Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)
For those of you who watch the show Extreme Home Makeover, you’ll get
a kick out of this. Currently, they are filming here in Kansas City,
MO. The house belongs to a local hero fire fighter who last year
pulled a downed EMS medic to safety during a sniper shootout situation.
He has 5 kids, and lived in a smaller brick home. Well, they tore the
home down completely, and started from scratch. The site has been
CRAZY with onlookers; streets were closed, parking has been terrible,
and the masses have flooded to the location just to catch a glimpse of
the show being filmed. Today is the day the family comes home, and the
house is returned to them. So, last night, my wife convinced me to take
her and the kids over there to see what’s going on. For my interest
in arcade related equipment, the timing was impeccable. We made our
way to the fenced off area to catch a glimpse of whatever we could.
The closest we could get was across the street in front of the
neighbor’s house, but that was plenty close enough to see everything
happening. Being that it was down to the wire, Ty was out front doing
his typical yelling into the megaphone thing. Lots of volunteer folks
in blue shirts carrying furnishings into the house. Ty made a high
five run down the front edge of the crowd, while everyone was hooting
and hollering. Michael, Constance, Ed, and the blonde with the pink
tool belt (currently can’t think, it’s early) all were helping haul
in the goodies. The first thing I noticed were two Amini’s Galleria
trucks in the driveway. Amini’s is a high-priced game room supplier
here in town, which caters typically to the wealthy. They advertise on
TV with video games an pinballs priced typically 2 to 3 times what you
see them sell for on ebay, let alone local auctions. Anyway, my own
opinions aside, we arrived just in time to see the moving crew unload
the machines for the new game room in the house. I presume some of the
machines will at least get a cameo appearance on the TV show, and the
cameraman was actively shooting the scene. I watched them haul in what
appeared to be a Caveman pinball machine (or at least it sure looked
like one from the side), a TomCat F-14 (this one I’m sure of), an air
hockey table, a shufflebowler (had to go through a basement window to
get it in), an UR 1943 in a cut corner dynamo cabinet, a Captain
America in a data east type cabinet, and finally an Aliens conversion,
that was in a nintendo over/under PC-10 style cabinet. The machines
looked to be in pretty good shape, and while the choices seemed a
little odd, it was nice to see them going for a good cause. I started
thinking myself how neat it would be to have been able to donate a
machine for the project. Seeing the faces of those kids at the reveal
would make it all worth it. For what it is worth, we chose the perfect
time to visit. The house was nearly complete, the stars were all on
location, and the furnishings were all being delivered. SEARS had
pulled up with a truck load of small appliances, and electronics. An
enterprise rent-a-van pulled up filled with groceries, and of course,
the Aminis’ trucks were there, along with some landscaping
deliveries, etc. I felt obligated to share the story, because of the
coincidence of my sightings. All week long they were here, I randomly
chose one hour to stop by and visit, and as luck would have it, the
game room furnishings arrived simultaneously. BTW, they say the show
will air in approximately 6 weeks, which would put it right around
mid-May. Oh, and if somehow I got in a TV shot (they did pan the
audience), I’m the guy holding a pair of red-headed boys, 2 years old
(twins), and my wife is next to me with our four year old daughter on
her hip. ïŠ
For those of you who watch the show Extreme Home Makeover, you’ll get
a kick out of this. Currently, they are filming here in Kansas City,
MO. The house belongs to a local hero fire fighter who last year
pulled a downed EMS medic to safety during a sniper shootout situation.
He has 5 kids, and lived in a smaller brick home. Well, they tore the
home down completely, and started from scratch. The site has been
CRAZY with onlookers; streets were closed, parking has been terrible,
and the masses have flooded to the location just to catch a glimpse of
the show being filmed. Today is the day the family comes home, and the
house is returned to them. So, last night, my wife convinced me to take
her and the kids over there to see what’s going on. For my interest
in arcade related equipment, the timing was impeccable. We made our
way to the fenced off area to catch a glimpse of whatever we could.
The closest we could get was across the street in front of the
neighbor’s house, but that was plenty close enough to see everything
happening. Being that it was down to the wire, Ty was out front doing
his typical yelling into the megaphone thing. Lots of volunteer folks
in blue shirts carrying furnishings into the house. Ty made a high
five run down the front edge of the crowd, while everyone was hooting
and hollering. Michael, Constance, Ed, and the blonde with the pink
tool belt (currently can’t think, it’s early) all were helping haul
in the goodies. The first thing I noticed were two Amini’s Galleria
trucks in the driveway. Amini’s is a high-priced game room supplier
here in town, which caters typically to the wealthy. They advertise on
TV with video games an pinballs priced typically 2 to 3 times what you
see them sell for on ebay, let alone local auctions. Anyway, my own
opinions aside, we arrived just in time to see the moving crew unload
the machines for the new game room in the house. I presume some of the
machines will at least get a cameo appearance on the TV show, and the
cameraman was actively shooting the scene. I watched them haul in what
appeared to be a Caveman pinball machine (or at least it sure looked
like one from the side), a TomCat F-14 (this one I’m sure of), an air
hockey table, a shufflebowler (had to go through a basement window to
get it in), an UR 1943 in a cut corner dynamo cabinet, a Captain
America in a data east type cabinet, and finally an Aliens conversion,
that was in a nintendo over/under PC-10 style cabinet. The machines
looked to be in pretty good shape, and while the choices seemed a
little odd, it was nice to see them going for a good cause. I started
thinking myself how neat it would be to have been able to donate a
machine for the project. Seeing the faces of those kids at the reveal
would make it all worth it. For what it is worth, we chose the perfect
time to visit. The house was nearly complete, the stars were all on
location, and the furnishings were all being delivered. SEARS had
pulled up with a truck load of small appliances, and electronics. An
enterprise rent-a-van pulled up filled with groceries, and of course,
the Aminis’ trucks were there, along with some landscaping
deliveries, etc. I felt obligated to share the story, because of the
coincidence of my sightings. All week long they were here, I randomly
chose one hour to stop by and visit, and as luck would have it, the
game room furnishings arrived simultaneously. BTW, they say the show
will air in approximately 6 weeks, which would put it right around
mid-May. Oh, and if somehow I got in a TV shot (they did pan the
audience), I’m the guy holding a pair of red-headed boys, 2 years old
(twins), and my wife is next to me with our four year old daughter on
her hip. ïŠ
Check out the link below, which includes 20+ pictures and some
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