Yep....it is almost a miracle !
As so often the story is a bit longer about this cab. Some weeks after I bought the Asteroids shell from ChrisChrisChrisChrisChris I was contacted by "someone in the family" about this cab being for sale. He considered buying it but was unsure about getting all the parts for it and decided to tip me about it.
I had to think some time about it because I really don't have anymore space for cabs and already had the Asteroids shell of course.
However...the longer I thought about it, the better this offer was:
First of all, I will not have to buy side-art for it. As the pics show the side are in good shape. On side has some scratches but for me this is about the same condition as my Galaxian and I don't feel the need to replace it.
Second, I didn't need a Lunar Lander harness anymore. I had already ordered it from Dokert on KLOV forum, but I messaged him about this find and he understood and had no problem with me canceling my main harness. The Control Panel harness however I still need and was already waiting to be shipped.
Anyway, if I add those two things up I already get pretty far towards the price I had to pay for the LL. Apart from that it of course has the original coin door and well.....it IS an original Lunar Lander cab, and what can possibly be better than bringing that back to it's old glory ?
But the advantages didn't stop there. Since the LL had been converted to Asteroids it has the Asteroids marquee and CP already. OK, the CP will need a good restoration, but it's certainly doable. So...with the monitor from Remi that I fixed, plus the working Asteroids PCB I already bought YEARS ago plus the power brick from Béla and the ARI board from Remi I should be able to turn this into an (at least) running Asteroids !! I will need an Asteroids harness and of course bezel, but those are pretty easy to get.
So, this was a win-win-win situation for me.
Now I have a couple of options:
1) Restore the Asteroids completely and sell my Asterock
2) Restore the Asteroids completely and sell it and keep the Asterock
3) Make the Asteroids running and sell as project cab
You guys know I have a weak spot for bootlegs, and Sidam definitely stole my heart because of their quality in design, cab-build quality and PCB quality. I also love the CP because it's more comfortable than the original (If you see LL, you finally understand why Asteroids had such an insanely large CP for just 5 buttons). And the Asterock is simply in a very very nice condition and I will have to invest a lot of time (and some money) to get the Asteroids back into shape....so yet _another_ project cab...
Another plus of the Asterock is that it is a decent size, which is nice in my small gameroom.
However....the thought of having an original Asteroids and a Lunar Lander cab right next to each other does make me feel a bit tingly inside
Now....there was one more nice thing included in this deal......and that is this
:
