WV Arcade/Pin Club Warehouse Raid

builttofail

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Well, last Saturday cyberflexx, MacPDaddy, shardian and I went out to a warehouse we were made aware of earlier last week. We got there around 9:30 am and were a bit surprised and overawed by the amount of stuff he had. It was the most games I'd ever seen in one place. Some were pretty crappy looking, but for the most part pretty good. On the second floor of the warehouse there was a "loft" that had tons of monitors, marquees, bezels, pcbs, and even a couple of cocktails. From the get go it became pretty apparent that the operator had a pretty big imagination when it came to prices. AND he wasn't willing to budge one cent on anything. He was wanting like fifty bucks for marquees and stuff like that. Mac offered him less for one and his response was "i'd rather break it in half than sell it for that." That pretty much summed the guy up. Initially there was a Dig Dug that caught my eye, but it wasn't working and for the price he was asking, I wasn't willing to put that much work into it. I even dug underneath a bunch of stuff and found a Star Wars cockpit! I swear he had no idea that it was there, and then said he wanted like $1500 for it. It was in pretty piss poor shape, missing a few parts. His refrain kept going "do you know how much (fill in the blank) goes for on Ebay?!"

He showed us around to two other places that he had games at. None were close to as big as the first. The one place had a DK, Galaga, Double Dragon, Pac-Land (hahahaha), Simpsons, and some other newer stuff. The third place had mostly newer stuff cept for a Gyruss. But in the end cyberflexx ended up taking a DK, a generic Nintendo cab with a bootleg game (B-52 Bomber) in it, and the Gyruss. shardian ended up with a Karate Champ, and a crane. I got a pretty decent Popeye. And Mac got a crane and an Outrun. Of course the Outrun was the funniest part of the trip. As we were sitting there loading up our crap some guy pulled up and said he had a game for sale. Obviously unafraid of rape, Mac jumped in the car with him. And lo and behold not too much later had a great looking Outrun that he paid NINETEEN dollars for. It was supposed to be twenty, but he only had nineteen on his person, hahaha.

Overall it was a really really fun trip. We should definitely go back when that old timer isn't around, and his business associates are. Highlights include: cyberflexx telling every human that he met about our local forum, possibly children and homeless people were included. The constant refrain from Mac and shardian about how deep of shit they were in with their ladies when they got home. Mac becoming more and more incredulous of that guys stupid prices. shardian's eyes lighting up at the Karate Champ. One of that old guy's cronies trying to sell me oxycontin after asking "are you in a band?". shardian telling me "you're not as short as what they all said you were" (thanks a lot local crew!). cf telling some more people about our forum. The fact that on top of his other shitty prison tattoos, that old guy had a TRAMP STAMP!

At the end of the day I ended up sunburnt, tired, and covered in a fine layer of dust that i imagined to be 30 year old petrified geek sweat. As soon as I got home I cracked a beer and laid in the tub for a bit and washed the filth from myself. Then took a nap for a bit before cf came by to help me try to get this Popeye back in shape. Here is the (crappy) video I took with my iPhone, and some pictures from the raid.



a few views from the top floor

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the full haul before the fate-granted outrun

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good view of the popeye i got. i used damned near a whole roll of paper towels and cleaner on this thing. looks MUCH better now.

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view from cf's car, notice the god-given outrun in the back

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Yeah, that trip was fun.. Thanks for sharing your pics and video!

I really wanted that DigDug machine, but he just wouldnt deal on price and when i saw it came up scramble, that was a real big turn off on his crazy price, I could have dealt with a minor chipped out place on the edge of the control panel..

There will be another someday..

I think i am going to convert that B-52 Bomber ( what ever the hell it is ) over to a Dk Jr or a VS system. Not sure just yet..
 
Awww you guys kept the location all to yourselves?? What about us MD/PA guys? I would have been there in a heartbeat. I know someone interested in buying everything in that whole warehouse, if someone wants to possibly make a few bucks giving up some contact info.
 
From the get go it became pretty apparent that the operator had a pretty big imagination when it came to prices. AND he wasn't willing to budge one cent on anything. He was wanting like fifty bucks for marquees and stuff like that. Mac offered him less for one and his response was "i'd rather break it in half than sell it for that."

You showed good patience, which is why you ended up with some great stuff. *thumbs up*

I'm irritated easily; people like this I have almost no tolerance for. After uttering that gem, I would've said, "Thanks for your time - start breaking." 180-degree turn, and out the door...
 
There was somebody coming from Tennessee to take 30-50 games that afternoon.
I don't know if that ever happened, but RLEVIN came to mind....

Anyway, the "manager" was a jerk about pricing... but overall we all did well anyway.
He was the type to tell you he would rather break a scratchy marquee in half than to sell it to you for $10. Hell it was only good for wall art... The owner was much nicer, but a contract of some kind kept him from jumping in too much to help us make the deals.

I got parts and 2 machines, I am converting a painted Ms. Pac to a Galaga, and got some key parts from him. The "big Choice" crane was "working" supposedly, but as I found when I got home, had a seized lift motor. The stroke of luck was the spare parts in the storage below... a spare PCB and a brand new motor! The crane is now working and the Galaga project is for a friend.

The final story was the guy pulling up in a car while we were loading and asked us if we were buying games... heck yes! I asked him what he had and what he wanted for it. "Some Sega driving game, monitor is out, but you can hear the sound", how much? "I'll take $30 he says". Well I thought I had a $20 bill left over so I start asking the guys for a $10 to borrow.... this guy offers to take the $20 before anyone even answered... OK lets go look at it....
As mentioned, I had some reservation about jumping in a strangers car in KY, but heck with it.... just hope he isn't a rapist or serial killer..........
So I get to the guys house, about a block or so away (very close) and a Sega Outrun in very nice looking shape is sitting there. So I get in the wallet and freakin forgot I had bought a pop earlier... so $19 I offer and he takes it. The cap on this story is that after I get it home and get the back open, there was $5 in quarters in the bottom of the machine!!! :D
Gotta check it out this evening... about an inch of dust on the monitor chassis, can't imagine why it failed!!

This was a fun trip! Course the damn doghouse bell rang at noon when we had told the wives we would be home. I made it about 5:30pm that evening as I had to drop off all the games at each house. The wife didn't stay mad long... the crane was an awesome buy for the kids... Outrun will likely be sold after I fix it and have a little fun playing it as I have no room.

BTW, Betson sent me the information for the "Big Choice" (rotary) crane. This is the PCB with the coin board sticking out of it and 4 game rule options... late 80's vintage (no sound). I couldn't find this manual anywhere, but it helps to be able to send the request from a large company as Betson responded the same day and KLOV'er COINOPDIRECT had another manual (for a newer model crane) that had more info that also applied to this crane.... The information Betson sent was old typewriter and hand drawn schematics!!! I'll fix up a single PDF manual with all the info and get it into some of the online manual sites.
 

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More pictures....
I forgot that the day started with the picture in my rearview mirror..... damn damn
At least it was a warning only for a sticker "improperly displayed"

I am guessing I was over the tow weight of the little van... but it pulled like a champ.
Just glad nobody slammed the brakes on in front of me....
The loaded trailer picture was BEFORE we managed to fit two more cabs in (MKII's)
9 games total +parts was the days take....

Whenever I think of a crane machine from BIID, I think of this one. Seems like it was everywhere. Nice "grab".

Thanks man, I came way too close to passing on it... It did have one side glass gone. But $100 for it was too good to pass on.
The nice thing is that it will accept a joystick controller with just a flip of a switch too!

Wife just called as I was typing this. She picked me up some "used" glass for $5 that should fit it!!
You have to love a gal who not only tolerates, but actually picks up swag for you!!
 

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So I get to the guys house, about a block or so away (very close) and a Sega Outrun in very nice looking shape is sitting there. So I get in the wallet and freakin forgot I had bought a pop earlier... so $19 I offer and he takes it. The cap on this story is that after I get it home and get the back open, there was $5 in quarters in the bottom of the machine!!! :D

Wow, the OutRun even has the steering wheel insert. That's very unusual. That piece alone is worth more than $19!
 
This was a victorious day for the WV Arcade club! Having a good network of local folks has definitely helped us all out, and also got everyone's interest up a bit too.

Wade
 
An AWESOME ending to a cool event!

OK, so for some reason I decided to brave the heat and work in the garage tonight.
The Outrun was just calling my name to come work on it...
There were LAYERS of grime on the monitor & Bezel.... some time spent in a bar I would say.
Deep layer of dust on the chassis.

After a deep cleaning, new power cord and a fix that was too easy.... the results are pictured!
So, now I just need a new cooling fan, and a new marquee light!

My wife brought home glass for the crane, found it for $5 a sheet, just need to cut or have it cut.

So I'll let the pictures do the talking....
Very happy with the take this weekend.

As I have no space, just how much is an Outrun worth??
 

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Obviously unafraid of rape, Mac jumped in the car with him....
I wasn't thinking rape.... serial killer was my concern...

The fact that on top of his other shitty prison tattoos, that old guy had a TRAMP STAMP!

Ya know, I noticed that too... it was so traumatic I blocked it from my memory and you had to bring it back up....

So what are the names for that type of tattoo and why in hell would a guy have it???
-TRAMP STAMP
-ASS ANTLERS
-TARGET
 
Whenever I think of a crane machine from BIID, I think of this one. Seems like it was everywhere. Nice "grab".

QFT. When I saw the words "Big Choice" in the post I immediately remembered them, very cool pickup.

As I have no space, just how much is an Outrun worth??

Well I've heard the going rate is about 19 bucks. Since yours has been used since you got it, 18 is probably fair. :D
 
since i have practically tryin to give away a world rally and continental circuit your 19 dollar game is probably worth 1900... just sayin( bad luck me, good luck you )... haha

Id say its gotta be worth a couple hun tops, id trade you a world rally and a continental circuit and throw in a few extra monitors.... yeah baby dealin !!!!
 
trade

so lets trade dogg, im sure u could sell the cont circ and world rally lightning fast, not to mention the extra monitors u would be pickin up.... couple sanyos and couple 13s..
 
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