Turning Back the Clock

Today we turn back the clocks. It will be great to sleep in an extra hour. Halloween has come and gone and as usual was a stark reminder of how fast time flies. Hard to believe it’s been a few decades since I was out ringing doorbells myself and filling up an old pillowcase with candy. It would be great to turn back the clocks more than just an hour and turn them back far enough to dress up and head out for a night of trick or treating one more time. I can remember my old neighborhood at Halloween. Tons of candy, cool costumes and decked out houses everywhere. The home made haunted houses in garages where you would reach in a container of eyeballs ( grapes ) ,there were people jumping out at you and they had blacklights and fog machines. Ahh... the good old days. Halloween was, is and always will be my most favorite time of year. And while I may not be able to turn the clock back that far for myself , I am going to try and turn the clock back to 1980 for a Defender I picked up today.

Halloween is over and so all things scary are supposed to go back into hiding until next year aren’t they? Guess not. Because the Defender I just picked up from local fellow collector Jon ( a.k.a Frizzlefried on the arcade forums) is about as scary as it gets. Jon warned me. I knew going in it wouldn’t be a pretty sight. Some people are magnets for stray animals. I seem to be a magnet for games that have seen more than their fair share of abuse and neglect. Luckily (?) for me Jon decided that he had enough projects on his plate as it is and was willing to let this one go. Twice in the past I have owned Defenders and have sold or traded them off to offers I could not refuse. I have been wanting another Defender for quite some time and here was my chance. It’s almost impossible to name the top games of the 80’s and not include Defender. It’s hard to see such an iconic game like this in such sad shape. It’s been awhile since I tackled a major restoration project. Time to go a little "Mad Scientist" again and bring yet another classic back from the dead. Stay tuned.