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Inside an Astro Wars ....tiny shop log :)

Sgt GrizZ

Sgt GrizZ

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So the last of my remaining handheld games collection is the classic Astro Wars by Grandstand. In looks, sounds and gameplay this was justifiably king of the playground handhelds when I was a kid. Hence I am keeping this one :)

It has had an intermittent sound problem - cutting out - so I decided to pull it apart today and have a look. Turned out to be a simple fix - one of the wires to the speaker disc basically fell off as I removed it so just a loose connection - quick solder back on and good to go.

Anyway here are some pics just in case anyone ever wondered what goes on inside these bad boys :cool:

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You can see the yellow wire hanging off the speaker disc - must have been literally hanging on giving the intermittant sound issue, when I opened it up it fell off.

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Wire soldered back on. Speaker back in place, screen colour filter back in place.

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Control panel back in place. You have to do this bit with everything upside down as the buttons just sit loose in the control panel.

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The screen magnifier inside the main body.

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Main body back on. All systems go.:D

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I especially like how this basically did what old video games did for the colours - and used coloured tape. Simple yet effective !
 
There's a bunch of free apps replicating this and other classic handhelds like Galaxy Invader 1000 and CGL Frogger, all by the same guy.
 
Oh man I loved this game when I was a kid. I was so happy when I got this for christmas when I was 12, I think. I'd love to own one again, for nostalgia :)
 
I remember taking on of those apart when I was about 12 years old,sadly it never worked quite right after I put it back together and a few years later got given to a scouts jumble sale by my mum along with half my other stuff,she said I had grown out of:mad:
 
stevebm1 said:
I remember taking on of those apart when I was about 12 years old,sadly it never worked quite right after I put it back together and a few years later got given to a scouts jumble sale by my mum along with half my other stuff,she said I had grown out of:mad:
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Oh god ... yeah we gave so much stuff to jumble sales, charity shops in mid 80s :(

Biggest regrets are years worth of early 2000 ADs :(

And my Shogun warrior ........ I had Dragun, my brother had a different one. This bad boy stood 24 inches tall, had some awesome accesories. My uncle brought them back from the US for us as presents. Mine was really well looked after still boxed. Gave it away ffs. :mad: Hard to find complete boxed ones now ...and if you do will cost you a fortune.

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stevebm1 said:
I remember taking on of those apart when I was about 12 years old,sadly it never worked quite right after I put it back together and a few years later got given to a scouts jumble sale by my mum along with half my other stuff,she said I had grown out of:mad:
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Snap !! Did the same to mine when it stopped working ,did get it working for a split second then nothing so then it ended up in the bin:(
 
People must still be giving it away, snapped this in the window at local charity shop - £70 for Steve Austin, dunno on Maskatron but that must be pretty rare. Loved these as a kid, second only to the Evel Knievel racer bikes, canyon racer etc.:)

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Always wanted one of those when I was a kid :(
astyy said:
People must still be giving it away, snapped this in the window at local charity shop - £70 for Steve Austin, dunno on Maskatron but that must be pretty rare. Loved these as a kid, second only to the Evel Knievel racer bikes, canyon racer etc.:)

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Always wanted one of those when I was a kid
 
astyy said:
People must still be giving it away, snapped this in the window at local charity shop - £70 for Steve Austin, dunno on Maskatron but that must be pretty rare. Loved these as a kid, second only to the Evel Knievel racer bikes, canyon racer etc.:)

View attachment 77510
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Probably about going rate for those. That shop has done it's homework - it's getting harder these days to pick up super bargain rarities in charity shops, the big ones all have an online presence on eBay etc

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Never had any of the handheld games as a kid. Spent a lot of time looking at games such as turtle bridge in the shops but there was no way my parents would buy one for Christmas.

First thing I ever bought for myself when I got a proper job was a sega mega drive to make up for lost time
 
johnwhitfield said:
Never had any of the handheld games as a kid. Spent a lot of time looking at games such as turtle bridge in the shops but there was no way my parents would buy one for Christmas.

First thing I ever bought for myself when I got a proper job was a sega mega drive to make up for lost time
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I only had 1 or 2 handhelds as a kid, and they were 2nd hand. They were relatively expensive - 30 or 40 quid + back in early 80s was a big chunk of cash. Generally only the more well off kids at our school had them.



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Just used an inflation calculator. £40 in the early 80s would be about £140 now. (Using cpi. Even more if you considered the money compared to average earnings) Guess I have to let my parents off.

They did buy me one of those toy spring cardboard and plastic pinball toys though.
 
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