My first game.... not as planned

jholzbauer

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I gave a brief introduction of myself in the New Member section. Long story short, I grew up around arcades... finally have a little disposable income... and am looking to relive some of those great times I had growing up.

I've been scouring craigslist, ebay, and this website for a good deal. I found a guy 2 hours away selling an Asteroids game and he was only asking $100. He also was selling a Battlezone, but I didn't really know much about that game. I'm 38, so I missed these games in the arcade, but I do remember playing Asteroids on my Atari 2600 and I saw an arcade version of it last year and I thought the B&W vector display was very cool.

When I got there, I was bummed because there was a problem with the machine where it would automatically trigger the 1 player start button at the end of each game. So, it basically just kept running. It also had some really bad screen burn. It was tough to turn down though because the cabinet was in unbelievable shape... and only $100! But, since I have no repair experience with these games I decided not to buy it.

So, I tried the Battlezone and it was a pretty cool game. Because I don't have any nostalgic ties with it though, I decided I'd just head home empty handed. Well, that was until he basically told me he didn't want to put it in storage and said shoot him an offer. I did a quick search on the machine's value ahead of time so I went ahead and gave him an offer... and he accepted. The best part thing though... seing my 8 and 6 year old eyes light up when they saw the game! I was surprised as they're already playing Xbox 360 games, but they thought it was the coolest thing ever. I've had some neighborhood boys over also and everyone has a blast on it. I'll probably eventually trade it out, but we're enjoying it for now.

Looking forward to my future in this hobby, I've officially been bitten by the bug!
 
You turned down the asteroids because it kept playing the game? You probably just needed to buy a new button ($3). You can get rid of the screen burn by tube swapping (tons of people can help you out on that) GO GET IT! lol
 
You turned down the asteroids because it kept playing the game? You probably just needed to buy a new button ($3). You can get rid of the screen burn by tube swapping (tons of people can help you out on that) GO GET IT! lol

Better yet, where is it? :D
 
people here can help you diagnose and fix most problems

get the asteroids
 
Sorry guys, this was about a month or so ago... I'm just getting around to posting.

I know, I know.... I should have bought it. I just had a bad feeling I was going to have to hire someone to come out and fix it and then it wouldn't be all that great of a deal.

I'll snap a picture or two of the Battlezone. It's in pretty good condition but not perfect (one controller doesn't seem to center properly-but you can't tell when playing, speakers have a little static, etc).

And since that purchase I picked up a broken Golden Tee 2K for dirt cheap that I've since identified as an old TMNT cabinet.

I'm getting some decent scores, but for all the time I spend checking the classifieds... I should be!
 
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You are J. Holzbauer and not James Holzhauer right? I used to see a James Holzhauer at RPGA events in your area of Illinois all the time.
 
Right, I'm Jeff Holzbauer. Strangely enough, we do have some Holzhauers in town. I think both names are fairly rare.

You are J. Holzbauer and not James Holzhauer right? I used to see a James Holzhauer at RPGA events in your area of Illinois all the time.
 
$100 vector game that plays is always a buy. Even if you never learn how to repair so much as a single switch you can always just trade it.
 
$100 vector game that plays is always a buy. Even if you never learn how to repair so much as a single switch you can always just trade it.

Yeah, rookie mistake. And a decision I knew I would regret. I was just poking around this website at that time and didn't realize how strong the community was. There probably would have been someone that could have helped me out. Live and learn.

As requested here is the picture of the Battlezone and also the broken Golden Tee.
 

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Yeah, rookie mistake. And a decision I knew I would regret. I was just poking around this website at that time and didn't realize how strong the community was. There probably would have been someone that could have helped me out.

There's many helpful people here. Great place to learn.

It can be a fun and frustrating hobby. I think the best part is learning to fix them and breathing life into a dead machine. And most of the best deals come from non-working games. Many times it can be an easy fix like a switch or stuck button. Then other times it's a bit more complicated. But it seems there's always someone willing to help...or at least offer advice.
 
I would probably trade something for the broken Golden Tee if you came to the St. Louis area. I have Shuffleshot and Bowling, just missing Golden Tee for the modern trackball trifecta.
 
Those arcades were on CL for quite a while. I actually sent him messages twice about them and never got a response. I figured they were sold, but he kept reposting them. Glad someone got one atleast.
 
I'm gonna bet that the asteroids has the same issue my centipede has where the cone button unscrews slightly and when the button is depressed to start a game the button stays under the lip of the cone. It still looks like it's correct but it's not because the button is actually depressed. This of course causes it to automatically start a new game as soon as the last one ends. Freeing the button from the cone lip and screwing the cone back down fixes the issue.
 
Those arcades were on CL for quite a while. I actually sent him messages twice about them and never got a response. I figured they were sold, but he kept reposting them. Glad someone got one atleast.

Yeah, I don't know why he did that. He told me that someone else wanted the Asteroids if I didn't want it and they would pick it up that night. But, it was still advertised a week or so after that. I was lucky and got ahold of him right away. Even took off work a couple hours early in my excitement to check out the games.
 
I would probably trade something for the broken Golden Tee if you came to the St. Louis area. I have Shuffleshot and Bowling, just missing Golden Tee for the modern trackball trifecta.

I'll keep that in mind, but for now this machine is what I was looking for. I wanted something cheap and not working that I could poke around on and see if I can start learning some things. Thanks for the offer... St. Louis isn't too far away.
 
I would for sure turn that Golden Tee back into a Turtles cab.. then find a empty Golden Tee cab on craigslist to put your parts in.. I see them all the time here in Iowa.
 
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