Last August, I noticed on the finnish auctionsite, huuto.net, a listing of Xevious and Paperboy cabs. At first I thought that the prices were ridiculously high (around 280-350 mark, IIRC) and commented on it in J+ -forum. The guys however soon changed my mind and I realized how rare a Xevious in Finland could be. But I had no money nor space for either one.
At first I thought I'd sell some PCB's in order to gain money and let the seller relist the cabs since there were no bids on them and there was a couple of days left of the auctions. The seller didn't answer to any of the PM's I sent him about how much I wanted the Paperboy and that if we could do a deal outside the auction site.
Then I got a call from a friend I know through my work. We agreed on trying to contact the seller directly and then buy the whole lot for cash( his cash, not mine
) and pack it into his truck. I'd then do a quick restoration-job for the Xevious and keep the Paperboy as a reward for the restoration and help with these games. Then we'd begin to find good homes for the rest of the games.
The final day of the auction came.... and went without bids. And no communication from the seller whatsoever! I was just a tad bit annoyed.
Couple of days went by and then we had contact!
The seller apologized for taking so long to answer. He proposed a deal of 1000EUR for all the remaining 7 cabs including the Klax cab.
The cab list: APB, Paperboy, 720, Klax, Xevious, Op Thunderbolt, Beast Busters
There was some damage to the APB but otherwise they looked ok in the pictures. Ten days went by and then I got a call from my friend that the day after tomorrow, we would be going to get all the games and negotiate the bulk price. Excellent! It was a Sunday morning when I got into my car and drove 60km to my friends place where he had his company's delivery truck standing buy. He jumped to the drivers seat and I copiloted, and we drove, @ 80km/h speed around 350km to see the cabs.
Just before we got there we agreed on a tactic of: "a disappointed buyer with a very pissed and disappointed buyer" and we were acted on an attitude that we'd be ready to drive the 350km back empty handed since all "you got was just spareparts". It worked and we got some euros off from the offered 1000EUR bulk price (friend wished the exact amount to kept between us, his principle since it was his money
).
We then loaded the games to the truck and began our way back home.
My friend already had a Xevious cab in his gameroom, loaned from friend of his. He was under the impression that it was the only working Xevious in Finland. Well, since I found him another, he just had to have it. You can only imagine his joy when he found out that it actually worked straight up when powered (ok, there's some background gfx problems) BUT it also was an original 1982 NAMCO Xevious and the one he previously had was the 1983 ATARI edition!
And oh man was I a happy hamster since at that point I knew I was getting the Paperboy cab for free for my efforts in making this deal, and (soon to be started) restoring the Xevious for him
Here's a couple of pics from the unloading of the games:
cabs in the truck
This "made in Ireland" 720 found it's way to UK, by the way
APB inside
My Paperboy!
This Xevious has some serious issues with her lower parts of the sides.
Haven't yet decided what to do, but I think some rough TLC will be needed.
OK, that was it. The Xevious is coming to my gameroom for cleaning and fixing within two weeks, and after that I'll get my Paperboy for some TLC treatment. Already got a space reserved for it right next to the Gauntlet.
This actually was an operator "raid", indirectly, because these machines were going to be demolished/recycled 3-4 years ago by their operator (Does sound familiar ???
) and the guy we bought these from rescued them from their deaths. However, he didn't do anything with them, he just stored them outdoors in a tarp-covered hall (of which snow collapsed the roof over the machines last winter, he told us before we agreed on the price of the bulk buy
) for a couple of years. These games were the property of Wasalandia, a finnish midsized amusement park. They operated them for a few years. Originally Wasalandia had bought the games from the main operator in Finland, RAY (Raha-automaattiyhdistys).
Thanks for reading
Cheers,
-Toni
At first I thought I'd sell some PCB's in order to gain money and let the seller relist the cabs since there were no bids on them and there was a couple of days left of the auctions. The seller didn't answer to any of the PM's I sent him about how much I wanted the Paperboy and that if we could do a deal outside the auction site.
Then I got a call from a friend I know through my work. We agreed on trying to contact the seller directly and then buy the whole lot for cash( his cash, not mine
) and pack it into his truck. I'd then do a quick restoration-job for the Xevious and keep the Paperboy as a reward for the restoration and help with these games. Then we'd begin to find good homes for the rest of the games.The final day of the auction came.... and went without bids. And no communication from the seller whatsoever! I was just a tad bit annoyed.
Couple of days went by and then we had contact!
The seller apologized for taking so long to answer. He proposed a deal of 1000EUR for all the remaining 7 cabs including the Klax cab.
The cab list: APB, Paperboy, 720, Klax, Xevious, Op Thunderbolt, Beast Busters
There was some damage to the APB but otherwise they looked ok in the pictures. Ten days went by and then I got a call from my friend that the day after tomorrow, we would be going to get all the games and negotiate the bulk price. Excellent! It was a Sunday morning when I got into my car and drove 60km to my friends place where he had his company's delivery truck standing buy. He jumped to the drivers seat and I copiloted, and we drove, @ 80km/h speed around 350km to see the cabs.
Just before we got there we agreed on a tactic of: "a disappointed buyer with a very pissed and disappointed buyer" and we were acted on an attitude that we'd be ready to drive the 350km back empty handed since all "you got was just spareparts". It worked and we got some euros off from the offered 1000EUR bulk price (friend wished the exact amount to kept between us, his principle since it was his money
We then loaded the games to the truck and began our way back home.
My friend already had a Xevious cab in his gameroom, loaned from friend of his. He was under the impression that it was the only working Xevious in Finland. Well, since I found him another, he just had to have it. You can only imagine his joy when he found out that it actually worked straight up when powered (ok, there's some background gfx problems) BUT it also was an original 1982 NAMCO Xevious and the one he previously had was the 1983 ATARI edition!
Here's a couple of pics from the unloading of the games:
cabs in the truck
This "made in Ireland" 720 found it's way to UK, by the way
APB inside
My Paperboy!
This Xevious has some serious issues with her lower parts of the sides.
Haven't yet decided what to do, but I think some rough TLC will be needed.
OK, that was it. The Xevious is coming to my gameroom for cleaning and fixing within two weeks, and after that I'll get my Paperboy for some TLC treatment. Already got a space reserved for it right next to the Gauntlet.
This actually was an operator "raid", indirectly, because these machines were going to be demolished/recycled 3-4 years ago by their operator (Does sound familiar ???
Thanks for reading
Cheers,
-Toni
