SUCCESS!!! My friend just stopped by and waved his wand at "Bagman"... and - presto! Perfect screen, perfect colors!!!
This magical "degaussing" wand is indeed, the shit!
Yes, the Final Fight cabinet does indeed dwarf the Bagman cabinet. The fellow who sold it to me told me much the same story about it as Adrian, so I do believe it was a dynamo cabinet - tho' the side art, control panel, and marque are all defininetly original.
I just call it "Hagger"-sized.
Now, maibock, the tale of how brave Tigger did happen upon these treasures.
Well, pure luck, really. I did a local search on ebay for arcade machines - figuring, "Hey, I've got a truck. Why not save the shipping cost, and pick one up myself."
So, with that out of the way, well, then I needed to find a game in my area that, #1, was affordable, and #2, one that I actually wanted.
First search I hit Bagman - a game I loved, and figured wouldn't get too much attention because it just doesn't seem to be that well known. ON TOP OF THAT - the fellow offered free shipping within 300 miles - which I was well within. YEA!
Starting bid was $225, and I figured even if it ended around $325, it'd still be a deal, considering it'd be delivered to my door.
Now, God bless the guy - he's a really great fellow, but why he chose to end the auction at noon on Christmas day - well, I'll never know. But I thank him for it! I'm guessing that is one of the reasons why it only got 3 total bids. Anyway, right before noon, I excused myself from the family Christmas dinner, ran downstairs, put a bid thru on my dad's computer - and watched the auction end on my bid - $251!!!
Needless to say, I was "bouncing" when I came back to the table - a nice x-mas present to myself!
My brothers were excited to see the game too, as, strangely enough, that was the sole arcade game in the hotel that we all stayed in 20 years ago when my oldest brother got married. We got in a few rounds of that game while waiting for the rest of the wedding party to show up. So it has that bit of history going for it as well.
Anyway, I figured that would be the end of my arcade buying for a while... BUT, for the heck of it, I did another local search, and found Final Fight, with an opening bid of $300 - with free local delivery as well!!! Now, this time, I was out of the delivery range, but I thought I'd email the fellow to see if he'd consider delivering it out to me, for a little extra cash.
Apparently, he was a little strapped for cash, because he emailed back saying that he'd do it for $350 - no less... Which was more than o.k. with me, considering, #1, I love that game, and #2, he had refurbed the whole thing - it's gorgeous, the picture is huge and sharp, and hey, free delivery.
So I couldn't pass that one up.
Anyway, this will be the end of the arcade buying for a few months... Unless an incredible deal on Marble Madness comes along.
Past that, I'll be looking for a cocktail Warlords, a Galaga, Centipede and Pengo.
I'd definitely stop there - should I ever find all those.
But, for now, I'm more than happy and content, and feeling very blessed and fortunate.
So, there's the tale.
Hope that wasn't too longwinded!
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