Across the USA today, is the debut of Hallmark's Pac-Man arcade game cabinet Christmas tree ornament. It retails for a mere $18.80 USD and can be found at your local Hallmark store nearest you. This particular ornament is the first ever classic retro-1980's arcade cabinet themed ornament to be released from Hallmark themselves.
Here's what it looks like:
http://www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... O%7Cstores
I pre-ordered a Pac-man cab ornament weeks ago and finally picked it up today. Only if the minature arcade monitor was a fully working one would it be a super cool one indeed. But as it is, it's just a static game screen but is backlit. With such minature LCD screen technology today, it's possible to make it fully working.
Of course, in the past, there have been two different pinball machine ornaments released from the same company as well. They are exquistely crafted with cool LED-lit bumpers and even have a minature pinball rolling inside on the playing field for completeness. Pull back on the plunger and start off the cool pinball sound effects and LED light effects. Even the backplate simulated glass scoreboard panels are backlit as well for both pinball ornaments. ^_~
Three LR-44 type batteries powered this ornament and has cool sound effects and LED lights that come on when either Player 1 or Player 2 Start buttons are depressed.
I wouldn't mind seeing other classic arcade game cabinet ornaments released in the nearby future. This could be the start of a new trend in retro arcade cab ornament collecting. Makes me wish that Hallmark had done this type of ornament years ago...better later than never, right? ^_~
American Greetings Co. has in the past, released various console gaming themed Christmas ornaments that was licensed from Nintendo Co. Ltd. -- Donkey Kong themed ones to be exact.
PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
New Pac-man arcade cabinet ornament from Hallmark!
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PC Engine Fan X!
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New Pac-man arcade cabinet ornament from Hallmark!
Last edited by PC Engine Fan X! on Sat Oct 11, 2008 9:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Ozymandiaz1260
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PC Engine Fan X!
- Posts: 9129
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:32 pm
Ozy,
You'll definitely get a kick outta this cool Pac-man ornament alrighty. It's aimed at all retro arcade gamers and Pac-Man lovers alike. ^_~
I'd have to say that a Ms. Pac-Man arcade cab ornament would look great as a compliment to it, hmmm?
Interesting sidenote to learn that Ms. Pac-Man wasn't developed by Namco but by Bally Midway MFG Co. and the arcade IP of it was eventually sold to Namco. (Very wise to make more money/yen off of the royalties and whatnot on it, Namco knew what they were doing when acquiring the IP firsthand.)
The jumbled mess that is the Baby Pac-Man arcade game/pinball combo deal -- you had to earn your "power pills" just to eat the ghosts (by doing well on the pinball portion of the game-wise). If there weren't any such pills on the game board itself, tough luck pal. The second arcade game/pinball combo deal type of cabinet from Bally Midway MFG Co. was "Granny and the Gators".
Both cabinets of Baby Pac-Man and Granny and the Gators didn't fare too well in the USA arcade scene back in the early 1980's, especially with arcade operators. Why? Because you had to maintain both the PCB and pinball aspects to ensure that it was working properly. If either component wasn't working 100%, it was pointless to play it/earn revenue on it. But they are both fun to play with, assuming they've been well taken care of and restored to their fomer glory. I recall someone bringing a restored Baby Pac-man cab to a California Extreme show...it was set on Free Play for all to check it out. ^_~
PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
You'll definitely get a kick outta this cool Pac-man ornament alrighty. It's aimed at all retro arcade gamers and Pac-Man lovers alike. ^_~
I'd have to say that a Ms. Pac-Man arcade cab ornament would look great as a compliment to it, hmmm?
Interesting sidenote to learn that Ms. Pac-Man wasn't developed by Namco but by Bally Midway MFG Co. and the arcade IP of it was eventually sold to Namco. (Very wise to make more money/yen off of the royalties and whatnot on it, Namco knew what they were doing when acquiring the IP firsthand.)
The jumbled mess that is the Baby Pac-Man arcade game/pinball combo deal -- you had to earn your "power pills" just to eat the ghosts (by doing well on the pinball portion of the game-wise). If there weren't any such pills on the game board itself, tough luck pal. The second arcade game/pinball combo deal type of cabinet from Bally Midway MFG Co. was "Granny and the Gators".
Both cabinets of Baby Pac-Man and Granny and the Gators didn't fare too well in the USA arcade scene back in the early 1980's, especially with arcade operators. Why? Because you had to maintain both the PCB and pinball aspects to ensure that it was working properly. If either component wasn't working 100%, it was pointless to play it/earn revenue on it. But they are both fun to play with, assuming they've been well taken care of and restored to their fomer glory. I recall someone bringing a restored Baby Pac-man cab to a California Extreme show...it was set on Free Play for all to check it out. ^_~
PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
