I haven’t heard that game sound in over thirty years. Very moving for me as my brother passed away in childhood and the game was his. So watching this was like stepping into a time machine…a very strange feeling. I don’t believe we still have ours, though it might be at my father’s house. Thanks for uploading this. PS- the song at the end is actually I Vow To Thee My Country.
I'm glad it brought back some good memories for you. Doing a bit of googling, it looks like 'I vow to thee my country' is itself based on a section of Jupiter from Holst's Planet Suite. They all sound very similar! 🙂
Reminds me of the last day of school before the summer holidays when kids would bring in their electronic games to play! I remember most of those on that Grandstand ad being in the classroom :)
I can wind back further still to the late 70's and things like Mouse Trap (the board game) was the highlight of the last day of school for a lot of us, before any electronics appeared. Weird to think that now!
You're very welcome. I'm surprised it held their attention for as long as that! They probably looked at it like we would our parent's toys. "Nice stick and hoop dad!" The big question though is what was that brown gunk?
The Digital Orphanage, no idea what that brown gunk was! Possibly tea, or something spilt whilst in transit from the various house moves or whilst languishing in the parents loft!
It's not bad looking for a 37 year old toy. I imagine the Firefox name was a reference to the 1982 film of the same name, especially looking at the shape of the ship. I forgot to mention that in the video (hey ho!) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefox_(film)
There's no way they would have got away with those unlicensed tunes these days 😂 The sound coming from this machine's twin speakers was amazing for the time and still sounds good today.
Thanks Neil! I think they probably would bring up a CPC case lovely. Not had a plastic they've attacked yet. Learnt about them on the pinball forum. Here's where I bought them to save you a search. www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002UCYRZU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
First video of yours I've watched. Great info as u repairing..my brother had this and I loved when he let me have a go. Games much simpler in them days
Thank you for watching! Yes games were simpler, yet still fun and addictive to play. My friend who I fixed this for has said his son is trying to finish the game since I didn't :-)
This brings back memories from my childhood years. I’m 52 now. I had this game but I don’t remember how I parted with it. But I do remember I had so called friends back then who was stealing from me, behind my back. Unfortunately, being naive back then, it took me a while to cotton on what was happening before I put a stop to it. By then I’d lost so much stuff. Nintendo - Game & Watch games and other toys too. I was recently looking on eBay and I’ve seen Firefox F-7 and Nintendo’s advertised for sale there, some in fair condition and some in mint condition, but the price isn’t what it use to be. 😂
Had this as a kid as well as a Starforce game which was similar. Found your video was searching for a dismantle guide as i've just cleaned mine up too. Needed to check how the joystick came off before forcing anything. So your video was very helpful. Mine was still in pretty good condition so i didnt strip down all the way like you did. My starforce game didnt have the joystick working but literrally just needed a clean up of the pads to get the rubber conductors going again. Great little games for the time. Had plenty of fun with them. Very much worth preserving :) They'll be antiques soon!
Glad the video was of help, always worth doing research rather than breaking something needlessly. I just checked out that Grandstand Star Force game and it's manic!
hahaha - I was just thinking, "Yeah, learning to take it apart is all good and well, but learning how to put it back together is even better (And more difficult!)"
You've inspired me to fix an old TomyTronic 3D Sky Attack I found in the loft. Just some battery leakage gunk I think (hope it hasn't gone into the case) and plan to annoy the cats with it. Keep up the good work.
I remember a friend having one of those and the 3D effect being great. I hope you can get it working. Possibly just a really good clean of the board needed and some trace fixes at worst. If you haven't already, check out my Amiga 2000 motherboard video for how I cleaned that board.
You're welcome. There's some great copyright-free music available that makes it possible for me to include music in my videos. It's only fair to give them credit even if it's not a requirement of use.
Cheers Dan. That sounds like the Grandstand Astro Wars game, I bought myself one of those last year. I never had one as a kid, but I did covet a friend's. My friend Alan has lots of siblings and cousins so I think his FireFox game was literally played to death!
The Digital Orphanage you’re not wrong! All my cousins would want a go! Thankfully my brother wasn’t into the same stuff as me or we’d have argued even more than we did!
@@TheDigitalOrphanage I have four, (i) Jurassic Park - 1993, (ii) Judge Dredd - 1993, (iii) Spiderman (Stern) - 2010 and (iv) The Hobbit (JJP) - 2016. No room for any more so that's my collection for years to come. I did a complete strip down and refurbishment of Jurassic Park and Judge Dredd which was fun. Judge Dredd was in bad shape but looks and works great now. How about you?
I have the Radio Shack version ("Astro Thunder"). One of the best VFD games IMHO. I can't believe you didn't show/get to the end boss. That alone is worth the game.
Yes, same principle of turning on and off premade segments for animation. Although looking great, vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) used more power than LCD games so didn't last long on batteries and took large C cells to compensate. You could play them in the dark though 🙂
I think you're remembering the Grandstand Defender which just shows in the lower left of the Grandstand marketing shown in the first seconds of the video. Very similar looking cases,
cool vid, I never had one of these but played similar ones my dad brought back home from the local market :) On a side note i'm really enjoying your videos. I reckon in time you'll be hitting it big with LGR and the others :)
Really enjoyed this - reminded me of a similar game my brother had as a kid for which some of the music snippets in the game are earworms even now! Might now have the opening bar of Jupiter as played by this one as a new earworm for the collection :-) Wonder what happened to my brothers game.
Great video and fun project TDO, thanks for this! Remember this fondly, never owned one, it was always another lucky friend! Don't forget the Clint Eastwood movie 'Firefox' released in 1982 and it certainly looks like the games' ship is heavily inspired by the movies' jet. Curious mix of various inspirations in this game, thanks again!
Thank you. Yes I remember that film well and intended to mention it in the video...then I forgot 🤣 I too was always looking on, coveting someone else's Grandstand game, especially on the last day of the school year at junior school.
I haven’t heard that game sound in over thirty years. Very moving for me as my brother passed away in childhood and the game was his. So watching this was like stepping into a time machine…a very strange feeling. I don’t believe we still have ours, though it might be at my father’s house. Thanks for uploading this. PS- the song at the end is actually I Vow To Thee My Country.
I'm glad it brought back some good memories for you. Doing a bit of googling, it looks like 'I vow to thee my country' is itself based on a section of Jupiter from Holst's Planet Suite. They all sound very similar! 🙂
Reminds me of the last day of school before the summer holidays when kids would bring in their electronic games to play! I remember most of those on that Grandstand ad being in the classroom :)
I remember those times. I never had one so I'd be looking on longingly, hoping for a little go.
I can wind back further still to the late 70's and things like Mouse Trap (the board game) was the highlight of the last day of school for a lot of us, before any electronics appeared. Weird to think that now!
I remember that. 🌀 🌟
Great video. My 9 year old asked what games I played when I was a little boy. I remembered Firefox. This brought back some memories:)
Cheers Matt, glad it brought back youthful memories for you. What did your 9 year old think of it?
Thanks for fixing it for me Keith! Even though it kept the kids attention for less than 5 mins!!
You're very welcome. I'm surprised it held their attention for as long as that! They probably looked at it like we would our parent's toys. "Nice stick and hoop dad!"
The big question though is what was that brown gunk?
The Digital Orphanage, no idea what that brown gunk was! Possibly tea, or something spilt whilst in transit from the various house moves or whilst languishing in the parents loft!
To remain a mystery...
Austin has played it a few times now! He’s determined to beat “uncle Keith” who failed to get to the last level!!
Haha that's excellent! He should have a good read of the manual for hints and tips.
usermanual.wiki/Document/GrandstandFirefoxF7.1650789469
Wow Mozilla's been at it for a long time. That's a cool looking little machine.
It's not bad looking for a 37 year old toy. I imagine the Firefox name was a reference to the 1982 film of the same name, especially looking at the shape of the ship. I forgot to mention that in the video (hey ho!)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefox_(film)
Awesome mate. Must be nearly 40 years since I played that
There's no way they would have got away with those unlicensed tunes these days 😂 The sound coming from this machine's twin speakers was amazing for the time and still sounds good today.
Great job on this Keith. I must look into those cleaning products, they look like they would bring up a CPC beautifully
Thanks Neil! I think they probably would bring up a CPC case lovely. Not had a plastic they've attacked yet. Learnt about them on the pinball forum. Here's where I bought them to save you a search.
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002UCYRZU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
First video of yours I've watched. Great info as u repairing..my brother had this and I loved when he let me have a go. Games much simpler in them days
Thank you for watching! Yes games were simpler, yet still fun and addictive to play. My friend who I fixed this for has said his son is trying to finish the game since I didn't :-)
This brings back memories from my childhood years. I’m 52 now. I had this game but I don’t remember how I parted with it. But I do remember I had so called friends back then who was stealing from me, behind my back. Unfortunately, being naive back then, it took me a while to cotton on what was happening before I put a stop to it. By then I’d lost so much stuff. Nintendo - Game & Watch games and other toys too. I was recently looking on eBay and I’ve seen Firefox F-7 and Nintendo’s advertised for sale there, some in fair condition and some in mint condition, but the price isn’t what it use to be. 😂
This began my videogame addiction, many years and less hair later I'm still at it 🤣
Nicely done, I remember these things from my youth but all gone to the skip years ago. At least this one got saved.
Cheers Glen. Who knows what retro joys are hiding in parent's lofts?!
Love these little machines,great video as usual =) it was a fun lunchtime watch
Thank you Laura. It was fun playing it and I was surprised by the amount of variation they'd managed to fit into it.
I had this and loved it! I wish I still had it 😔
It is a fun game and looks great on a shelf as a bit of retro room dressing. They sell for around £25 on eBay so the re-entry price isn't too high.
Thank you for your work sir.
Also for the great choice of music and a calm soothing voiceover.
Thank you Franko. I keep tweaking the format slightly so it's great to hear positive feedback.
A really nice restoration. That new joystick cap looks perfect.
Thank you, he's really pleased with it, and the cap's definitely better than seeing the screw.
Had this as a kid as well as a Starforce game which was similar. Found your video was searching for a dismantle guide as i've just cleaned mine up too. Needed to check how the joystick came off before forcing anything. So your video was very helpful. Mine was still in pretty good condition so i didnt strip down all the way like you did. My starforce game didnt have the joystick working but literrally just needed a clean up of the pads to get the rubber conductors going again. Great little games for the time. Had plenty of fun with them. Very much worth preserving :) They'll be antiques soon!
Glad the video was of help, always worth doing research rather than breaking something needlessly. I just checked out that Grandstand Star Force game and it's manic!
hahaha - I was just thinking, "Yeah, learning to take it apart is all good and well, but learning how to put it back together is even better (And more difficult!)"
That it is! I'd forgotten which way up the speakers went back so it was invaluable to be able to review the strip-down footage.
You've inspired me to fix an old TomyTronic 3D Sky Attack I found in the loft. Just some battery leakage gunk I think (hope it hasn't gone into the case) and plan to annoy the cats with it. Keep up the good work.
I remember a friend having one of those and the 3D effect being great. I hope you can get it working. Possibly just a really good clean of the board needed and some trace fixes at worst. If you haven't already, check out my Amiga 2000 motherboard video for how I cleaned that board.
Your soundtrack rules. Thanks for providing music credits in the description.
You're welcome. There's some great copyright-free music available that makes it possible for me to include music in my videos. It's only fair to give them credit even if it's not a requirement of use.
Thanks, I was trying to find the tunes. I think it was the Jerusalem one I was thinking of.
You're welcome, thanks for watching.
Just got mine 😁 like being back in 83. Noisy fire button though
Time travelling is real 🕹️ 😎
Smashed the like button!!! Love these old video games consoles!! :-)
I bet 80's parent's the world over would disagree!
Nice job. I had something in a similar style case but it was a Galaga clone. Really played the hell out of that.
Cheers Dan. That sounds like the Grandstand Astro Wars game, I bought myself one of those last year. I never had one as a kid, but I did covet a friend's. My friend Alan has lots of siblings and cousins so I think his FireFox game was literally played to death!
The Digital Orphanage you’re not wrong! All my cousins would want a go! Thankfully my brother wasn’t into the same stuff as me or we’d have argued even more than we did!
Great job. Also nice to see you using the Novus products. I'm a bit of a pinball guy and use them regularly.
Thank you. What tables do you have? I have a couple of tables myself that might show up on the channel at some point.
@@TheDigitalOrphanage I have four, (i) Jurassic Park - 1993, (ii) Judge Dredd - 1993, (iii) Spiderman (Stern) - 2010 and (iv) The Hobbit (JJP) - 2016. No room for any more so that's my collection for years to come. I did a complete strip down and refurbishment of Jurassic Park and Judge Dredd which was fun. Judge Dredd was in bad shape but looks and works great now. How about you?
I still have mine, I was almost never allowed to play with the sound on and used to play on the floor behind an armchair to make it easier to see.
Very nice, still working? I'm surprised parents didn't superglue the volume switches to off!
I had the Radio Shack version called Astro Thunder.
I remember wanting the Astro Wars game shown in the opening shots.
Me too! A school friend had one but I never did get one. I remedied that last year 😀
@@TheDigitalOrphanage, I might have to remedy that for myself too :)
I have the Radio Shack version ("Astro Thunder"). One of the best VFD games IMHO. I can't believe you didn't show/get to the end boss. That alone is worth the game.
There's an end boss? I'm going to have to have another play!
It's like a colorful tiger electronics game
Yes, same principle of turning on and off premade segments for animation. Although looking great, vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) used more power than LCD games so didn't last long on batteries and took large C cells to compensate. You could play them in the dark though 🙂
Nice Video Dude. 😃👍.
Thanks, appreciated!
It looks like the manufacturer went to the extra expense of having two piezo beepers in there. Luxury!
Yes, and separate volume switches. It looks like one is for the music and the other for sound effects. Likely still cheaper than a proper speaker.
I seem to recall a friend having a "defender" style game in a similar looking case.
I think you're remembering the Grandstand Defender which just shows in the lower left of the Grandstand marketing shown in the first seconds of the video. Very similar looking cases,
cool vid, I never had one of these but played similar ones my dad brought back home from the local market :) On a side note i'm really enjoying your videos. I reckon in time you'll be hitting it big with LGR and the others :)
Thank you, it makes me happy to know my videos are enjoyed, and that I'm even in the same sentence as retro royalty such as LGR. :-)
Really enjoyed this - reminded me of a similar game my brother had as a kid for which some of the music snippets in the game are earworms even now! Might now have the opening bar of Jupiter as played by this one as a new earworm for the collection :-) Wonder what happened to my brothers game.
Thank you, it's great to hear when people find my videos both entertaining and nostalgic.
really enjoyed the video; was wondering if the rubber gloves are essential for tepid soapy water ?
Thank you! No, probably not essential to wear gloves. More about keeping my manly hands soft and nice 🤣 Besides what was that brown gunk?!
Great video and fun project TDO, thanks for this! Remember this fondly, never owned one, it was always another lucky friend! Don't forget the Clint Eastwood movie 'Firefox' released in 1982 and it certainly looks like the games' ship is heavily inspired by the movies' jet. Curious mix of various inspirations in this game, thanks again!
Thank you. Yes I remember that film well and intended to mention it in the video...then I forgot 🤣 I too was always looking on, coveting someone else's Grandstand game, especially on the last day of the school year at junior school.
@@TheDigitalOrphanage ah yes, those last days of school were really special memories. Thanks again! Look forward to the next video :)
7:37
Thats called a FRESNEL LENS
Pronounced "Franel"
Yes, but it's pronounced "Freynel" apparently :-P
Seriously though that one word was the bane of this video in post!
You can't polish a turd....5:33 oh..!..I stand corrected
Haha, it came up OK though. Plan B was to roll it in glitter ;-)