Author Topic: Road Trip Report for a Donkey Kong Cab  (Read 28801 times)

ckong

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Road Trip Report for a Donkey Kong Cab
« on: October 25, 2009, 06:55:43 PM »
I went on a road trip today, my first one ever to fetch a classic game cab. And this first one was for nothing more than an original Donkey Kong cabinet. A game I have loved since my childhood, and I wanted to own one for more quite some years now. I occasionally searched for it, mostly on the internet, but in Europe you hardly find any. Until this cab came along. Abouth six months ago someone mentioned to me that his brother had one, but unfortunately at that time he wasn’t interested in selling it. But I knew one day it would be mine.  8)

Then about 6 weeks ago I sold him a Japanese cab and he mentioned that Donkey Kong was available if I wanted it. Of course I did!!   :o He did send me some pictures, and I was in love. She was beautiful. But a price was not set yet, and we discussed this several times. I knew he would give me first choice, so we both were not in a hurry. However, two weeks ago, during the famous SHMUP Party at rklok we met again, and from that moment it went pretty fast. We closed the deal last Friday and we planned a pickup for today.

So here we go, it’s Sunday morning 9.40 AM, and I have a trip of 209 km’s ahead of me.



I prepared the car with a soft blanket (she is fragile and sensitive you know)



And a little help to prevent my back from hurting too much.



I set my intraday distance counter to zero and pushed the magic button, the gate opened and it was time to put the pedal to the metal. Although the weather was not so nice, the scenery was.





First stop was a gas station and I fuelled up my car with some diesel.



After 25 minutes or so I finally reached the motorway, and I didn’t hesitate to speed things up.







Now some dull pictures of the motorway part, but they are obligatory. There was a bit of road work, but no delay fortunately. The weather was clearing up while I was nearing the destination. There was even a lot of blue sky which must have been a sign. Mario was with me.

 









Almost there, just a few kilometers more (in this desolated part of Holland)



After exactly two hours I reached my destination. I rang the doorbell, walked into the living room and there she was, in all of her beauty. I touched her, gently of course, I don’t want to offend her. But her reaction made me feel good, I knew instantly that this couldn’t go wrong. I mean, look at here.







I did do a quick round of gameplay, but I was so nervous that I didn’t make a lot of it. Then of course I had to go through the usual chitchat and offered coffee (not really, it was very nice to talk with the seller, he and I both love Cave gaming), but I took the first opportunity to get here outside and in the car. She fitted perfectly, slim as she is.







After having dealt with the financial part of this transaction I headed home. I drove very carefully to avoid too much bumping.  After a while I got hungry and I stopped at a gas station. Shall I take these?





No, let’s be smart, this is better for me.



I went further with the journey home, went through the Dutch St. Gothard tunnel and frequently checked the position of my precious cab.





Almost home. I now had driven very carefully for about 175 kilometers, and I don’t want the car to become lazy. So I increased speed a little. Not too much though, I already had some speeding tickets this year.



Finally, after 436 kilometers (I drove 20 kilometers more than necessary because I missed a junction in Amsterdam, were where my thoughts?) and 5.5 hour later I was at home again.



It goes without saying that I am very happy with the cab, and after the little restoration work which she will get, mostly paintwork, she will almost be like new, but not too new. I want to thank ElPancho and his brother again for this opportunity.

Oh, I could have make pics of the unloading, but she will stay in my car overnight. Why? You can read about that in a few days in my restoration topic.

JG

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Re: Road Trip Report for a Donkey Kong Cab
« Reply #1 on: October 25, 2009, 07:12:44 PM »
How very nice, and Donkey Kong!! I remember playing that as a child, now they are rather rare here in Sweden. Interessting with the reversed kind of thing that Nintendo did with the monitor...

Superully

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Re: Road Trip Report for a Donkey Kong Cab
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2009, 08:40:38 PM »
man, on original DK - congrats on that fabulous catch. and thx a lot for sharing your roadtrip with us!
all i need is ... PONG - and a select few others: TOUCH ME, DRAGON'S LAIR, JOUST, ROBOTRON, MR DO, SAN FRANCISCO RUSH THE ROCK!!!

DarthNuno

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Re: Road Trip Report for a Donkey Kong Cab
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2009, 08:59:08 PM »
Just awesome :o

Congratulation : Your first road trip... and you already got an extremely 'hard to find' cabinet here in Europe  :P.
Regarding the pictures, the cabinet looks like new  :-*
This Road Trip will be very special for you : this is the first one for a dedicated cabinet, and ... what a game : Donkey Kong  :-* :-* :-*
Thanks for posting this story. I cannot wait to see the upcoming pictures  8)

PS : You're right : Milk is far better than Dr Peppers  ::)
PPS : Don't drive too fast on the road... take always the time needed, even it's long and be careful  :-*
PPPS : Welcome to the Club my friend  ;) Homepage of course  :P  :arrow:



 :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:

Muerto

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Re: Road Trip Report for a Donkey Kong Cab
« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2009, 09:09:14 PM »
woooh! - what a nice catch!!!!
congratulations!!! and thanks for the pictures!!!
 :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:

JG

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Re: Road Trip Report for a Donkey Kong Cab
« Reply #5 on: October 25, 2009, 09:12:42 PM »
And if you ever get tired of it, Please let me know and I'll make it up to you to sell it to me  :ghost:

logan

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Re: Road Trip Report for a Donkey Kong Cab
« Reply #6 on: October 25, 2009, 09:35:47 PM »
nice roadtrip. thx for sharing! :)

Etienne MacGyver

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Re: Road Trip Report for a Donkey Kong Cab
« Reply #7 on: October 25, 2009, 09:50:33 PM »
She is a beauty ! , congrats !  :spaceace:

DK Rulez !

thanks for sharing this roadtrip with us !

ckong

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Re: Road Trip Report for a Donkey Kong Cab
« Reply #8 on: October 25, 2009, 10:23:11 PM »
Thank you guys for the nice words. It is indeed an awesome catch, and in pretty good shape. However, there is some restoration work to be done, mostly wood- and a paintjob. I sure will post pictures of the restoration process, although that could take a while due to other commitments.

But I already started the planning of the restoration, planning doesn't take much time fortunately and can mostly be done from behind a notebook, but it is a very important part of the restoration process.

DarthNuno, thanks for the very nice Banner on the frontpage, I love it.
« Last Edit: October 25, 2009, 10:37:39 PM by ckong »

scr33n

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Re: Road Trip Report for a Donkey Kong Cab
« Reply #9 on: October 25, 2009, 10:57:21 PM »
Congratulations !!! Great roadtrip and great cab  :-* :-* :-* and now we want to see a great resto ...  :spaceace: pics pics pics  :wink:

PROJECTS FROM SCRATCH:

Galaga - PacMan - Donkey Kong Red Cab - Track & Field Upright - Tempest - Burgertime - Gyruss - Defender - Track & Field Cocktail - Robotron 2084

RESTORATIONS:

Q*bert - Timber

level42

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Re: Road Trip Report for a Donkey Kong Cab
« Reply #10 on: October 25, 2009, 11:04:43 PM »
Congrats !!!!  :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:

Man, I don't dare go any further than 140 in Holland.  That's why I love roadtrips to Germany, The Land Of The Free (speed limit).

But looking at the pics.....what is there to restore ? The coin door maybe ? :D

Man, I can't wait to set the record in the memory of this one :D (O damn, it won't save).

May I suggest buying a DK/D2K kit ? :D :D


ckong

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Re: Road Trip Report for a Donkey Kong Cab
« Reply #11 on: October 25, 2009, 11:42:22 PM »
Congrats !!!!  :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:

Man, I don't dare go any further than 140 in Holland.  That's why I love roadtrips to Germany, The Land Of The Free (speed limit).

But looking at the pics.....what is there to restore ? The coin door maybe ? :D

Man, I can't wait to set the record in the memory of this one :D (O damn, it won't save).

May I suggest buying a DK/D2K kit ? :D :D

The pics don't show it, but there are some damages on the panels, easy to fix though with woodfiller and paint. And indeed the coindoor could be replaced, the metal is partial not only bend, but also cracked! And the joystick has had its best days. That sums it up pretty much, technical the cab is in a very good shape.

The D2K 'upgrade' is very nice, I have it for some time now, togehter with a DK PCB and adapter in a generic jamma cab.

level42

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Re: Road Trip Report for a Donkey Kong Cab
« Reply #12 on: October 26, 2009, 02:49:43 AM »
Nintendo coindoors are the weakest I've ever seen around. Overhere they would have been busted all the time :)

Mine is bent too. Tried to fix it as good as possible before I had it powder coated.

Did you know that Mikesarcade.com sells repro Nintendo joysticks and parts ?
http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?action=search&category=Game+Parts&subcategory=Nintendo+Parts

The original joystick may be very well be repaired. They need to be greased and often were never....
Check out this thread for some good advice:
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=83865&highlight=nintendo+joystick+repair

Oh, and if the seller of the DK gets tired of his Pac Man, just let me know  ;D ;D
« Last Edit: October 26, 2009, 03:01:46 AM by Level42 »

level42

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Re: Road Trip Report for a Donkey Kong Cab
« Reply #13 on: October 26, 2009, 03:10:28 AM »
(Can't sleep, so I'm still posting at 3 AM !)

I noticed the step-down transformer at the seller's place. I checked, but it looks like Nintendo cabs are one of the few that you can't switch to 230VAC inside the cab by moving over a wire on a terminal.

This cab came from the US right ? I'm afraid that I've reached the point where I can actually see the difference between a US built Nintendo cab and a Japanese one....(Sick).....I think the extra bolts on the edges of the kickplate give it away....

The serial number plate would be interesting to see a picture off, plus all the insides of course :)

Oh, and your right, that part of North-Holland is desolate for a sub-urb guy like me :) Reason for clear skies there: It's ALWAYS windy there. North-see in the west, IJsselmeer in the east.... :D
« Last Edit: October 26, 2009, 03:19:01 AM by Level42 »

joeks

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Re: Road Trip Report for a Donkey Kong Cab
« Reply #14 on: October 26, 2009, 09:02:33 AM »
Awesome cab you got there Ckong :) A bit jealous bit in a good way :)
About cleaning the Nintendo joystick, there's also a video up on youtube about that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhZ2YAFHCCM

Old dirty joysticks tend to stick a little / don't jump back to center.
I cleaned mine that way. Very clean now and works like a charm again!

Good luck!
Makes Arcade Artwork Reproductions at www.arcadeartrepro.com