Personal Grail Score tonight on a NICE all original game!

khabbi

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Personal Grail Score tonight on a NICE all original game!

This has been a game I have wanted for a VERY LONG time, and while it's not really considered a grail to many, and it's not worth a lot of money, it's a game that means a lot to me as an arcade collector as it was the very first arcade game I remember playing.. and getting addicted to. The nostalgia with this one for me is as high as it gets.

I can clearly recall playing this game endlessly at the Davenport Pizza Works in Davenport, IA when I was 11 years old.. can still picture where it sat in the restaurant and playing it. I spent so much money on it that I could complete the game twice on one quarter.. and never saw anyone else that could do it. In late 1981 we travelled to Reno, Nevada to the Circus Circus arcade, one of the biggest arcades I'd ever seen, and it was a competitive arcade that kept a list of high scores. On my 3rd game there, I beat the high score and Circus Circus made a bid deal of it, putting my name and score on the scoreboard, giving me a gold metal, and taking my picture (polaroid) with me standing in front of the game with the metal. It was pure arcade goodness and solidified me forever as an arcade rat! I still have the pic. I really don't recall the score, and I'm sure I wasn't a national phenomenon.. but at 11, it was a kick ass experience that I've never forgotten.

This was listed locally on craigslist with a Ms. Pacman and Galaxian, with an asking price of $75 each. The pics were crappy, but I could tell that it had the aviator artwork and looked decent with the crappy cell phone camera pics that had been downgraded by craigslist. I hit the guy up via email, text, and voicemail, expressing an interest in only the Scramble.. I really didn't care nor do I have the room for the others anyways. He hit me up late last night and said it was mine.. but I was still worried it would get snagged since someone else was coming over for the other games.

Long story short, I meet up with a younger guy who was very nice, and he escorted me up to a 2nd floor room that had the game in it.. I almost hit the floor when I saw the scramble, it's in MINTY all original condition with zero cabinet damage or fade, and even even the bottom corners are like it just came out of the factory. I had mentioned that I had been trying to find a Scramble for a long time, and he was happy that it was going to a good home.

After painfully dragging it down a large flight of stairs and down a dirt driveway, I loaded it up. I asked him what the story was on the machine, and he told me that his father bought the machines at least 14 years ago, perhaps longer, as he remembered having them up in the room when he was a kid. The games were always very well kept and handn't moved in that long. He then told me that about 9 months ago, his father passed away and that he just wanted to clear this stuff out and hopefully get it go a good home. I had mentioned my story about having a pic of myself with the machine when I was 11, and he could tell I was stoked to get this one. He told me that he was happy that I got the machine, as his father would have been happy it went to me. I could sense that he was almost tearing up as he said that. I shook his hand and left as the others were arriving to pick up the Ms. Pac and Galaxian.

This was an all around kick ass night for me as an arcade collector.. and a great experience all the way.

First, a pic of me at Circus Circus in 1981, wearing my gold metal. The woman was doing something inside the machine and had opened the coin door, in case you were wondering :)

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Tonights score.. it's a beauty! Super clean, appears untouched inside and out, and best of all it has aviator artwork in very nice original condition! I haven't even cleaned it up or wiped it down yet in these pics, so it's a little dusty... :

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That is awesome man, congrats! That is a cool ass pic of you bitd. You should print one out and put it up in the marquee.
 
Nice. I always remember that game as a kid as well. And I still wonder how they got away with the picture of the lady in the right bottom of the bezel.
 
Thats a awesome story man! Great game, really love reading stories like this! And besides its not the price you pay for a grail, its the fact its YOUR grail and means that much to you! :)
 
Thats a awesome story man! Great game, really love reading stories like this! And besides its not the price you pay for a grail, its the fact its YOUR grail and means that much to you! :)

I think he nailed it there. So many of these games for us are memories. Oddly enough most of the games I play now I don't remember, I was born in '85 so many came out before I was born.

However today I got in an NBA Hangtime, which my brother and I played to death at the arcade at Lynchburg Virginia mall. I still need to clean the game and everything, but turning it one and creating my character brought back so many happy memories for me!

You need to post a picture of you standing next to the machine now! Again great story and congratulations on your amazing grail score!
 
This is what it's all about.
Wow.

Either you're the quintessence of collector tonight or as gifted a fictioner as hemingway.

I feel like I've bought and brought home the very Breakout from Sebastian's restaurant and/or the Sea Wolf from the front of Kroger's grocery.
 
great score right there khabbi!

for some reason i thought this was gonna be another "i picked up another color vector" thread... wait.... i think you already have all the color vector games now :)
 
I'd estimate that game took me for about $1000 back in the day. Funny thing is, it still holds up due to it's degree of difficulty.

Great score, man.
 
Very nice score! Threads like this are the backbone of these forums. I love this stuff! I also played Scramble BITD quite a bit. I have an original board that I put in my jamma cab once in a while (I have the adapter of course), and the sounds and gameplay take me right back to 1982. Congrats on finding such a nice one, and great story to boot...
 
scramble

that there is a grail. very nice pickup. nice picture, i wish i had some pics of me as a kid with the old arcade games! i have the same affection towards my cosmic avenger and carnival. both cheaper games but something very special about them!
 
Great story, Khabbi.

Your story makes me want to post a pic of myself from 1982, wearing my Pac Man shirt that I worshipped at that time.

It sounds like you are only missing one thing now to make the circle complete: do you have the 1982 Worlds Fair Scramble token? It would make a good accessory to your medal.

Thanks so much for sharing this story with all of us- as many have said, it's these stories that keep the hobby alive.

VG
 
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