Author Topic: [Roadtrip] Gremlins - don't feed them after midnight!!!  (Read 39331 times)

Superully

  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • ***
  • Posts: 6300
  • Southern Part of Germany
    • View Profile
[Roadtrip] Gremlins - don't feed them after midnight!!!
« on: April 25, 2011, 12:57:37 PM »

i know how we all love teasing :-*, so i'm "afraid" it's my turn again :arrow:



basically, the picture says it all - but you'll never guess it in a million years anyway ;)
all i need is ... PONG - and a select few others: TOUCH ME, DRAGON'S LAIR, JOUST, ROBOTRON, MR DO, SAN FRANCISCO RUSH THE ROCK!!!

Q*ris

  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • ***
  • Posts: 2501
  • CAP'TAIIIN ARCADE!
    • View Profile
Re: [Roadtrip] Gremlins - don't feed them after midnight!!!
« Reply #1 on: April 25, 2011, 01:16:19 PM »
A Gremlin licence like Moon Cresta? mmmhh seems too easy...

ckong

  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • ***
  • Posts: 3177
  • The Netherlands
    • View Profile
Re: [Roadtrip] Gremlins - don't feed them after midnight!!!
« Reply #2 on: April 25, 2011, 01:53:10 PM »

basically, the picture says it all - but you'll never guess it in a million years anyway ;)

So we won't try anyway.  ;D

Etienne MacGyver

  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • ***
  • Posts: 7611
  • The Netherlands
    • View Profile
Re: [Roadtrip] Gremlins - don't feed them after midnight!!!
« Reply #3 on: April 25, 2011, 04:25:58 PM »
some time ago have seen the word gremlin in some artwork i was working on, so i guess i cannot participate in the superully's teaserquiz..

or am i thinking in the wrong direction Ully ?

Superully

  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • ***
  • Posts: 6300
  • Southern Part of Germany
    • View Profile
Re: [Roadtrip] Gremlins - don't feed them after midnight!!!
« Reply #4 on: April 25, 2011, 04:31:44 PM »
So we won't try anyway.  ;D

you can try and you might be able to solve parts of it - but the whole puzzle? hmmm ...

some time ago have seen the word gremlin in some artwork i was working on, so i guess i cannot participate in the superully's teaserquiz..
or am i thinking in the wrong direction Ully ?

no, exactly the right direction - that's why you have been disqualified, etienne! ;D
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

  • Administrator
  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • *****
  • Posts: 11708
  • Singe's castle
    • View Profile
    • Dragon's Lair Fans / Arcade LifeStyle
Re: [Roadtrip] Gremlins - don't feed them after midnight!!!
« Reply #5 on: April 25, 2011, 07:17:24 PM »
Easy! I would say this?  ;D  :arrow:

  ::)  ;)

Superully

  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • ***
  • Posts: 6300
  • Southern Part of Germany
    • View Profile
Re: [Roadtrip] Gremlins - don't feed them after midnight!!!
« Reply #6 on: April 25, 2011, 08:11:15 PM »
Easy! I would say this?  ;D  :arrow:

  ::)  ;)

that's a great guess bruno - but wrong ;D
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

  • Administrator
  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • *****
  • Posts: 11708
  • Singe's castle
    • View Profile
    • Dragon's Lair Fans / Arcade LifeStyle
Re: [Roadtrip] Gremlins - don't feed them after midnight!!!
« Reply #7 on: April 25, 2011, 08:24:18 PM »
mhhhh, I'm almost sure to remember a scene taking place inside an Arcade in the Gremlins movies... but can't anything ...

Wait! Star Wars? ::)  See the end of this video  ::)  :arrow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE08NHccU0M

level42

  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • ***
  • Posts: 13555
  • Ridderkerk, arcade capital of Europe !
    • View Profile
    • Arcade 42
Re: [Roadtrip] Gremlins - don't feed them after midnight!!!
« Reply #8 on: April 25, 2011, 08:35:03 PM »
Stupid Gremlins, they don't even know they should use THE FORCE in the trench scene ;) ;)  ;D ;D

Superully

  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • ***
  • Posts: 6300
  • Southern Part of Germany
    • View Profile
Re: [Roadtrip] Gremlins - don't feed them after midnight!!!
« Reply #9 on: May 05, 2011, 07:02:46 PM »

i guess it's time to release the gremlins upon you ... :twisted:

honestly, i didn't really plan to get any of the following items and what you are about to experience is a combination of sheer stupidity, luck and "being there at the right place at the right time"! more detailed explanations as we "cruise along" the roadtrip!

here's what's coming up :arrow:



easter school holidays - a time to relax and calm down, but what am i doing? getting up freaking early!



man, i'm still tired - and thinking about what lies ahead of me, i'd rather go back to bed!



but i can't (and won't) help it, i'm on a mission, so just under an hour later i'm sitting in my car



however, i won't be using my own car this time (simply too small), i'm exchanging it for something bigger (i used the same company for my roadtrip to england last year: The BIG ONE)



as you can see, i had to do some careful planning for this to work out - it's going to be one hell of a ride!



in the back of the van, not much stuff YET!



upon closer inspection, you can see one of the two gumball machines i picked up on a previous roadtrip. it's going to someone from a german arcade forum. he can't pick it up in person from the south of germany, so i'm taking it with me to one of my locations today from where he has it collected later!



only four minutes behind schedule ...



i'm heading out towards the first location: germany's capital berlin!



the roadtrip starts out to a pretty nice day with the sun coming out from behind the clouds



but just a little while later fog is rolling in





and we all know what happens when the fog rolls in ... the terror begins!



i'm trying to seek refuge in a tunnel ...



... but it's even worse on the other side!



full concentration on the road ahead



hey look, a 19 inch cathode ray tube monitor directly ahead of me :D



as i'm approaching berlin, i realize that i'm getting pretty hungry!



so i exit the autobahn because a sign was pointing me towards a fast food outlet on a nearby parking lot. however, seeing this shabby booth and the owner's caravan right next to it makes me reconsider my decision



i bet it came directly out of that container parked just on the other side of the road :P



i guess i'll have to do with the leftovers of my pb & j breakfast sandwich for now



having arrived in the capital, i'm experiencing berlin traffic, ...



... berlin shops ...



... and berlin jobs! :-[



after driving through all of berlin (at least it felt like like), i arrive at the seller's location. to be more precise, he's not a seller, he's more like a giver, because he's giving the first gremlin away for free - you'll shortly see why :P



ok, here's the story behind this gremlin: although this is the first one i'm picking up, it's in fact the last one of this roadtrip i decided to get. the cabinet was listed on ebay germany twice and as far as i know it sold every single time, but the pictures of the auction description were so horrible (dark & blurry) that it was almost impossible to see the condition of the cab, it was more like a guessing game. anyway, after i had secured the other two gremlins (which are yet to be revealed), i wrote the seller an email asking him whether he still had the cab - which he did. obviously, the successful bidders backed out of the deal once they saw the cab "live". he told me he was going to take it to the dumpster if i didn't take it! you guys know me: i can't let this happen! after all, it's an original sega / gremlin cabinet which needs to be saved. almost everything on this cab has been replaced / hacked, but the monitor is there and the structure is solid, so i decided to get it. my plan is to turn it back into a frogger, because i simply l-o-v-e frogger. i'm pretty sure i have secured all the parts i need to convert it back, it's just a matter of time, patience and dedication.

enough said, here's the cab of horrors :ghost: :arrow:



the seller turns out to be extremely friendly, collects arcade stuff as well, but has turned his attention towards pcbs. we have a nice chit-chat about arcade games and i point him towards our fabulous forum (which he didn't know), but since i'm on a mission (with many more kilometers ahead of me), we load up the cab and i'm heading off towards the next location ...



back on the autobahn heading westwards ...



... i suddenly spot an interesting license plate on a bus in front of me - doesn't it spell out FROGGER? :) what a coincidence!!!



three more hours on the road later i'm almost there



this is probably the most magical drive-up to a pickup location of all the roadtrips i have done so far!



and here's the seller's location: romantic, isn't it?



remember that the roadtrip map above doesn't show a gremlin for this location, but the mogwai gizmo - which means the next item has to be something sweet :-*

something sweet? would could that be? i'm taking three steps to the right and you can see the gizmos already in the background!



let's move up closer! is that possible ... could that really be ...



yesss - two freaking popcorn machines!!!



i've been on the lookout for exactly that model for quite a while now, because every single time i'm eating a doener kebap at "my" turkish shop just around the corner, i'm staring at that popcorn machine. it's not being used anymore, sitting alone and covered in plastic in a corner, but the owner wants way too much money for it, so i decided to look somewhere else. as fate would have it, there happened to be one on ebay a couple of days before i left on this roadtrip with the seller's location being directly between gremlins two and three, so there was no doubt in my mind i needed to go for it. no detour at all! Btw, I like that sign in the upper left corner

as you can see, there's not just one, but two popcorn machines sitting under that roof. the seller tells me his girl-friend wants to get rid off the second one as well and asks me if i want to have it, too, but this time i have to decline (in retrospect: i should have taken it, the offer was very generous). so i'm only taking one along with a box full of popcorn bags, some leftover corn, the manual and some additional goodies. all in all, i very nice deal. the popcorn machine (the one on the right) is in great condition (only minor damages).



end of part 1 - two more gremlins coming up ...
all i need is ... PONG - and a select few others: TOUCH ME, DRAGON'S LAIR, JOUST, ROBOTRON, MR DO, SAN FRANCISCO RUSH THE ROCK!!!

Superully

  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • ***
  • Posts: 6300
  • Southern Part of Germany
    • View Profile
Re: [Roadtrip] Gremlins - don't feed them after midnight!!!
« Reply #10 on: May 15, 2011, 10:12:33 PM »

part 2 - more gremlins on the way ...

after picking up the popcorn machine, i'm heading further north ...



... on beautiful country roads!



arriving in the town where the second gremlin is waiting for me



in order to reach the seller's location, i have to "crawl" through a pedestrian zone



the seller's backyard



the seller is some kind of collector himself with a small gameroom of his own - there's enough time to play a round of that baseball game in the middle of the picture!





in a separate storage room, he has a rare nova apparate donkey kong. bezel glass and overlay plexi are broken, but the seller tells me that he has spare parts to restore the cabinet!



enough "time wasted", here's a first glance at what i came for :arrow:



the second gremlin of the day: HEAD ON :spaceace:

for personal reasons, i can't reveal the full story behind this deal. all i can tell you is that i wouldn't have been able to get this cab without the help of some well-known hungarian zaccaria collector we've all come to love. thanks a lot, bela!!! :-*



ready to be "eaten" by the big van



two gremlins side by side



the story so far



saying good-bye to one location ...



... and heading out to the next!



the area i'm travelling through is called the "lueneburger heide" (lueneburg heath), well-known for its amazing scenery and regional products



i'd love to take a dive in the summer bath now!



staring at this picture makes me dizzy, you can almost feel the speed!



after almost two more hours on the road, i have reached my final pickup location - one more gremlin to go!



my van parked in front of the seller's house



ladies and gentlemen - gremlin number three: CARNIVAL :spaceace:

the story behind it: this game was listed on ebay, but i was not all over it because the seller had described it as not-working. so i placed my bid, but i didn't go all in and therefore didn't get it. i had almost forgotten about the cab when a couple of weeks later i was contacted by the seller telling me that the original guy had backed out of the deal and if i wanted it i could have it. need i say more? ;)



as i've said, he had listed it as not-working, but i want to see in person where the problem lies. so we turn it on and all we get is a vertical line in the middle which means monitor is working but with some kind of deflection problem. i'm adding some credits to see / hear if / how it plays and while i'm doing that, the picture comes on - a little bit shaky (cap kit), but everything's there! :)



the cabinet is in nice shape (but missing the sideart :arrow: coming onto the stage for us tonight: etienne ;)) and it even comes with the original manual - let's load it up!



wait a minute, something's missing here ... ???



right, the gumball machine. i'm "parking" it where the carnival was originally waiting for me, ready to be picked up by its new owner!



i'd say enough gremlins for today, time to head home



almost 1000 kilometers travelled so far



guess what: the first traffic jam of the day >:(



i haven't eaten anything of "value" today, so there's only one good option here :arrow:



i need something big



that should do it 8)



a couple of endless driving hours later, i'm unloading everything at the storage and return the van to the rental company for one final statistics shot



finally, i'm heading back to my beloved hometown where i arrive to an eerie atmosphere



not many kilometers on my tachometer this time



damn, it is after midnight, hopefully noone is going to feed my mogwai :ghost:



after some serious calculating, the results are in:

one country, seven counties, 1500 kilometers, 20 hours 21 minutes on the road - this roadtrip is OFFICIALLY OVER (and the gremlins are in the house)!  

the next day, i'm heading over to the storage for an inventory



looking nice, doesn't it (apart for that cab on the right, but i have another masterplan ;D)



sideart on the head on worries me a little bit (amongst others)



and so does the control panel (but i've managed to find a new overlay in the meantime)



that joystick is nasty and unusable! :shock:



a nice gremlin sticker on the back



and finally, on the inside of the head on coin door, the famous sticker which tells you how to solve every problem! :D



it has been a hell of a ride and before the roadtrip i was a little bit worried whether everything was going to work out as planned because of all the different locations i had to visit (originally, i was supposed to also pick up a pinball for rav, but the deal fell through), but my timing was almost perfect and so the trip went down smoothly!

hope you guys had fun reading my latest roadtrip report, i'm going to feed my mogwai now (or is it the other way round?) ;)
all i need is ... PONG - and a select few others: TOUCH ME, DRAGON'S LAIR, JOUST, ROBOTRON, MR DO, SAN FRANCISCO RUSH THE ROCK!!!

Belike

  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • ***
  • Posts: 4769
  • Budapest, Hungary
    • View Profile
Re: [Roadtrip] Gremlins - don't feed them after midnight!!!
« Reply #11 on: May 15, 2011, 10:41:30 PM »
1500 kms? :o :o :o
Yeah, the perfect words are "hell of a ride" for this roadtrip. ;D
I'm really glad that I could help, and please note, that this machine is still available if you need some replacement parts. ;)

Etienne MacGyver

  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • ***
  • Posts: 7611
  • The Netherlands
    • View Profile
Re: [Roadtrip] Gremlins - don't feed them after midnight!!!
« Reply #12 on: May 15, 2011, 11:03:44 PM »
Great story, 3 cabs in a row !

I love that "wooden marquee"  ;D

Ill add the Carnival to the vectorque, and i can say apart from the dimentions, its already finished  :P  ;)

gyruss

  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • ***
  • Posts: 2332
  • The Netherlands
    • View Profile
Re: [Roadtrip] Gremlins - don't feed them after midnight!!!
« Reply #13 on: May 15, 2011, 11:29:12 PM »
Congrats Ully, another crazy combo road trip.  :spaceace:

I can't wait to see you restoring that Frogger.

McVenco

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 151
    • View Profile
    • www.amigascene.nl
Re: [Roadtrip] Gremlins - don't feed them after midnight!!!
« Reply #14 on: May 16, 2011, 09:51:01 AM »

i need something big



that should do it 8)



What, you Germans still have the McRib? That's the best McBurger around! Shame that they only sold it very shortly here in Holland. It's not fair!  :(

Waitaminit, I'm flying from airport Weeze next month, maybe I'll try to find a nearby McD instead of getting something to eat in the airport restaurant ;D


No arcade cab(s) yet, but happy owner of 2 Colecovisions, 2 Amigas and a pc running Mame.