Client Spotlight: Restoring A Lost Childhood Opportunity
No matter how old you are, you will never fully outgrow the exhilarating feeling of blasting space aliens with lasers. It’s a simple fact of life, and it’s one that our latest restoration project has proven to be, once again, irrefutable; an original 1979 Taito Space Invaders machine has undergone a full restoration right here in our Weybridge showroom. We were working to a particularly strict deadline on this one, and like many of our restorations here at the Games Room Company, there’s a bit of an interesting story behind it.
Chiefly, it concerns a teenage girl, indulging in the time-honoured habit of teenagers throughout history. Namely, ignoring her parents. Who can blame her – she was within sight of the Holy Grail of contemporary gaming: the treasured opportunity to set a high score on a Space Invaders arcade machine. Unfortunately, her parents were preparing to leave. Again and again she was summoned, but she fended off each call of her name. A little bit further…
Then, the unthinkable happened. Her parents determined her real-life engagement was more important than the sprites on the screen, and literally pulled the plug on her game. The screen suddenly, abruptly died – and with it, her childhood dreams. (Sorry, we’re getting caught up in own narrative a bit here.) Now, cut to forty years later, that woman is happily married, and her husband has decided to get her the ultimate birthday present for the 20th of April – another opportunity with that treasured high-score. (How lovely!) That’s where we’ve come in. We’re honoured to be the company that man chose to fulfil his plans, and it didn’t take long for us to source an authentic Space Invaders machine from the US. We arranged for it to be shipped back here to our workshop, and there our master craftsmen began to work their magic.
A Full Nut-And-Bolt Restoration
The first point of order with any arcade machines that cross the threshold of our Weybridge showroom is to check the electronics, and this time was no different. We started with the circuit boards, which were bench tested and checked for dry joints that might prevent the game from performing properly (or at all!). These circuit boards were then fully serviced and repaired, before being carefully replaced. Likewise, the control panels were stripped, reprinted and clear-coat lacquered to guarantee their longevity. The game’s monitor and chassis were both bench tested and serviced, and for good measure we also Earth-strapped and rewired the electronics, so that we could be absolutely certain of both quality and overall safety.
Now, here at the Games Room Company, we’re big believers in the ‘presence’ of our products and games. Any freshly-restored game should always look amazing, but we like to think a surprise birthday present should have a particularly stunning visual impact – what some interior designers refer to as the Wow Factor, if you will. So when we turned our attention to the machine’s aesthetics – as ever – no detail escaped us. The wood laminate was French polished by one of our experienced craftsmen, taking particular care not to mark the surface. The top glass was replaced with modern safety glass (with the original instructions inserted, of course), while the legs and side-trim were also stripped and freshly chromed, giving the machine a wonderfully striking finish.
Finally, the newly-restored Space Invaders machine was packed into a bespoke padded box, ready to be whisked away overseas to its delighted new owner. If you’re reading, many happy returns from all of us here at the Games Room Company!
Naturally, like almost all of our products the machine was sold with a one year parts and labour warranty, safeguarding it against any calamities. It’s not the first restoration we’ve performed this year, either – and it’s certainly not going to be the last! You can click here to find out about the pinball table we restored for a client in Riga, or alternatively you can watch our Managing Director, Alexander Waldersmith, take you through a short video of the restoration.
Don’t forget, if you’re in town don’t hesitate to pop by our Weybridge showroom, and see what treasures we’ve got in stock!
