you've read ckong's ride and checked out muerto's trip - now it's time for my side of the story. rest assured, there are parts and pictures you haven't seen yet
preface: a couple of weeks ago an old breakout was offered on the dutch marketplace. i offered the guy 200 euros, because it would really make a nice addition to my collection of classic b/w games, but unfortunately (looking back now, i have to say LUCKILY) it was sold to someone else for 300 euros - which imho is too much for it! when andré posted his pics of the warehouse raid, i immediately spotted those breakout machines and thought "this is my chance". PLUS: andré was kind enough to sell one of his three berzerk machines to me, so now i had a problem: two machines, one car, not enough space in it. a masterplan had to be drawn up
here's what's coming up
this might be one of the few roadtrips where i don't have to start in the middle of the night, because andré has set up the warehouse meet'n'greet at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. it's nice to see the sun for a change when you start your trip!
statistics - how you love them
belgium or netherlands - whatever
only 1000 meters to go - netherlands, here i come!
what a small country you guys have - only 500 meters later i'm almost in belgium
nothing spectacular on the belgium roads, ...
... until i see
THIS!!! signs and portents. all i can say is FIGHT LIKE A CHICKEN (berzerk players know what i'm talking about). this is hilarious!!!
crossing antwerpen gives me the creeps: a lot of traffic!
now on to the warehouse part: you've seen so many pics of it already, i'm going to spare you seeing the same cabs from different angles, so just a few shots and remarks which are worth mentioning!
here's michael (after travelling more than 1000 kilometers one way
) pointing out this cab's fabulous sideart
and here's the machine which i SHOULD HAVE TAKEN
the problem would have been to get it back to germany (more on that later). if i ever get to go to the warehouse again and the atari basketball is still there, i'm going to take it no matter what. the bezel setup is simply an incredible piece of work (hard to tell from the pic), it's set up in three dimensions so that you get the impression you're one of the spectators. FABULOUS!!! damn, why didn't i take it with me? i'm sure it would have been as cheap as the breakouts!
and then there's the two family photo album shots - one for me, one for michael
man, i'm dirty. that's what you get from squeezing through narrow rows of dirty cabs. i had a hard time choosing between taking the breakout or the super breakout. i would have loved to take both of them, because - as you can see - they are both in wonderful condition and it would have been wonderful to have them side by side in a gameroom, but once again there would have been the transportation problem. so i decided to go with the breakout, because it's the original breakout game and i like the sideart / the marquee much better! still, seeing the nice condition of the super breakout brings tears to my eyes
after the "enormous" warehouse raid, i'm following michael in his car to andre´s place. because of some navigational masterpiece
, we end up here
€5,50 for using a tunnel - that sucks
back at andre´s place, i'm unloading the breakout. "WHY?", you might ask. the answer's coming right up ...
andré was kind enough to give the breakout temporary shelter in his gameroom. you're the man, man!
now that my car is empty again, we can go on a short ride to one of andre's friends. once again: you lead, i follow!
mr t. - backing up the van
as you remember, andré not only brought back one berzerk, but he went completely berzerk when he discovered THREE of them in the now famous warehouse. those were stored at a friend's garage, until a guy from germany and one from denmark showed up at his doorstep to snatch them from under his nose
andré - let go of those berzerks!!! (love the pic by the way
)
out goes the super breakout, in goes a berzerk
in goes the super breakout again - on top of the berzerk. is that going to hold or will they budge during the long ride home?
luckily, michael's a carpenter and he's got all the tools he needs "on board"!
michael would have made a bet that the other berzerk won't fit in my car and it really was a close call, but in the end ... WE GOT IT IN! driving back home won't be as comfortable as it used to be, but this way it's harder to fall asleep
why the exchange? andré gave me two bags of metal pieces to have powdercoated for him at the company which is always doing my stuff. their work is outstanding and the prices are good. most of the pieces are for his star wars cockpit, so he wants to have them as nicely as possible. once they're all done, he's coming over to my place to pick them up in person (so that they won't get damaged or lost during transport) . since the berzerk is so much bigger and heavier than the breakout, we had to do the exchange. now andré can easily fit in the breakout in his car - which would not have been possible to do with the berzerk! have i said MASTERPLAN before?
back to the roadtrip, because this is not the end of the story! there's more fun to be had in andre's gameroom
nice and cosy inside (or should i say CROWDED?
), but the gameroom is a piece of work. nice job on that!!!
time to play some games
power drift
obviously michael has had enough - he's beat (which i can totally understand)
for various reasons i've decided against staying overnight, so at around an hour to midnight i'm back on the road! after some boring uncomfortable hours in the car, i'm passing by frankfurt airport. this is always a good sign, only a little bit more than an hour to go!
suddenly fog rolls in
but this doesn't stop me from reaching my home town safe and sound
as always, the final results are in:
one continent, three countries, 1326 kilometers, 20 hours 40 minutes on the road - this roadtrip is OFFICIALLY OVER! p.s.: i paid 70 euros for the breakout
