The tale of two games... How to best utilize a duplicate...

[Zoodles95]

I have all five Coleco uprights but some have some little issues. So, I presently have a second Pacman and Donkey Kong. I have another Frogger coming in.

Of the two Donkey Kongs one is pretty much perfect (to me anyways) except for the decal where the joystick is. So, I have another Donkey Kong which seems to have a duller screen and there seems to be a couple of differences when the screen is on.
[url=http://zoodles95.smugmug.com/Other/Video-Games/44979648_wbCcvH#!i=3613267978&k=7QKxvz7&lb=1&s=A][/url]

Here is the screen on my favourite Donkey Kong:
[url=http://zoodles95.smugmug.com/Other/Video-Games/44979648_wbCcvH#!i=3613232334&k=VgfFFwK&lb=1&s=A][/url]

Here is the screen on my duplicate:
[url=http://zoodles95.smugmug.com/Other/Video-Games/44979648_wbCcvH#!i=3613234927&k=9MQGXG5&lb=1&s=A][/url]

See the differences?
[url=http://zoodles95.smugmug.com/Other/Video-Games/44979648_wbCcvH#!i=3613232334&k=VgfFFwK&lb=1&s=A][/url]
[url=http://zoodles95.smugmug.com/Other/Video-Games/44979648_wbCcvH#!i=3613234927&k=9MQGXG5&lb=1&s=A][/url]

What is interesting is that on the duplicate the lives shown and other details show up AFTER you start a game. On my favourite Donkey Kong these details are on screen right from when you turn it on. The favourite Donkey Kong screen is also a bit brighter than my duplicate.

The brighter Donkey Kong seems to be a "B" variant and the duller one is an "A" variant:
[url=http://zoodles95.smugmug.com/Other/Video-Games/44979648_wbCcvH#!i=3613246506&k=mvvNDRQ&lb=1&s=A][/url]
[url=http://zoodles95.smugmug.com/Other/Video-Games/44979648_wbCcvH#!i=3613248839&k=sG2w43p&lb=1&s=A][/url]

I have a similar conflict with my two Pacmans as well. The one I prefer has a slight blemish around the joystick area which the duplicate does not.
[url=http://zoodles95.smugmug.com/Other/Video-Games/44979648_wbCcvH#!i=3613213573&k=NPctTTH&lb=1&s=A][/url]
The preferred Pacman also has a marquee sticker in very good condition while the duplicate has glue marks or something showing through.
[url=http://zoodles95.smugmug.com/Other/Video-Games/44979648_wbCcvH#!i=3613212084&k=tFLLLCR&lb=1&s=A][/url]

What a hoot to have two of these loud guys going at once...
[url=http://zoodles95.smugmug.com/Other/Video-Games/44979648_wbCcvH#!i=3613253701&k=fN6kMdQ&lb=1&s=A]

[/url]
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<a href="http://zoodles95.smugmug.com/Other/Video-Games/44979648_wbCcvH#!i=3613253701&k=fN6kMdQ&lb=1&s=A" title="Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug"><img src="http://zoodles95.smugmug.com/Other/Video-Games/i-fN6kMdQ/0/L/DSCF1793-L.jpg" title="Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug" alt="Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug"></a>

At any rate what would you do? Remove the better decals from the duplicates and swap them with the inferior quality decals from your preferred version? Or, would you disassemble the units and rebuild them using the best parts for your "keeper" and use the second best parts to build another duplicate?

[blanka]

I usually rebuild them using the best parts, but the Coleco's have a problem: they are not as easy to open as most other games. It is VERY HARD to open one without damaging the corners of the CPO (Control Panel Overlay: arcade language).

Best bet: sell both and get one that is mint Wink. Hard lesson learned from buying low quality versions to start the collection.

[Zoodles95]

Thanks for the reply.

I will have 4 Froggers. Two with the green top and one with the black top. One is not much better than parts quality so I am going to try to carefully take it apart and put it back together using the breakdown link from the main forum. I change crystals and hands on some of my custom watches so I should be able to do this if I am careful and patient.

[Rik]

Well, you can open them without _damaging_ the CPO easy enough as it's made of thick plastic. The hard part is just getting it to stick back down... It's best to just re-glue it, but you don't want to use anything really strong in case you have to open it again...

Interesting about the DK differences too... I've opened up many Pac-Mans, but not so many of the others, and I've fond at least 5 or 6 different revisions of the Pac-Man board/game (but I don't know if any of that is noticeable in game play). I'd be curious to see the circuit boards in those two, and especially the numbers on the main chip. I bet they are different (there's a ROM code on the chip, the 3-digit code at the end of the chip number will be different between those two as they obviously made a change to the programming...)

[Zoodles95]