Author Topic: From Dust Till Dawn  (Read 41138 times)

Q*ris

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From Dust Till Dawn
« on: June 05, 2011, 03:13:47 PM »


When my friend KID called me a few days ago to say that he found a nest of cabs but wasn't 100% positive if it was interesting, he sure knocked at the wrong door...
How could I ever let any kind of cabs live in such miserable conditions, with no love, no capkit and only a few pigeons to "play" on them?
I told him we should go for it and save the arcades at all costs!

So the next day the Belgian Arcade Preservation Team rented a vehicule.
21m³ of pure emptiness... we all hate that, don't we?.
(Note that of course we chose a rainy day for this trip otherwise things tend to get too easy).


This is where the poor cabs were kept prisoners.
No electricity, no DW40, no monitor fine tuning, no nothing!
Impossible to sleep knowing that something like that was going on just a few kilometers from my house!
Please note the very slippery and uneven pavement...fun fun fun!


Now here's a quick tour of the place before we start the most dangerous sporty part.
Do not try to dust or focus your screen while viewing these pics.







The test bench (actually used to test your ability to find a needle in the haze).


...and now starts the real fun in this archeological mission: everything is located on the first floor of this barn,
no stairs of course and the only way to get the cabs down is to use that antique strap that's tied to the top of the roof...


Who do you think was the most likely to survive in this situation?
The one on the top (with the strap risking to break at any moment, probably taking away half of an head at the same time)...


...or the one at the bottom (who could be crushed by a falling cab or parts of cab if something ever went wrong)??


Fortunately everything went fine :)
We took the opportunity that we were still alive to practise a bit of arcade shooting.
Pull!


-"Guys you should have taken that big ass black bus instead of this cheapo 21m³ truck"
-"Absolutely impossible this entire black bus is reserved by the owner for wood storage" (true fact)...


To fit 13 cabs (including a cockpit and an EM) in there?
Yes we can!
Red Alert! The space turtle is trying to escape!


Aaaand I almost forgot to tell you about the "shake shake bridge".
Made only with cabs sidepanels, 100% deadly especially when carrying heavy stuff with a "wheel kart" :)


Now that the Freedom Truck is full, I can finally practise my Bingo skills while KID is grabbing various electronic parts to fill our vehicule to the max...
(I told you "we hate empty spaces").


Mmmmh the tires have seen better days.
Pfffffffff...  ::)


After a stop at the gas station for some fresh air (for the tires), we drove safely to THE BASE.

Now start a quick and really enjoyable 2 hours of unloading dusty and heavy black pieces of furniture.
KID did all the work of course while I was watching him and eating french fries (and I didn't wipe my fingers that's why the pics are blurry).



THE BASE still look a bit empty, don't you think? another raid will probably help  :P
Still a looooot of testing to do... Stay tuned or press # for more options.



...and now let me check the roadtrip stats you've all been waiting for...
Aouch, sorry but we have a problem here, looks like computers decided to say no.  8)


 :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace: Many thanks again to KID for always finding the coolest and best hidden nests in Belgium  :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:
« Last Edit: February 19, 2012, 08:04:14 AM by chrischris »

gyruss

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Re: From Dust Till Dawn
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2011, 03:24:28 PM »
 :o :o :o :o

And +1 for the neo geo's, that system deserves a lot more love over-here, so many great games!!!!!!!
« Last Edit: June 05, 2011, 03:44:20 PM by gyruss »

Etienne MacGyver

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Re: From Dust Till Dawn
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2011, 03:52:35 PM »
Thats a haul !

i see minimal 2 zacc's in there !

Can wait to visit "THE BASE"  ;D  :spaceace:

DarthNuno

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Re: From Dust Till Dawn
« Reply #3 on: June 05, 2011, 04:08:55 PM »
Awesome Raid! Great story!

Ester eggs on each pictures, I love it  ;)

My favorite items in there : TAITO Cockpit and Super Bug (I need parts for my cab, just in case  ::) :P) ... and also the old computer at the end  :P
Now have a good time for testing all that stuff!  ;)

Oh, and of course you're on the homepage here + facebook wall  :P



 :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:

Belike

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Re: From Dust Till Dawn
« Reply #4 on: June 05, 2011, 04:48:30 PM »
To be honest I already knew about this story, but this report is super cool and fun. ;D
I love that pic with C3PO. ;D
Btw., Etienne, there were a bit more then 2 Zaccs. ;)

Q*ris

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Re: From Dust Till Dawn
« Reply #5 on: June 05, 2011, 06:23:57 PM »
Love that banner!!!! Thanks Nuno, you're a fast shooter  ;)  :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:
Thanks also for your comments guys, I'll keep you updated on the results of the tests and of the parts that will be available.
Personally, I won't keep everything, I want to focus on collecting dedicated classics.

So far we decided to keep for ourselves the captain kid and the super bug and maybe the hang-on (all 100% untested ;D).
Space attack, Phoenix and Grand Champion have already been reserved by friends. ::)

I like the look of the generic cab with the space turtle on it's side and that "totally stolen from star-wars" spaceship (next to the mouth of the turtle).
This kind of sideart reminds me of the local fairs with crossed eyes smurfs and Michael Jackson painted on the change booths.

We found 2 of these cabs, one with a soccer game (euro league, booty) and another one with a tetris PCB bootleg, both working!

« Last Edit: February 19, 2012, 08:00:38 AM by chrischris »

Superully

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Re: From Dust Till Dawn
« Reply #6 on: June 05, 2011, 06:35:49 PM »
holy smokes, i've never seen a place like that! well done in rescueing all those games. although there were no real classics in there, i'd say well worth the effort - and what an adventure it was. i totally dig your sense of humor, chris, and your gimmicks on the pictures makes you wanna go through the roadtrip report over and over again. thx for sharing this incredible story!!!
all i need is ... PONG - and a select few others: TOUCH ME, DRAGON'S LAIR, JOUST, ROBOTRON, MR DO, SAN FRANCISCO RUSH THE ROCK!!!

level42

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Re: From Dust Till Dawn
« Reply #7 on: June 05, 2011, 08:33:22 PM »
Amazing story and stuff !!!  :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:

But uhmmmm....what about the pinballs and especially this:


JUKEBOX on the right !!!

ckong

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Re: From Dust Till Dawn
« Reply #8 on: June 05, 2011, 09:11:01 PM »
Great story Chris, and very nice pics. It´s always fun to read your humourous road tri reports. Well done.

scr33n

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Re: From Dust Till Dawn
« Reply #9 on: June 05, 2011, 10:02:34 PM »
Thanks for this awesome report Chris  :spaceace: :spaceace:
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

Muerto

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Re: From Dust Till Dawn
« Reply #10 on: June 06, 2011, 09:16:54 AM »
Super cool report Chirs! - that TAITO cockpit rewls!!!!!
Also cool with all the small images on the images.... like these a lot!:




kid

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Re: From Dust Till Dawn
« Reply #11 on: June 06, 2011, 09:33:18 AM »
Thanks for this perfect report and the roadtrip  Chris !
It's was a fun day !
I'm already ready to do another one !   :D

Amazing story and stuff !!!  :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:

But uhmmmm....what about the pinballs and especially this:

JUKEBOX on the right !!!


All pinballs are already sold and juke boxes are  unfortunately not for sale at the time.
Sorry for my poor English...

baritonomarchetto

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Re: From Dust Till Dawn
« Reply #12 on: June 06, 2011, 09:37:23 AM »
Hey Chris: did you bought home one of those digital mouses?  ;D
"A true Gentleman leaves no puzzle unsolved"

Q*ris

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Re: From Dust Till Dawn
« Reply #13 on: June 06, 2011, 12:33:31 PM »
But uhmmmm....what about the pinballs and especially this:
JUKEBOX on the right !!!
All pinballs are already sold and juke boxes are  unfortunately not for sale at the time.
I confirm and what was really heartbreaking was that there was also an Addams Family pinball in there  :(
Believe me we tried to save these machines too...

@baritonomarchetto: Yes and unfortunately for my gameroom one of them was pregnant  ;)

Equites

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Re: From Dust Till Dawn
« Reply #14 on: June 06, 2011, 02:41:42 PM »
Lol gotta love that limbless C3PO in that junk, looks like chewy forgot to strap him to his back when he left after a good gaming session.