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Mattel Soccer Capacitor Replacement Guide

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Mattel Electronics Soccer handheld game
Mattel Soccer. No photograph of its board has been published.[1]

No capacitor values have been published for the Mattel Soccer (model 2678, 1978). Mattel issued only an instruction leaflet, and no schematic, parts list or photograph of an opened Soccer board has been found.[2] The parts that are documented are the three bonded dies: a National Semiconductor MM5799 microcontroller, a 4001 and a 74154, the same hardware as Mattel Basketball, for which no values have been published either.[3][4] Whether the board carries any electrolytic capacitors, and of what value, is not recorded in any of these sources. If you open one, record what you find using the steps below.

Signs that a capacitor needs attention

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  • Erratic play or a dim display that a fresh battery does not cure. Mattel's leaflet puts a weak battery first for these symptoms, so rule it out before suspecting a capacitor.[5]
  • Brown residue or corrosion on the board round a capacitor, or a domed or leaking top.
  • See Capacitor Failure Symptoms.

Reading and recording your board

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  1. Remove the battery and open the case; see Mattel Soccer General Maintenance for the screws and for handling the board.
  2. Photograph both sides of the board in good light before touching anything.
  3. Look for electrolytic capacitors: cylindrical cans, usually with a stripe marking the negative lead. Small ceramic discs and resistors do not need replacing on age alone.
  4. For each electrolytic, note the board position (C number), the capacitance, the voltage rating, the temperature rating if printed, and which way the stripe faces.
  5. Note which part of the board each one sits near: the battery snap wires, the speaker wires, or the bonded chips.
  6. Keep the notes with the photographs; they are the only record of this board.

Replacing a capacitor

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  1. Use the same capacitance and the same or a higher voltage rating, radial, of a height that fits under the case.
  2. The MM5799 die sits under a plastic cover and its bond wires break easily; the 4001 and 74154 are bonded straight to the board too.[4][3] Keep the iron, the desoldering tool and flux away from the bonded chips, and do not lever against them.
  3. Match the polarity to your notes and replace one capacitor at a time.
  4. Clean off flux with isopropyl alcohol.
  5. Fit a fresh battery and check the game against the normal behaviour on Mattel Soccer Troubleshooting Guide: the readout shows 45 at switch-on and every key moves or kicks.[6]
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References

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  1. ↑ Joe Haupt, "Mattel Electronic Soccer, Made in Hong Kong, Copyright 1978", Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (retrieved 2026-10-19), titled by the photographer "Made in Hong Kong, Copyright 1978", examined at 1,920 pixels wide: brown case, green pitch overlay marked HOME and VISITOR with the goal at the top, two-digit red display below the pitch, two white KICK keys with football symbols, four orange arrow keys (the lower one with a dot), the 1-OFF-2 slide switch.
  2. ↑ Mattel, Inc., Mattel Electronics Soccer Instructions, code 1052-0920(A), 1978, printed in Hong Kong. Hosted here as File:Mattel Electronics Soccer Instructions 1052-0920.pdf: PDF p. 1 (cover, code and imprint) and p. 2 (drawing of the game naming the goal light, clock and score indicator, KICK keys, player control keys and OFF-ON speed key).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 MAME source, hh_cops1.cpp (retrieved 2026-10-19). Mattel Basketball (model 2437): PCB label MA 6017/18/19, MM5799 microcontroller die bonded directly to the PCB, 4001 and 74154 also bonded to the PCB, two-digit seven-segment LED display, LEDs and two-bit sound. "Mattel Soccer (model 2678): MCU die label MM4799 C NDC, same hardware as Basketball". The older Hockey sold outside the USA "has the same ROM as Soccer". The driver takes the speaker and the digit and LED select lines from 74154 outputs, reads both KICK keys as one input (INB) and the difficulty switch on F1, and gives the release year as 1978.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sean Riddle, "National Semiconductor MM5799" (retrieved 2026-10-19): the MM5799 has 1.5 K of 8-bit ROM and 96 four-bit words of RAM and was used in Mattel Basketball, Hockey and Soccer; "the die is bonded directly to the PCB and protected with a plastic cover ... it's very easy to break the exposed bond wires"; the die is marked MM4799; the Basketball he decapped "had the battery connected backwards, which vaporized some bond wires and metal, and deposited spall all over the die".
  5. ↑ Mattel, Soccer Instructions 1052-0920(A), PDF p. 3: "Press down on center of cover. Slide cover out to remove."; "Attach one 9-volt battery to connector"; malfunctioning player blips or scoreboard are "the first sign of battery wear"; "Use alkaline batteries for longer life."
  6. ↑ Mattel, Soccer Instructions 1052-0920(A), PDF pp. 4-8: the 1-OFF-2 switch (1, normal speed with the goalkeeper at twice the defence's speed; 2, defence twice as fast as in 1 and the goalkeeper twice as fast again); the offensive man as a bright blip, five defenders as dimmer blips and the goalkeeper as one bright blip; two 45-minute halves of 4 real minutes each, 8 minutes a game; the clock shows 45 at switch-on; 10 game minutes, or 54 seconds, to attempt a goal; the arrow with the dot repeats the score; switching between 1 and 2 after play starts ends the game and restarts it; after the triple whistle the final score flashes and the keys stop working; switch to OFF and back to start a new game.


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