Endangered Species.

“Are you sure I won’t be imposing?” I said into my end of the phone. It was after all mid-afternoon on Mother’s Day when the call came inviting me to check out a Space Duel. “Not at all “, he replied. A few minutes later and I was in my driveway heaving the R2 unit into the back of my truck and then heaving myself up on to the red vinyl bench seat of my pre-bailout era Ford F250. The R2 is really my old refrigerator dolly with the extra set of wheels that kick out in the back. I bought it from a retiring operator many years ago after raiding his warehouse. On the drive down I came to realize that it’s been exactly 20 years since I had anything more important to do on Mother’s Day. I don’t think I ever feel quite normal when it rolls around each year. And with not feeling quite normal and nothing better to do, I might as well go look at an arcade game.

All I knew going into this one is that the game was not working. With an XY monitor as part of that equation it can get a little scary. A few miles down the highway and a few gallons of gas later and I arrived on the scene. I walked to the shop out back and saw the game. Aside from the control panel overlay the cabinet was in great shape and worth saving. I took the back door off the game and glanced inside. Looked like some mice had shown this old Atari some love and I will leave it at that. I unplugged the monitor and then plugged in the game. Flipped the switch and all I heard was a hum. No power to the game board. Checked a couple connections and tried again. Nothing. Plugged the monitor back in and tried one more time and smoke came pouring out. This was not good. We agreed on a price of $125.00 and I pulled the truck around to load the game. Nothing gets the nostalgic juices flowing better than rolling down the road in my 1977 Ford truck with a 1981 Atari Space Duel riding in the back. Other than a few sideways glances on the short trip home, it was uneventful yet fulfilling.

Space Duel is a game I consider to be an endangered species. Like some animals of the wild kingdom that are hunted for their tusks and pelts, these games are hunted for their XY monitors. The big (arcade) game poachers would just yank the monitor out, sell a few other parts, and discard the carcass. These color XY monitors are not easy to come by and can fetch a high price. It felt good knowing this Space Duel was going to be saved from an unhappy ending at the hands of a poacher. The first goal was to get the game to play blind. The fuse holder in the bottom was looking pretty corroded. I metered the fuses and they checked ok. I took a fuse holder from another power brick that had a smoked transformer and swapped it in. Flipped the game on and I now had 5 volts to the board. Coined up a game and heard exactly what I was hoping for. I ordered the deluxe rebuild kit from Bob Roberts for the k6100. Rather than even bother troubleshooting the monitor, I felt it was better to just shotgun it with the $40.00 kit. After installing the kit and taking care of a few other loose ends, it was time to give it the smoke test. I double checked all the connections and powered on the game. I could hear the beautiful music that an XY makes when working properly. The picture came up and looked great. After a few minutes of adjusting the monitor it was time to play a couple games. I forgot how cool this game really is.

So the game is working great and now it’s time for a little cosmetics. I installed a new control panel overlay, cleaned the original buttons, and rattle-canned the coin door and marquee brackets. The game really made a nice turn around. After living off the grid for awhile, Space Duel is back among it’s own kind and in a place similar to it’s natural habitat. I took a few snapshots of the whole ordeal. Time to show them off like a proud papa.


The old corroded fuse block. I will give you one guess what is on there :



I hope the previous landlord kept the security deposit from the previous tenant:.



Mickey Mouse = Cool. Mouse that ate the insulation off of these wires = Very uncool :




Tastes like chicken ?





These wires both just fell right out of the molex plug going to the HV cage. That can't be good :



Amazing what an old toothbrush and some q-tips dipped in a little warm water can do:



Houston, we have a problem. Well, we had a problem, but nothing that a new overlay couldn't solve :



A new satin finish on an old Space Duel coin door works wonders:




A little bit of cleaning and the sides are looking good too:





This game is now off of the endangered species list.
The End.

Results May Vary...

Are you struggling with a coin-op collecting addiction? Do you fail to see a way out and feel overwhelmed, anxious and as though the people closest to you fail to understand what you are going through? Have you experienced any of the following symptoms:

1. You brought a control panel or playfield along to restore on weekend getaways, trips to the in-laws or even your honeymoon.
2. During Family gatherings and holidays you sneak out to the garage to work on machines.
3. You have called in sick to work on days you are expecting parts in the mail.

These are just some examples of extreme coin-op collecting addiction. You need to understand that this is normal behavior and it is your family and friends that need
treatment to cope with your addiction, not you.

Today is your lucky day. We here at Arcade-Revival have put together a plan for the friends and families of collectors so that they can understand, cope and nurture their loved one appropriately. It is at this time that we request you stop reading, step away, and direct your significant other, family member or friend to the computer so that we may start the procedure.

Dear family member/and or friend of coin-op collector,
This program will help you recognize, understand, and cope with the loss of your loved one to classic coin-op collecting. We regret to inform you that there is absolutely no treatment for him/her and that the recovery rate is less than .01% We understand your loss and have put together a list of actions to take in direct response to those of the loved one. Here are a list of scenarios and the appropriate responses to those actions. We encourage you to implement these immediately. Your family member may seem suspicious at first but will be too consumed by his/her addiction to give it much thought.

Here are some scenarios and responses:
Scenario:The addict is on craiglist or ebay looking for more machines or parts.
Response: Walk away/leave room.

Scenario: At a family gathering you notice the addict is not participating. You eventually locate addict in the garage working on a machine.
Response: Walk away/ leave room.

Scenario: Addict states that instead of going to Mother-In-Law’s for her birthday he is going to stay home and work on a machine.
Response: Get in car/drive away.

Scenario: Addict comes home with new machine that is clearly beyond the household budget.
Response:Walk away/leave room.

Scenario : Addict states he/she plans to attend coin-op show or auction.
Response : Walk away/leave room.



This is the pattern of responses that will help you deal with your loved one’s addiction and lessen the strain of the addiction on your personal relationship with him/her. Repetition is the key to success with this program. Once again, we sympathize with your loss and through this program we feel you can minimize the frustration and helplessness of the situation.Remember, it is you that has the problem dealing with it, not him/her. Good luck. You can now direct the addict back to the computer.

Dear classic coin-op collector,
This should help ease some of your anxiety and lessen the confrontations with your loved ones. Your family and friends reactions to your addiction may seem strange at first. This is normal and will diminish after the first few days. Results may vary.