Before I type anything, I’ll let the picture speak for itself:

Warehouse Raid - Gainesville, GA 2008

If you have been an arcade collector for any length of time, you have no doubt had a dream of finding a whole bunch of classic arcade games that have been stashed in a warehouse somewhere and forgotten. That dream has been realized for me as I have uncovered a cache of games that have been locked away for over 10 years!

The Entrance to the Warehouse

This raid has been over a year in the making. It began when I heard from my next door neighbor about a laundrymat less than a mile away that he said had about twenty arcade games just sitting in a corner. That evening I drove by the location to see, and sure enough – there were about 20 arcade games shoved in a corner not turned on. At that time it was late and the location was closed, so I came back in the morning. When I got there I asked the female attendant at the counter if the games in the corner were for sale and she said “No.” When I started questioning why not if they were just going to sit in a corner for years and years, she pointed me towards Bob.

Bob is the owner of the laundrymat, about 65, and, as I found out later, the former proprietor of the only dedicated arcade back in the 1980′s. When I met Bob, he gave me the same answer, but then asked the question: “Can you fix ‘em?” At that time I only had some basic arcade repair theories under my belt, but I bluffed and said “Yes.” He suggested we work out a deal – for every two games I fixed, he would give me one to own. At the time, I only had my Ms. Pac Man cocktail table, so it sounded like a GREAT deal to me!

Over the course of the next year, I fixed almost all of the games. In return, I picked up some cool stuff – a Playchoice 10, Double Dragon, Dragon Spirit, Crazy Climber, Ms. Pac Mini, Championship Sprint, SAR Search and Rescue, and of course – my must-have Galaga. Also over the course of the year I found out that in addition to the games at the laundrymat, Bob still had almost all his old games from back in the 80′s in three locations: his old house’s basement, his barn/storage area in the back of his current house, and a warehouse full of games! I picked over the games in his barn by selling some for him, keeping some for myself, and trashing the scraps. Next came the basement of which I purchased the entire contents flipping most, but keeping some cherries like a Tempest Mini, an Elektra Pin, a Donkey Kong Jr., and an Exidy Venture.

That was over six months ago. Last Friday (Halloween) I got the call to meet Bob at the warehouse….

To Be Continued…

Tags: Bob, Gainesville, raid, Warehouse