. (3 Galaxips to start, bonus at 5000 - which are the defaults for a cocktail board, there is no bonus at 7000 setting). Over 65,000 plays on the meter, over $15,000 in quarters. lol

Only question I have, will any coin mech work? I'm used to the ones that stick out in over/under coin doors, not the flush mounted like on a cocktail table. In other words would something like this work (http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=COINMECHS) in a midway cocktail door? Anyone have a spare they could sell me?

[RadiantSvgun]

You got it! Congratulations!

[InsaneDavid]

You got it! Congratulations!

Thanks! Here are some pictures of the internals as I was poking around in the machine today...

http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/GalaxianCocktail-003.jpg

I rewired the coin switch so it will work with coins (once I put a mech in) or via the credit button. I also reconnected the coin lamp and that's where things get odd. It flashes, which is no big deal, I remember that from plenty of games. However when it flashes it causes the control panel lamps to dim, every time it lights it seems to pull power from the other lamps. That ends up being a distraction so I disconnected the coin lamp again. Anyone know if this is normal? I will have cocktail docs on the way soon so either way I'll be able to get to the bottom of this.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Check the bulbs wattage of each..one may be too high causing too much pull from the power supply to run all three
Maybe I'm wrong but i'm make sire the bulns are right to the machine..one could be wrong.

What's the inside of the coin meck look like..I think mine in the Ms Pac are standard
Check out that link I gave you..The mechs may be shown,the glass clips are sold there too..

I never knew they silkscreened onto the glass...with my Ms Pac the origial glass was scratched up bad and the overlay wavy...but was a seperate,old overlay
the new one looks just like the old..but new,no waves


The old one was stuck to the glass though...I almost thought it was part of it..I told my dad at first that it was inside the flass,like painted on..


Ohhhh..curious..
Do you hear the fan in the machine at all..?
I need to replace mine but was curious if they make any noise.

[dao2]

wow looks like it could use an air can or 30 ;p

[InsaneDavid]

To begin with, thanks for the help.


Check the bulbs wattage of each..one may be too high causing too much pull from the power supply to run all three
Maybe I'm wrong but i'm make sire the bulns are right to the machine..one could be wrong.

The control panel lamps are correct and fresh, all sockets are clean. It appears as if the coin door lamp is correct but since I don't have cocktail documentation I can't be sure of it. It fits the socket properly and doesn't seem to be too bright / dim.


What's the inside of the coin meck look like..I think mine in the Ms Pac are standard
Check out that link I gave you..The mechs may be shown,the glass clips are sold there too..

Here you go, front and back...

http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/GalaxianCocktail-004.jpg

The more I look at it, the more I think it just takes a standard mech, that they're all the same, just installed flush instead of sticking out like in an over/under coin door. You can also see the coin door lamp in that picture. The ground connection on the coin door was broken, that's something I fixed today as well. If it's just a standard mech then I think I'll pick up a cheap one on eBay or from a parts wholesaler. I moved the clips so there are three on one corner and three on the opposite corner (both ends and then one on each adjacent side), it's holding everything fine and not something that's bothering me.


I never knew they silkscreened onto the glass...with my Ms Pac the origial glass was scratched up bad and the overlay wavy...but was a seperate,old overlay
the new one looks just like the old..but new,no waves

Possible that there were different revisions since so many Ms. Pac-Man and Pac-Man cocktails were made. From what I've read most cocktails had the art attached to the underside of the glass. Sadly the Galaxian reproduction underlays have some incorrect coloring (no red) but there's hope that accurate ones will be produced eventually.


Ohhhh..curious..
Do you hear the fan in the machine at all..?
I need to replace mine but was curious if they make any noise.

Funny enough, the guy I bought the machine from mentioned that the fan on this cocktail was in great shape. It's original and makes a slight hum but is still far quieter than a modern PC fan for example. If you get down close to the bottom of the machine you can hear a quiet droning (really just the air being moved around) but the fan is blowing strong and spining smoothly. Since that's the only place in a cocktail that hot air is exhausted from (the blank grills are really air intakes) having a good fan is one of the most important components.


wow looks like it could use an air can or 30 ;p

Ovbiously you haven't been inside many vintage arcade cabinets, this one is clean as a whistle for being original and not a complete rebuild.

[InsaneDavid]

That coin door lamp issue was bothering me so I took a reading at the leads and got 12.3V, which makes me assume it should be using a 14V lamp just like the control panel lamps - that seems to be the way most cocktails and coin doors are after all. I have some 14V wedge base lamps (left over from my Pole Position MAME conversion, although I ended up using xenon lamps in there to throw more light through the thick coin reject buttons) but no spare sockets. However I also have 14V screw base lamps, I usually keep a few on hand since that's what I use in my vintage pachinko machine. Looking through my parts I had a single one left as well as a single matching screw base socket. So I removed the old socket and installed the new one, then screwed in the lamp and pulled out the line voltage safety switch. Everything started up fine, the coin door lamp burns steadily and at the proper brightness (known from looking at them in the pachinko machine for so long), and there's no odd drain from the control panel lamps.

http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/GalaxianCocktail-006.jpg

I'll admit, for some reason I get a kick out of the single slot coin door on the Galaxian cocktails with the "25 CENTS" insert spelled out like that. :) Just need to order myself a coin mech and the machine should be good to go for 100% functionality and coin-op play, although I am leaving the credit switch on the door.

It's past 3am though so I should call it a night. I bet the tennants below me just loved me tonight. LOL I was quiet but still walking around here and there and going through parts, etc. My girlfriend was driving out to see her parents and I have a thing where I don't go to sleep until she gets there, so working on the coin door gave me something to do until getting the message about half an hour ago that she was in fine.

...still dunno what the hell was up with that original coin door lamp... it just seems out of place, especially since the guy I bought the machine from left it disconnected and told me the guy he bought it from had it disconnected as well.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Thank you...thanks for the Fan info...Mine makes too much noise,I need to replace it..the Humm it makes when attached to the machine inside is overwelming..out of the machine it's silent..I even tried to mount it on rubber.
I was thinking of trying to slow it down as it runs so fast,say with a volume type switch but I don't if I could do thast..if it didn't run so fast it would quiet down

I hate to shell out for another one only to find that it makes the same noise..

..............
I always go here for answers..
http://www.pac-man.com/galaga/cocktail/in/ (mhtml:{38B82F2F-7B1A-4497-9765-8325D5A65E0C}mid://00000024/!x-usc:http://www.pac-man.com/galaga/cocktail/in/)
#194 BULBS - 14 volt wedge base BULBS (6 used) Used behind joysticks and in coin door.
But no coin mechs

Yea it looks to take standard coin mechs..the 4 side pole type..the 4 things sticking out the sides slide into the 4 slots on the door,mech area..I've found coin mechs with only two and or 4 but two were in the center..Some mechs come where you can move or remove them..
http://www.happcontrols.com/coindoors/42303900.htm (mhtml:{38B82F2F-7B1A-4497-9765-8325D5A65E0C}mid://00000024/!x-usc:http://www.happcontrols.com/coindoors/42303900.htm)

http://www.happcontrols.com/cc/mechs.htm (mhtml:{38B82F2F-7B1A-4497-9765-8325D5A65E0C}mid://00000024/!x-usc:http://www.happcontrols.com/cc/mechs.htm)
I sold two a few months ago for $1.00 on ebay.//If I still had them I would of sent them to you for free.


Tomorrow I'll take a picture of the coin mechs in the Ms pac..though dual it looks like the same set-up..I just looked at the mech set-up in my MVS and they don't have the coin return push bar in the same place so ..I'm going to try the Ms pac coin mechs in the MVS,vice versa..(this wayy I'll know for sure if that are standard.

[InsaneDavid]

Yea it looks to take standard coin mechs..the 4 side pole type..the 4 things sticking out the sides slide into the 4 slots on the door,mech area..I've found coin mechs with only two and or 4 but two were in the center..Some mechs come where you can move or remove them..

I've learned over the years if the posts are in the wrong place or missing you can simply put some screws into the mech where the posts should be as a substitution. There's a little metal plate on the Midway coin doors that should pull the coin reject the same way a push in reject button does, instead of sliding against it the Midway reject button (via the little rod assembly) looks like it pulls down on it.

I actually just ordered a mech off eBay. A guy on there was listing a bunch of surplus mechs in pairs for $3.33 but I didn't want to wait a week for the auctions to end. I asked if he'd set up a Buy It Now for me for a single one. We e-mailed back and forth and researched if the mechs would work and after confirming my suspicisions at Bob Roberts we figured it was all the same. He agreed to set up a BIN (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260269937092) for a Happ Ultimech and didn't slam me with the price either, $3.50 and it has the posts in the correct locations. Already shipped it out as well since that was all taken care of early this morning.

I also have the Galaxian cocktail operations book on the way, there doesn't seem to be a PDF of it so I'm going to try to scan and upload it to the archive (http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/000454.html).

[Videogamerdaryll]

Awesome...

[InsaneDavid]

The stuff I had on the way arrived yesterday.

http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/GalaxianCocktail-008.jpg

The mech slipped in no problem but the quarters were getting jammed between the coin chute and where they dropped into the mech. They'd make it through the coin chute alone fine and through the mech alone fine, so the problem must have been where they met in the middle. I removed a small piece of plastic from the top of the mech, the little tab on the left at the top that diverts the coin around. After that the quarters passed freely and the mech works 100% properly.

http://www.classicplastic.net/digitalpress/GalaxianCocktail-009.jpg

So now the coin door is totally rebuilt and functioning as it should, along with the exterior credit switch.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Awesome

Yea sometimes you gotta mess wuth the mechs




..Insn't it a blast to mess with this stuff ...I love it!!