Dragon's Lair cpo and sideart

Namfreak from the DragonsLairFans forum was selling a Dragon's Lair cpo and a sideart set on eBay, and I was thrilled to see that the cpo evidently wasn't pierced. The problem with owning an European Dragon's Lair cab (besides the obvious lack of spare parts) is that the US control panels were a bit different, so the holes don't line up. I had been looking at QuarterArcade's reproduction, but they sadly don't sell them without the holes pre-cut. 

Namfreak mentioned in the auction listing that the cpo "was produced by Arcade Renovations / QuarterArcade". RotheBlog's extensive list of reproduction artwork shows that Arcade Renovations ran a batch of these in 2001, and I was hoping that these were without the holes. I'll be honest and say that I was willing to pay almost anything for the cpo as the auction came to an end. Luckily I ended up with a price quite close to QuarterArcade's.

eBay picture

Alas my hope was shattered after the auction when I got the info from Namfreak. "However, this CPO still has the little circles intact where it has been cut out for the buttons, so keep them safe!". Why didn't I ask him before bidding? I guess this means I have to custom create a US control panel. It doesn't matter much, though. The original control panel is completely ruined and drilled anyway.

The sideart auction mentioned that "I have kept these stored flat all these years and I would ship them similarly", but Namfreak wanted to ship them rolled. I was a bit sceptical, but I figured it would be ok.

eBay picture

I received the sideart some days later, and I was not very happy to see the result. When laying them flat after removing them from the tube, they curled up and the decal lifted from the backing paper. I feared that this would weaken the adhesive, especially as I don't plan to apply them before sometime next year, so I asked the seller for a partial refund. He would be happy to issue a full refund if I returned the sideart, but assured me that everything would be ok once I stick them to the cab.

I choose to trust him, as a fellow Dragon's Lair fan, and I'm crossing my fingers that they will still be good next year.

The sideart decals laying on my table

eBay picture

But where was the cpo? He assured me that they were shipped at the same time, but I hadn't received it even one week after the sidearts arrived.

I got the answer the same day I was going to holiday, when I got a notice from the Norwegian Post saying that I would need to declare a value for the parcel for customs purposes. It turned out Namfreak had forgotten that we agreed to add a value to the parcels and mark them as gifts.

I quickly notified the Post that the cpo was indeed a gift, and just a sticker with low value, hoping for the best.

One week later, it was waiting for me in the mail as I returned home. Namfreak did a great job of packing it, sandwitched between layers of sturdy cardboard. It looks great!

eBay picture

We had some bad luck and misunderstandings with these, but all in all it turned out ok. I am looking forward to restoring the Dragon's Lair, but I need to get it working first.