Just a couple of days ago a very rare
fast freddie game was on sale on ebay germay. since the seller wasn't willing to ship the item to other european countries, i was contacted by michael "muerto" who asked me if i could bid on the game and pick it up for him. fortunately, the seller's location wasn't too far out, so i happily agreed to help out a fellow arcade friend. roadtrip - here i come ...
one of my best friends, patrik, who also gives me the chance to store some of my games in his shed, has always wanted to come on a roadtrip with me and because this one isn't going to take too long, he is on board for a lauda - worms roundtrip!
only a couple of minutes in, it's slightly starting to rain and obviously the water tank for the windshield is empty
filling it up
arriving in worms
the seller had told me that his location lies in a pedestrian area where you have to be on time to be allowed to enter with your car. fortunately, we arrive 15 minutes before "closing time"
be careful, don't run over any pedestrians!
the seller also told me that we either need four people or a trolly to get the game out. i brought the latter ...
down in the cellar - don't forget to turn off the light (after you leave)!
and here it is, waiting in a very tiny (but dry) storage room: fast freddie
of course i ask the seller to turn on the game to see if it's still working (because it was advertised like that). this is what i see ...
holy smoke, it's f******
time pilot, not
fast freddie. i tell the seller that he has the wrong game in his cabinet, he answers that he never realized that and that it was like that when he got the game.
i'm calling michael to give him the bad news and to ask him what to do. although a fast freddie pcb will be damn hard to find (i guess), he still wants to have the game, but i should try to bargain with the seller - which i'm happy to do
fortunately, it's not too difficult to convince the seller to let go of some serious €€€, so the deal is done and we can start trying to get the game through the narrow door and up the even narrower staircase.
philipp - the seller
in fact, the staircase is so narrow, that the trolly won't fit underneath the cab, so we have to place a thick blanket on the stairs (to protect the artwork), put the game on its side and push it up the stairs!
puh, this was hard!
still very heavy though
out of the dark, into the light!
and into the car with it ...
task completed
time to head home, but of course a roadtrip won't be a real roadtrip without a stop at a fastfood restaurant, so here we are
nothing spectacular happens on our way home, so we unload the game at patrik's shed from where it will be sent off to denmark!
but wait, now that we're back home i take a closer look at those stickers on top of the game
it says: NEW - TIME PILOT
no more comments but this
one country, three counties, 374 kilometers, 5 hours 38 minutes on the road - this roadtrip is OFFICIALLY OVER - but the game hasn't reached its final desination yet!stay tuned ...
