ok guys, time to open the garage! but before we can do that, let's remove the "key" first
click on the following picture to see the opening of the garage "live"
abrakadabra simsalabim open sesame!!!
let's quickly take a first snapshot!!! oh my god, i can't believe it, another
rampage - what a coincidence
looks like i've traded in a rampage for an ice cold beer but will be returning home with both machines anyway
joerg is not only here to help me with the hauling, but also to inspect the games and make a first rating
i'll show you more detailed pics later, but the rampage is in really good condition and gets joerg's full approval!
up next on the inspection list is the wonderful em game
bonanza. joerg tells me that he played the exact same game back in the days and totally fell in love with it
. unfortunately, he's almost out of space in THE CAVE and therefore can't take it! if i remember correctly, joerg told me that there was a coil missing underneath the rifle, but once again more on that later when i inspect the individual games closer!
go away, that bonanza em game is mine and i'll shoot everyone who comes one step closer! (on a side note: i love that picture)
is joerg trying to come up with a plan on how to steal the machine without me noticing?
up next i wanna show you a picture from the original ebay auction. clearly you can see a nice b/w midway clowns game, but who can identidy the other game on the right which you can barely see? the entire auction description and the rest of the pictures didn't mention / show anything about it, but ...
... i knew what it was: another uber-rare nichibutsu crazy climber deluxe cabinet!!! "another?", you might ask. yes, i already picked one up during my
Crazy Drivin' eh Climbin' Roadtrip last year, so this one will definitely be for sale (like most of the other cabs, but more on that later)!
to the left of the clowns cabinet is another midway b/w game, a pong-clone called
winner. although it is in really great shape, i'm not planning on starting a collection of pong ripoffs. i'm extremely happy with my unique rally machine, but (apart from an original pong) imho one is more than enough. because i knew that getting everything from the garage into my rental van would be a problem, i had sold three machines in advance to a german forum member: the winner and two generic universal cabinets (which i had no interest in) are going to stay in the garage for the time being - waiting to be picked up later!
nevertheless, nice looking lineup, don't you think?
the crazy climber deluxe out in the open
inspection time: really clean inside, everything where it should be! thumbs up!!!
four games loaded: ice cold beer, rampage, bonanza and crazy climber!
up next, we transport the clowns into the van, but while doing so realize that the cabinet is extremely light, almost a featherweight! there is supposed to be a 23'' b/w monitor in there, but since the machine is so incredible light, both joerg and i suspect that the monitor is missing. unfortunately, the keys to the cabinet are missing as well and although joerg is trying as hard as he can, you can see zip through the tinted bezel! i'll have to drill it open when i get home and see if we were right ...
unfortunately, we can not only take the good stuff, but we also have to load crap like fruit machines - and there isn't even money in the coin box
slowly but surely, space is getting an issue, therefore we have the idea of stacking the fruit machines on top of each other, but that would require being able to put them in horizontally. however, we don't know if they fit in like that and we don't have a meter with us, therefore we have to use a "human meter" to measure the size. ok, for future references: one fruit machine is as tall as one superully
now let's lay that human meter on the van's bottom (btw, planking rocks) to find out if it fits. as you can see, the answer is NO!!!
vertically it has to be then
we manage to get everything in eventually, but since i have to unload everything tonight alone (i can't expect someone to come over to the storage in the middle of the night to move around games), i'm a little bit worried that getting the crappy games out by myself is going to be a problem, because i can't lay them down. best option would probably be to simply toss them out on the ground, but then the neighbours would call the possible - and i don't want that to happen! let's see ...
loaded to the max
here's what we left behind in the garage. we weren't supposed to take the tables and the fruit machine standees - fortunately!
it's somewhat sad to leave the winner behind, but i'm happy with the decision i made
we also had to leave behind this monster of a table game
"what is it?", you might be wondering. let's remove some of the dust
in case you don't know what that is, it's an em soccer table from 1968. seems to be pretty cool, if you're interested checked out some videos
here and
here! hopefully, joerg is going to pick that up later. it deserves to be saved!
now that the garage has been raided, let's turn our attention to something different:
FOOD!!! i haven't had anything to eat all day long and for me there's only one place to go
los wochos at mcdonald's - just wonderful
now that i'm well (?) fed, i can start the long journey home down south
unfortunately, i miss the cutoff for an autobahn night construction sight by a mere 10 minutes, which means the autobahn gets closed off completey and i have to travel for about 80 kilometers on country roads - damn!!!
flipping the "score" over ...
... until my final score is in
i was a little bit afraid of unloading all that stuff myself, but i'm having on problems doing (sorry guys, no pics). i'm returning the rental van the same night and when i finally arrive back home, the stats are in
one country, five counties, 1196 kilometers, 19 hours 12 minutes on the road - this roadtrip is OFFICIALLY OVER! but stay tuned for a closer inspection of the games from the garage raid ...
