Stopping at a random strangers house uninvited

frankf

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I was visiting my parents a few weekends back. I was heading out of town and drove past a house that had their garage door open. I glanced over and noticed a Williams pin with the backbox off and sitting next to the cabinet. There was a LOT of crap in the garage and thought to myself "I should see if they would sell that". I would have had limited access to cash as it was late on Saturday but still thought it would have been worth a shot to stop by.

So my question is has anyone else stopped at someones house from a random game sighting and actually purchased the game(s)? Next time I take a trip to my parents I might bring two cars and some cash just in case though I'm not sure I'd have the balls to just stop by.
 
Usually I agree with Kalamath: I stop if they're outside. I think to date I've asked 4 strangers in 4 strange yards about 4 machines inside 4 strange garages and... 1 said it was his son's and his son was in Dubais or something, 2 said, "Yeah, I could sell it." but their prices were too high, and the other time I came home with an A- Centipede with nothing but a minor board issue for $100 and got 2 non-working (but complete; who knows yet? Might be a fuse) 8-liners thrown in for the haul-off.

I've had pretty good luck going into "strange" bowling alleys when the owner happened to be "home", as well.

If I saw something grail-ish in a garage, like a Space Panic or a Space Zap or WoW or a cockpit M.A.C.H. 3, I would probably knock on the door. If I couldn't work up the nerve naturally I would probably hit the nearest 7-11, down 32 ounces of Coors Light, and go back and knock on the door.
 
If the neighborhood is not so bad where the guy might meet you at the door with a gun, I would stop in and ask. Never pass on an opportunity. Worse the can say is no.
 
I guess it depends on what kind of area you live in. I personally don't live in a bad area, but if you came to my door asking about a pinball you saw in the back corner of my garage, I could help but feel a bit guarded in the sense of "how did you know,were you spying on my house"? Im in no way of saying that you were in that instance, but if I knocked on his door during the day, Id say something along the lines of "Hi, sorry to bother you, but as I was driving through I couldnt help but notice out of the corner of my eye that you had that pinball machine in your garage. This may be out of left field, but do you have plans for it, or would you be looking to possibly sell it at some point in the future?"
Just dont be specific about how you saw it in the far back corner. Just say in the garage. Otherwise that would be creepy, and I'd wonder what else you may be having an eye on, perhaps when I wasnt home. :D
 
Haha PhoenixStar, no I wasn't full on creeper-mode. I saw it out of the corner of my eye because it was right in front of the garage, inches inside the opening. I saw the big W and turned my head to get another look. Wasn't in a bad neighbor (at least not that I am aware of) though it was somewhat country so there could have been a gun on me as I walked to the door.
 
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When I first started collecting, I noticed 3 games in a garage just down the street from me. I finally went over and knocked on his door. We chatted for a while, and I brought home a working zaxxon and a non working space invaders for free. He wouldn't sell the Robotron though.
 
I can appreciate your caution but my feeling is that if you genuinely noticed it innocently because they left their garage door open and you were driving by then there is no harm in you knocking on their door and introducing yourself and saying that you are an arcade enthusiast and happened to notice the <insert game name> sitting in their garage and wanted to know more about it and if it might be for sale. Unfortunately we live n a society where some bad apples and a lot of negative media has put people on high alert for unscrupulous types. But if that is not you then I don't think it should prevent you from a friendly visit. If the owner can't seem to get past their guardedness and gives you the cold shoulder and ends you on your way then oh well. If someone were to do it to me, the way I react is going to have everything to do with my impression of them, what they say, how they act, how they look, the total package. I have a pond in my front yard that is shared by 2 neighbors on other sides. I came home once to 2 people fishing in my front yard. They saw me pull up and did nothing. I had to go out to them to see what was going on. They were polite enough when I talked to them and told me they were friends of one of my neighbors and hoped I didn't mind them fishing in my yard. I told them that if they had waited until I was home and knocked on my door to introduce themselves and asked if they could fish before just doing it that I probably wouldn't have minded. But since they just decided to do it anyway without asking that yes, I did mind and to please leave. They left without even an apology. A few days later I found some dead fish left on my dock. I guess they didn't like my answer. I haven't seen them since. If they had the balls to show up, knock on my door, and apologize for their initial intrusion I might see fit to forgive them but I guess they don't have the character to do that. My point is that if you are polite, courteous, and respectful, you should not feel bad about going up and asking a strange neighbor about a game you saw by chance.
 
I would definitely stop by and ask. It seems like a bunch of the "special finds" you hear about are from this exact situation.

I was working on an arcade cabinet in my garage a year ago and I actually had a guy drive by, then reverse it back up the street because he saw what I was working on. Instead of wanting to buy it he wanted to hire me to work on his EM pinball machine. I declined but suggested several of the repair people around Denver. Thinking back I probably should have offered to buy the game from him instead...
 
People stop by at my house when I have the garage door open and I am working on something in the garage. The last few people who stopped by wanted to sell me something (one was an old video poker machine and the other a bubble hockey).

A few years ago my garage was packed with video games (30+). Lots of people stopped by and jerked my chain and said they wanted to buy something but actually they just wanted to play them. Most of the guys blamed their wives about not being able to buy a game.
 
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