What happened to the Games in LUNA CITY

[joeycuda]

To be honest, don't ask me why, but I too always wondered what ended up becoming of it as well. Maybe because I never got to see it in all of its beauty before it was dismantled. Also, for people like me, it's hard to totally understand how such a gaming mecca could suddenly be ripped apart and erased as quickly as it was. I totally understand what transpired, it's just so hard to believe that for a shrine like that where so much time and effort was made to make it what it was, it's hard to believe that *poof* it's gone.

Many of us (myself included) will never have a setup as wicked as that place appeared to be. It's one of those things I thought would be there longer so I thought I'd have more time to check it out.

I thought, while extremely admirable as a collection, it represented the absolute extreme end of collecting. A collection on that scale HAS to be stressful, if not only in terms of space and maintenance, but also in terms of affecting relationships/marriage/whatever else. It was probably all consuming and consume it did.

 

[LUCKYMAN]

Richie got the Star Trek too. Though, when I visited his store last month it wasn't working.

sounds just about right reguarding STAR TREK!!! Thanks god i got rid of mine, what a head ache!!

 

[LUCKYMAN]

I thought, while extremely admirable as a collection, it represented the absolute extreme end of collecting. A collection on that scale HAS to be stressful, if not only in terms of space and maintenance, but also in terms of affecting relationships/marriage/whatever else. It was probably all consuming and consume it did.

yeah man.. deffinitly WAY to much especially if your not opening it to the public to make money to support and fix them.. Definitly brung back memories of the old days arcades without a doubt.

 

[FrizzleFried]

It all comes down to dough. If I had a shit-ton of expendable income, I too would have a similar setup...

 

[Black Matrix]

For lack of a better explanation, I do. Basically, I never got to go up there while it was around and it was pretty much the mecca of home arcade collections. When it was about to be sold, many members wanted to try and find a way to keep the collection together. Others wanted a piece of it in their collection (myself included) to say that they have a small piece of Lunacity in their collection. I don't need to know where every piece of it is, but it would have been nice to have one piece of it. I'm not sure if your much of a car guy. But suppose you were a car collector. If something happened to Jay Leno where his collection was suddenly dismantled, you might want to pick up one of his cars for your collection if only to say you have part of one of the largest privately owned collections ever assembled. The same is true for Lunacity. Its gone, but its far from forgotten. Its unlikely that anyone here will ever have a collection that rivals it. The short of it is the history of video games won't be kept in museums. Nor will it be written down on the pages of books. The true history of Video games will be kept by a select few in discreet and unassuming basements, garages, and homes. The true history of video games will be kept by us. Those who remember arcades in all their glory. And those of us that strive to assemble home arcades to preserve that sense of wonder that was once so very common at the dawn of gaming. I doubt in 20 years anyone will care about a PS3, or Xbox 360, nor even the Wi. And maybe no one will care about Galaga, or Pacman, or Donkey Kong, or Space Invaders. But as long as there are home arcade collections, there will be people that care about how it all began.

This isn't meant to be an asshole comment, but who cares what happened to them? People get into and out of this hobby all the time don't they? If you knew where each and every game went, would you feel better? I guess I just dont understand.

 

[jar155]

I thought, while extremely admirable as a collection, it represented the absolute extreme end of collecting. A collection on that scale HAS to be stressful, if not only in terms of space and maintenance, but also in terms of affecting relationships/marriage/whatever else. It was probably all consuming and consume it did.

Maybe, but I doubt it. If you have the space and money, it's really not that big of a deal. Arcade/pinball collecting is actually a pretty family friendly hobby if you don't blow your savings on it. Instead of being out golfing or drinking with friends, we're at home building something that our kids and wives can enjoy.

My wife doesn't wonder where I'm at on a Saturday night, I'm just out in the garage tinkering with a pinball machine while she gets the kid to bed. Once he's down, I'll clean up my hands and come inside until she's ready for bed (and then I'll sneak back out for an hour or two).

For a couple of hundred bucks here and there, it gives me a hobby that has me at home, helps our social lives (you'd be surprised how many friends you make when it gets out you have a home arcade), and gives our kid something to do with dad. It's truly a great hobby and I think most family members would support it if there's not other issues going on that would cause them to feel disdain for the way you spend your free time.

 

[Black Matrix]

And for those of you that are interested.
Some of you will be happy to hear that the response I got from Loyd said that Peter did keep some of his best pieces. So the community perhaps hasn't seen the last of him yet. The rest was liquidated by Loyd last year. He didn't mention whether he personally owned any, and we can assume some of the pieces went over to Australia via coinopwarehouse, and a few probably stayed in the US. Thanks for all the info guys.

And like so many others here, my best wishes go out to Peter and his family.

 

[LeeB99]

Lump me into the camp that just doesn't understand what the big deal is/was about where his games ended up. Owning a game that just happened to be in that collection doesn't make it any more valuable or desirable than the same game in equal or better condition purchased elsewhere. They were "split up" and will never be together EVER again. I can understand the desire to keep them together as a "collection", but that isn't what happened.

It was basic economics. He KNEW that they would be more valuable broken up than sold as a whole because anyone who was willing to make a large buy like that would expect to get a BIG discount, due to the size of the purchase. People can "spin" his decision to split it up any way they want, but it is obvious that he kept the games that he was most attached to and then sold off the rest in a manner that maximized his return on investment. That REQUiRED him to split the collection up so that pieces went to people who were willing to spend what he wanted to get out of the games. The fact that some of the games went overseas is PROOF of this, as it costs more to ship a game overseas than most people on here are willing to pay for a game INCLUDING shipping...

Now, if FUNSPOT decides to call it quits and liquidates. Well, that would be something to get worked up over...

Lee

 

[avidgeek]

Have to agree on being less concerned about the origins of a game. The Swimmer I had in my collection for a while was part of the failed Texas arcade from DanofEarth. It didn't provide any appreciation because of its history, only made for a quick anecdote, that's it.

I don't know the whole story about what happened but the times I talked to him via email, he came across as being one helluva guy. Bad things happen to good people, and all you can do is offer support. I think Peter knows he's got a huge support group through KLOV, even if some of you only want games from him.

Just like Phet's skin rash, collections will come and go. It aint about the games, but the people behind them. The games are just a bonus.

 

[Blackjacker]

Thumbs-up for your post/sig synergy:

It aint about the games, but the people behind them.

I buttfucked Moon Patrol, and liked it.

 

[Riptor]

I know for a fact that alot of the games went to Aus. I saw them in the warehouse right before they were loaded into the container. I tried to buy several of them. One game that sticks in my mind was the I Robot.
I sold quite a few pac pcbs to the guy and they were loaded in the same container bound for Austrailia.

 

[TheShanMan]

Knowing that your game was part of LunaCity doesn't make it more valuable, but it does make for a more interesting story. It's nice to have a story for the items in your collection. For instance, my change machine spent most of its life at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Does that make it more valuable if I were to sell it? Absolutely not. The buyer wouldn't give a rip I'm sure. But do I think it's a cool piece of trivia? Yes, especially since I likely used it when I was growing up. A lot of this hobby is rooted in nostalgia obviously, but a lot of it also is the stories and memories that are made in the present day.

 

[kb0jjn]

A lot of this hobby is rooted in nostalgia obviously, but a lot of it also is the stories and memories that are made in the present day.

Ahhaa yes, the memories. When I hear the sounds of Galaga, Defender, Pac Man, Tempest, Play Boy pinball, Asteroids, etc. it takes me right back to the 80's. I can remember my friends who passed and the good times we had playing arcade games. I couldn't go to a 7-11 without seeing/playing a video game.

The one newer game I really like and got good at was Dragons Lair.

As Bill McNeil from News Radio would say

"good times, good times"

 

[joeycuda]

Any chance Peter is lurking around here?

 

[jonathan1138]

What is upsetting is that such a wonderful collection was dismantled, separated. All the time and energy that Peter put into it, its sad to see things like that come apart. Last week, a "non Arcader" (not sure what to call other people!) friend sent me a link to his site, pointing out how cool it was. He missed the main page notice, and i had to explain it was no longer there - i could tell he was let down. At least we have the opportunity to see it - one of a kind it was, and we must give the man credit!

I am less concerned with where the games went, although there were some nice ones that i would of loved to had a chance to get a hold of. Also, there no value to where a game came from - i wouldnt pay anymore or value a SW owned by the guy that played Chewbacca for example.


I get carried away with my SMALL collection, and often think, that with a ton of money, i would really get lost in this hobby, where i could neglect my family at the cost of getting the collection perfect. For me, each machine (ONE!) takes alot of time. I can only imagine 100+.

At the end of the day, materials are not important in the grand scheme. As Cadillacman pointed out, whats more important at this stage, is hopefully Peter is doing well and has (or is) starting a new chapter in life.

 

[FrizzleFried]

For many, it's the pursuit of the collection that is the "hobby" more than anything else. What do you do if you're "that guy" and you actually "finish"?

Dismantle and find another hobby?

 

[joeycuda]

For many, it's the pursuit of the collection that is the "hobby" more than anything else. What do you do if you're "that guy" and you actually "finish"?

Dismantle and find another hobby?

If money is no object, you get into muscle/antique cars. I think Jay Leno is to antique cars what Peter strived to be with the arcade collection.

 

[Black Matrix]

Lump me into the camp that just doesn't understand...
Lee

I agree. You don't understand. Without trying too hard to explain it, a couple examples. First, lets assume that everything mass produced is of equal quality, value, and rarity as any other exact duplicate made at the same time. So my question is, as a collector you would not place any higher value on the Moonwalker owned by Michael Jackson that was sceduled/supposedly auctioned off in the last year. A mint Babe Ruth rookie card bought from a high end card shop would be worth exactly the same amount as a mint Babe Ruth rookie card owned by Babe Ruth and auctioned by Sothebies. A 1970 Cadilac is worth the same amount whether it was owned by your grandma or Elvis.

In all fairness, each item could be exactly the same and identical. And by the definition of identical, neither may be any better than the other. But to a collector, every item is only as valuable as the worth you give it.

Like it or not, Peter Hirschberg was as close to a superstar in this hobby as we have. He was as close to a face for our hobby as anyone. And that's why I would value owning a game that was in his collection. No, I don't want to reassemble it. But since I heard it was liquidated, but never heard of any piece being sold, I just wanted to know what became of the best collection I had personally ever heard of.

As a collector, I might put just as much value on owning pieces by some of the senior collectors on the forums that are always there to support the hobby or take such pride in the meticulous restoration of a machine. I mean hell, people will pay more money just because they want their DK is Red, their Galaga and Asteroids white, and their Blaster in a Rubbermaid garbage can. When you collect, there is a hell of a lot of reasons something is valuable.

 

[joeycuda]

I agree. You don't understand. Without trying too hard to explain it, a couple examples. First, lets assume that everything mass produced is of equal quality, value, and rarity as any other exact duplicate made at the same time. So my question is, as a collector you would not place any higher value on the Moonwalker owned by Michael Jackson that was sceduled/supposedly auctioned off in the last year. A mint Babe Ruth rookie card bought from a high end card shop would be worth exactly the same amount as a mint Babe Ruth rookie card owned by Babe Ruth and auctioned by Sothebies. A 1970 Cadilac is worth the same amount whether it was owned by your grandma or Elvis.

except very few outside of this hobby have ever heard of Peter. I'm sure he's a neat guy and I'd enjoy talking to him, but I think you're building him up to be more than he is. I would consider a lot of people here with great collections to be a face of this hobby - the guy with all the videos on youtube reviewing games in his collection for example.. Peter's collection, to me, was impressive in terms of sheer volume and by that the atmosphere that he recreated, if us only seeing it in pictures. I do think a game used on the set of Silver Spoons would be an interesting conversation piece though-

 

[rknucklez]

I was indeed lucky enough to spend one of the last days of Luna City with Peter, as well as give the Star Trek, Space Fury, Omega Race Cockpit and Marvin's Maze a loving new home.
Last I heard Peter was doing well.