Arcade Raid in France - tons of pics

awesome pics, story, everything!

obviously the US has its share of arcade raids, but this one almost feels otherworldly hahahaha

we want weekly raids and updates please :)
 
Yikes! I've been to some sketchy places, but I've never put my life on the line for old arcade games. I might for a Lunar Lander.

"Au Bon Coin"
Is that some sort of French pun?
 
"Au Bon Coin"
Is that some sort of French pun?

Maybe - the loose translation of the phrase is 'at a good place / spot / location'. Not really a play on words as far as I remember, but my French is fairly rusty these days so it could be an idiom I'm not picking up on fully.

However, there is also leboncoin.com which is more or less France's equivalent to Craigslist, so it may well be a pun of sorts.
 
Awesome write up as usual Tony.

I'm not familiar with the transportation protocol, but did you mention you had to make an appointment to cross via the tunnel? I'm intrigued as to how that works.
 
thats some serious dedication right there.... I wouldnt risk my life for a building full of clean games never mind those.
 
I was curious about the phrase "Au Bon Coin" too. But we're told it's quite a common name for a cafe or restaurant over there. Not related to coin operated games.

We were talking today actually and looking at some pics that the other guys took. I don't think I realised just how dangerous the place was until after the event, as we were just focused on getting the things out that we could.

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Loosely translates as "Risk of Collapse"

This was the ceiling below where the Ricochet was. It was sat pretty much above that light fitting:

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I was so tempted to walk across the floor above to grab it, but I'm glad my sixth sense held me back. The drop below would have been through two floors. I assume the Ricochet is going to go down with that ceiling at some point unless someone can lasso it.

I am quite sure that any structural engineer would have condemned the building, and we shouldn't have been allowed to crawl around in there, moving heavy cabinets about.

I'm not familiar with the transportation protocol, but did you mention you had to make an appointment to cross via the tunnel? I'm intrigued as to how that works.

Yeah it's like booking a flight. Select your time slot, pay for a ticket and away you go. You drive straight onto the 'train', stay in your vehicle for the crossing and drive off at the other side. It's actually very slick, and takes about 30 minutes each way. Super easy and quicker than a ferry. Prices vary depending on how busy they are, but you can get a day return ticket for as little as £70 on the right day. Some people use it to drive over to Calais, buy wine in bulk from the French Supermarkets, fill the car up, then tunnel back over to the UK. The wine is better and much cheaper than the crap they export to us!

Very cool.
Did you guys by chance pick up parts for a second Steeplechase?
I'm working on putting one back together and could really use all the buttons.
'Fraid not sir. Just the one Steeplechase. If there's stuff in there when I open it up I'll let you know. Drop me a PM if you need anything measured or pics of anything.
 
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Just thinking out loud...

If you get a second shot at the stuff you left behind, you could try tying a pull string around a remote control toy car, having it pull it around a cabinet on a dangerous floor, then use the pull string to pull a strong rope around the game and try to pull it towards you.
 
this is why you FIRST (before your raid) ...

drive by Home Depot
pick up 2 or 3 day laborers (make sure they speak no english, nor have any ID on them)
head to your destination and promise to pay them per game they can remove

at first i was gonna only say to grab 2 day laborers, but it's wise to have the 3rd in case you end up one man down.

of course they're expendable, but you don't want to be wasteful or cavalier in your efforts

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best arcade blogger around. well done!
you could write history books
 
Amazing saves and glad no one got hurt.

Now, if it was me and there were 5 trucks already there waiting to be loaded, I would have packed up everything I could have gotten my hands on, even if it looks destroyed/total loss, especially if it looked like there would be extra room. There would probably be something in there worth something to someone.
 
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