We just picked up a Mario Bros on Saturday, in Wakefield MA:

A little history for those that don’t already know…Mario Bros was released after Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Popeye. It was primarily marketed as a conversion kit to convert those 3 games into Mario Bros to “Clean up after Donkey Kong” (man, THAT would be a sucky job!). It was also released in a dedicated cabinet, seen above. The dedicated cabinet is sometimes known as a “wide body”, as it is a bit wider than the cabinet for the previously released games that I mentioned.

I saw this in an ad for a Tapper that was listed for $2100. They also said they had a Mario Bros for $250. Me being a cheapskate, I opted for the Mario. There were no pictures, and only a description of it. I couldn’t find out on the phone whether it was a widebody (which is what I would prefer) or a conversion, so I took a chance and said I’d take it. I got lucky that it was a widebody, and it’s in pretty good shape. I seem to be getting most of my games from Craigslist, and usually at a good (sometimes great!) price. With Craigslist, you have to just keep checking as often as you can, and when you see something you are interested in you have to be quick or it will get snapped up in no time.

As with most of our games, it could use some cosmetic work. The game itself plays great and the monitor looks like it recently had a cap kit. Here are some more pics:

I’ll be picking up repro side art for it at some point. Before I put it on I plan on patching the cabinet here and there and painting it so it looks mint. I will also need a repro control panel overlay, as this one has been used and abused:

And…I could also use a top marquee bracket as this one is long gone:

I’m ashamed to say that I have yet to open the back of this cabinet. I had a very busy weekend, and today was a Monday from hell. I should be peeking inside it tomorrow….if anything jumps out, or if I find all those socks in there that you lost over the years I will be sure to post more pics.