Arcade Operator Retirement Raid

jase38

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There is a lot to love about Raids – the satisfaction of following up leads and seeing investigative work pay off, hearing Ops tell stories from back in the day, the potential for great prices and saving old arcade gear from the scrap heap. I also love the fact that each Raid is completely different, and you never really know what you’re going to find until you get there. This was certainly the case recently. You soon learn though that there is a fine line between showing interest and behaving like an excitable kid at Christmas, inevitably signalling pound signs in the Operator’s eyes. However when a most wanted cab or PCB turns up, it can be tough keeping a poker face. Admittedly on this occasion I nearly lost it, veering towards being the kid at Christmas!
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I visited the Op not really knowing what to expect. On previous Raids, it has been a case of literally falling over parts and spares, whilst rummaging round disorganised workshops and storage areas for arcade treasures. This however was the polar opposite.





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The Op had gathered all his arcade boards and parts together, laying it all out for me on a table ready for when I arrived.
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The first thing that struck me was the quantity of boards and MVS titles. I was told that it was a mixture of working and non-working boards, and that the person who used to repair them had sadly passed away several years ago. I had a quick glance over them and could see that there were some awesome titles.
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This particular board caught my eye straight away.





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Looking at the MVS carts, I was really pleased to see Shock Troopers, Soccer Brawl, Spin Master, Waku Waku 7 and Windjammers in the haul. It makes a nice change from the usual Super Sidekicks and Puzzle Bobble!





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I asked how much he wanted for the lot, and a price was quickly agreed. I don’t normally talk about pricing in these write ups, but let’s just say I was keen on running to the nearest bank, getting some cash and loading this lot in the car before he changed his mind! It turns out the Op is retiring next year, and he really just wanted to get rid of it. In fact had I not intervened, it wouldn’t surprise me if he had just scrapped the lot.
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Once the boards were loaded in the boot, I randomly turned over a tag attached to one of them.





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It’s only Nemesis, my most wanted PCB!





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Overspill from the boot.





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I haven’t had a chance to go through all the boards yet, but there are some fantastic titles, including Mystic Riders, Shadow Dancer and Sunset Riders. There are also a couple of obscure titles I haven’t played before, namely Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams, a cute horizontal shooter and Arabian Fight, a scrolling beat-em-up, running on Sega System 16 and System 32 hardware respectively. Nice surprises you really don’t see very often!








A couple of days later I went back for the arcade cabs.

jase382019-02-25 11:06:57
 

channel27

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Fantastic!
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karlcdoe

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Nemesis + Bubble Bobble once super common and seen in arcades everywhere across the land and therefore of virtually no value, now most cherished and sought after by arcade bods. Well done!

Does make me wonder where all the Nemesis and BB boards went...
 
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