The date? November 11th, 2000. The time? 5:15 am. The sound? The annoying *BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ* of my alarm clock. The reason? A gigantic arcade auction being held in Timonium, Maryland with the possibility of finding some cool piece of arcade history for really cheap. This is my third auction, and I am by no means an expert just yet. My first auction was four years ago, when a local arcade closed its doors after 18 years in the business. I was a little intimidated, and I didn’t bid on anything. The second auction, also in Timonium, was last November. I went with intent to buy, but was outbid on every piece I wanted. I left in a foul mood. This time will be different. Why? Because I am going WITHOUT the intent to buy. I am going to look around, network with other collectors, play some old games for free, and just enjoy the experience. Plus, I’ve promised Seleen that I won’t clog up the house with more games. I have six machines in our game room, and room for no more. But that doesn’t eliminate the possibility of bidding on parts or motherboards!
6:45 am. This is a wacky sight. Here I am, sitting on the stairs leading into my friend Bill’s basement, eating a medium well steak. At a QUARTER TO SEVEN in the morning! Prime steak eatin’ time if you ask me! Bill is a long time friend who just started to collect arcade games within the past year. He’s gotten some incredible deals and some great games in that time, but he’s never been to an auction before. Right now, he’s on the internet, checking last minute info like directions and entry fees and stuff like that. Oh yeah, why a steak? Bill didn’t have anything else in the house as he needed to go to the grocery store. He cooked half for himself, and the other half for me. I don’t care, it tastes great! – Read the rest of the article here from Classic Gamer Magazine (courtesy of Old School Gamer)!
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