A few small Easter Raids in Wales

[_Matt_]

..The area has a lot of arcade history. Chris explained that back in the day, there used to be factories building BAS, Electrocoin and Silverline cabs nearby on Barry Docks, Cardiff and Bridgend. “Did you see Neil, the old man with grey hair when you came in?” Chris asked. “Well his claim to fame is designing the Electrocoin Duet cab.” It seems there is so much UK arcade history undocumented, which is a real shame..

Nice write up and cool little story, thanks for sharing. Would have been good to have a chat with Neil as well, I used to love playing on those Duets.

As for a lot of our arcade history being undocumented you are right and it's a crying shame.

 

[jase38]

Part 5 – The PCB in the Window






For our final Raid, we drove to a town near the West coast and visited a long established Op. We parked up, and in the building opposite the main warehouse my wife spotted a PCB in the window, a good start to a Raid!











I entered the warehouse and had a chat with an employee, who was servicing a fruit machine. He told me he likes having space and is keen to reclaim some. However the owner is a bit of a hoarder and has hung on to a lot of items over the years, which is great news for arcade collectors!











He left me to my own devices and let me have a rummage round. The place seemed eerily familiar, and it dawned on me that I’d seen pictures and read about this location before on the excellent Arcade Blogger.





Overview of the main floor.











A pretty tidy Space Invaders cocktail. And Noel Edmonds. It’s surprising how often you encounter Noel on Raids!











On the main floor, there were a lot of fruit machines and a few video games amongst them. Games include Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII, Initial D, Point Blank, Scud Race, The House of the Dead and Vampire Night.





















I clambered over fruit machines and circumnavigated a mountain of pool tables.











Need For Speed Carbon and The Fast and the Furious Superbikes, relatively modern machines.
















There were a few pretty tidy Sega Rally uprights cabs. The cab next to this one is Konami’s Winding Heat.











It’s ok Arnie, we know Terminator Genisys was terrible, but you can come out of hiding now.











The machines got older the further into the warehouse I ventured. Check out this awesome Enduro Race DLX!


























There was a room at the back with cocktail cabs stacked up. Note the Sega Mega-Tech motherboard complete with carts.











The lighting was poor, and I only had my phone torch (a Raid school boy error!). As I took a pic in near total darkness I saw something in the corner of my eye scurry past. Needless to say, I didn’t hang about in this area too much longer!











Arcade classics which really need saving!











A few more pics from the back of the warehouse.
















I grabbed the Sega Mega-Tech, retraced my steps back to the entrance and headed up the stairs.











This area had all kinds of parts, PCB’s and monitors scattered round everywhere.





















Piles of stuff everywhere you turn.





















A Continental Circus PCB on top of the box.











I counted at least five Sega cages. Some were marked up as Daytona USA and Sega Rally, with a brief description of faults.
















This Space Fever cocktail cab looked pretty tidy under the years of dust.











Lots of eighties jukeboxes.
















Unfortunately my time here was cut short. As I was looking round, the Op told me he had to go out on a site visit. A deal was hastily made on the Sega Mega-Tech motherboard and carts and a Pipe Dream PCB. I would have loved to have spent more time rummaging, although I had very limited car space. On a previous Raid, I ended up filling the passenger seat up with boards and getting the train home, and I didn’t want a repeat of that.






Looking back on the holiday, we had a great time in Wales and really enjoyed our time in Tenby. The beach was lovely and there were lots of family orientated activities nearby. We particularly enjoyed our trip to Manor Wildlife Park. The chip shops in town were great as well, with deep fried Cadbury Creme Egg being a speciality in one of them. Some of the Raids didn’t come off, and I’m sure there’s a lot more to uncover in the warehouse. Also I’d really like to visit Caldey Island, so maybe a return trip will be on the cards.






My pick ups. The children’s play room was out of bounds for a couple of days!















If anyone manages to identify the PCB is in the window, please let me know!
jase382019-05-03 18:06:13

 

[neo-geo-mvs]

You've done well Jase. An Op horder is only a good thing!! Must be lots more treasures to be found

 

[big10p]

Nice rummage and top Arnie gag!

Be a few interested in that Hyper Sports cab, I expect.

 

[Chopper79]

You left the enduro racer!

 

[channel27]

Another great write up Jase

 

[Flinnster]

Wow serious stuff in there... as you say, it's hardly earning the dude money if things are scurrying around knawing at them.

If the hoarder op is ever willing to let an organised crew clear some space.. count me in.

 

[muddymusic]

That's a proper raid. Nice!

Amazing how people think they have all dried up, but if you make a few calls and carry a bundle of cash you can still find awesome stuff!

 

[clarkey]

Nicely done, congrats on the dux as well. Jelaous of that one

 

[stevebm1]

even though that place has been raided a few times before,there is that much stuff buried,who knows what remains hidden amongst it all other than rats

stevebm12019-05-03 20:19:13

 

[Steveylou]

Brilliant write up and pics Jase

I'd ruddy love that Hyper Sports.

 

[WHOOPSIE]

Opening post look like Kiln park =)
Youd love Barry Island none of the arcades have changed in about 20 years!WHOOPSIE2019-08-31 00:08:54

 

[WHOOPSIE]

Its not actually history. Those companies are all still around. Electrocoin and active games are by the docks and eurotek are just down the road. Astra, cabinet developments and kontoor are just down the road in bridgend. I think sega are still in cardiff also. Wave designs who used to produce pretty much all the artwork for the arcade cabinets are still in bridgend too.

The main bulk of the industry these days are making coin pushers and fruit machines. The company I work for barely makes any arcade cabinets though namco are making vr mario karts machines.

I must say though ive never heard of Leisure Solutions UK Ltd. I assumed Cabinet Developments had electrocoin.WHOOPSIE2019-08-31 00:39:26

 

[campbell87]

Did that T2 get picked up?

 

[jase38]

Not by me, Alpha1 may be the man to ask.

 

[Spaceman25]

What about the outrun shifters????
Would be interested!!!