Death of an arcade machine ….

ToddK

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Donor 2023-2024
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It pained me to do it. I truly try to salvage and save every Arcade machine If it's too far gone I've only had to destroy a few over my 30 years of collecting. And it's been a long time since I've had to do it. I'm sure this talk has been covered on the group but I feel that I should post since I just got done tearing it apart. I fully treated and wrapped and isolated this machine to try to save it, but there was just too much internal damage already done so I stripped every single bit out of it and took an ax down the middle of it and Ms Pac-Man met its demise. Sad part was as this was a fully working machine. But I see it as a donor that will let another one live on….. figured I'd start a post and hear about anyone else's sad tales of having to destroy a machine due to water damage or termites….
 

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I'm sure ……I was just posting to see if anybody had any interesting or sad stories of cabinets. They had to destroy due to water damage or termites.

I did find two dollars in quarters in this Ms pac man hiding up underneath the power brick after it was destroyed. ….
 
I destroyed a CC Demolition Derby and a Space Encounters. I bought 2 arcade games and 2 pinball out of an abandoned ammo bunker with a leaking roof. I put them on my truck and strapped them down. I kept tightening the strap through the rotten wood until I got them tight on the truck. I thought I would save them until I talked myself out of it and parted them out. The two pinball, I saved. That is after I washed out the coon turds and mouse piss.
 
Sadly, I let a Targ mini cabinet meet it's end, due to how badly water logged it was. The game was converted and it literally split into two halves as it was being rolled to the fire pit.

Scott C.
 
Termites. Again. The bane of arcade games.

I'm sorry for your loss, and know you tried everything to save it.

Now burn the remains so those little bastards can't get away.
 
I had to break down a water logged Space Duel and Championship Sprint cabinet
 
I destroyed a CC Demolition Derby and a Space Encounters. I bought 2 arcade games and 2 pinball out of an abandoned ammo bunker with a leaking roof. I put them on my truck and strapped them down. I kept tightening the strap through the rotten wood until I got them tight on the truck. I thought I would save them until I talked myself out of it and parted them out. The two pinball, I saved. That is after I washed out the coon turds and mouse piss.
COON POOP!!
 
Termites…nope, not an option. Kill it with fire.
 
I commend you for the effort to save them and the pain of the loss of a ms Pac cab.

Glad the parts will go on to help someone with a good cab. SO many of these were converted.
 
crush them if no one wants them...

back in the day I had a nice nearly working space tactics cockpit. came in a package deal. No one wanted it so it died... I did send the sound board off for mame dev to add the sounds to the game.

the one I should not have crushed was mazer blazer.. Got 2 in a deal, and one was falling apart when I got it. I probably should have spent the time to save it, but the crappy monitor in it was bad so it died.. sent the boardset to a fellow collector. The severely water damaged cosmic chasm also died. sides were oatmeal, but I saved every part of it and passed that along to a fellow collector.
 
We once found a complete Taito Sagaia (2 screen version) in a barn. It looked good, but once you put your hands on it in order to move it you just ripped junks of the particle board out. It basically just crumbled under our hands. Turns out it stood right under the only hole in the entire roof. I am still baffled that it still stood upright.
 
Unfortunately for us Floridians, termites in cabs have become a common sight lately.
 
We once found a complete Taito Sagaia (2 screen version) in a barn. It looked good, but once you put your hands on it in order to move it you just ripped junks of the particle board out. It basically just crumbled under our hands. Turns out it stood right under the only hole in the entire roof. I am still baffled that it still stood upright.
its like in the movies where people are turned to dust and still standing there.. when you touch them, they collapse and are gone..

I once picked up a water damaged star wars ur. It moved ok. But when I took the tie down strap to it, it went about 1" into the front of the cabinet..
 
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