Q*bert 1983 Tabletop Restoration | Vintage Parker Brothers Arcade Machine

[TrekMD]

I just watched this and though it was worth sharing here...

Tabletop arcade toys were all the rage in the early '80s. Coleco was well known for its tabletop machines (Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Frogger, etc.), but slightly lesser known were those by Parker Brothers. In 1983 they released this version of Q*bert by Gottlieb. Jon found this one on a road trip into South Georgia, and while it works well, it was cosmetically not great, so in this video he cleans it up and applies a brand new set of decorative decals in an effort to restore it to its original glory.

 

[CrossBow]

Interesting, I might give this watch later. I got one of these about 10 years ago that worked excellently but was missing most of the decals and the ones that were left were rough. The only decal that looked good was the one around the screen. Similarly, I cleaned it up, repaired a few suss solder points and purchased new decals and had it looking like brand new.

Then a few years ago, another one popped up in the AA marketplace that still had all the original labels on it but did have some actiplaque like appearance on them. However, I ended up trading in the one I restored for about $100 and bought the one that had the original decals even though they weren't nearly as bright etc. And I still have that one and even though I know it could look like new, it is more original to me vs the one I did restore. If that makes sense?

 

[TrekMD]

1 hour ago, CrossBow said:

 it is more original to me vs the one I did restore. If that makes sense?

It has to make sense to you.  I can see why you may prefer it fully original vs restored. 

[socrates63]

You're right about awareness. I was unaware of tabletops by Parker Brothers--never seen these before. I like the way they look and the joystick looks more usable than the Coleco tabletops.

Edited March 13 by socrates63
grammar