Got an upgrade to the Kid's Grail this weekend.

Teknotoyz

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I really keep fooling myself and think that I'm done, no more games to buy.
I got my grail a few months back (TAF pin), then ended up buying 2 twins, 4 seats of Sega Super GT in December.....
Well, honestly, I'm out of space now, so no new games is a reasonable thought. Right?

Friday night we were on our way to visit with kids living at a local children's shelter and I passed an OP's shop I know (Matt).....
hmm, quick stop and peek in the window sounded like a innocent enough diversion to me.
This is what I saw at that time.

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Not too much of interest to me, a dual monitor Players Choice 10 was tucked in the back.
Lots of bigger machines and some yardsale stuff he sells on occasion.

We headed on up to the shelter and had a nice evening of eating and games with the kids there.
If you never get out to do charity, you need to, it's rewarding in many ways.

Anyway, on our way home, the lights were on in Matt's shop so I swung in to chat with him for a few, didn't have much time as my kids and wife were with me and it was LATE.
Most of the stuff I had no interest in. I was eyeing the PC10 dual monitor, it had a minor wiring issue, but worked with 10 games installed.
He was asking $400, not too bad, but I passed due to my space limitation.

We talked for a bit and somehow got on the subject of prize cranes.
I have an old "Big Choice" crane by Betson that the kids LOVE, I mean it gets more play time hands down than anything I own.
I mentioned mine was the silent type, and Matt pointed at one sitting in the corner. It looked like mine, but had a Namco marquee and a credit/timer display!!
My interest was immediate, I knew this machine would have sound and that was something I really wanted to add to my machine.....
$200 was the price (non-working w/ trolly issue) and I told Matt I'd think about it and left out.

I talked it over with the wife, and she had no objections, so the next day I ran down and picked it up.
Really $200 isn't bad, I have tons of spare parts to fix it.
My plan is to swap the control boards out and sell a working (Rotary PCB version) crane to make back my $200, maybe a bit more.

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I tinkered with it today for a bit and got the trolly moving correctly.
The best part of this deal, is that no parts were needed at all, wiring issues only (but pretty hacked).
The wires for the claw coil were actually missing, I'll need to fish new ones through the harness.
You'll notice in the video that the claw doesn't close.
I'll need to take some more time to rewire it properly later.

I know cranes don't fall into everybody's idea of a machine for a home arcade.
But I will say, they really do get a lot of attention when people see them.
My kids "win" the stuffed animals over and over and always are happy to win them again.
Gotta add some Angry Birds items into the mix at some point.....


 
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A few more pictures:

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^^^^^SPEAKER... WOOT WOOT^^^^



My silent crane upstairs in the arcade.
It will finally join in making noise with the other games.

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i have been looking for a crane since you gave me the idea when you were here. I can't find one that isn't in use. You want to part with one let me know. My trade inventory is building up again; bought two more pins yesterday. Like you, i was out of room three pins ago.
 
I really love seeing pictures of other people's arcades. I like the addition of the menu above everything :D

I have been keeping my eye out for a similar crane to what you have for some time but 400$ seems out of my budget for most of them. I keep finding double cranes, but have the space constraint. I just want a single crane so we can have fun grabbing stuffed animals.

ahh well, still looking :D
 
Love the sound effects on that one.
Much cooler than my little Grayhound candy crane.

I assume it plays some sort of "win" tune as well?
Or attract tune?
 
i have been looking for a crane since you gave me the idea when you were here. I can't find one that isn't in use. You want to part with one let me know. My trade inventory is building up again; bought two more pins yesterday. Like you, i was out of room three pins ago.

I will be selling this new crane hopefully within short order. It will have my old controller in it and my old crane trolley. No sound, but it has worked flawlessly for the last 2 years. It will be converted to a joystick controlled version as well. I guess my cards are on the table for what I got in it, so just make me an offer and it's yours. I do want to break even at least. I figured to keep my original crane assembly, but the cord is too short to reach the new board location. So it has to go with the rotary boards. I can toss in some spare parts, but it has been trouble free for me and I know the kids have run thousands of tokens through it, no exaggeration!

Just PM, text or call me. Let me know the trade options too!
 
I really love seeing pictures of other people's arcades. I like the addition of the menu above everything :D

I have been keeping my eye out for a similar crane to what you have for some time but 400$ seems out of my budget for most of them. I keep finding double cranes, but have the space constraint. I just want a single crane so we can have fun grabbing stuffed animals.

ahh well, still looking :D

Same offer as to JBK, if he doesn't want it. Not sure how close you are though.

I found the menu on Craigslist for $40. It was originally gonna be a high score board, but I liked the menu, or got lazy. Either way it gets a lot of comments. When I first put it up, my 6 year old son looked at it and told me he'd like to order a slice of pizza. :D
 
Love the sound effects on that one.
Much cooler than my little Grayhound candy crane.

I assume it plays some sort of "win" tune as well?
Or attract tune?

It has an "attract mode" dip setting and also a "win sensor" connector which I assume is an optical sensor. The crane does not have a win sensor installed, I'm hoping to add one at some point if I can figure out what to buy to do so.

I just got it working to at least see if the controller was OK. The new trolley needs some TLC as the wiring is a mess on it. I haven't heard the attract mode sound or looked into the win sensor yet. Fingers crossed on those!!
 
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