Donkey Kong cocktail

May and June have been extremely busy for me, so I didn't have much time for this hobby. That is, until now!

I was visiting a customer when I got a phone call from a friend, saying that an original Donkey Kong cab had been spotted at a local auction. I obviously wasn't free to talk there and then, but I called him up immidiately after leaving the customer.

I must admit that I didn't really believe him. People tend to say things like "an original blablah" when it's just some brown veneered generic JAMMA cab with a bootleg board. Still, we decided to visit the auction, which was being held the very same afternoon.

Sure enough, it was an original Donkey Kong. But not the upright I expected, it was a cocktail! Never in my wildest dreams had I thought that I would find something like this just a 5 minutes drive from home.

After sitting through hundreds of useless items, from silverware to old cassette tapes, the time had finally come to the DK. My pulse must have been close to 200 when the auctioneer announced it, and asked if anyone was willing to pay the mimimum price. I raised my hand, and feared that someone else would also start bidding. Much to my surprise, no-one did. It seemed like an eternity before the club hit the table, and I was the happy owner of one of my favourite games!

As I paid (what I find a very reasonable sum), the seller told me it was working, and that it had previously been on route in my home town. This was the first game machine they ever sold at this auction house.

I wish they had more of them! Donkey Kong came from a very big and well-known op, and they surely must have had hundreds of arcade machines.

The monitor was a bit weak in the beginning, but now it's close to perfect. The whole cabinet is in quite good shape. One of the balltops has been changed, and some buttons are missing. Luckily, it's all available online.

I know that the vectorized instructions are available for free, but I found someone selling them on eBay. It's cheaper than what I could have made locally, so I ordered a set yesterday.

My wife is away on holiday for six weeks, but I guess she will find out eventually. Honey, if you are reading this, it's not mine. I'm just keeping it for a friend! :-)