[Here's a high resolution shot of it]

Yes, is it. But if you look real closely you can see a few spots where someone tried to buff it with something too harsh and left a dull area. And there's a few other spots where the red is just a little bit darker - It's not paint, it actually looks more like a permanent marker. Nothing big, just a bit more damage made by the previous owners. The rear-bottom corners are the most beat up part of it, but no where near the damage I see on others.




I cleaned it with a mild degreaser, then some alcohol-based adhesive remover (which did most of the work), then finally a very soft buffer on the lowest speed using some kind of other stuff I can't remember. absolutely NO abrasives. It came out so beautifully smooth and clean it was like it had been waxed.

Here's a high resolution shot of it
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/90072796/DK%20New%20Molding/DK_cab%204K.JPG
You can really see a lot of the defects in it.

I'm not going to claim to be an expert, but I've learned quite a bit about cabinets lately - at least enough to be saddened by the state of this one. That thing is pretty well beat and clearly not owned by someone who gave a damn about it.
The molding was replaced with the wrong stuff (should be white and flat). The buttons are all wrong, but the joystick is the right color at least - might actually be original. The lock bar is… just wrong. Whoever put that on there should be ashamed. And as blkdog7 said, it doesn't appear to be an original cabinet. I'd ever go so far as to say that that monitor might not be original. Maybe it's just the photo, but that looks much too bright and clear for it's supposed age.
Still, while $400 is a bit steep, I'd probably go for it. At least to have a cabinet I could have fun with and learn how to restore without worrying too much about ruining it. It depends how much money, and time, you're willing to put in to it. There's certainly enough there to make a beautiful restore and once you give it a good cleaning, put the right molding on it, and patch the holes, you'd be surprised how well it will look.

But again, I'm brand new to this whole thing and everything I say is taken from a shallow pool of knowledge.

I recently obtained an original 1981 red cabinet . I thought I knew allot about the game's history, but the guys over at coin-op space really helped me out. Take a look at the replies to my post on it - it's a good read:

http://www.coinopspace.com/forum/topics/1981-red-donkey-kong-with-photos-an-amateur-needs-advice

Finally got around to replacing the T-Molding on the cabinet today. I was really nervous about doing it, but as it turns out I'm actually pretty good at it.



Since I don't have a rubber mallet I laid a folded cloth on the molding and hit it with a hammer, then replaced the cloth with a small block of wood which spread out the impact and smoothed the molding out. Worked really well. The old wood and soft molding could a lot more of a beating than I expected.


I did this outside because I don't have a proper workstation, but being in the warm sunlight helped soften the molding to the point where it was really easy to work with and notching it was a breeze.


Amazing how that little change makes it look so much better.




Very happy with how it turned out. I am looking to replace the joystick and buttons with some reproductions I found, and that should be it.

Thanks blkdog7, at the moment I don't intend to do any more than replace the molding and buttons. I might add side art IF I can find a good reproduction without the copyright info.

But I've gotten a lot of information about this unit and have determined that it is NOT a Radarscope conversion but is in fact a later model dedicated red cabinet released just before all cabinets were made blue. Apparently, there were only about 1200 of these cabinets made and they did continue using the 5 slot speaker grill (in fact, my unit is helping narrow down when that change occurred).
But, I'm always looking for more opinions and suggestions. Thank you

I apologize if it's not cool to post this link, but I posted this same topic on the Coinopspace forum and am getting a lot of great help there. There are also more photos there.

www.coinopspace.com/forum/topics/1981-red-donkey-kong-with-photos-an-amateur-needs-advice

[The machine has been dusted and cleaned since most of these photos were taken]

This is it, I have begun my arcade collection.

My very generous friend recently gave me this 1981 Red Cabinet arcade. Dis spite my trying to tell him what a gem he had.
I know quite a bit about video game history and I know that only the first run of cabinets were red. Still, I have many questions that I am researching to find the answers to - most important is whether or not this IS an original or not some kind or reproduction or knock-off. I bring that up mostly because it has only 5 speaker holes instead of 7 (pictured further down). I've only ever seen 7-holes in photos of these.
I'm posting this here so that those who have the experience can provide some insight into this particular unit and tips as to what they would do should they have such an item fall into their laps.

The machine has been dusted and cleaned since most of these photos were taken
It does run, first of all, and I can confirm that it has the original software (1981 Nintendo) and has not been upgraded, modified, or messed with in any way. It's logic board is the old 4-board model.


It's condition is far form perfect. The paint is very old and the black areas have a few cracks throughout. It has some cosmetic damage including some pretty beat up lower back corners, a few spots of missing molding, a long but not deep scratch on the window (graphics are untouched), cigarette burns on the control panel (which has warped) and start buttons, and the lock on the rear panel has been drilled through and is now useless. I can see that the Jump button was replaced with a red ring and crimson plunger (I can't determine if the original button was red or orange), and I'm pretty sure the stick has had at least some internal parts replaced. The instructions slip is sun-bleached and there are no instruction graphics under the screen (I'm not sure if that's how the 1981 versions normally were).

The original coin-ops have been replaced with token based ones. I actually found a couple tokens in the cabinet and they work. One of the little wire switches that gives the credit is missing. I think the front of the coin ops are all original, but there is a "tokens only" sticker on it and stickers that I assume use to say "25¢" have been partially removed.

5-holed speaker


the side graphics, as is common, have been removed. There are pieces of the decal around the bolts.
The monitor is original and still looks good. You can see some burn-in of the barrels level when it's off if you look real close, and there is a little shifting and warping while you play (don't know if that's normal for a 30 year old monitor). The speaker has a buzz to it and if the volume is high enough you hear a strange constant sound effect. I'd like to find out a way to "purify" it's audio.

The marquee is lovely with maybe two or three little spots where the paint has come off near the edges. I need to order a new florescent bulb, of course - can't wait to see it all lit up.



ID# NONE | Model# TKG3-UP-US | Serial# 02520

I am NOT looking to modify this thing at all. I just want to make it look as good as it can without major surgery. I want to replace the T-molding, possibly add reproduction side art, maybe replace the damaged control panel pieces (though a part of me likes the character that has), and I definitely want to put in some coin-ops from the early 80s (any help in finding those?)
Any advice, tips, links or whatever you guys would like to provide will be greatly appreciated. I'm learning what I can but there's a lot to know. Remember that I only became an arcade collector within the past month when I was given this.I still haven't had much time to tinker with it.
I'll post specific questions as I go further. Right now I'd like to know what cleaning supplies I should use so I don't ruin the original paint, especially on the window and marquee graphics.