Arlington, VA
Quoted from TractorDoc:
I'll start.
Yesterday I received a call about a Flash Gordon.
I've already owned two, so it was not high on my pursuit list but the history of the game had me curious. The seller stated he had owned it for the last 25 years and claimed a friend of his had owned it for a long time prior to that. From what he could remember the game was in very nice overall condition. I asked him to send me a picture of it but he replied that it was buried behind a bunch of stuff over the years and could not get to it. I was getting more curious.
We talk some more and I find out he lives about five minutes from the in-laws. The drive was not too far away so I made plans to drive down today to look at the game. When I arrived at the address he gave me I was not sure if I was in the correct spot. . . it looked more like a flea market vs. someone's house. It turns out I was at the right address and the owner was just finishing up a sale of some truck parts with another customer.
The seller turned out to be a very nice guy that lived a very primitive lifestyle. We walked into his "house" and I was greeted with shoulder high stacks of stuff on both sides of me. He had been working on clearing a path to get to the pinball machine. . . when we arrived at its location this is what it looked like.
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This was after he had cleared a large amount of stuff. For the next thirty minutes or so we worked on clearing the rest to get a better look at the game. He said he had never played it. . . the accumulation of dust (and stuff) did not leave any reason for doubt.
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I pulled the playfield glass, backglass, and examined the cabinet interior and boards. The game had potential, so we agreed on a price and in no time I had it disassembled, loaded up, and was driving home. I unloaded the game into the shop:
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Before heading home I pulled the glass to better examine the playfield. A quick wipe down revealed most everything was covered in mylar and not much wear was present.
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The backglass cleaned up well too. No flaking or scratches to the backside.
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Not sure I'd call it a diamond in the rough and I'm not sure what my next step with the game will be. . . but I couldn't leave it to get buried in stuff for another 25 years. After dropping the game off I headed home and made a beeline for the shower. I still had cobwebs, dust, etc. on my clothes and hair. The seller stated that he did not have a bathroom -- he used a hose for the shower and had a bucket for a toilet. No kidding. Very nice guy, just a different way of living.
I think this should be upvoted for your
1) great retelling of the situation (short though compelling story!) and your
2) NON-JUDGMENTAL appraisal of the house and the seller. Yes of course it’s a pretty unusual choice to use the hose for your shower - but you know, for a lot of folks (way more than we admit in the US) this isn’t a choice, it’s just how it is. A problematic majority of us can’t even fathom this concept.
it’s nice to read a great story like this with a positive outcome and not have to climb through the writer’s judgments and weird inner psychoses. Thank you!! I’ve been looking for a FG for a good friend’s wedding gift and this at least gives me some hope that one is out there!
