At high noon, we inch the Budget Rent-A-Beast across the road to a rather unassuming Laundromat/Seafood Shop. Could this really be the place? There were no cars in the parking lot and the "strip mall", if you can call it that, looked as though it had been abandoned for 20 years. See for yourself, does this look like a hidden stash of arcade goodness?
Sure enough, moments after we park the rent-a-beast, a dude pulls up in a smallish pick-up truck and sidles over to us. "Y'all must be here for the games", he yells! I speak first, and assure him we are here for the games, to which he replies "I could tell because the thing on your shirt is exactly like the thing on the side of one of these games." Big Kudos to Rich at This Old Game for the Space Invaders sweatshirt that got me recognized as a video game collector in Darien, GA!
Before I get into this next part, I should clarify that while I was born in the Midwest I have lived in NE Florida for almost all of my life. I have owned a lifted 4x4 Ford Truck, I fish for largemouth bass on a regular basis, and I consider getting pulled behind a speedboat on an inner tube a very good time! I am a little bit country! I cannot avoid that. But this guy? Light years past me in terms of pure country! If you have seen the movie Deliverance, visualize with me fairly accurately what our new friend looks like as he is talking to us.
Two seconds into the conversation (and at least three cigarettes successfully smoked), he is telling us he already pulled the Kiss pinball, the Vendo Coke machine, and the dedicated Ms. Pac Man out of the warehouse and that they were quite happily alive and well in his own personal man cave (which I instantly assumed was an outbuilding on his mother's property somewhere up the road). He seems harmless, but is already angling for one of us to come out to his place to look at a problem with his Kiss pinball that he cannot quite diagnose. There is no way I am taking part in a conversation that ends with me at this guy's house, so instead I decide to change the subject …
"Tell us about the owner of the games", I ask. Instantly, his tone changes and he starts speaking to us very quietly as if he is telling a deep, dark family secret. Here is the story he shared with us:
"Mr. King is 90 years old and has owned a number of businesses in Darien for over 50 years". Back in the eighties, he owned a lot of Laundromats and all of the Laundromats had these video games and pinball machines in them. I played many of them myself when I was growing up here, pedaling my bike up here to Rt. 99 to drop my quarters into the Missile Command game. Twenty years ago, the city of Darien decided they were going to institute a tax on Mr. King and his video machines. Rather than fight or pay the tax, Mr. King instead decide to raise his figurative middle finger to the City of Darien and locked all of his machines away in this warehouse space behind one of his Laundromats. They have been sitting there untouched ever since!"
I am every bit as guilty of hyperbole as the next guy, but I can't figure out if this guy is telling the truth or spinning an interesting tale of pristine, complete, working games. Either way, I'm insterested and cannot wait to get inside!
Go-between Kevin went on to tell us that Mr. King was now over 90 years old and spent most of his time in church worshipping the Lord. We were not to curse or to act disrespectful in any way to Mr. King and were further warned that if we attempted to haggle any further he would close the doors and ask us kindly to leave. I, for one, couldn't wait to meet the fascinating Mr. King. I imagined a character the stature of Willy Wonka or The Wizard of Oz, or perhaps even someone as badass as Scarface or the Godfather himself!
When Mr. King finally arrived, he wasn't the imposing figure I had imagined though I was nonetheless impressed. He was a young looking 90 years old (could have passed for 60 easily) and had likely been the best dressed man in the church that morning. Hell, he might have been the best dressed man in all of Georgia on that day. His suit was clean and pressed, his shoes were shiny enough I could see Space Invaders reflected in the patent leather, and his bowtie was tied perfectly. No clip-on for Mr. King! He was fresh and clean, for certain. He didn't have much to say, but it was clear he was in charge. His sons (who arrived with him) and the "go-between" Kevin clearly had a great deal of respect and admiration for the man. I shook his hand, introduced myself, and together we counted the money that was about to change hands.
Once we were both satisfied that the amount of cash moving from one hand to the other was sufficient, we shook hands one final time and the dollies started rolling! It took a little over two hours to move all of the machines out of the warehouse and into the sunlight (which they had apparently not seen in more than 20 years). When all was said and done, we were fortunate to score 2 ADDITIONAL MACHINES that had apparently been missed on all previous counts. Here are a few photos of the 30 video games and pinball machines that we rescued from Darien, GA yesterday.
Now, to get them all loaded onto our two trucks. This was going to be tricky.
Was our math right? Do we have enough space?
Do I even remember how to calculate area? Length x width? What?!?!
To be continued ...