preface: sometimes small things can turn into giants 
curious??? read on ...
a couple of weeks ago i've posted on various forums that i was looking for a taito cab (empty or not, i don't care) to house one of my favourite games:
QIXfortunately, i received an answer on a german arcade forum.
unfortunately, the cab's location was berlin. that's more than 500 kilometers one way - for an (almost) empty cab.
whatever, rule number one: if you REALLY want something, go get it - no matter how far away it is!
so here's what's coming up
once again, my good friend charlotte will be my roadtrip companion, because - once again - we're going to spend the night at her relatives'. sometimes having a huge family DOES have advantages
just for the records ...
charlotte et moi are huge fans of motorway service areas, because there are so many great things to be discovered if you wander around with open eyes. this time, however, we obviously wandered around with open teeth
although the machine in the men's bathroom was broken, there was another one in the women's area. charlotte couldn't resist to throw in a dime - and how happy that made her when she saw the "pink package"!!!
signs and portents. popquiz: who knows what's inside of that truck?
berlin, we're coming!
"you have reached the city's border"
of course, charlotte couldn't resist (or was she forced to?) to take a picture of that roadsign. ever thought of moving there, charlotte?
welcome to berlin
typical berlin rush-hour traffic - and we're caught in the middle!
bear-lin
while charlotte hangs out with her relatives, i'm off to the seller's location. this is a good one ...
... an old fire station! who would have guessed that this would be part of the arcade lifestyle?
after walking down some flights of stairs and "crawling" through concrete tunnels i can see the object of my affection. a
TAITO CABINET. btw, nice to see a fire! pinball inside a fire station. that's classic!
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE !!! OUTRUN (MINI), PACMANIA, CENTIPEDE
rough sidearts, but outrun is a blast!
both sidearts on the pac-mania are intact. you don't find that very often anymore. overall, the cab is in good shape. some nice cleansing would make it almost perfect! no damage to the marquee
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE !!! WIZARD OF WOR, MISSILE COMMAND CABINET
i've
never seen or heard of a WoW in Europe. Although the artwork is very rough, it's nothing that can't be restored to full glory (reproduction artwork is available). and the game plays PERFECTLY. what a terrific two-player game that is!
marquee and bezel are in PERFECT order, the control panel could use a new overlay (reproduction also available). fortunately, the metal paintings on the front of the panel are intact. check it out
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE !!! DEFENDER! however, that game is not working. the seller tells me that it should be a problem with one of the ribbon cables ant that it should be an easy fix for him.
furthermore, there were piles of pcbs in the room plus some spare monitors, but the seller asked me not to show pictures of those on the forum - which i certainly accept / respect!
after one night in berlin (not in paris
) we're heading back to where we came from ...
say good-bye to berlin. can you see the bear waving?
the end of yet another roadtrip is near ...
the light at the end of the tunnel!!!
some final shots of the taito cab inside patrik's shed. ooops, i almost forgot: he asked me not to call it shed anymore, but storage!
although it was designed to be a qix cab, it now houses popeye. however, the only thing left from that game is the control panel. especially peculiar is the design of the monitor and the control panel part of the cab. my cab was manufactured in europe, perhaps that explains the difference. have a look at the two cab versions
i'm not sure yet how i'm going to accomodate the original qix control panel or how i'm going to solve the problem with the vertical monitor orientation, but this will have to wait anyway. too many arcade projects at home.
if anyone has ideas / suggestions - bring 'em on
and now, the typical end-of-a-roadtrip-picture
one continent, six COUNTIES, 1120 kilometers - this roadtrip is OFFICIALLY OVER!no wait, wasn't there something about "small things that can turn into giants"?
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..
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oh, i almost forgot to mention: all those beautiful cabs pictured above:
THEY ARE GOING TO BE MINE!!!but that's a different story - and it will be told at a different time
...
