Archive for February, 2008
Pengo on Ebay in Indianapolis Area
I have my RSS feeds setup such that I immediately see when new auctions are listed concerning my favorite arcade games. Within 2 minutes of the initial listing, I saw a Pengo come up on ebay on January 30th, 2008. The starting bid was $20! As things usually go, I opened the link and figured the game would be in Oregon or something. It was in Plainfield, IN! For $20, how can that be possible? The story the seller gave surround the Pengo sounded true and it appeared as if this would be a great deal for someone.
My dad owned a video arcade that went out of business in the 80’s. I bought this upright Pengo Arcade game and brought it home. It got a lot of use by my wife and daughters. I remodeled the basement and decided to move it to the new Rec Room, but the basement door was too narrow. I moved it to the garage during a remodeling project, where it has been for the past 10 years. Now my girls are grown and gone, and even though I’ve purchased a wiring diagram for the machine, I still haven’t managed to find the time to work on it.
I called him that morning right away asking for photos of the Pengo, not even sure what I was going to do with it if I bought it. Would I buy a second Pengo? But for $20 starting bid, how could I pass it up? I decided that if this Pengo had the other control panel, the one with the roman numerals, I would drive out to Plainfield, make and offer on it and snatch it up and then have the two different Pengo UR’s in my basement. How long would I wait for photos if the seller never got back to me? Would I drive out sight unseen the next day? Did I feel that strongly about the idea of a good deal without really wanting another arcade game?
I didn’t have to make those decisions because four photos were updated in the auction later that night, and I saw that this was going to be a great deal for someone.
This Pengo has the exact same control panel overlay that mine does, and even though it has most of the sideart and will be a steal for someone, I decided to pass.
Well, today, the auction ended. $81! (Right click this link and choose “Save As” for an ebay screenshot of this Pengo auction.) What a rock bottom final auction price. Just goes to show you how weird the market for these games can be, and timing. A non guaranteed working Pengo, but probably an easy fix, sold in the Indianapolis, Indiana area for less than $100. A true steal if you want to keep the game in your collection. The Pengo fixed up to the right buyer might bring in $300, but if you ebay it, probably less. If the bid had stayed under $50, I would have gone for it and figured out the rest later.
Also, it really is true that patience is a virtue. If I had waited about 18 months, I could have bought this Pengo here less than 10 miles away. But instead, I drove to Nashville, TN for mine.
But mine was HUO for most of it’s life, has perfect sideart, and it just a great looking machine. Plus, I had my first bulk buy, my first arcade game adventure, and I ended up getting my Pengo for free. Once I sold off all of the other machines I paid for the trip and the Pengo. (View the Nashville bulk arcade game buy photo album.)
I am just glad to know that it is staying here locally with Aaron Demaree over in the Speedway area. Once you get it fixed 7146aaron, you should definitely look into Jrok’s high score save kit. I play my Pengo every night, trying to best my own scores and enter my initials. Sega’s Pengo is one of the best games ever.
Flaking Ms. Pac-man Artwork Part 2
A week ago last Sunday, my vibrant, pink Bally Ms. Pac-man finally made it’s way down to Indianapolis, IN via a visit from my mother in law.
I originally posted on January 13th about the flaking artwork, how it was severely cracked in spots and starting to flake. With a strong wipe of the hand, I could probably brush off pieces of the pink, yellow and blue artwork. What would have caused this, what type of storage conditions?
At the time, I had limited photos to work with. Here is a close up photo I took to illustrate the flaking a little better on some of the pink bands on the facing right side of the Ms. Pac-man cabinet.
I still intend to go down to an antique shop, if and when I ever have time, with some printed photos of the cabinet artwork and see if anyone has any suggestions. The best I know to do right now is try to put on some sealer, carefully clean the bottom of the Ms. Pac-man cabinet as needed and hope for the best. Like the other post said, most of the products out there are preventative to preserve painted artwork.
I guess the worst case scenario is someday I take the sideart completely off, purchase some TBD Ms. Pac-man stencils, and re-do the whole game. (Once I have my mba, I shouldn’t have to worry as much about cost).
NY Giants Beat NE Patriots 17-13 in Super Bowl XLII!!
I was shrieking with delight (not recommended for most guys) at the top of my lungs last night when Eli Manning connected with Plaxico Burress in the endzone with 39 seconds left for a touchdown and a Giants lead of 17-13. I couldn’t believe it, but how sweet an ending to a season for the Patriots where they seemed to be untouchable, and they knew it and showed off at every turn.
On the radio on the way into work today one particular fan / comedian from New England commented that around win 8 or 9, people were coming up to him and saying, “I hope the Patriots lose. I hate the Patriots.” The comedian went onto to say that “People just wanted to hate the Patriots because they don’t want the Patriots to have a perfect season.”
Wrong!
From my perspective, people don’t want the Patriots to win because they are sick of the Patriots winning all the time. Plus, the Patriots come across as less than humble winners who enjoy running up the scores on other teams. But it isn’t even the scores that bother me, it’s Bill Belichick and how he comes across. I still cling to the idea that, sports players and coaches should be confident, but not arrogant jerks. We know they know to win, that is what we that fans pay to see. We enable them to make the big bucks. Do we need them to flaunt it in our faces? Hardly. Belichick reminds me of a less vocal version of the character that Jon Voight played (Bud Kilmer) in Varsity Blues, do anything to win. Heck, he can’t even stay on the field, he’s got to stop off like a baby before the final second is even played. Brady could have been the leader, but I believe he left too….
But, let’s put that aside for a moment and look at the bigger idea. The Patriots are football’s Yankees of recent memory. No, they can’t do all the spending that they Yankees can, but from a general public perspective, they are the team to hate because they “always win”. They have still won three superbowls in the last seven years, and won three in a span of four years. Granted, they haven’t won in the last three years, but does Tom Brady need to be equated with Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana as one of the statistically best quarterbacks ever at the young age of 30? It seems so easy for him that it is unfair. Luck has played a little role in his success initially. He is talented beyond a doubt, and it pains me to critique him when we graduated from the same alma mater, but a huge piece of luck came into play when he got to be the starting quarterback from fourth string during the 2001 season, and then go to the Super Bowl to win it all. His first full season and he gets a Super Bowl ring? Seriously. He’s lucky, but two more rings in three more years just makes ya love him or hate him.
(Sidebar: But he is good, you can’t take that away from him. On the field next to Belichick, he looks like a jerk, but he is great in the media, so my dislike for Brady is mostly because he is the competition, and, don’t hog it all. Brady doesn’t believe that people remember what happens from year to year. Ha! We sure do. Is Brady a role model? I don’t know about that, everyone has their faults. I am not so sure his baby situation is a great message, but hey, I don’t know the specifics of that either. Peyton had some bad press in college as well, so no one is perfect.)
The Patriots beat everyone they played in the regular season and the playoffs, and went 18-0. In that run, they also set records for most touchdown passes for a quarterback, Brady with 50 (I don’t care that he beat Peyton, that doesn’t factor in for me), and most touchdown catches in a season, 23 for Randy Moss. I mean, heck, good for Randy Moss. He is a cancer that would only work on a team like the Patriots, with a strong coach and a winning record. But in one season do we really need to add in a Super Bowl ring? Brady’s fourth might I add. Hell No!
So, I am so happy they lost. Their streak ends with 18 in a row. Heck, they have yet another record for most wins in a row at 21 over consecutive seasons. Next year they will be great again, but at least they have been temporarily brought back down to earth.
Again, my dislike isn’t stemming from the Colts not repeating. They had their day last year, and this year they didn’t capitalize. I could blame it on the ton of injuries, or we could go back and blame it on the fact that so many players left for more money after the Super Bowl last year. But the fact is, they got beat by a better team in those four quarters. But the great thing about the Colts, is that a lot of their team seem like nice people. Tony Dungy is great, Peyton is honest and humble, and Reggie Wayne is a stand up guy as well. Keep the mic away from Bob Sanders when they win big….but hey, he’s an amazing player and you need those to be successful.
I would probably be more inclined to celebrate New England if Belichick was more like Dungy. But he is not, and that is why it is so sweet to have another Manning beat Brady this year. The great underdogs came back and won it, and for any little guy that has ever felt down and out, a win against the mean “big brother” is a win for them too.
Little Chief and Night Rider Pinball’s for sale, Indianapolis
Someone in the Indianapolis area contacted me about these two pinballs that they have for sale. One is a William’s Little Chief and the other is a Bally Night Rider. Both were bought new from the factory back in the 70’s and have only ever been used in a home setting, the Little Chief doesn’t even have coin mechs in it. However, the cabinets have a little more wear and tear to them than a normal HUO pinball / arcade game machine.
Click on the thumbnails above to check out the galleries for more images of the games (Little Chief – Left, Night Rider – Right). I tried to get as many photos of them as I could, the playfield, the condition of the cabinet, the backglass, etc. etc. I am not a huge pinball guy myself, but I told the guy that I would see what I could do to sell the pinball machines for him. He is looking for $650 for the pair, OBO. The Little Chief works, and you can see that the Night Rider powers up, but he said there was something funny about one of the connections in that pinball. I didn’t play either of them, kind of crunched for time. I wouldn’t know what to look for if there was anything wrong with the Bally Night Rider at all.
If you are interested at all in these two classic pinballs, let me know. I am going to hold out on my own personal search until I find a more recent pin, like a Batman or a Jurassic Park or something to add to my gameroom:)
Exidy’s Arcade Warehouse Raid Video
Ever experienced a ‘warehouse’ raid? This is the term arcade game collectors give to the event where you find an old operator’s warehouse full of classic games waiting to be purchased in a bulk buy. This video of Jon Exidy finding a warehouse of games is one of the better ones with so many popular games – Q*Bert, Defender, Star Wars, every popular game is in this warehouse, it is every collector’s dream. (more…)
Winter Indianapolis USAmusements Auction January 2008
I was pretty bummed that I didn’t make it to the Indianapolis USAmusements arcade game auction for the first time in a year and a half. But, with an opportunity like the Tiger Fantasy Spring Baseball Camp, I had to make an exception.
I asked Mike if he could take photos and prices of the arcade games, and like a peach, he came through. Huge nod to Mike, thanks so much.
All that he had to say was that there weren’t a ton of items there, as you will see from the photos, and everything got to be really expensive, especially the typical items like the Ms. Pacman(s) and the Galaga(s).
Maybe March will be better. I was just glad that two of the games I have been waiting to pop up here didn’t come when I left, an Xevious and / or a Mappy.
Here is a list of the pinballs not pictured above that were at the auction with prices;
- Championship Pub – $1850
- World Cup Soccer – $1000
- Kick Off (Bally EM) – $250
- Theatre of Magic – $2100
- NBA Fastbreak – $750
- Monopoly – $1850
- Gladiator – $675
- Goldeneye – $975
- Jurassic Park – $800
- SpaceJam – $725
- Dracula – $1000
- Congo – $950
- Tales from the Crypt – $875
Happ Vision Pro 19″ – $135 Feb. 2008
Got a call today from the local Happ representative, Jill Reams. I had contacted her a couple of times this month to see if Happ Vision Pro monitors would be going on sale again anytime soon. She gave me a call today and let me know that they are on the sale flyer for the month of February 2008 for $135 plus shipping. (I believe they ship out of Chicago) If you buy four or more you can get them for $130 price point.
I will be getting at least one this time around, if not two, another one for a friend on his behalf. The last time they were on sale I believe was last October, and at the time I didn’t think it was a good decision to get one. I have one brand new Vision Pro 19″ in my Jr. Pac-man, and you just can’t beat that brand new monitor. The one I am getting this time around will either go in my Pengo, which has an old, crappy, Electrohome with a good amount of Pac screen burn, or in my Mame machine that maybe one day I will finish.
Get yours now, this is a pretty good deal. I think they come out to about $150 with shipping if I remember right.
