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Pac Man Phone

Started by AL_as_needed, November 17, 2023, 02:09:56 PM

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AL_as_needed

Came across this Pac Man shaped phone on shopgoodwill.com. Normally I am not a big fan of the novelty type phones, but thought this was kind of neat.
TWinbrook7

Contempra

I have the hamburger phone and love it . ;)

Kellogg Kitt

This phone appears to have suffered the same fate as mine; it is broken.

I bought one brand new in 1982, and I still have it.  When in the closed (on-hook) position, the mouth is slightly open, not fully closed.  Inside, there are two plastic parts that act as hinges and limiters to prevent fully closing.  As you can see in the second picture above, at least one of them is broken.  If intact, these would hold the mouth open slightly.

I have attached a picture of mine, which is propped open for display.  This is how it would look when closed if the parts were not broken.

A few other notes about the Pac-Man phone:

- The plunger just above the keypad is the hookswitch.  When fully opened it pops up, and the phone goes off-hook to answer or place a call.  When the "mouth" is closed, it depresses the plunger, causing the phone to go on-hook.

- Although push-button, this is not a Touch-Tone phone.  The key presses generate dial pulses.  This was a popular "feature" at the time.  "Push button dialing without the extra fees!"  I suspect that the other reason for this feature is that it was cheaper to make than a tone dial, as simply opening and closing the line requires less sophisticated electronics than a tone generator.

- The * button is a mute that must be held down continuously.  It is not a toggle-on, toggle-off button.  If you release pressure on the button, you will be unmuted.

- The # button redials the last number dialed (LND = Last Number Dialed).

- The line cord included with mine is a black 2-conductor modular cord.  Near the phone, it is coiled, but the lower part of the cord, toward the wall, is straight.  The phone in OP's picture apparently was shipped with a different cord type or had its cord replaced with a totally coiled cord.

- The ringer sound is similar to any other electronic ringer.  Unfortunately, it does not play sounds from the Pac-Man game.

Wade

ka1axy

Quote from: Kellogg Kitt on November 18, 2023, 07:05:43 PMUnfortunately, it does not play sounds from the Pac-Man game.

With modern technology, this oversight could be remedied fairly easily :-)