Nintendo Retail Display Cabinet M18G Restoration and World of Nintendo marquee replacement Update: 9/13/21

[koko | 65]

I've started a display restoration below chronicling my adventures in removing what appears to be an entire can of white latex paint from a World of Nintendo M18G display. Update: I found someone that makes replacement marquees, so it appears that I just need to get lighting. If anyone has pics of the inside lighting please drop them below, thanks.

 

 

Edited September 13, 2021 by koko

[koko | 65]

Well, got my project off the seller tonight, in all it's glory. It's going to take a long time to get off all the latex paint, at least it chips off relatively easy on the vaccuum formed plastic and other than the paint and base that needs a replacement its in relatively decent shape.

Here is what I'm aiming for

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by koko

[drxandy | 3,225]

It's depressing to see all that white latex on that beautiful cab, I know you gonna treat it right. Can't wait to see the results!!

[RH | 4,903]

They literally took a World of Nintendo display case (read: piece of art) and gave it a crappy white pain job and THEN had the audacity to paint "XBOX Games" over "World of Nintendo".

What kind of sick freak was this?

But it's good to see someone wanting to give this case some loving.  I hope it turns out well and you find the pieces you need!

[koko | 65]

Spent a few hours removing paint today. Tested out both sides to see which would be harder. I think this was put on its side in a truck at some point as I could see the scrapes in the paint from the bed and what looks to be paint from the truck itself. You can see it in the pics above. Started with the right side as the paint had be pushed into the grooves of the plastic from the weight of being on its side. I used a mix of soap and water and popsicle sticks to scrape the paint. If anyone knows any chemicals that will dissolve the paint but not the plastic let me know. Will need to go back later and take out bits of paint left, but for now I wanted to tackle the main removal. This is going to take a while.

Edited January 3, 2021 by koko

[koko | 65]

More progress today, getting close to being finished with the right side. Once all the major paint is off I need to scrub to get the small residual paint flakes off and the residue from the latex. Looks like there was some sun fading slightly up top covered by the paint. I also started to take a look inside to see if I could chip off the paint from the sides inside, the black paint is shiny and the white seems to come off easily. 

E

[Prime2099 | 176]

Man that seems like it would be some really tedious work! I bet you will have a real sense of accomplishment after it's finished. I'm looking forward to the finished project!

[koko | 65]

32 minutes ago, Prime2099 said:

Man that seems like it would be some really tedious work! I bet you will have a real sense of accomplishment after it's finished. I'm looking forward to the finished project!

I’ve spent about 10 hours so far, going in I knew it was going to be real tedious but it’s unlikely I would have been able to get one of these if it was great condition. Too many deep pocketed collectors in my area and these never come up locally. I like the restoring part, it’s like saving a piece of history

[Prime2099 | 176]

45 minutes ago, koko said:

I’ve spent about 10 hours so far, going in I knew it was going to be real tedious but it’s unlikely I would have been able to get one of these if it was great condition. Too many deep pocketed collectors in my area and these never come up locally. I like the restoring part, it’s like saving a piece of history

Plus it makes you have a greater sense of appreciation for it, since you did all the work!

[koko | 65]

I did a little more work on this the past few days. I tried a few paint removal products on a hidden area, and anything stronger than rubbing alchohol was a no go, including citristrip I got off a buddy. At first I thought rubbing alchohol left a white haze on the plastic so I was hesitant to use it to clean the white specks, but after clearing more paint off the cabinet it appears the white haze is from the latex paint slightly leeching into some parts of the plastic and was there right when the paint was removed. I will have to see if a gentle magic eraser scrubbing will help later but if that doesn’t work it is what it is and doesn't stand out unless you start to look closely. I tried a bit of alchohol on the front black top but it appeared to remove some of the black finish. I’ll probably have to painstakingly remove those bits with a pin as it looks like the person did 2 coats on it. There’s paint buried deeply in the grooves which will be an adventure to remove and after maybe I can hit it with some pledge or plastic wax to give it a slight shine again. I'm going to leave the top until I come back around to clean up all the smaller bits later on after all of the major paint is removed. Starting to at least resemble something now, the ridges on the sides have been a nightmare so far though and I'm hoping the left side paint peels off a bit easier.

Edited January 3, 2021 by koko

[koko | 65]

Started on the left side, some parts of the paint peeled right off easily while others were ground in. I took the back off to get the wire shelving off. From what the seller mentioned it was what they had used in the store, I know the pictures in the catalog I’ve seen have game holders so the games face forward but the racks are grey and red so it’s possible they are what the store used when the cabinet was removed. If anyone knows how the doors come off drop me a line here please.

I took a look again and it appears the back and the sides inside the cabinet are covered by a black laminate, I can’t decide whether it’s worth scraping the paint off inside to keep it original or if it would just look better and be easier to sand and paint. Decisions for another day.

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by koko

[koko | 65]

Edited January 3, 2021 by koko

[koko | 65]

Today I worked a little more on the left side but eventually choose to change it up and chip away inside after about an hour of dealing with the side ridges. In the end I decided to try and restore the insides rather than paint over as the white paint came off easily from the veneer/laminate whatever the material is. I scraped the entire right side, and in doing so discovered the production tag covered by the paint as a cool bonus. Its feels like I’m an archeologist uncovering long forgotten secrets. I also noticed I should be able to scrape off the bottom as well. I think after this project I’m happy to never scrape paint again. Almost getting to the point I can paint the base and do a lot of fine scrubbing.

The peg board is in somewhat rough shape and while the paint does indeed come off, it’s slightly damaged in some places. It looks like the board was painted black rather than having a covering so some of the black paint was chipping off. I’m leaning towards getting replacement peg board from Home Depot and cutting it to size, painting it and putting it in to give it a cleaner look. 

Edited January 3, 2021 by koko

[Prime2099 | 176]

Nice progress so far!

[koko | 65]

Thanks, some people won't care about this project but I also know some people enjoy restorations and my hope is this might give readers something to look at while having a coffee lol. I also wanted a place to put down my journey in case someone else runs into a similar situation and so I could document for myself the progress. It's been a rough go so far, many many hours of tedious paint removal by hand, I've actually had dreams where I'm scraping paint out of the textured plastic. The progress I made today gave me hope as its starting to look a little more like the end product and I'm getting close to being done with the major paint removal, after which comes the base, peg board and second wave of fine paint removal which has me the most nervous. I have a lead on a repro marquee, fingers crossed that pans out as a finishing touch at the end.

Edited August 20, 2020 by koko

[Prime2099 | 176]

I enjoy seeing the restoration progress, so I appreciate you sharing!

[koko | 65]

A small update, finished the sides and bottom inside. Worked more on the left but for whatever reason the paint is really sticking into the textured part inside the ridges, it’s going to be a bit of a tedious nightmare going along and picking it all out but I think I’m going to lay this on it’s back on a makeshift table to be able to sit on a stool and go along working. I hope to finish up the major paint by the end of the weekend. After thinking it over I will have to leave the peg board, I’m not sure how I can get a new piece already painted in without disassembling the front, I thought about trying to bend it a little, and it appears the black plastic where the marquee goes is partially glued in place up top. I’ve got an orbital sander I can use to cleanup inside then I’ll have to carefully paint with a roller. Using spray paint probably won’t end well. So much of my time has been trial and error not wanting to permanently damage anything if possible. I've also worked out a deal with someone for a repro sign, so that should complete things once it's all clean.

Edited January 3, 2021 by koko

[koko | 65]

Worked at it again over the past couple of days. I cleared off the front bottom and the rest of the left side. I plan to lay the cabinet on it’s back on a makeshift table to make it easier to get at everything so I will finish the bottom edges at that time along with the rest of the base. I'm hopeful I can keep it all original minus the sign unless I come across one some day. Laying it down will allow me to try and repair some water damage on the bottom stand, and let me sit while I work on the sides and top black panel doing some deep cleaning with a razor, pin and scoring driver used on sheet metal. All three give me a little variety in scraping out the bits from the grooves. 


The left side looked less ground in than the right so I thought it was be easier. Man, that was so wrong, it was caked on and sticky. I did about 3 hours of cleaning to get most of the remaining big paint off, using some vinegar heated in the microwave to help loosen some areas. It worked surprisingly well, and didn’t seem to mess with the plastic but it cooled off very fast and lost it's latex removing ability when it did. I'm not sure why heated up it works so well.

I’m going to try and remove the doors as a next step to help get at the peg board inside and so when I lay this on it’s back the glass won’t possibly shatter. Having it on it’s back will allow me to go along cleaning while sitting trying to get the paint out of the ridges on the side. My wife offered to help out of pity, although really she has cleaning ocd and I think it will be therapeutic for her and a good couples project. I’m also pretty excited, I ordered a replacement marquee off a gentleman that came recommended from a few other collectors. He sent me some pics for comparison and it looks good, better than anything I would realistically be able to do myself and should be here in a couple of weeks.

If anyone has pictures of the light strip inside, model, etc, it would help a lot, it's a random request but I've had problems finding clear pics online as there are loads of pictures of the half glass, half cabinet display but not many of this particular one especially inside.

 

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by koko

[Code Monkey | 2,008]

It's weird, yours has the marquee cutout shaped while mine is just a long ellipse without the individual shapes in it. Mine is a cabinet with upper and lower though, this is just the large open cabinet so maybe they're different because of that. I can get you the model of the light out of mine if you want but it's not the same cabinet.

[koko | 65]

I would take anything honestly, it's probable they used the same lights in different cabinets and mass ordered them. This one is the M18G cabinet, I posted the section from the World of Nintendo order book at the very top. Someone else here posted scans of all the WoN stuff you could order, it was crazy the amount of variety they had. They had multiple different cabinets where you could get different variations of it, so it's always hard finding comparision pics on the net as there are so many different types and styles of cabinets out there. Any help would be appreciated.

[bergalon | 8]

This is super cool! Thanks for sharing! I fixed a Sears 48" nintendo cabinet from water damage and it was a similar labor of love Bravo!

[koko | 65]

Sorry for the lack of updates, I'm a high school math teacher and spare time since the start of September has been hard to come by. I recently got a repro marquee and some replacement peg board though. I hope to put in some time this thanksgiving weekend on replacing the pegboard and painting it black, the old board was too damaged and theres no way I could scrape the white off without demoing the entire board. It's going to get cold here soon so I still want to get this pretty much done before the really cold weather comes by the end of November, I don't want to be working on this in my basement nor do I want to leave this in my cold garage all winter. Will post some pics of the replacement sign sometime soon.

[koko | 65]

I’ve been concurrently trying to finish another project along with this getting a bit side tracked, another World of Nintendo cabinet with a totally gutted top. It came without any shelving, light, diffuser at the top and missing the sign but otherwise in good shape. I’ve cut some new plastic diffuser, added a light in and ordered some hooks with $5 glass from ikea for the new shelves, placing some random stuff to see what it looked like. Just need to actually organize it and all this one needs now is a marquee. 

I’ve moved the M18 cabinet inside as it gets much too cold in my garage. I spent the time the past two days removing the damaged and ruined peg board. After taking out all the painted screws on the front I discovered it was glued with wood glue down the centre frame. There was no way to remove the peg board out the back anyways with the centre piece in the so out it came.

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by koko

[koko | 65]

I actually had to use a saw to get the board out, due to it being such a tight fit from when they built it. Ignore the mess, I'm also rearraging things downstairs, I have project ADD sometimes.

Earlier today I cut a new piece of board, it fits perfectly. I just need to paint it black as it was supposed to be, satin black I believe and get it screwed in with a new centre bar made from what looks like 1x2 oak, then reassemble the back. I might take the time to strip out the white paint at the top inside before I fasten the peg board as it allows much easier access due to the fact I can't figure out how to take the doors off.

I need to think about how to hang the new sign as well, along with whether to repaint the black marquee holder. The sign came out pretty well from the seller I got it from, way better than I could have done.

Edited January 3, 2021 by koko

[Chimchim2020 | 0]

Hello,

I have one of these in great original condition.  If you need any photos, let me know.  I was trying to see what the value of this is these days.  I got mine from a KB Toys after they closed.  The manager and I both got one of the two in his store.