NEW Loading and hauling disasters

VertexGuy

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 13, 2014
Messages
8,166
Reaction score
149
Location
Connecticut
Anybody ever have any bad luck loading or moving an arcade machine?

Worst one for me was having my GF help me move a claw machine , it was on its side
and she shoved the machine when i told her to hold on breaking the glass on the side .
I had to have two matching pieces of glass made for me , that shit cost alot.

Another time, and this wasnt me.. but that shit was funny .
I use to watch a dude buy multiple machines at every auction, and every auction he
would dump a few off the side of the liftgate to the ground from full lift lol.
 
Had a friend helping me unload a Hydro Thunder. He said he had it. He didn't. Fell on its side. Luckily, the only damage was the back piece with the handles breaking in half.

Oh, I had a strap break and a racing game fall out over the side of the truck and leave a huge dent. Worst part is, I was borrowing that truck. That $25 game cost me $400 to repair the truck.
 
After CAX 2011, a buddy was trying to be helpful and move my Dynamo cab out by himself on a dolly. As he was going down the ramp on the side of the loading dock, he hit a bump. The whole cab face planted onto the concrete. Game still worked, but the cab was pretty damaged. He felt so bad, but it was an honest mistake while trying to do something nice. He made good.
 
Here's an old thread I found while searching for the link to a destroyed eDoT:

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=46950

IIRC, two users shared stories of an eDoT getting destroyed, but after a quick search I could only find the link above.

Thankfully I don't have any shipping disasters to share as I've always had pretty good luck and have had ratchet straps since day one :). Though I did slid to a stop on the interstate the other day with a game in the back (stopped with about 12 inches between my truck and the guy in front of me (who had hit the next guy, who hit the next guy, etc.) That was no fun...
 
I've had the privilege of picking up the pieces of 4 games from an intersection at 11:00 PM as I turned the last corner before getting home. I was tired from a VERY long auction and managed to tie the end of the rope to a loose piece instead of something that was tied to the truck. It's a miracle they lasted as long as they did. Ended up having to part them all out.

Although it wasn't a hauling accident, I did have a beautiful eDoT destroyed by my wife. She thought it was ok to put it outside while she rearranged furniture and I was out of town for two weeks. Of course, it rained on the first day and then snowed the rest of the first week. "The weather was too bad to go out and get it." By the time I got home and realized it was outside, it was a total loss.
 
I went to set down my Spy Hunter from the handtruck onto a sloped sidewalk.
It swung away from me and I just let it go. Didn't want any piece of me crushed by that monstrosity.

It separated the side from the back although it still worked. That really sucked.
 
1. Broke a mirror in a Asteroids Deluxe.
2. Broke a neckboard in a Defender.

Both from tipping back too far and being unsecured inside.

Sold a beautifully restored Black Widow and the buyer dropped it unloading on the other end. The tube neck snapped, but it got repaired. It's up and in a public arcade now.
 
Only loading/unloading/transport accident I've had was a large 12 game haul (thankfully in town) that took 3 trips with my friend's F150. I forgot that Wizard of Wor's neck/neck PCB hangs out past the rear (all the backs were off of these games). While lifting it up (sliding) the gate I heard.... crunch... *hiss*.... and in my head.... 'oh #@$#%#@$'.... oh well, at least it wasn't a vector monitor. It is the only tube I've ever damaged. Going to do my best to keep it that way.
 
It wasn't mine but I watched a Timber live up to it's name off the back of a truck about 10 years ago. The cabinet was then reduced to it's name as well.
 
You cannot call yourself a "collector" if you haven't necked-a-tube at least once.

I picked up my Robotron many years ago. (was a real noob back then)
The seller put in a new monitor.
He forgot to bolt it in.
I took the game and loaded it in my Explorer on its back.
Got it home ... and you know the rest.
That was my initiation into always checking the CRT is mounted tight before moving the game. (Or loading the game on it's side; or removing the monitor completely).

:(
 
Pole position

I bought a pole position from a guy that had it in his basement. I had to haul it up 6 steps to the outside and when I got to the top step, it tipped over. I was so exhausted and dripping in sweat, I just watched it fall over.
The result was a blown out corner and a pressed in edge where it rolled over the Billco door frame. Game played great though when I got it home!
 
I went to pick up a Defender for parts about 3 hours away from me in Dallas, TX. Game turned out to be mint original condition!

Was headed back down the highway, when someone started driving beside us and was angry for some reason. They kept going, we pulled over, and I discovered that the perfect, original monitor bezel plexi had flown away going down the highway.

Lesson learned - Always shrink wrap or blanket your games if you are hauling in an open trailer or truck...
 
I bought a pole position from a guy that had it in his basement. I had to haul it up 6 steps to the outside and when I got to the top step, it tipped over. I was so exhausted and dripping in sweat, I just watched it fall over.
The result was a blown out corner and a pressed in edge where it rolled over the Billco door frame. Game played great though when I got it home!

that happened to me, with a soul calibur in a dynamo. i was stupid enough to try and save
it with my right hand. ended up getting xrays ,, however the machine survived lol
 
After CAX 2011, a buddy was trying to be helpful and move my Dynamo cab out by himself on a dolly. As he was going down the ramp on the side of the loading dock, he hit a bump. The whole cab face planted onto the concrete. Game still worked, but the cab was pretty damaged. He felt so bad, but it was an honest mistake while trying to do something nice. He made good.

I hate those cabs,, they are heavy.
I had one i was moving and it broke the handle off the dolly.
thank god for mig welders.
 
You cannot call yourself a "collector" if you haven't necked-a-tube at least once.

I picked up my Robotron many years ago. (was a real noob back then)
The seller put in a new monitor.
He forgot to bolt it in.
I took the game and loaded it in my Explorer on its back.
Got it home ... and you know the rest.
That was my initiation into always checking the CRT is mounted tight before moving the game. (Or loading the game on it's side; or removing the monitor completely).

:(

Oh ive never done that but ,, ive heard enough stories to know better to pull the
back door and look to see if the monitor is bolted down.
 
Haven't necked a monitor, and hope to never do so. I have, however, through my own stupidity, failed to properly secure a bezel down. Damned near irreplaceable one, too.

Try finding one for Paddle Battle.
:mad:
 
A local collector hauling his Ice Cold Beer on an open trailer to the Florida APE show back in 2011, called me to say that his machine fell out of the trailer on the highway and caused a traffic tie-up from the debris. Amazingly, everything was picked up and he went home to put it all back together, in which he did. Crazy. All true.
 
That was my initiation into always checking the CRT is mounted tight before moving the game
:(

actually happened when i got my miss pac but i lucked out when the monitor flipped back it got cough on a piece of wood fell face 1st.

saved the neck and only scratched the tube slightly.

ps: i always check the crt and power supply [atari bricks] to make sure to make sure they are bolted it in.
 
I bought my wife a really really nice centipede for Christmas very early in my collecting days. I was adjusting the rear leg levelers at the storage area where it was being hidden and the damn thing fell on its face destroying the coin door and banging up the control panel area. I tell everyone I turned a 9 into a 5 in a matter of seconds.
 
I tore my shoulder,
Hauled a zaxxon machine up 3 flights of stairs,, the last step i felt that hot ripping burning
in the front, side and back of my shoulder.
I just kinda looked at the ceiling with a blank painful stare.
My doctor told me it will never heal on its own.
 
Back
Top Bottom