Back in October I finally was able to play a dedicated Gottlieb Mad Planets and loved everything about it. I wasn’t very good but something about the game play that was very different from anything I have ever played. Even the wife was entranced by it, especially the rhythmic music and sound effects which very much surprised me. What surprised me even more was the comment from the wife asking “Why don’t you own a Mad Planets?”.
I knew I was out of space. I mean, I already have a restored Frenzy and a Ice Cold Beer in the garage that can’t fit into the game room (Not to mention, a very clean Asteroids that just arrived). But, the quest was on to find one and casually started looking for one. Thinking like most collectors there is “always room for one more”. Haa ha.
Coming up empty handed I started searching for an empty cabinet and parts. Located a few cabinets including a semi-complete Q*bert and some of the parts I needed. But, as many collectors have found out on their own that piecing a game together starts to add up fast so I quickly got discouraged.
Then I receive an e-mail from Jeff Rothe of Rotheblog.com that someone contacted him through his blog stating he was located in Wintersville, Ohio and had a Mad Planets that he was thinking of selling (crazy coincidence I’d like to mention). I quickly contact the owner (Ron) about the machine and after a few e-mails back and forth showing me photos of a very clean (I’d almost say near mint) original Mad Planets we finally talked on the phone. It turns out, Ron has owned the machine since 1984. He practically stopped off at the arcade every day after work to play “this exact game” then got the opportunity to purchase his favorite game. It was just time to part with his game due to some issues with the flight stick and it getting used less over the last several years.
As you can see from the photo below, Ron and his son were very good.
After coming to an agreement on the price I quickly mailed out a small deposit to hold the game. The game was located in Ohio, nearly five hours away so I had to act quickly before it was listed locally and snagged up. A few days later, the roads in Michigan and in Ohio finally cleared up so it was time to hit the road to pick my machine.
So, 600 miles, 12 hours, approximately 1-1/4 tanks of gas (almost running out of gas on the turnpike I might add), breakfast, 12 steps up from his basement, 7 steps down to my basement and a sore back a Mad Planets is now in the game room. I’d like thank Jeff for passing on the information, Ron for selling his favorite game and my buddy Dan for making the trip with me to pick it up.
Distance To Empty… “Zero”?
Serial Number: 20400. All the boards have matching numbers!
Original manual that came with the machine.
I thought you had said Ron had an over 300K score? Did you mean 200K?
I’ll e-mail Ron and ask. I’m pretty sure he was over 300K for awhile then the scores got reset which is pretty easy to do at start up. Either way, the scores are pretty nice.
Nice looking game. I see an inventory tag on the side, seems like a lot of operators did that back in the day. You should probably remove the old battery from the pcb too…
Yeah, just like Frenzy’s “Prop Tag”.
@Jeff R. – Reply from Ron “My highest score was 278,000 on that game but it somehow got reset.“
Boy does that look sweet next to your Q-Bert!
On that photo above the manual, you might take a closer look at R21. The board in that area looks scorched, and that resistor looks… a bit off. I am just wondering if that resistor might be cooked?
Hey, I see space for at least 2-3 more arcade machines. All you have replace that gigantic computer workstation with a laptop and you’re space problems are solved! 😉
Oh, and your Game Marquees list needs some updating. Where is the beer wielding lady?
I agree Brian… Get rid of the computer desk down there and the seating area and the bar we can fit another 10-15 down there. 😉
Going to be rebuilding the power supply and reflow all the solder on the filter board.
Very nice. My Mad Planets is in decent shape, but your cabinet is in unbelievable shape. Hmmm, the heat shield between the boards and the inside of the cabinet is missing from mine.
http://cid-4127ea3a33b50049.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Arcade/machines/madplanets/images/boards.jpg#resId/4127EA3A33B50049!641
I need to get that heat shield off as quickly as possible. All they do is cook the power supply board! But, will keep it stashed away.
Bill,
Where are you getting the power supply rebuild kit from? I thought someone on KLOV was selling them, but I can’t remember who.
Thanks,
Kent
Mike is selling them from http://www.pacmandotcom.com … Grab one while you can because he’s not sure if he’s going to stock them anymore.
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I use to buy a movie ticket just to get into the theater to be able to play MAD PLANETS.
Now as an adult I have always thought it would be great to find an buy one of the original consoles for our house.
Is this one still for sale or where can I find one?
I am very good with mechanical and electrical so even if I were to find one that needed repairs I’m game to buy.
MrRogue1@yahoo.com
Ronald D. Self
Worth the ticket price!!! haa ha.