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Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup
- ainiriand 3y agoSometimes I think I live in different planets to some people...
- xwdv 3y agoIt’s such perfect condition I have to wonder if they bought a cabinet then made up a faked story about finding it out on the curb outside as trash for clicks.
- roolgo 3y agoYeah, i had this feeling too.
- bovermyer 3y agoBitter, cynical, and jaded is no way to go through life, son.
- RajT88 3y agoConsidering things that people have done for attention in recent years: - Crashing a plane - Pretending to have been kidnapped - Eating laundry detergent ...To name a few... It's not crazy to always suspect people are pretending just to get attention on the internet.
- deely3 3y agoBecause... ?
- xwdv 3y agoNeither is blinding accepting everything at face value.
- trentnix 3y agoI’ve been following Tim Lapentino for many years and immensely enjoy his Art of Atari book and love for all things retro nerdity. I’d be really disappointed if this was faked. But I admit, it is astonishingly remarkable that the guy who curated a Tron exhibit would also be the one to find a minty DoT environmental, an arcade grail, abandoned on the curb.
- Tade0 3y agoWell, it was his relative who found it so I guess his whole extended family and social circle know that he's into this. I occasionally get guitar questions because people know that I put the time into researching what's what and can at least tell them "yeah, this is crap - don't buy it".
- Luc 3y agoI saw this a few days ago on an arcade collector's forum (not based in the US), and the majority reaction was disbelief. People seemed to think it was a hoax. That thing is museum quality. I wonder if it's due to those suburban garages, allowing people to pile up stuff for decades. That and having more cash to buy goodies than most of the rest of the world, of course.
- kombookcha 3y agoFor classic cars and other large pieces of vintage machinery, "barn finds" have been a common source of weirdly well preserved specimens for many years - especially in dry climates. Now that we live in a world where many elderly people have had suburban garages for many decades, that probably will be a major source of interesting finds like this. All other things being equal, having the space to keep a large object you're not using is gonna be a big predictor for how many specimens end up in a safe storage situation for long enough to become antique.
- tibbon 3y agoLarge objects can be so hard to deal with that they are often discarded, regardless of theoretical price or value. Motorcycles, Hammond organs, etc. So often it might be worth quite a bit it someone in another location, but especially after someone dies, there often isn’t the energy to deal with it. So on the street it goes. You can find some people asking $6000 for a Hammond B3, but then someone can’t give away a D-152 outside of an urban area because folks don’t know what it is on a search. It better than a B3, essentially the deluxe model. But they weight nearly 500lbs and people don’t know how to turn them on to test even (it is a 2 step process)
- Roark66 3y agoIndeed. I used to own a vintage IBM AS400 server system and a separate disc enclosure. Each component was roughly the size of two mini fridges one atop the other. It weighted over 130 kg each. Add a "smart" crt terminal and a carrier bag full of cables. Unfortunately I had to relocate for work and I couldn't take it with me. I tried to sell it, then I advertised to give it away. Eventually I had to take it to local "it recycling" facility rum by the council where they had me pay a fee for "disposal of a business grade it system" (fair enough). I wish I could've kept it.
- iamben 3y agoWhat's the monetary value of a find like this? It always boggles my mind when people jump straight to "bin it" rather than "I'll see if anyone wants to buy it". I guess sometimes you just need the headspace!
- lelandfe 3y agoHere's one for $8k: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/240731233987834/ https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/240731233987834/
- rob74 3y agoListed 2 years ago, apparently still unsold. Which proves the point I was making in my sibling comment :)
- tsunamifury 3y agoLooks like this comment may have sold it
- Brendinooo 3y agoYeah, you really do. I'd imagine who isn't in the space might think "well the graphics are so outdated and the thing is so heavy, who would want to deal with it?" And we don't know what else was on the curb that was taken by the trash people; sometimes you get to a point where you decide that cleaning out fast is worth more than hoarding until you're able to sell everything.
- cduzz 3y agoIt may also be along the line of "Stan said he'd get that thing working, then he didn't, then he died of cancer leaving me with a bunch of unresolved crap to deal with, and I really miss him and I really hate him and I really miss him." or some similarly complex issue.
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- baz00 3y agoI'm not surprised at seeing this. Most of my electronics "purchases" in the 80s to 00s were perfectly good discarded things just thrown out on the street because they were inconvenient or someone bought something shinier. I even got a 2 year old Intel Mac Mini once and used it as a desktop for nearly 3 years! An arcade machine, regardless of how rare it was, would be something I walked straight past though! Too big and heavy. I suspect that's why this turned up on the street.
- furyg3 3y agoMy friends and I were into computers before this, but four of us got into systems administration and network architecture primarily from dumpster diving around the SF bay area in high school. Sun Microsystems and SGI workstations, Cisco networking equipment, IBM and DEC servers... we got good getting enterprise and/or obscure technology working and talking to each other which gave us a more generalist or fundamental knowledge of systems and troubleshooting. And it was so much fun...
- op00to 3y agoI dumpster dived the IBM offices in North Jersey in the 90s. They would trash brand new in the box model Ms, plus huge piles of more esoteric keyboards, equipments, manuals, etc.
- RajT88 3y agoThere used to be awesome retro tech to be had at thrift shops, before they figured out there was a collector's market for it. The great finds are far more rare now.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- TacticalCoder 3y ago> An arcade machine, regardless of how rare it was, would be something I walked straight past though! Too big and heavy. Yeah but there's nothing like standing up in front of an actual arcade cab, one joystick in each hand, and playing Robotron 2084! (one joystick to move in one of eight directions and the other joystick to fire in one of eight directions). About ten years ago a friend of mine was moving to a smaller house and had no room for his vintage arcade cab... So he offered it to me. I immediately took it (my fancy car wasn't big enough to carry it so I went and borrowed my parents' car). This cab has already been moved to three (EU) countries (!). It's fully working, I've got a few PCBs (both originals and bootleg PCBs) and I've got a Raspberry Pi with a Pi2JAMMA adapter, driving the CRT screen... It's a joy to see my little daughter play on the games I used to play as a kid (like Elevator Action, Buster Bros/Pang!, Bomb Jack, etc.). It's an amazing relic from really glorious times. P.S: it used to be in my office room first, then in the living room (which was epic) and now in its new house it's in the laundry room next to the washing machine : )
- roolgo 3y agoWow! I've never seen one of those before. What a crazy find.
- bovermyer 3y agoThat's awesome. When I was a kid, my dad acquired an Eight-Ball Deluxe pinball machine. He restored it, and for years it was a regular fixture of our house. We moved a ton, but it always came with us, for about a decade. Then my dad finally sold it. I played that game a lot. I have fond memories of the lights, sounds, and feel of it. It was a very different experience than modern pinball machines.
- gabereiser 3y agoDude just happens to find a fully working and in great condition arcade cabinet deluxe from 1983 in 2023? Jesus! What a find! I’m a huge fan of old arcade games and even built a few mame cabinets myself - this is extraordinary. There aren’t very many of those games left let alone working in great condition. Many have lost their CGA monitors or fried their boards.
- Simon_O_Rourke 3y agoI wonder what the ballpark resale price is for it, the author mentioned it could sell for big bucks, but it'd be interesting to see how much.
- videotopia 3y agoDiscs of Tron cabinet have changed hands for $10K+ in recent months. This one appears to be in fabulous condition too.
- ZiiS 3y agoAt $2k it would sell today. The condition looks great could easily go for more then double that to the right buyer (Environmentals are prized but obviously limit who has room for them).
- gabereiser 3y ago$2k would be a bidding war. This is worth way more than that! I definitely know some collectors that would part with $50k to have this.
- mattmcknight 3y agoI used to play the Intellivision version. Not quite the same experience. https://www.retrogamer.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/trondeadlydiscs-616x462.png https://www.retrogamer.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/tronde...
- peter_d_sherman 3y agoCommentary: I am reminded of a quote: "The best things in life are free!" (Usually those things are such things as sunlight, oxygen, trees, water, flowers, grass, friendly small animals, human beings that express the best of humanity, etc., etc... but in this case it's sort of like a very specific subcase of a very specific subset of a very specific subcase of all of those other best things in life that are free... this specific subcase happens to be that of a "Discs Of Tron" arcade game(!) -- probably from the 1980's -- with its own (highly immersive!) full "environmental" (arcade) cabinet -- left on the curbside, for FREE!) So the best things in life -- really are free! (Up to and including a "Discs of Tron" full cabinet arcade game -- with its catchy tagline: "Become the most powerful video warrior of the computer world"... :-) <g>) I mean, what's not to love about all of that? :-) <g>)
- Aloha 3y agoIn the same vein of thought free anything that you want always is more enjoyable than the same thing you had to pay for.
- dghughes 3y agoDragged it home on dollies? This has a very strong feeling of George Costanza Frogger episode from Seinfeld. I worked fro my uncle who rented games to arcades. Discs of Tron always had problems with the 3D joystick. You need it for the Discs game the levels go up and down. I can hear the music now...!
- orev 3y agoSo a guy who just so happens to specialize in old games, and just happens to have an exhibition going on specifically about Tron, who happens to have a friend who owns an arcade and a network of people who know how to evaluate and restore arcade cabinets, just happens to be visiting people in a place (it sounds like) he doesn’t go on a daily basis, hears an offhand comment from his young niece who happened to be riding a bike a few blocks away, happens to find a perfect condition game cabinet that’s been sitting out in the weather for who knows how long, that was put there by a random old lady who was apparently able to drag the thing to the curb but doesn’t want to discuss anything about it. Look, I’m willing to accept that rare things can happen, but this is pushing the bounds of belief. There are so many coincidences and this story needs to at least be viewed with some skepticism toward the details. It’s not unreasonable to wonder if the goal here is to generate a viral story, which seems to be working at some level. Occam’s razor would suggest that they obtained the game “somehow” and the provider just doesn’t want any publicity. P.S. And if they decide to sell it, the decent thing to do would be to at least checkin with the old lady and offer some of the proceeds.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- cpfohl 3y agoYou wildly underestimate how willing people are to avoid lose money in order to avoid the time and effort it takes to get rid of some kinds of stuff ;)
- parpfish 3y agoThe hard to believe part isn’t that somebody was putting this cabinet on the curb to toss it. The hard to believe part is that this specific guy found it at this precise time/place
- kemayo 3y agoThe specific guy being who he is was essential to him finding it, mind you -- the story says his niece mentioned it to him after seeing it a few blocks away, presumably because everyone knows he's "the Tron guy". Imagine how many random time-limited opportunities exist around you like this that you just never hear about.
- MisterTea 3y agoArcade trash is amazing. One day driving around my neighborhood in a box truck I spotted a arcade cabinet at the curb. As I'm getting close I see the side and its Terminator 2! I stop the truck, see a guy in the back yard, flag him down and ask "Is this trash and does it work?" he says "Yeah it works but the guns don't vibrate anymore and I need the room in my garage" So into the back of the truck it went. I was lucky to A. find it and B. also happen to be driving a truck. Guns were easily fixed. The vibrator is a solenoid with a rubber tipped plunger mounted to an L shaped bracket made from stamped sheet metal. The plunger strikes the short length of the L and the bend takes the stress. Over the years the constant slapping broke the plate at the bend. I welded the plates back on adding two gusset strips on each side to brace them and the guns were back to vibrating. Still have it but hasn't been powered on in ages.
- markstos 3y agoAs someone who just bought 900 Pokémon cards at an unadvertised estate sale at a roadside Michigan blueberry stand, I can relate. We had just stopped by for blueberries. I happen to see a couple unlabeled sheets of paper tacked up in a corner with grainy scans of cards. I asked the old farmer if she has some for sale and she pulls out this massive binder of cards with many first edition and holo cards in very good condition… they were from her sister’s estate and she didn’t have time or interest to deal with them.
- aio2 3y agoI feel bad for her sister.
- Reubachi 3y agoI hope you offered the proper/perceived value for them, and not the "cardboard" price
- projektfu 3y agoI don't know, if someone wants to dump a whole lot on you, you should just take their asking price. They're not asking you to do a valuation. They won't feel the "loss". However, if you go through and tell them what every card is "worth", and buy a couple that you can afford, they will then feel bad if they ever part with them for less than their notional value.
- User23 3y agoMy conscience wouldn't let me do that. Don't get me wrong I'd be willing to accept a steep discount for the hassle of potentially grading and listing every card, the time it takes to sell, and the expectation that some won't move in a timely fashion, but I'm not gonna give someone $20 for $10,000 worth of merchandise just because they're ignorant.
- projektfu 3y agoWhat if you say, "you know, these cards can be worth a lot sometimes, is that going to bother you?". I mean, part of it is that you should also remain ignorant. If you see an expensive card on the first page, yeah, morally you're in a spot if you act like you didn't. But if you just assume that a collector has something of value, but you don't really go through it other than to make sure that it's actually all the same stuff, I think the terms are fine. Just so long as you're actually spinning the wheel as well. I'm reminded, though, of High Fidelity. There's a part of the book (maybe a deleted scene on the DVD as well) where Rob goes to buy a collection and he's seeing all these great items, first editions in pristine condition. The seller is a woman who is going through a divorce and doesn't need the money but her husband does, and he asked her to sell them for him, and she's trying to dump them for very low price to be mean. Rob can't bring himself to buy them, even though he wants some for his collection. So I get where you're coming from. I don't make as much money as I could because I don't fleece people, either. But there's times when people are asking for your expertise and times when they just want to move on, and everyone should be happy in the end.
- BashiBazouk 3y agoThat is a really nice find. I played this one extensively back in the day and it's one of the better games of the era but beyond that it's one of those games that really needs the custom controls. I got it set up on MAME but never found a control mapping that was pleasurable to play.
- acomjean 3y agoCustom controls make a huge difference. I remember playing the Atari "Assualt" tank game in college. It was fun. 2 joysticks, one for each tread (forward and back). You could roll the tank using the joysitcks left right together, or turn the tank up by pulling the joysticks apart. The fire button was on the joysticks. Sounds weird but was pretty intuitive. I tried it emulated, even with 2 analog sticks it wasn't the same. Tempest has the spinning nob. Centipede had the trackball. That sitdown helicopter game with the elevation control at your right hip. Or intellivision with that wierd 16 direction disc and the keypad. They don't work as well without. analog sticks help some (robotron for example). There is also the chance that memory of those games has given them a more rosy glow. For example I can't imagine grinding up ulitma3 levels today.. But I did so fairly happily in my youth.
- ryandrake 3y agoI feel the controls are an inseparable part of each game. Even if the original cabinet used generic buttons, the precise positions of those buttons are still important. That's why I never really got into MAME cabinets. Wiring up some game ROM to a "least common denominator" (or greatest common multiple) stick/button/ball layout is just unsatisfying and does not adequately replicate the experience of the original cabinet. That, and emulation is just not perfect, and you can often "feel" when you're playing through an emulator and not the OG electronics.
- RichardCA 3y agoI got it to work in an acceptable way with an 8BitDo Pro 2. I control the movement of "Tron" via the right stick and the aiming cursor with the left D-pad. The main thing I notice on the environmental version is the Sark voice acting, I still wonder if they actually got David Warner to do it. :)
- millerm 3y agoWow. Just wow. I am utterly envious.
- ryantgtg 3y agoI had a similar, though less impressive, find last year. I was going to the park with my daughter and spotted a pinball machine dumped near the entrance (in a couple pieces). I did a triple take and then immediately called a friend to help me. It was a Bally Midway Spy Hunter. Much of it was in decent condition, though it clearly had been outside for about a week. The issue was the previous owner had literally torn the backbox off of the cabinet, and had snipped the two bundles of wires connecting the two (at least 50 color coded wires). So it required woodwork to mount the backbox back on, and rewiring. It sat it my garage for a few months before I accepted that I wasn’t making progress and I gave it to a friend. Anyway, yeah, people dump this stuff! My hobby dev project is a pinball one, so it felt very serendipitous to find one sitting on the side of the road.
- flapjaxy 3y agoI always wonder, for rare games like this, do folks copy the firmware/ROM to preserve the software for others?
- blincoln 3y agoIt depends on the person who owns it and the expense/level of effort required. Some game collectors are motivated by the idea of owning something that no one else has. For decades, there were no preserved, shares versions of Marble Madness 2 available for that reason, but looks like that finally changed last year.[1] Akka Arrh was a similar case. If a collector is interested in preserving and sharing, there's still the expense/effort factor. For an arcade game, they need to buy (or find someone with) specialized equipment, and may need to desolder chips from the board. I.e. there's a non-zero chance of destroying a one-off artifact, even when performed by people with experience. The production ROMs for Discs of Tron have been preserved for quite awhile.[2] However, if this was a test machine, it would be neat for someone with the necessary gear to dump it and see if the code is different. [1] https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/05/after-30-years-the-world-can-now-play-the-lost-marble-madness-ii/ https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/05/after-30-years-the-wo... [2] e.g. http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/dettaglio_mame.php?game_name=dotrone&search_id= http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/dettaglio_mame.php?game_name=dot...
- jglamine 3y agoI just played this for the first time earlier this week! For anyone who lives in NYC, they have one at the Barcade on 24th st and 7th ave.
- butterisgood 3y agoUnbelievable find! I have fond memories of being a kid playing this and being horrible at it.
- elliottcarlson 3y agoNo where near as cool; but ages ago when I worked at Tumblr, and when we were expanding the office, they were going to throw out the MAME arcade cabinet - since I lived about 15 minutes walk away, I put it on a dolly with a coworker and we pushed that thing through Manhattan to my apartment building. Got some great looks from people as we tried to navigate it up and down curbs. Still have it over 8 years later sitting here in my home office.
- allenu 3y agoI have a similar story. I was working at Microsoft and part of the internal arcade alias. One day, somebody on there mentioned a team was moving buildings and had some arcade cabinets in their storage room that they had to get rid of, one of them being a Street Fighter II: CE cab. SF2 was my favorite arcade game as a kid, so I needed it. I asked how much and they said free. I got excited and quickly rounded up some coworkers, one with a truck, to go down to their building and "rescue" it. It ended up in my office and needed a few repairs. Over time, I learned how to do minor repairs here and there and even did a monitor tube swap (found an old CRT TV at Goodwill that became the donor). The thing is huge, so became a nuisance when I moved teams a few times. I got good at putting it on a dolly and transporting it myself from office to office. I left Microsoft years ago, but kept the machine and it's now sitting in my home office.
- acomjean 3y agoI was on one of those calls where you get a question you weren’t expecting.. Jorge: do you think a foosball table will fit in you Honda (element)? Me: I’ll take the back seats out and be right over. He was given the table when the office moved and only had room to move one of the tables. And it does fit.. barely.
- msie 3y agoAstounding find!!!
- nhggfu 3y agowow. sick
- shove 3y ago* ex-arcade bar owner here, weeping *
- post_break 3y agoThis just feels fishy to me. It’s too much of a coincidence for that cabinet, in that condition, to be found in this way. It very well might have been such a crazy event, but without the backstory of who owned it and how it was acquired I’ll be skeptical. I’m not saying this was done as a stunt, just that for me it doesn’t pass the sniff test.