Space Zap (1980 Game-A-Tron, Licensed to Midway Mfg.)
Click on Marquee for KLOV listing.
The Story: Up until a few months ago, I had never heard of Space Zap. I was recently at an auction in Saint Louis. While I didn’t find what I was looking for, this auction, for whatever reason, had a bunch of really old games from the late 1970's and early 1980's. You know, mostly black & white games that only veteran gamers know about. Only problem was that none of them worked, and I had found out later on that many of them were in another auction earlier, in Minnesota (about 1/2 a day north of us). My guess is they just had a hard time letting these go. Nobody seems to want them unless they have some signs of life, and who can blame them? These old game are just like old cars. The older they are, the harder it is to locate parts. But I digress. One game that did catch my eye was "Space Zap". The game was completely dead, but the cabinet is what really caught my attention. It had some of the coolest artwork I had ever seen. The control panel was really unique as well. No joystick, just aim buttons (where you'd usually see a fire button) and a fire button (where you'd usually see a joystick), and these things were huge. I didn’t pick anything up at that auction, but I didn’t come home empty handed either, and little did I know this would be the start of a journey towards a basically "free" working Space Zap...
The Score: Sort of a "score within a score" scenario. The auction was in Saint Louis and, like I mentioned, I didn’t pick up anything there. I did however have another game pickup planned. My Brother, who lives in Saint Peters and has his own contracting company, was working at a job in someone's home. They had a Tetris arcade game that someone else in the family bought some time ago and left behind. It had a busted marquee, and they didn’t think it worked. They just wanted it gone. Of course Kevin mentioned that I collect these things and asked how much they wanted for it. They just said "get it out of here". So I arranged to pick it up while I was in town. Thanks Kevin. When I got it home, I discovered that the game worked, but wouldn’t "coin up". Aside from a busted marquee, it was the only issue this game had, and the last guy who had it just couldn’t figure out how to wire up the coin door, nor did he know the game could be set up for free play. I rewired the coin door and bought a new marquee, plexi and lamp, which totaled about $25. I sold the game quickly for $150, so that’s $125 profit. Nice.
While this was going on, I had come across a listing on KC Craigslist that really caught my attention. A Space Zap, listed as fully working and in nice condition for $175. Could this be calling my name? I research the game and learn it’s a game of skill and reflexes, it just happens to have a space theme and awesome artwork. At this point, I already have a Satans Hollow and Tron, and I had "Gorf" on the mind for a Midway "Trifecta". I still plan on owning one, but how cool would it be to add Space Zap to the mix? The idea of a trifecta quickly turned into visions of a Midway "row". After negotiations with the seller, I pick it up for a cool $125. I used the funds from the Tetris sale to pay for it, so it’s basically like getting it for free. Sweet. This thing is in awesome shape and even has all the original paperwork inside.
The Service: While this game was working all the way, it wasn’t without its fair share of fine tuning and cleanup. It's a B&W game with a color overlay, and had years of dust layered in. The marquee is equipped with 5 "flasher" bulbs which are supposed to flash at random for a neat effect. Mine were all blown (typical) so they were replaced. For some reason, Midway didn't put lamps on the coin door on some of their early games like this one, so I added those as well. The coin door had some residue from duct tape, and the bare control panel had its fair share of hand wear and surface rust, so those were sanded down and painted.
It was by freak accident that I noticed the bezel puts out an awesome "glow" with a blacklight. Funny how Midway never noticed that and never added blacklights to the cab. I bought a pair of 12V LED blacklight strips and mounted them on each side right above the bezel. The coin door also has a knockout for a freeplay button, so I installed a button to "coin up" the game.
The Score: Sort of a "score within a score" scenario. The auction was in Saint Louis and, like I mentioned, I didn’t pick up anything there. I did however have another game pickup planned. My Brother, who lives in Saint Peters and has his own contracting company, was working at a job in someone's home. They had a Tetris arcade game that someone else in the family bought some time ago and left behind. It had a busted marquee, and they didn’t think it worked. They just wanted it gone. Of course Kevin mentioned that I collect these things and asked how much they wanted for it. They just said "get it out of here". So I arranged to pick it up while I was in town. Thanks Kevin. When I got it home, I discovered that the game worked, but wouldn’t "coin up". Aside from a busted marquee, it was the only issue this game had, and the last guy who had it just couldn’t figure out how to wire up the coin door, nor did he know the game could be set up for free play. I rewired the coin door and bought a new marquee, plexi and lamp, which totaled about $25. I sold the game quickly for $150, so that’s $125 profit. Nice.
While this was going on, I had come across a listing on KC Craigslist that really caught my attention. A Space Zap, listed as fully working and in nice condition for $175. Could this be calling my name? I research the game and learn it’s a game of skill and reflexes, it just happens to have a space theme and awesome artwork. At this point, I already have a Satans Hollow and Tron, and I had "Gorf" on the mind for a Midway "Trifecta". I still plan on owning one, but how cool would it be to add Space Zap to the mix? The idea of a trifecta quickly turned into visions of a Midway "row". After negotiations with the seller, I pick it up for a cool $125. I used the funds from the Tetris sale to pay for it, so it’s basically like getting it for free. Sweet. This thing is in awesome shape and even has all the original paperwork inside.
The Service: While this game was working all the way, it wasn’t without its fair share of fine tuning and cleanup. It's a B&W game with a color overlay, and had years of dust layered in. The marquee is equipped with 5 "flasher" bulbs which are supposed to flash at random for a neat effect. Mine were all blown (typical) so they were replaced. For some reason, Midway didn't put lamps on the coin door on some of their early games like this one, so I added those as well. The coin door had some residue from duct tape, and the bare control panel had its fair share of hand wear and surface rust, so those were sanded down and painted.
It was by freak accident that I noticed the bezel puts out an awesome "glow" with a blacklight. Funny how Midway never noticed that and never added blacklights to the cab. I bought a pair of 12V LED blacklight strips and mounted them on each side right above the bezel. The coin door also has a knockout for a freeplay button, so I installed a button to "coin up" the game.
