And so it really begins ...

In preparation to build an arcade-accurate Dragon's Lair cabinet, I started by doing some research. As I've stated before, I made a lot of (costly) mistakes when crafting my first cabinet and wanted to ensure smoother sailing this time around. I did a quick Google image search for 'Dragon's Lair arcade cabinets' to gather some reference pictures. After gathering a handful of images from various angles, I proceeded to pursue the means of putting it all together. Two extremely helpful resources were the Dragon's Lair Project (dragons-lair-project.com) and Jakobud.com. Dragon's Lair Project is THE place to visit online if you're even remotely interested in the history and restoration of laser disc games of yesteryear, while Jakobud.com hosts a slew of accurate arcade cabinet plans. Finding arcade-accurate Dragon's Lair cabinet plans is pretty much what sold me on tackling this project, be it my blessing or curse.

Since I've had this project in mind for a while, I was already aware of QuarterArcade.com and their inventory of Don Bluth licensed Dragon's Lair cabinet items. I ordered the arcade marquee, control panel overlay, side art (just one for now), red ball joystick, and scoreboard overlay. Unfortunately they had just sold their only LED scoreboard in stock. And yes, I'm still crying over that! These items were a bit pricy (over $200.00 total), but you get what you pay for. These are durable, high quality pieces made for arcade abuse. I then placed an order with Ultimarc for four control panel buttons (two red and two white), along with their I-PAC PC interface for buttons and joysticks. This purchase was certainly a steal in comparison. Since discovering the wonders of Daphne, a laser disc game emulator similar to MAME, I can run Dragon's Lair flawlessly from a PC and easily configure a coin door.

Keeping with the arcade-accurate theme, I also ordered a control panel from a guy named Tim Mundstock. Every time I did a search for Dragon's Lair control panel, his name kept popping up. I learned form the Dragon's Lair Project's Laser Disc Game Classifieds that Tim is responsible for making some of the most accurate Dragon's Lair and Space Ace control panels there are. I immediately emailed Tim and ordered one of his few remaining panels in stock. Buying from him is like buying NOS (new old stock), so I'm sure I won't be disappointed when it arrives. Unfortunately for me, Tim only had Space Ace control panels in stock. I'll have to fill the three extra holes drilled in the panel where the Space Ace difficulty buttons would normally go. (For those not "in the know", many Dragon's Lair cabinets were later converted to Space Ace cabinets, so everything is interchangeable.)

Now that I purchased just about everything I need to get started, I'm currently lacking the most crucial of materials - wood! I simply can't proceed without it! That's the major drawback to owning a lil hatchback. I need to sucker ... err ... convince someone with a truck to give me a hand in rectifying this dilemma.

Once construction begins, things will get a bit more interesting. Pictures coming soon!