The Best Laid Plans…

of mice and men often go astray. Well that is what they say anyway. But the only hitch in these plans was the one used to tow these arcade games home to get a second chance at making adults feel like kids all over again. It was a year ago that I first found out about these games. It was the usual scenario. Dusty, dirty, forgotten games locked up in a dark storage container just biding their time and waiting for a miracle. But sadly, the timing was all wrong. I had just changed jobs and winter was setting in quickly. They would have to spend another sub-freezing holiday season without much to cheer about. When I was finally ready, the owner wasn’t. Time passed and other games came along to fill the void. With winter coming faster than I care to think about, and hope for saving these games fading away, I decided to make one last attempt for a rescue. I contacted the owner. The long wait to bring these games home would soon be over.

I decided to bring my friend Dan in on this one as there was a Star Wars arcade in the mix and I knew it was the game that topped his want list. There were 9 games in all, with Star Wars and a Space Ace taking the top honors and a Space Invaders, Star Trek, Tournament Cyberball, Omega Race, Shinobi, Sprint 2 , converted Mach 3 rounding out the roster. We picked a day, reserved the trailer, and asked our bosses for a half day off work. The day came and we met up at my house, grabbed lunch, picked up the trailer, and headed off for parts unknown.
We rolled through the countryside and after about an hour and a half and 3 towns later arrived at Buhl, Idaho. Population: you. After some delicate negotiations, we paid up, loaded up, and headed for home. Dan got his Star Wars, I took the Space Ace, and we will sell the rest and split it. My amazing year of collecting just doesn’t let up. We split them up between our garages and will now begin the task of breathing some new life into these games and finding them new homes. We have each had some fast success and look forward to working on the rest.

Another batch of games saved from death and decay means another satisfying moment in my collecting career. I look out at these games stashed away safely in my garage and know that I am utterly defenseless to their charm. They hold sway over us and like trained assassins know exactly when and where to strike and bring us to our knees. These machines pulled us away from our daily lives and jobs and friends and loved ones and coerced us to drive out and pick them up. It just seems so wrong at times. I resent being at their disposal and yet I love every second of it. The best hobby in the world just keeps getting better. The best laid plans do often go astray but not on this day.
I don’t think the games would have allowed it .

Some pics for the “ pics or it didn’t happen” crew :