Flack
10-13-2006, 09:33 AM
In all the years I've been collecting I've scored three free games. The first was a Star Wars game with melted insides and smoke damage (it was inside a house that was struck by lightning and subsequently caught on fire). I eventually gave it to someone else who was interested in restoring it. The second was a Mortal Kombat game stuffed in a Gravitar/Black Widow cabinet. The game works but has a bad monitor. The person who gave it to me was my sister's husband's boss. Originally he wanted $100 and for me to come pick it up. A few weeks later, tired of it taking up space, he delivered it to my driveway and gave it to me for free.
Last week, while getting ready for bed, my wife turned to me and said, "oh yeah, I was going to ask you. Is a Defender cabinet worth anything?"
"Why yes, yes it is," I responded. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I saw one out by the trash today," she told me.
(Insert the sound of screeching car tires here.)
Turns out, my wife saw a Defender cabinet sitting out by the trash about 10 miles from my house, in the next town over. It was sitting outside a local business. She tells me the location and it turns out I have a friend who lives about a mile from there. I call him on the phone. It's now 10:15pm.
"Hey, what are you doing?" I ask my friend.
"Getting ready for bed, why?" he asks.
"Good. Go hop in your car and drive over to this business and look at something for me."
(A moment of silence.)
"Really?"
So, my really good friend hops in his car and drives over to the business. He confirms that there is in fact a Defender cabinet sitting outside a business. However, he's not convinced they're throwing it away. It's out on the sidewalk, "near" the trash dumpster. However, it's not really "that" close to the dumpster.
At this point, we start to weigh the evidence, trying to decide whether or not the cabinet is destined for the trash.
PRO: The cabinet's in pretty rough shape. The trash dumpster is full, and the cabinet is on the same side of the building as the dumpster. It's also the day before "big trash pickup" day.
CON: It's not "in" the dumpster. In fact, it's a good 30 feet from the dumpster. There's no sign on it that says "free" or "broken" or anything like that.
VERDICT: I'm taking it.
My friend informs me that the local police shift change takes place at 11pm -- that means that all the cops getting off duty are at the station checking out, and all the cops reporting to duty are at the station, checking in. That also means that there are no cops on the road at precisely 11pm.
It's 10:35pm.
I throw on some clothes, empty out the bed of the truck, and drive the 10 miles. Sure enough, there's the cabinet. From where I parked (which was down the street), it looked AWESOME. It was now 10:55pm. I got out and lowered my tailgate.
At 11pm precisely, I backed up to the cabinet, shoved it over into the back of the pickup, and drove away.
So after I got home and I actually looked at the cabinet in the light, I am sure it was destined for the trash. The inside of the cabinet has, along with dirt, kids toys and leaves, meaning it was stored outside and may have acted as a kid's toybox or something. There is so much dirt inside that I am convinced the game hasn't worked in a very long time. While the side of the cabinet I could see looked great, the other side is in pretty bad shape -- at least half of the outer ply of plywood is missing. The control panel is mostly gone (although the original joystick along with some replacement buttons are there) and it's a complete (although broken) game.
For free.
http://www.robohara.com/pix/junk/defender_1.jpg
Last week, while getting ready for bed, my wife turned to me and said, "oh yeah, I was going to ask you. Is a Defender cabinet worth anything?"
"Why yes, yes it is," I responded. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I saw one out by the trash today," she told me.
(Insert the sound of screeching car tires here.)
Turns out, my wife saw a Defender cabinet sitting out by the trash about 10 miles from my house, in the next town over. It was sitting outside a local business. She tells me the location and it turns out I have a friend who lives about a mile from there. I call him on the phone. It's now 10:15pm.
"Hey, what are you doing?" I ask my friend.
"Getting ready for bed, why?" he asks.
"Good. Go hop in your car and drive over to this business and look at something for me."
(A moment of silence.)
"Really?"
So, my really good friend hops in his car and drives over to the business. He confirms that there is in fact a Defender cabinet sitting outside a business. However, he's not convinced they're throwing it away. It's out on the sidewalk, "near" the trash dumpster. However, it's not really "that" close to the dumpster.
At this point, we start to weigh the evidence, trying to decide whether or not the cabinet is destined for the trash.
PRO: The cabinet's in pretty rough shape. The trash dumpster is full, and the cabinet is on the same side of the building as the dumpster. It's also the day before "big trash pickup" day.
CON: It's not "in" the dumpster. In fact, it's a good 30 feet from the dumpster. There's no sign on it that says "free" or "broken" or anything like that.
VERDICT: I'm taking it.
My friend informs me that the local police shift change takes place at 11pm -- that means that all the cops getting off duty are at the station checking out, and all the cops reporting to duty are at the station, checking in. That also means that there are no cops on the road at precisely 11pm.
It's 10:35pm.
I throw on some clothes, empty out the bed of the truck, and drive the 10 miles. Sure enough, there's the cabinet. From where I parked (which was down the street), it looked AWESOME. It was now 10:55pm. I got out and lowered my tailgate.
At 11pm precisely, I backed up to the cabinet, shoved it over into the back of the pickup, and drove away.
So after I got home and I actually looked at the cabinet in the light, I am sure it was destined for the trash. The inside of the cabinet has, along with dirt, kids toys and leaves, meaning it was stored outside and may have acted as a kid's toybox or something. There is so much dirt inside that I am convinced the game hasn't worked in a very long time. While the side of the cabinet I could see looked great, the other side is in pretty bad shape -- at least half of the outer ply of plywood is missing. The control panel is mostly gone (although the original joystick along with some replacement buttons are there) and it's a complete (although broken) game.
For free.
http://www.robohara.com/pix/junk/defender_1.jpg