:: Space Invaders :: *Double Invasion* [Road Trip]

[DarthNuno]

And here we go with a new road trip 

Thursday 9th of April 2009, in the evening...

Well, it was supposed to be a *TRIPLE* Space Invaders Raid... but, at the last moment, I didn't got the right trailer for three cabinets 
Hopefully I got the one from Freddy (already used for a lot of road trips by the way)...



It's very old now... I'm a little bit afraid to use it, because of this crack   



So, I won't take the risk to break it. One cabinet will go inside the car, the second one will go on the trailer....and bye bye the third cabinet!

*NOTE* : Because there was no color game in 1978, my camera takes pictures in Black & White only! But for some reasons, they may be some elements in color... very strange 

Like a can of coke you open at the right time, I'll open this bag with the right t-shirt for this road trip   



[Note on this T-Shirt : why they didn't pick up the right cabinet on it? I mean why using a Midway's Pac Man/Galaxian cabinet shape on this  It was supposed to be an official T-Shirt...  ]

Friday 10th of April 2009, very (too) early...

Everything is ready... but no Dr Pepper this time ... too many sugar for me these days ( ) 



I'm getting old  It's very early for me 



In order to size this road trip  :



First stage... pick up 'Zebassprophet', my 'counterpart' for this Space Invaders Raid... in Metz (France).

Few weeks ago, he informed me about a 'nest' of Space Invaders, located in the middle of the France, and asked me if I would be looking for one. I've already a Space Invaders part II cocktail, but I still don't have the original 'upright' one  So of course, I said : Yeah baby yeah... let's rock'n'roll   

So here's the first stage   



Quick touch & go at the gas station, in Luxembourg (where the price of the fuel is the lowest) :



Only few km driven, and I'm already dreaming in black & white   



OK, arriving at Metz (France)... let's find the 'Zebassprohet' apartment...



Here's the man... Wake up dude   



I love to see cabinets/pinballs in an apartment... so Arcade Life Style   



This one was an original boot of Asteroids... long time ago...



No time for trying the games now! There is a big road trip to come ... Ignition !

For some reason, my navigation car system won't show me the fastest & accurate way to go to our final destination  So I'll have to define intermediary stages.

Let's go first to the city of Troyes [France] 



... on the road...

Hey... "Sainte-Ménehould"... well famous for its annual arcade/pinball/jukebox exhibition 



A funny thing along the French highways/roads ... strange colored items/objects here & there, like this :



...It's supposed to keep you awake...



...funny  ...



Arriving at Troyes. Let's take a short break here.



Hey Zebass', why do you run like that? 



"Come on, Come one! There are some games in the shop of this gas station... see..." 





LOL! Maybe we should stop the road trip here, pick up the Scud Race / Out Run 2SP / Galaga-Ms Pac Man reunion,  and go back home 

Let's set the final destination... Jesus! 430 km to go 



Let's go...

By the way, Zebassprophet is a HUGE fan of the Konami's GTI club game... if someone know where to found one? 



An other quick stop... I don't remember why? ... anyway... let's shoot us together... for the fun   





It's time to eat something. No Burger King in France... so where 



A sign of the Gods? 

Amazing...we are in France, the country of the food, and see what we are eating   



This is not Buddha, this is not Jesus, this is not Allah, this is ... Ronald 



We are very lucky... no traffic jam at all  Right on time!  And when the first traffic jam occurs, we skip it because we take the final exit  :



 

[DarthNuno]

Finally on location 

'Nicolas le Jardiner' is waiting for us. He lives in a very tiny road... not easy to park my car & the trailer here...

Anyway, first contacts with Nicolas 



He is very cool! He's not a 'seller' by the way. He's an arcade fan, and like most of use, he restores old arcade cabs. 

Immediately, we got the 'Hospitality package'  ... or the real purpose of a cocktail : eating & drinking on it   



A part of the last games he has to restore...



Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of time... we are very far from home... so let's go back to the 'business' part  We are here for this 



One Space Invaders cab is for Zebassprophet. He's the man who knew about these Space Invaders for sale, so of course, he can pick up the best cabinet 

I'm nervous...I need to pick up my cabinet...but Nicolas ask us to follow him in an other garage, not so far... where are the others cab? I'm very nervous now



 

Calm down Nuno! The other ones are there...



Nice     



* These cabinets are not for sale by the way *

And here they are... two more Space Invaders  I'll take this one 



Red Blue carpet for a very old lady... please welcome... Space Invaders  :



Now loaded in the car  :



Now, let's go back to the Nicolas house... in order to get the Space Invaders for Zebassprophet 



Hey did you see? It's possible to load a game + a person in my car on the back, at the same time! Amazing  Ok... it's just for few meters 

And here's the cab for Zebass'...



Because that one will be outside, on the trailer, let's pack it first 



Almost done... one Space Invaders per man   



Ready to go 



Home Sweet Home : Beers, food, cocktail, arcade games, music... but where are the girls 



Ok, it's really time to go now... Let's set the 'autopilot' to Troyes :



No rain at all ...  until now ! 



Hopefully, it's just a small shower  But let's check what happen on the trailer...



Of course, no problem too for the one inside the car  :



Let's find a gas station...



...mhhhh... who says it's not interesting? 

Many hours later... so tired  ... but ... we arrive at Metz, the town of Zebassprophet 



Cool, some friends of him are already there, in order to help us for unloading the game  .



Funny picture... Space Invaders on the street of Metz... Who wanna play? 



The big challenge... put his game now... on the second floor, without making any noise    But with four guys, it's not to hard...



This is it... this is really it... Zebass' is an happy guy   



Well, the road trip is over for him... but not for me  I have to drive about one hour ... let's leave the happy man 



I'm finally at home... so tired, but happy too  Ok, let's 'size' this trip! 





Belgium > Luxembourg > France > Luxembourg > Belgium : 1421 km driven.
Total road trip time : 19h06 min

A nice one 

 

[zebassprophet]

Early commentary for me

really great Day for me , great trip and great cab
and when I think about it
my cab is also water damage, then i don't think i've take the best cab at least
not a probleme, with your advice i will put it in function as soon as possible

maybe post the wip here and at gamoover too


a thousand of thanks Darth nuno
you've made my dream come true

but for now, some work to make the cab work

[petieken]

Very nice catch guys!!
Good luck with your cabs!

Thanks for the road trip report & pictures

[level42]

Nice work !

It also clearly shows that the Peugeot is just that bit higher and deeper then my Skoda:


O and Zebass.........would you like a Konami GT cockpit ?

{edit}
O wait, You mean GTI club. Yeah, no I don't have that....

I am going to have to let go of this though, so if anyone's interested, PCB set cleaned and working, everything else needs SERIOOUS work:



The kid is NOT included in the offer

[Etienne MacGyver]

Very nice !  a real classic for the collection

does it need a lot of restauration ?

anyway , goodluck with your nice catches and thanx for sharing another roadtrip!

[DarthNuno]

Very nice catch guys!!

Thanks. We are very happy because Space Invaders is after all ...a must have in any 'retro' game room 

Nice work !
It also clearly shows that the Peugeot is just that bit higher and deeper then my Skoda:
s NOT included in the offer

Yeps André, this Peugeot 307SW is the perfect weapon for doing arcade road trip  Everything fits 

really great Day for me , great trip and great cab
and when I think about it
my cab is also water damage, then i don't think i've take the best cab at least
not a probleme, with your advice i will put it in function as soon as possible

Great day for me too 
It was not easy to choose between the four cabinets. Mine also have strong water damage on the bottom. You'll see in the following pictures. But nothing impossible to repair 

Very nice !  a real classic for the collection

As I said... a must have   

[DarthNuno]

Saturday 11 of April 2009, in the morning...

First check before unloading the 'toy'  :



The major problem on this cab is the ... *water damage*   



Ouch! 



This is the explanation : missing leg levelers 



Ok, let's quickly remove the dust, spider webs and other dead wood parts... and unload the beast 



As you can see, the general condition is not too bad  :



I don't have any board inside, just the monitor, but I don't know if it's work or not.



I have the back doors, one is slightly damaged...



At first sight, the bezel/artwork in not to bad :



The control panel is very used... but it should be looking better after cleaning...



Ok, now inside the game room... waiting its turn 



 

[zebassprophet]

actally, your cab are also slightly damages :-/
I will wait to see your work and made it in the same time so be quick

for etienne, this cab doesn't need a lot of restauration
but there is a full of thing to do in order to have a fully good looking cab

I have the pcb, but my screen doesn't show anything
I certainly have to test one or two board in the cab to see where the failure come from

[scr33n]

Good job guys, two other treasures found 

and now the most interesting part, the resto .... go Bruno go ......the force be with you  and with Zebassprophet



Hey Bruno ... a Robotron cab (great game, I love it  ):



it's not on your list of cabs to have?

[zebassprophet]

actually have buy some mixture for rotten wood
some wood paste
acetone
and plastic and metal brush
I've also buy some capacitors in order to change all of the one that are on the SI board
and the strange round one too^^

[level42]

Good job guys, two other treasures found 

and now the most interesting part, the resto .... go Bruno go ......the force be with you  and with Zebassprophet



Hey Bruno ... a Robotron cab (great game, I love it  ):



it's not on your list of cabs to have?

Read again, seller was not selling those, which I can fully understand !!!! How I would love to have put that one right next to my Euro Joust !

Do we all agree that the Euro side art of Robotron looks much better than the US version ? Oops, sorry let's better stay on topic !

[scr33n]

Read again, seller was not selling those

I know, I know.... it's only a question for Bruno 

ot finished 

[Sonic 1992]

Awesome!!  A shared Road Trip for the same game for each of you!!!  Totally Cool!        

[Maverick]

actally, your cab are also slightly damages :-/
I will wait to see your work and made it in the same time so be quick

for etienne, this cab doesn't need a lot of restauration
but there is a full of thing to do in order to have a fully good looking cab

I have the pcb, but my screen doesn't show anything
I certainly have to test one or two board in the cab to see where the failure come from

That's normal,

In the end we 're talking about games that got at least our age!

And have been working very hard during they're all life

So we may say that it is a miracle that they are still in Modest/good conditions


For the pcb, the best thing to do is to get one working from ebay or quarterarcade

since it is not so expensive thanks to the euro convertion

It is the best chioce to make it alive fast and focus the attention of the cosmetic restoration (a little bit harder)

Anyway a piece of history to have (sadly i've got no time to restore mine and I'm selling it, sigh!)


Post some photos soon as restored

Mav