elekTRONarcade
Active member
So, a good friend of mine I met while buying machines, an Air Force SSG at that, called me up today to come pick up this Tempest cab he's been holding for me. Now, this is the same guy I picked up my Q*bert, Asteroids Deluxe and TRON from. Great guy. Paid less than $100 for TRON and Q*bert and he gave me AD for free.
Anyways, this guy had a MONSTEROUS garagecade. Besides the 10 or so nonworking machines he had, his working collection included: Moon Patrol, a working Asteroids Deluxe, Defender, Frogger, a beautifully restored Ms. Pac, orange DK, Battlezone, Toobin', Time Crisis, Space Ace, Mad Dog and Dragon's Lair among others. A truly beautiful setup. I was in awe every time I went over there to have a beer and shoot the shit. He told me he was having to sell off a bunch of his machines since his high school sweetheart whom he recently reunited with wanted them gone. She was actually in the process of moving out last time I was over there...
So, I got there today to pick up the Tempest he had been holding...and the garage was bare. Every machine, with the exception of Tempest, and an NBA Jam cab he'd been holding for a friend of his was gone. No wonderful attract sounds filling my ears. No flashing monitors drawing me in to spend my hard earned dough. Just a lawn mower, weed eater and the cabs. He sold all of them off at a mere pittance of what he had put into them, just to get her back.
Now, don't get me wrong. I understand what lengths a man will go to for love. I was lucky enough to marry a woman who is as much a gamer and aficionado as I am, and who actually shares in my arcade. But this seriously broke my heart, seeing this man having lost everything he worked so hard for, to be with someone whom didn't respect nor understand his passion to keep a dying torch lit. Truly a sad day in Arcadeland.
So, let's drink to one of our fallen brethren, my pal Jimmy and the real love he lost: his arcade collection.
Anyways, this guy had a MONSTEROUS garagecade. Besides the 10 or so nonworking machines he had, his working collection included: Moon Patrol, a working Asteroids Deluxe, Defender, Frogger, a beautifully restored Ms. Pac, orange DK, Battlezone, Toobin', Time Crisis, Space Ace, Mad Dog and Dragon's Lair among others. A truly beautiful setup. I was in awe every time I went over there to have a beer and shoot the shit. He told me he was having to sell off a bunch of his machines since his high school sweetheart whom he recently reunited with wanted them gone. She was actually in the process of moving out last time I was over there...
So, I got there today to pick up the Tempest he had been holding...and the garage was bare. Every machine, with the exception of Tempest, and an NBA Jam cab he'd been holding for a friend of his was gone. No wonderful attract sounds filling my ears. No flashing monitors drawing me in to spend my hard earned dough. Just a lawn mower, weed eater and the cabs. He sold all of them off at a mere pittance of what he had put into them, just to get her back.
Now, don't get me wrong. I understand what lengths a man will go to for love. I was lucky enough to marry a woman who is as much a gamer and aficionado as I am, and who actually shares in my arcade. But this seriously broke my heart, seeing this man having lost everything he worked so hard for, to be with someone whom didn't respect nor understand his passion to keep a dying torch lit. Truly a sad day in Arcadeland.
So, let's drink to one of our fallen brethren, my pal Jimmy and the real love he lost: his arcade collection.



