Picked up two machines from a clinical hoarder.

TheDrewster

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Donor 2012
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Last Saturday, I picked up a pinball machine from an elderly family's garage sale. It was a Stern Nine Ball, nothing to write home about. But as I am loading that game into my truck, someone else at the garage sale walks up behind me and asks "Hey, do you do arcade machines too?" I say "Yep! Got one?" "Yeah, I've got two. A wrestling game and some generic Zaxxon I think. They're a little dusty but they work."

So I get his info and since I was on a time crunch, I tell him I'd call him on Wednesday, being today. He lives almost an hour away in Dayton NV, which is in the sticks outside Carson City. Basically an empty, dusty, lonely, banjo-playing town way outside Reno. I take a gamble and check them out. I get there and I am astonished at the absolute dump heap I drive up to. He has cars, slots, metal junk, computers, TVs, empty oil barrels, file cabinets, just a complete dump heap of shit outside on what's left of his front yard. I look past the overgrown juniper bushes and sure enough, there's a Mat Mania and a Zaxxon sitting right there. Outside. In the sun. On his front porch. Fantastic...

Now, this dude is well into his 70s and he begins to tell me that he is terminally ill and not only does he have dozens of medical bill collectors jumping down his throat, the city of Dayton is now beginning to fine him because of his dump of a house. At this point, I feel bad for the guy. The guy lives in squalor and he's not in good health. So instead of walking away, I buy them. Overpaid, mind you. But I figured I could help the guy out and at least take some of the burden from his front yard and maybe that helps him pay a bill. Whatever.

We clear a path and wrestle the two faded, rotting, and swollen carcasses into the back of my truck. Spiders and all. Half way down the road I see a glimmer of colorful debris in my rear view mirror as I lose the marquee to the Mat Mania on the road. Alas, It's a 70mph rural expressway and I am not about to stop. Oh well.

Now that I am home, I can assess that the Zaxxon can be saved with some elbow grease. Yes, the cabinet is flakey and swollen around the edges but not out of the realm of hope. The Mat Mania is a converted Astron Belt. This machine is not long for this world. The sides are separating, panels warped and are coming loose, and it is heavy as hell. Neither game has their back doors. They'll both be up for grabs as soon as I clean them out, evict any living tenants, and figure out what they'd need. But for now, at least they'll have a second chance at life.

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Better man than I am. I don't think if I would have taken those for free.

+1, good on you for saving them. You couldn't give those to me.

Especially Zaxxon....sometimes I feel like the only guy out there that doesn't like that game. I just never liked the 4-way joystick combined with the isometric view.
 
On 2 different occasions bought games from a widow and overpaid a little just due to the circumstance. Good save, glad you help another human out.
 
Wow. That was a kindness.

Zaxxon looks saveable. The power brick is kind of a pain.

The game view always drove me batty. I still liked to play it a bit.
 
+1, good on you for saving them. You couldn't give those to me.

Especially Zaxxon....sometimes I feel like the only guy out there that doesn't like that game. I just never liked the 4-way joystick combined with the isometric view.

You are not alone. I can't stand Zaxxon....in fact I like it less than Tron. :)
 
I cant play zaxxon or congo bongo and as I cant get the perspective.


I think I have 2 or 3 nos sheets of the mr do brick overlay. I might even still have the castle one.
 
The Zaxxon looks pretty good to me, I don't like the game and it doesn't sell for much but the cabinet looks to be in fair shape. The other one would be a good kit cabinet for somebody if it doesn't fall apart!
 
You are not alone. I can't stand Zaxxon....


I used to be in that boat too. Back in the day, I couldn't get the hang of the gameplay. Then I got one. I started out with it set to 5 lives and gradually worked my way to the standard 3 as I got better at it. I don't know if I would say its a keeper but I do enjoy playing it. I am also glad that somebody rescued one. Good job!
 
Zaxxon....sometimes I feel like the only guy out there that doesn't like that game. I just never liked the 4-way joystick combined with the isometric view.

I have found a method of playing that helps with the control/view issue.

Stand slightly to the right of the control panel and twist your body to face the controls. It kind of adjusts your perspective.
 
I probably would have tried to help this guy out to and ended up buying the empty oil barrels and file cabinets. :(
 
That was an honorable thing, there are a lot of people out in the Sticks of Nevada here that have all sorts of stuff. Saving a game or two from the brink is kind of like adding a game. Since that is axon was unaccounted for it now means there's one more in the fold. I did this a couple of times when I live outside of Gardnerville not with games but with other stuff.
 
I was thinking about the original post. And I think that not every find has to be some sort of honey hole and not every find do you have to make out like a bandit. It's nice when you get every stinkin deal like a free game or a game for $20. But it's also nice to find a game and to add one more of its kind to the collecting world. So hopefully these two games will be cleaned up and able to be enjoyed by somebody else.
 
As an update, I cleaned out both machines and to my amazement, they both partially worked! I was able to strengthen the Astron Belt/Mat Mania cabinet and it should be salvageable. The artwork also looks like it can be saved from beneath the black paint. The game plays practically blind. The monitor fired up but the image is barely visible.

The Zaxxon fired up and coined up, but then resets and goes back to the high score screen. Unsure if it has board problems or power supply problems, so I left it alone. I, too, am by no means a fan of Zaxxon, in fact it's probably my least favorite game of all time. But nonetheless it is still a classic and there are those out there who love it. I have to say I really like the artwork though.

And in conclusion, both machines have been tentatively sold for a little less than what I actually bought them for, but theyll be left in more than capable hands. Theyll be picked up this weekend. The whole interaction with these games from start to finish (minus the black widows I fought) has made me feel a sense of pride that these machines are now back in circulation.
 
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