Mike Doyle
Well-known member
This is one of those stories you hear and always dream it will someday happen to you; Saturday I get a call from my neighbor that she just left a garage sale with an arcade game for $10 bucks. She says it's a "Joust" and asked if I was interested; I said, "can you go back and pay them and I'll reimburse you?" 
She not only goes back and buys it, but she texted me the address and made arrangements with the seller to coordinate pick up for me! Talk about a good neighbor.
I wasn't expecting much for $10 bucks so I was really surprised when I finally saw it; the sale sign on it was originally $20 and crossed out to $10 and while dirty, it looked like it would clean up. One side is pretty nice, the other side is flaking badly near the bottom but is good enough to touch up instead of stripping and restenciling.
Here's the game after a couple of hours of cleaning. Cracking open a new purchase is probably my favorite part of the hobby, I can hardly wait to see what's inside and what needs fixing.
I fixed some cold solder, put on a new power cord and a switcher and it works. The last thing it needs is the monitor capped. The machine was surprisingly clean inside with all numbers matching boards and a virgin monitor that is just about burn-in free.
After a little scrubbing the CPO looks great.
I cleaned and Novus-ed the marquee, a new bulb and starter finished it off.
Thank God for good neighbors.
She not only goes back and buys it, but she texted me the address and made arrangements with the seller to coordinate pick up for me! Talk about a good neighbor.
I wasn't expecting much for $10 bucks so I was really surprised when I finally saw it; the sale sign on it was originally $20 and crossed out to $10 and while dirty, it looked like it would clean up. One side is pretty nice, the other side is flaking badly near the bottom but is good enough to touch up instead of stripping and restenciling.
Here's the game after a couple of hours of cleaning. Cracking open a new purchase is probably my favorite part of the hobby, I can hardly wait to see what's inside and what needs fixing.
I fixed some cold solder, put on a new power cord and a switcher and it works. The last thing it needs is the monitor capped. The machine was surprisingly clean inside with all numbers matching boards and a virgin monitor that is just about burn-in free.
After a little scrubbing the CPO looks great.
I cleaned and Novus-ed the marquee, a new bulb and starter finished it off.
Thank God for good neighbors.


