My first 'Op-raid'

Vongoosewink

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Hey gang,

OK, so over the last few months I've read lots of the 'warehouse raid' and 'op raid' reports, I now finally have one of my own to share, albeit a small one.

A few weeks back I was perusing Craigslist, and came across an Op that was selling 'Arcades'. I called him up, and quickly discovered that he had only redemption-machines for sale. Rather than just give up, I explained I was looking for the old-style video games, and he replied "you should talk to my other Op pal so&so, he never throws anything away." The guy agrees to pass my number along, and I wait a week or so for a call. Nothing.

So I decide to track the guy down myself, since he had told me his name and business name. I few minutes later, I'm talking to the guy on the phone and the first thing he says is "Arcade games? Yeah, I can't make a dime with these things, nobody plays 'em anymore." I ask him if he knows a few titles, he lists Klax, Smash TV, Gate of Doom, Street Fighter, Nintendo Playchoice 10... OK, I'm hooked. We set up a time to come by and see them, and I plan a loooong road-trip. Lucky me, it happens to be in the middle of a heat-wave, and my AC has just konked out on the truck! It is going to be a hot day!

After several hours behind the wheel, I arrive a little town up in the hills of West Virginia, finally get to the Op's shop. He's out, but he has a couple of nephews there to help me out. Unfortunately, the 'he never throws anything out' was not entirely true, as only a few months before they started breaking-down their old games for parts, to use to make those Cherry-Master games. Gone was the Playchoice 10, Gate of Doom, and lots of others... their empty cabs had been hauled out back to rot in the elements. I had a look at them, and sadly, they were too far gone to save (see pictures a couple posts below). Had I come a year before, I could have saved a complete and original Commando, Gate of Doom, and Playchoice 10! But the good news, they pulled all the internal components, including the CP, marquee, boards, and wiring, and just boxed them up. After an hour of looking through them, I made them an offer on all the remaining boards and kits, about 15 in all, as well as a complete but non-working Smash TV (25" version). I even found 2 Atari-logo joysticks I needed to complete my Gauntlet restoration! I also picked up a box of assorted 45's for my jukebox -- all great stuff from the late 80's and never even used. All in all, a great haul, well worth the long drive in the heat!

A couple observations to my fellow collectors. Talk to people, I would not have found these guys had I just hung up on the first Op when I found he didn't have anything I wanted. And be very polite. The Op in charge was a real nice older fellow, but I got the impression that he would not have even risked wasting his time with me had I not been especially polite and respectful on the phone. It was neat for me to meet these guys, they had some funny stories about the vending business. Last, don't waste time, every day there are games getting trashed just because somebody needs room in their shop or warehouse!
 
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Dead cabinets

Oh yeah, here are some pictures of a few of the dead cabinets out back... the blue one was Gate of Doom, a Taito cab, and the black one was a Playchoice 10 with a single monitor.

The pictures look pretty good, but trust me folks, these were warped and ruined by a year of rain, sun and snow. Sad, but at least I was able to save the insides!
 

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Thats a great! Hey..if you have any 4 player Demolition Derby parts pm me.
 
Pics of the haul

Here are some pics of the haul... I'm going to keep about a third of the boards, the others I'll probably put up for trade or sale (to help pay for the trip!)
 

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Thanks for sharing the story.

And hoo-ray for another Smash TV saved. Looks good and the side is hardly faded.

Yeah, let's hope I can fix the thing...

Actually, I think it is only because the monitor was not working that the Smash TV was not junked with the other games. They had parted-out all the games with working monitors, and since Smash TV wasn't working, they didn't bother messing with it. That faulty 25" may have saved the cab's life!
 
nice save on the smash tv..

when your working on the smash tv monitor, you should give a look at the monitor mounts. The wood tends to unglue and break free and the monitor can drop in the cabinet. Very bad design. I put some L iron in to support the monitor. Same problem with trog.
 
Here are some pics of the haul... I'm going to keep about a third of the boards, the others I'll probably put up for trade or sale (to help pay for the trip!)


PM me if you want to sell the nintendo marquee.
 
I better check mine! :eek:

I would do it even if yours shows no sign. When you look at it, you will be amazed anyone would build a mount like that..

I don't know if the problem could happen with mk1, but mk2 and on they used the metal mounts with carriage bolts through the sides..
 
I would do it even if yours shows no sign. When you look at it, you will be amazed anyone would build a mount like that..

I don't know if the problem could happen with mk1, but mk2 and on they used the metal mounts with carriage bolts through the sides..

Thanks for the tip, mr bill. I'll be sure to reinforce it when I get in there to try a repair. I had a quick look today, and it looks perfect inside, but as you say -- better safe than sorry. I'll start a repair thread when I get working on it.
 
Thanks for the tip, mr bill. I'll be sure to reinforce it when I get in there to try a repair. I had a quick look today, and it looks perfect inside, but as you say -- better safe than sorry. I'll start a repair thread when I get working on it.

when I pulled out my monitor in smash tv, the upper wooden mount was floating free. It was in its proper place, but nothing other than the cabinets tight tolerance holding it in place..

In my trog the cabinet sides started to seperate and the monitor started to sag.
 
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