Should I be angry about this?? Opinions please

[modessitt]

I, too, have been on the side where someone local posted a bunch of pics of a big warehouse he picked through and got all he wanted from, showed a bunch of pics of mostly stripped (but outwardly complete-looking) cabs that were most likely being sent to the dump.

Then he got all indignant when I asked HERE why he wouldn't post the info so others could have a chance to save some of the cabs. There was the approach of "I don't know you, why should I help you?" Or the "You work for a retailer and just want cabs for your boss" which was a far from the truth as you can get. Then the old favorite "The operator is very particular about who he deals with and has known me for a long time." Just a bunch of excuses to act like a jerk.

I won't name names, as some will already know who I am talking about, and others could probably find the thread based on the details I've posted. He isn't, nor hs he ever been, a friend, and I have had no dealings with him, all by my choice (and probably his by now, too.) Of course, he may decide to pop in with his halo and decry the heresy I have professed, as he has done in the past....

 

[cadillacman]

thats a true arcade collecting moral dilemma.

WHile i would nit just give out that info to everybody i meet, if i had a friend who tipped me off to some games, then its my turn to share that info with them, you scratch my back i scratch yours type of thing.

No more free work. See how fast they stop bieng your "friend".

 

[YieArKade]

They sound like the type who use other people and put themselves first. Do they actually keep most of the games they find, or just flip them?

So I know two collectors that I have been friends with (or so I thought) for about 8 years now. One resides in south Jersey,the other in PA. Both of them have come across multiple warehouse raids over the past year. For some reason they never give up the locations of the raids after they leave. Even if they don't take everything thats at the location they still won't cough up anything. Is this some sort of collector code that I don't know about or something? Is it just pure Greed and selfishness? I am one that believes in sharing with other collectors and if I find multiple games and can't take them all,or even if I know about a location where things are and can't get to it at that exact moment I'd rather tell a fellow collector to pick the stuff up before it gets trashed. You do good towards someone,they do good by you in return or so I thought but in this case I guess not. This infuriates me to no end and they both are always so quick to send me pictures or call me like "Dude!!check out my score!!!" blah blah. I have done these guys so many favors in the past,tipping them off to machines they were looking for,board repairs,general solder work,selling them parts cheap but I have finally decided to no longer do this as I feel I am being taken advantage of and given nothing in return but cash. Even then they were paying less then I usually charge for the services I provide,but no more.

 

[g3n3r1c]

I think the mistake is considering hobby acquaintances, friends.
My friends and I have drinks together, discuss our kids, wives, work, problems and triumphs. My friends and I travel together on family vacations and outings and have years of history. We celebrate our kids birthdays together, attend family members funerals and weddings. We count on each other when things are bad and celebrate when times are good. We wish each other happy birthday, and not just on Facebook.
My true friends truly are brothers from other mothers.
We don't:
Discuss op raids, hustle parts or services from one another, walk around each others houses with eyes darting from left to right looking for parts or games we need while thinking of ways to take them home free of charge.
There is a difference between friends and friendly. With few exceptions the guys I've met in this hobby are smarmy d-bags out to squeeze whatever they can from you without the courtesy of a reach around. It's sad, but this hobby is not the place to form or maintain friendships. Think of it as a swap meet, keep your expectations of others VERY low and you won't be disappointed.

 

[TheEvener]

I guess the issue of "friendship" seems pretty pivotal in this thread, but in my view whether they're "inner circle" friends or not, I think in this instance it's really an issue of respect. I don't think you have to be tight friends with someone to have a strong respect for one another, and it looks like here there's a lack of respect of the poster from his friends/contacts/colleagues. In this community, I really see that mutual respect as the glue that makes it work; without it, then it's just a bunch of people trying to take advantage of one another.

Never been on a raid, so I don't understand the politics of grumpy operators or what not, but I do see it as an issue of helping preserve a diminishing resource - everyday we have fewer cabs, not more, and for all the times an operator might decide "I'm done" after one or two contacts picked things over and chuck the rest, that's a lost opportunity for the wider community to keep this arcade "heritage" alive by involving more people.

 

[kspiff]

...blah...

Rep for you. That is pretty much how things are despite what anyone says to the contrary. I can do biz with other hobbyists, but on a personal level I just don't care and doubt anyone else does either. Funny how you can be an obsessive collector/hoarder, but be disgusted with others with a similar nature.

 

[gozer5454]

smarmy

I crack up whenever someone uses this word. Lol.

 

[modessitt]

Well, i was right. Via PM:

PeRFiDiouS:

Boo Hoo!
Still crying after all these years...


You just love spinning everything around to make me out to be the bad guy whenever you can. I had no control over Burns warehouse and it was not open to others after I left that day. The owner did not want anyone else in there period. I am sorry this is so difficult for you to understand and comprehend. I guess you just enjoy making yourself some type of victim and me a villain rather than accepting the truth.

I don't have to "spin" anything. Your reputation speaks for itself. The "truth" is that most local collectors and some KLOVers don't trust you. If you think this is a lie or "slander" as you like to allege, then I invite you to create a thread asking for all the locals to weigh in on their opinion of you. Let's see if the positive outweighs the negative. I invite you to create a duplicate thread on me. Then we'll see where the truth lies.

And quit PMing me. If you can't defend yourself in public, then just keep it to yourself. Any further PM's to me by you will be publicly posted as well...

 

[davin72]

HAHAHA!!!! Mod I knew exactly who you were talking about. Of course Im sure anyone else around here did too. Im not shocked at all.

 

[PeRFiDiouS]

Pot,Kettle,Black

Well, i was right. Via PM:

Originally Posted by PeRFiDiouS
PeRFiDiouS:

Boo Hoo!
Still crying after all these years...


You just love spinning everything around to make me out to be the bad guy whenever you can. I had no control over Burns warehouse and it was not open to others after I left that day. The owner did not want anyone else in there period. I am sorry this is so difficult for you to understand and comprehend. I guess you just enjoy making yourself some type of victim and me a villain rather than accepting the truth.

I don't have to "spin" anything. Your reputation speaks for itself. The "truth" is that most local collectors and some KLOVers don't trust you. If you think this is a lie or "slander" as you like to allege, then I invite you to create a thread asking for all the locals to weigh in on their opinion of you. Let's see if the positive outweighs the negative. I invite you to create a duplicate thread on me. Then we'll see where the truth lies.

And quit PMing me. If you can't defend yourself in public, then just keep it to yourself. Any further PM's to me by you will be publicly posted as well...

You obviously do have to spin everything because my response is the fact of the matter. The owner of the warehouse did not want ANYONE to contact him and made that very clear to me when I was there on the last day. So for you to still be crying and pointing fingers years later and ignoring the most important FACT of the story is just sour grapes on your part.

Ironically the owner just left the games in the warehouse and when it was sold to the new owner RLevin ended up getting it all if I am not mistaken. Maybe a little effort on your part instead of pissing and moaning would have got you into this place you seem so bent over missing out on.

As for reputation lets talk about S&B Amusements. The company you work for who are known as the biggest crooks for 100 miles in this area. I know 2 people personally who have taken machines into S&B for repairs then after waiting patiently for months with no repairs they get a letter saying if they do not pickup the equipment in 30 days it will be forfeit and sold. One of these people did not received this notice and his Juke box was sold by your company without his permission. This is not to mention all the horror stories I have heard from people in this area about how S&B sent a technician to my house but all he wanted to do was buy my broken pinball machine for $100 instead of fix it for me. Your boss is infamous for this type of underhanded dealing and much more I will not elaborate on unless I have to. You have always been very careful to isolate yourself from the dealings of S&B Amusements even though it is as fas as I know your main source of income. I think you do so because you know the company you work for is dishonest. The Sprout another member here has many horror stories about your boss and your company and gets angry if you even bring up the name S&B Amusements and rightfully so from what he has told me.

I have NEVER ripped anyone off ever and I challenge you to find someone who will say I did. Sure I have pissed some people off but that happens in a city this small when you have the means and knowledge to get games and others do not. By your own admission you do not know me yet you never miss a chance to make baseless judgments or opinions about me both in public and private. I on the other hand have never bad mouthed you even though I know you work for and are part of the most dishonest Amusement company in this area.

 

[modessitt]

Typical response from you. Bringing up shit about where I work because you can't find anything derogatory to say about me.

I am only a tech at my job, and in this day of high unemployment I'm not about to quit just because my boss takes to long to complete a repair or charges too much (which i have mentioned here many times). Any other things you mentioned either happened before I worked there or without my knowledge. Not that I have any control over it.

And for the record - I have never once said you ripped anyone off on a game you've sold. I've even told someone to buy one you had listed on CL, and they did. I've worked on at least 2 games you've sold (a year or more after) and only thought that you should've fully capped it first, but the monitor looked good anyway and I didn't say anything.

The point of this thread was to talk about people who seem to go out of their way to act like assholes when there doesn't seem to be a reason to - and you fall in that category. Regardless of the reason why the operator didn't want to deal with others, the way you handled the request for more info was boorish.

I'm not "still crying" over it. Just letting the OP that unfortunately the behavior he witnessed isn't uncommon. Had you kept your yap shut, only a few would have even known who I was talking about...

 

[joemagiera]

I have NEVER ripped anyone off ever and I challenge you to find someone who will say I did.

Two examples:

Mark Spaeth - I know there will counter claims, and I don't deny that, you just challenged to name one.

Me (Frogs CPO). Part of our deal was that you'd provide a free repro CPO. After several months of nothing, you said you wouldn't be repro'ing them. As one who has repro'ed art work before, I know how difficult and expensive it is. I wasn't surprised that you said you weren't going to do it. I tired to be a nice guy and said that's fine. But now you are claiming that you are having them reproed after all, but you will not be getting me one, citing that I said it was ok. Hmmm... maybe a court of law might back you up (I'd like to see how a jury would vote on that, especially a "jury of peers" (other arcade collectors), but that's a rip off if I ever heard/saw one.

 

[kspiff]

You know what is really tacky though? When collectors get all catty and whine back and forth at each other...


I was picking up a game recently and the guy had about a hundred or so games in storage and stuffed into his garage and a room in his house. A lot of them were garbage/major projects, but some of them were pristine and he also had a lot of rare gems. Plus it sounded like he got most of them for dirt cheap or free.

I had a tinge of jealousy for a moment...

But then I realized that he had to put a lot of effort into scouring unconventional sources to get these games. Plus it made me realize that if I don't keep my shit under control I could too end up with a hoarder-level collection [again... had a hoarder-like collection at one point for a short while]. And it really hit home when during our conversation he mentioned being envious of noice for having a wife.

If he is reading this (he isn't a member, but just in case) no diss to you, bro, you seemed like a nice guy and I wish I could have shot the shit longer and checked out more stuff. But, damn, that collection... it was a bit much. It's like pussy repellent.

 

[sohchx]

They sound like the type who use other people and put themselves first. Do they actually keep most of the games they find, or just flip them?

They do a little of both but mostly buy for their personal collections. Like me they flip to make extra cash to be able to buy more games,they are not retailers but may as well be with the quantity they resell after raids. Coincidentally I got a call from one of them yesterday and he wanted a board stitched up that had really bad acid damage. After all the advice most of you guys have given me on my original post I just broke it down to him and told it like it was straight up. I told him to relay the message to the other guy too. He says that he never knew I felt the way I did about the raids which we all know is bullshit. I'm just to nice of a person and they both took advantage of that. Normally I would have just been a dick about it from the beginning and told them both about themselves but being that we have known each other for so long I decided to be the better person but no more. I guarantee they will both change their ways when the next raid comes around because neither one of them can do any of their own work outside of changing a fuse due to extremely laziness of one,the other is a huge pothead. They can see first hand the steal of a deal they were getting on repairs from me after they start sending stuff out for repairs.

 

[PeRFiDiouS]

Sour Gramps

Two examples:

Me (Frogs CPO). Part of our deal was that you'd provide a free repro CPO. After several months of nothing, you said you wouldn't be repro'ing them. As one who has repro'ed art work before, I know how difficult and expensive it is. I wasn't surprised that you said you weren't going to do it. I tired to be a nice guy and said that's fine. But now you are claiming that you are having them reproed after all, but you will not be getting me one, citing that I said it was ok. Hmmm... maybe a court of law might back you up (I'd like to see how a jury would vote on that, especially a "jury of peers" (other arcade collectors), but that's a rip off if I ever heard/saw one.

The Frogs CPO will never be reproduced and you know that. Myself and some others were just pulling your leg on an online chat channel that it would be reprod on a xerox machine and you took us seriously. You agreed I owe you nothing years ago since it was not feasible to reproduce the cpo because of cost and no interest by others. Just more sour grapes or should i say sour gramps on your part...

 

[ChompingQuarters]

...With few exceptions the guys I've met in this hobby are smarmy d-bags out to squeeze whatever they can from you without the courtesy of a reach around. It's sad, but this hobby is not the place to form or maintain friendships. Think of it as a swap meet, keep your expectations of others VERY low and you won't be disappointed.

Seriously... Keep the nintendo t-molding... I don't need a reach around! haa haa.