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Craigslist seller's poignant story of his Pac-Man cabinet, and why it's for sale

B

BluePigGanon

Member
Right off the bat: seller isn't me. I also didn't know if it should be here or in off-topic, sorry if I called it wrong.

This guy is selling his Pac-Man arcade unit (actually Hangly-Man), and in the description he shares the story of his time with the cab and why he's selling it. I thought it was touching, worth a read...

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/ele/4192120473.html

The opening:

This is the big one: my Pac-Man machine. As I was being born, this 1981 stand-up cabinet and thing of analog beauty was rolling off the assembly line. Removed in great shape from its one-time home in Coney Island, it's made its way across three different states, five different apartments (three of them upstairs), and emerged from numerous house parties unscathed. The spring-action click of the power button, the low hum of the CRT monitor, the crackles of warm static ... it will make the hair on your knuckles stand up the first time you fire it up. It's exactly as awesome to own as you always thought it would be. If you're still reading this, that's because you never wanted a Harley in your mid-to-late thirties: you wanted an arcade machine. And you wanted The King of classic arcade machines. You wanted a Pac-Man.
Click to expand...

Later on:

My wife eventually moved out to the city, and things became strained for reasons that are mostly my fault. I knew I was now a completely different person, long gone from the 23 year old I used to be. We couldn't bear to split up the cats, so she insisted I take both Champ and Cricket (a recent adoption) and I felt guilty about that every single day after the divorce. It's a little funny now: the lawyer's papers actually say "Husband to receive Pac-Man Machine, wife to receive PS3...". We didn't own any property. We owned toys. We never had any kids. We had cats.
Click to expand...
 
N

No Love

Banned
Wow. I'd buy that just because the story alone is incredible. That needs to be on Best of Craigslist FOREVER.
 
E

Elija2

Member
Damn, something about that story really gets to me. Especially how he considers the little graffiti on the cabinet to give it character and history. The guy could have written a generic ad, but he ended up writing a magnificent story because the cabinet meant so much to him (and now means too much). I hope the new owner will respect the cabinet as much as he did.
 
M

matthwq

Banned
Elija2 said:
Damn, something about that story really gets to me. Especially how he considers the little graffiti on the cabinet to give it character and history. The guy could have written a generic ad, but he ended up writing a magnificent story because the cabinet meant so much to him (and now means too much). I hope the new owner will respect the cabinet as much as he did.
Click to expand...

Seriously, the ad in whole is just really lovely, and poignant. A bit teary eyed, I'll admit.
 
T

tokyostomp

Banned
This did not move me at all. In fact I was angered at his story. I felt it was unnecessary to hear it. The cat part had me playing the world's smallest violin.

Am I a robot who can only feel anger and disappointment towards humans?
 
C

criesofthepast

Member
I feel like replying to the ad and giving the dude the biggest bro e-hug I can give. Really great story. Hope I have a house big enough one day to put a pacman cabinet in. My girl LOVES pacman. Would be a sweet gift.
 
D

Deleted member 13876

Unconfirmed Member
tokyostomp said:
This did not move me at all. In fact I was angered at his story. I felt it was unnecessary to hear it. The cat part had me playing the world's smallest violin.

Am I a robot who can only feel anger and disappointment towards humans?
Click to expand...

Affirmative.
 
C

Colby

Member
Hey, I live like 5 minutes from this guy. If I had the money, I would totally buy this as my first arcade machine. My cat is also a five-lettered C word (my username) who sleeps on top of my Wii U. It's like destiny or something.

What a cool story.
 
K

kirblar

Member
Colby said:
Hey, I live like 5 minutes from this guy. If I had the money, I would totally buy this as my first arcade machine. My cat is also a five-lettered C word (my username) who sleeps on top of my Wii U. It's like destiny or something.

What a cool story.
Click to expand...
One of our cats uses the PS3 as its bed. They love warm things.
 
S

system11

Member
riskVSreward said:
A bootleg Pac-Man can't be worth more than $400.
Click to expand...

Cabinet is original, that's most of the value in the machine since the boards are easy to get hold of. Unfortunately however, he's allowed his friends to write all over it. Graffitti does not add value, it's one of the most hated aspects of arcade collecting.
 
A

Arcayne

Member
I really appreciate the style he chose to write as his ad; its almost a personal narrative or diary page directed from him to you. Sharing his-story on the arcade cabinet was depressing yet enriching. I hope he finds a good owner that will treat that cabinet with the care and respect he gave it.

... damn that is a good ad.
 
S

spliced

Member
Huh, I don't see what his story had to do with the Pac-Man Game. Seems like he's trying to pull at the heartstrings to get more money.
 
S

SatoAilDarko

Member
I can't help but feel this is manufactured somehow. All the extra flourishes like how his old friends went on to be great, how he ropes in the same guy to move don't really add the story of the machine as much as the general writing of this narrative. It's well written but I can't wrap my head around soneone who would write such a well-done story for an ad. I guess I'm skeptical.
 
L

LaserHawk

Member
system11 said:
Cabinet is original, that's most of the value in the machine since the boards are easy to get hold of. Unfortunately however, he's allowed his friends to write all over it. Graffitti does not add value, it's one of the most hated aspects of arcade collecting.
Click to expand...

That graffiiti really IS a shame! I would never have allowed friends to that. From the photos it looks like everything else is in great shape.

I have a Pac-Man arcade machine in my basement, and when I first bought it, somebody had scratched the word "FUEL" into the bezel, right in view of all the gameplay. It was really disappointing. I had a new bezel created just to replace it.
 
C

CaptainSlow

Member
If I had a lot of money I'd show up to his house to buy it and after I hand him the cash I'd tell him keep the cabinet and thank him for the awesome story.
 
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