Super Potato TV Game Store – Ikebukuro

Here are some pics of the Ikebukuro branch of the infamous Super Potato TV game store.  Located down a quiet side street not far from the Sega GiGo arcade, Sunshine 60 Street, this is another nice find we just happened to stumble across.  The store is smaller than its Akihabara counterpart but the shelves are stacked full of gaming awesomeness across all formats. 

Sega New Astro City – Update 23/07/2012

Well I’ve pretty much finished the control panel now.

1. New 1L6B control panel and control looms fitted.

2. Plastic coin slot replaced with Sega 100 Yen chrome metal coin slot.

3. Faded Insert Coin 100 Yen sticker replaced with NOS sticker.

4. Instruction strip glass cover cleaned / polished.

5. Instruction strip glass cover brackets cleaned with Steller stainless steel cleaner.

6. m4 x 16mm chrome carriage bolts and m4 flange nuts renewed (x6).  Parts 031-000416-0C & 050-F00400 respectively.

Sega New Astro City – Update 20/07/2012

Today I cleaned the monitor tube and chasis with an anti-static brush and an air duster, it’s cleaned up nicely. 

I’ve now re-fitted the monitor and the surround, and tested it with Super Contra.  Its all looking pretty good!

 

Sega New Astro City – Update 19/07/2012

Todays progress. 

1. Lamp unit cleaned and re-fitted.
2. PSU re-fitted.
3. Kick plate cleaned with Steller stainless steel cleaner.

4. Coin bucket door lock replaced - the cab now has a full set of Sega 5380 type locks.
5. Control box assembly hinge cleaned with Steller stainless steel cleaner.
6. Coin box door frame primed and re-sprayed appliance gloss white. I like to keep things original but some of the paint had worn off and it was looking a bit tired.

7. Upper control box assembly cleaned with Novus.

Sega New Astro City – Update 18/07/2012

The monitor surround has been cleaned up and reassembled.  This includes the speakers, speaker surround, ‘New Astro City’ and ‘Flat Square 29’ illumination panels, and the bezel.

The original foam strip under the speaker surround had perished so I removed what was left and fitted some new PVC foam sealing strip.  The strip is 12mm wide, the same as the original.

Here are a couple more pics of the completed surround.

Sega New Astro City - Update 16/07/2012

Well I’ve been busy disassembling the Astro, cleaning it up and commencing re-assembly.

I used Triplewax Car shampoo to clean the exterior followed by T-Cut Color Fast.  For the interior I used Mykal anti-static foam cleaner degreaser.

The two front feet pads were worn so I’ve replaced them.  I’ve also been cleaning up the plastics with Novus.

I’m pleased with how it’s all shaping up!

Sega New Astro City – Resto / Restore

Well i’m very sad to see my beloved Cyber Lead go.

So how have I been consoling myself?  By playing Mr Driller and working on my New Astro City!

The body and side art are in very nice condition.  The monitor had some burn so after I picked it up a year or so ago I replaced it with a nice zero burn MS9 tube.

Old monitor:

Toshiba

Model No. MS8-29FSG

Replacement monitor:             

Nanao MS9                             

Model No. MS9-29SU

I used this guide on Jamma+ for discharging / replacing the tube:

http://www.jammaplus.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=22934&title=faq-how-to-discharge-an-arcade-monitor

And this guide for setting up the colours and brightness on my newly installed monitor:

http://wiki.arcadeotaku.com/w/How_to_Correctly_Set_Up_Monitor_Colours_and_Brightness

           

Work  Done By Previous Owner:

1. NOS PSU fitted, Part No. 400-5261Z.  The original PSU failed and was replaced by a nice new one, so that’s pretty cool.  My only concern is whether this will be suitable for running Cave games.

2. Jamma loom restored to factory defaults.

To Do List:

1. Strip down / internal clean.

2. Fit new 1L6B control panel and control looms.

3. Fit Sega 5380 lock barrel to coin box door.

4. Replace plastic coin slot with Sega 100 Yen chrome metal coin slot.

5. Fit repro marquee holder.

6. Re-connect coin counter.

7. Replace faded Insert Coin 100 Yen sticker with NOS sticker.

8. Add high voltage warning sticker [440-WS0001XEG] to the coin mech door.

9. Clean, prime and re-spray yellowed speaker surround. 

Yellowing of the speaker surround is very common, caused by a combination of age, cigarette smoke and sunlight.  Check out these Astro’s in Try Amusment Tower, Akihabara.

I’ve cleaned up the speaker surround, prepped it with plastic primer, and took it in to a local body shop to have it sprayed appliance gloss white.  Very happy with the result.

Here are some pics of the new 1L6B panel.

The NOS 100 Yen sticker I’ll be fitting.

Plans For The Cab

The monitor is going to be tated and used for vertical shooters.  Although I generally prefer the look of older Jamma games on smaller screens, the larger 29 inch screen is great for bullet hell / danmaku games by making bullet dodging a tad easier!

Many thanks to Sir Ralph / Alienmame for this awesome cab!

Namco Cyber Lead – The One That Got Away

The Namco Cyber Lead is quite an interesting cabinet.  And in my opinion damn sexy!  The cabinet is wired for JVS, but can be used for Jamma games with the Namco JVS > Jamma harness.  The monitor is dual-resolution (15 & 24KHz) and cannot be tated.

When I visited Japan last September, they had some Cyber Leads lined up in Game Park Ramble Plaza, Ikebuburo.  I remember walking up the stairs and being awestruck at the row of Cyber Leads.

They also had a lone cab in Namco Land, Shibuya with a Paca Paca Passion 2 control panel.

Here is my Cyber Lead which I’ve sadly had to part with.  The cab is totally original.  I’ve given the cab a light clean, replaced a missing speaker and had a new PCB mounting board cut (Dimensions: L53 x W42 x H1.2 cm).  I was planning on doing a full resto but need the space.  Anyways I thought I’d share my thoughts on the cab.

The Good

1. The cab is wired for JVS so Naomi is plug and play.  The monitor is a Nanao MS9-29A with a nice Toshiba tube.  The Capcom Vs. fighters look stunning on this cab.  On my 31KHz Naomi cabinet, the backgrounds look nice but the fighters are blocky / pixelated.  I much prefer the look of these games in 15KHz.

2. It’s Namco, purple and has an awesome LED marquee!  Some Namco System 12 PCB’s such as Mr Driller, Tekken 3 and Soul Calibur have LED support, very cool indeed!

3. The sound is great! The speaker positioning at the side of the monitor is very effective.

4. I really like the control panel height.  It’s a bit higher than an Astro / Naomi.  I’m quite tall (6ft) and I find this cab very comfortable to play on.

5. There are two instruction strip panels which is another unique and very nice feature.

And The Not So Good

1. The monitor can’t be tated.  Not a problem if you have other cabs but if you only have space for one then this is probably not the cab for you!

2. The white and purple plastics are prone to yellowing / fading.  It is also common to see these with cracked / broken plastic panels.

3. The cab is a bit of a beast, having a slightly larger footprint than an Astro City and weighing in at 120Kg.  The cab is 750mm wide.  It went through my front door easily enough but the control panel doesn’t detach easily and I had to disassemble the cab to get it upstairs.  I used this thread as a guide for disassembly:

http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1827&p=20769&hilit=cyberlead+stairs#p20769

Here are some more pics of insides and stickers on the back.

Namco Cyber Lead II

The Cyber Lead II features the addition of Dreamcast / PS1 memory card readers, and a tri-synch monitor.  Details on these are sketchy and it is thought Namco simply swapped parts on existing cabs.

I think Cyber Leads are awesome and I’ll be sad to see it go.  Congrats to the new owner!