Author Topic: [Roadtrip] Let's Play Ball  (Read 41732 times)

Superully

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[Roadtrip] Let's Play Ball
« on: February 18, 2010, 08:36:53 PM »

from my combined berzerk & breakout roadtrip there was still a breakout (which i couldn't take with me the last time) waiting for me at andre's place in holland, because unfortunately he had to cancel his visit to my place due to horrible weather conditions earlier this month. when erik told me he had set a date with the warehouse owner to pick up a bunch of cabs, i quickly jumped on board, because there was more than just the breakout to finally take back home - well, at least back home to germany!

here's what coming up  :arrow:



once again, the journey starts very early. as you can see, it's still dark  8)



andré and erik have kindly agreed to bring along my breakout and the night driver to be saved from another warehouse, which means 3 cabs in total. unfortunately, my car is not big enough for that "kind of volume", that's why i asked sascha (laschek) to join me on this roadtrip. he had shown interest in the rare avalanche cabinet which was also at the warehouse, so we decided to team up and head to the belgium warehouse together, where we were supposed to meet erik and andré at 1 pm. have you realized my use of the word "supposed"? more on that later ...

first stop for me: sascha's place. not too far a distance, but damn cold outside!



oh - and i almost forgot this, the most important picture of them all ;) :arrow:



luckily, winter is coming to a close, so it doesn't take long for the sun to rise



heading west



after a little more than 2 hours, i arrive at sascha's place, who's already waiting for me in his all original american army van



let's set the target



did you know that atari not only produced video games, but also army trucks?  ;)



sascha's van might be old and a little bit rusty (and quite loud inside :shock:), ...



... but it still does its job and offers a lot of space for cabs - you can even put them in in an upright position (well, at least most of them)!



after a mere 5 kilometers, we hit the first obstacle - a traffic jam >:(. look at those gigantonormous control panels on the truck to the right. i wonder what game those are made for?  ;)



fortunately, it doesn't take long for us to continue onwards, but have a look at what caused the accident  :arrow:



after about two hours on the road, we leave sascha's federal home state behind and head into belgium



another three hours later, the gps displays the following data: 10 kilometers and 10 minutes to go, we're almost there!



the exit to the warehouse is coming up on the right side, when disaster strikes! :o



suddenly the car is starting to shake and vibrate, first slowly, than it's getting worse by the second. a strange sound from the right, the van is getting extremely difficult to control, but sascha manages to pull over safely (well done!). we get out and here's what we see  :arrow:



damn, a blown tire - still on the highway so close to our target! let's first secure the scene of the accident ...



... then get the tools out of the van



where to put the car-jack  ???



removing the lug nuts with a lug wrench



but then we realize that the car-jack is NOT WORKING. all the attempts to make it work fail, so we call erik and andré for help, who are already busy loading up the cabs. more than 1 1/2 hours later, the two guys show up and we have the right tools to change the tire!



job done! with just 10 kilometers to go, we finally head over to the warehouse. erik and andré are already on their way back home to return the rental car, but they have left both the night driver and the breakout inside the warehouse for us to pick up! here's sascha and his army truck in front of the rolling shutter gate.



inside, the atari basketball is still at the same position where we left it the last time we were here - puh! i've fallen in love with the cabinet because of the fantastic 3-dimensional bezel setup around the monitor area which makes it look like you are watching a basketball game from one of the upper rows in the arena.



let's get this baby out!



navigating the narrow corridors of the warehouse isn't that easy



only straight on from here



since atari basketball is the bulkiest of all the cabs we've decided to bring home, it is going in first



can we fit in another cab next to that giant?



sascha measuring out the two smaller cabs: breakout in the back and avalanche in the front. the latter is missing the coin door and the player one start button, but otherwise is in nice cosmetic condition



and in they go (bezel and marquee removed from the avalanche)

just a reminder: three months ago we were at the same warehouse where i handpicked the same breakout that is sitting inside sascha's van. in the meantime it has been in my car, inside andre's gameroom, inside andre's car on the cancelled roadtrip to my place, inside andre's kitchen for a test run, inside erik's storage unit and inside erik's rental van to get it back here! imagine this: the cab has been travelling around belgium and the netherlands for THREE MONTHS and now it's back at the exact same spot where i picked it up! what a journey - and how stupid  ;)



now on to the last: atari's night driver. this is also a biggy and because sascha's car is just a little more than 180 cms inside, we can't stand the cabinet up anymore! will it fit?



after a lot of budging and eventually having to unscrew the leg levelers, we somehow manage to squeeze the night driver in



check this out - not even a paper would fit in between the door and the cab! this was precision work  :spaceace:



i thought about taking the nicely-looking vanguard along for the ride as well, but i guess three games on one roadtrip isn't too bad either  ;)

because of our flat tire and the time it took to change it, we're already pretty late, so the journey home is being done in night driver-style - how fitting!



at around 9 o'clock we arrive at sascha's place, where we unload both the night driver and the breakout into his garage, from where i will pick them up one by one over the course of the next few weeks. i wonder if the breakout will ever find its way to my place ...  :-[

i didn't take any pics of the unloading / storage process anymore, because we both were exhausted and the only thing we wanted to do was FINISHING!

of course FINISHING means another good two hours on the road for me, but eventually i DID FINISH!



let's combine our kilometers on the road:

+

one continent, two countries, 6 cans of pure sugar, 1325 kilometers, 18 hours 21 minutes on the road - this roadtrip is OFFICIALLY OVER! 

the next day, i'm unloading the cab at the patrik's (well-known) storage for a first inspection. condition seems to be ok at first glance!



control panel only showing minor signs of rust, but when you touch the paint, parts of it crumble off with a lot of rust appearing underneath - this is going to be difficult to restore. the trackballs are completely worn and almost impossible to move. i wonder what's blocking them inside. dead mice? let's hope not :o



also a lot of rust on other metal parts



left side is alright all in all, but two areas look worrying!



in detail  :arrow:



right side is a little bit better



and finally, a look inside! i'm extremely happy to find the original atari basketball manual



this is going to be one hell of a restoration - but it has to wait a little (or quite a) while longer. too many other projects to finish first!  :P

all i need is ... PONG - and a select few others: TOUCH ME, DRAGON'S LAIR, JOUST, ROBOTRON, MR DO, SAN FRANCISCO RUSH THE ROCK!!!

Muerto

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Re: [Roadtrip] Let's Play Ball
« Reply #1 on: February 18, 2010, 09:04:32 PM »
Congrats on the Basketball Ully! - you have been talking about it science we left the warehouse last time and now you finally got it!!!



And i´m sure you will restore this baby to it´s former beauty!

ckong

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Re: [Roadtrip] Let's Play Ball
« Reply #2 on: February 18, 2010, 09:19:43 PM »
Great report Ully, and I am pleased to see that all four cabs did fit in the van. Incredible  :D

What does Sascha think of his Avalanche? I noticed at the warehouse already that the cab is in damn good shape. I can't recollect if there was a game board in it though.

The warehouseowner did have a good day as he got rid of 7 cabs. But for anyone interested, there still are some pretty rare cabs left in the warehouse. It would be nice if someone would pick them up.

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Re: [Roadtrip] Let's Play Ball
« Reply #3 on: February 18, 2010, 09:35:19 PM »
Great job Ully. There HAS to be something that bewitched the Breakout because it seems to cause road-trip trouble wherever it goes ! :D

Talk about cabs that travel long distances, did you notice the coinage of the Night Driver ?  ;D ;D ;D

The trackballs ? Those are some seriously busted rollers and bearings in there I'm sure. Of course good ol' Bob sells them. Not sure if he has those big balls too.... I guess they are 4" ?


Looking at the license plate's number (666) I can imagine there's no blessing on this van  ;D ;D ;D ;D

I love "Klic" though :D

I can't help having a very old Janis Joplin song in my head when I see the pics of the van:



All together now:

Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz.
My friends all drive porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends.
So oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz


Just teasing guys, I wish I had a van like that for my cab transports !!! (
« Last Edit: February 18, 2010, 09:40:00 PM by Level42 »

Superully

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Re: [Roadtrip] Let's Play Ball
« Reply #4 on: February 18, 2010, 09:43:59 PM »
There HAS to be something that bewitched the Breakout because it seems to cause road-trip trouble wherever it goes ! :D

i agree, somehow this baby doesn't want to be rescued!

Talk about cabs that travel long distances, did you notice the coinage of the Night Driver ?  ;D ;D ;D

nope, to be honest i didn't with all that trouble surrounding the roadtrip. what is it set to: south african money?  ;)

The trackballs ? Those are some seriously busted rollers and bearings in there I'm sure. Of course good ol' Bob sells them. Not sure if he has those big balls too.... I guess they are 4" ?

i've already bought two entire sets of trackballs (plus bearing plus rollers) from dave at ram controls, great quality as always!
all i need is ... PONG - and a select few others: TOUCH ME, DRAGON'S LAIR, JOUST, ROBOTRON, MR DO, SAN FRANCISCO RUSH THE ROCK!!!

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Re: [Roadtrip] Let's Play Ball
« Reply #5 on: February 18, 2010, 09:49:52 PM »

nope, to be honest i didn't with all that trouble surrounding the roadtrip. what is it set to: south african money?  ;)


It's Deutsch Mark :D

petieken

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Re: [Roadtrip] Let's Play Ball
« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2010, 09:56:30 PM »
The warehouseowner did have a good day as he got rid of 7 cabs. But for anyone interested, there still are some pretty rare cabs left in the warehouse. It would be nice if someone would pick them up.

What games are still left? Judging from the pictures that warehouse can't be much further than 30 minutes from my place I guess.
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Re: [Roadtrip] Let's Play Ball
« Reply #7 on: February 18, 2010, 09:57:00 PM »
What games are still left? Judging from the pictures that warehouse can't be much further than 30 minutes from my place I guess.

damn! lucky you!

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Re: [Roadtrip] Let's Play Ball
« Reply #8 on: February 18, 2010, 10:01:24 PM »
The place where the Mercedes got a flat tire is about 10-12 minutes from me. I pass that sign every day when I go to work, I have to take the exit to R4 :).
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Re: [Roadtrip] Let's Play Ball
« Reply #9 on: February 18, 2010, 10:08:04 PM »
Gotta step in here, no address or phone details on the internet please !

I had to promise that to the warehouse owner and everyone who was at the first "raid" meeting agreed to this.
If you're interested, drop me a PM !

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Re: [Roadtrip] Let's Play Ball
« Reply #10 on: February 18, 2010, 10:09:01 PM »
What does Sascha think of his Avalanche? I noticed at the warehouse already that the cab is in damn good shape. I can't recollect if there was a game board in it though.

Quite happy about it!
Apart from the coin door, the 1 Player start button and the Serve button it seems complete . The missing parts should be relatively easy to replace as we have some donor stuff lying around!
As Kaboom! fans me and my collecting buddy are really excited about the game, if time allows it will be tested around the weekend...
Thumbs up!

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Re: [Roadtrip] Let's Play Ball
« Reply #11 on: February 18, 2010, 10:09:46 PM »
By the way, I want one of these, where to get them ?


Laschek

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Re: [Roadtrip] Let's Play Ball
« Reply #12 on: February 18, 2010, 10:12:56 PM »
The place where the Mercedes got a flat tire is about 10-12 minutes from me. I pass that sign every day when I go to work, I have to take the exit to R4 :).

Ahh, too bad we were already gone when you passed there yesterday  ;D :D

Laschek

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Re: [Roadtrip] Let's Play Ball
« Reply #13 on: February 18, 2010, 10:15:22 PM »
Looking at the license plate's number (666) I can imagine there's no blessing on this van  ;D ;D ;D ;D

I love "Klic" though :D


Believe it or not, but "IC" stands for "Insert Coin"! It really does! Nerdiness? Maybe  ;D

Laschek

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Re: [Roadtrip] Let's Play Ball
« Reply #14 on: February 18, 2010, 10:16:52 PM »
By the way, I want one of these, where to get them ?

I made it at work, you can have one for the cost of shipping, just state color and size (within reason :D:)