I have to credit local arcade collector Todd for getting be back into the hobby. I introduced Todd to collecting back when I had 2 games in 1997. The picture is Todd and my daughter Samantha. I left state for a few years and when I came back I found out Todd had a small basement arcade going on in his first house.

Seeing his setup at the time gave me the collecting bug and my collection started to grow again. Nowadays, both myself and Todd have moved to bigger houses where our bulging collections reside.

Ever since I bought my Hydro Thunder last year, I had intentions of moving it into the main lineup of drivers instead hanging on the other side of that monster Sega Rally Championship deluxe. However, the concept of moving around all those drivers was not that appealing to me with each one weighing in around 700 pounds. Today was the day I finally polished off the row. It took a a few hours but I finally moved everything into place. I'm digging the lineup with all those steering wheels next to each other, and then the dual linked Vapor TRX's on the end. Racers, start your engines!

It was bound to happen. I was going to pick up a game in 2012. It wasn't a maybe, it was a when...and the when was now. So I have a Terminator 2 game from Midway. This game is known as a rail shooter, where the guns are fixed at a point and use positional sensing to determine where the gun crosshairs are. The guns also boast some amazing kick back. That is a rat-a-tat-tat sound when squeezing the trigger. During gamedays my T2 gets lots of dual action play. I like games that get played in my arcade. Now Midway's sequel rail shooter to Terminator 2 was a game called Revolution X.

I am a child of the 80's and I must say that THIS GAME IS AMAZING. Revolution X is probably the second arcade game to ever feature a band, the first one being Journey. Now what band is featured in Revolution X? How about some Aerosmith! Steven Tyler, Aerosmith, Dude Looks Like A Lady, Sweet Emotion, Love In An Elevator, and the list goes on and on. I saw this band in concert probably 4 different times during my younger years.

So back to the game. This game is centered around Aerosmith, and features looped tracks from the band. It comes in a dual player version, and also a deluxe 3 player action. I was lucky enough to stumble upon this non-working deluxe version for the right price. So with a deluxe 3 player Revolution X ready for the picking, this called for the first road trip of 2012. Lock and Load! Click here to read about the Revolution X road trip.

Recently I had the opportunity to visit a local collector's arcade out in Fulton, MO. Keith has a nice collection of pinballs and arcade games. I definitely spent some time on the Xenon and Elvira pinball games as pinballs are something I still want to add to my collection. The tricked out Space Zap game was a beautiful sight and I also had to try my hand at Satan's Hollow as it is a counterpart to my very own Tron.

Although the Atari and Sega brands still exist, they don't carry the same presence today as Playstation, Xbox and even Nintendo. That being said, it is impossible to find Atari and Sega related signs. Today the Vintage Vault received a Sega neon sign. Neon signs are the perfect arcade ambience. I fondly remember my Genesis game system and Sonic the Hedgehog. Sega and Sonic go hand in hand. Although I have since sold my Sega Outrun and Afterburner games, I still own a Sega Crazy Taxi, Sega Rally Championship Deluxe and Emergency Call Ambulance. That being said, the new Sega neon sign proudly hangs above the Crazy Taxi game on drivers row, where the Sega driving games are currently located. Arcades and Neons, go together like ice cream and cake. Check it out!

Days after everyone unwrapped their Christmas presents a few families came out to enjoy the arcade. Kids were still on Christmas break, and I was still on Christmas vacation. Of course I was able to capture a few snapshots of the fun before everyone went back to the bump and grind of 2012.

 

With the new year beginning, it's time to reflect on the last year of collecting. The year 2011 brought in a few new games into the Video Vault. The year's totals leave us with 7 new games that have made their home in the arcade. I managed to grab several games that were on my want list so I've been happy with my pickups. Probably the most memorable moments are the double pickup of a Sinistar and a Terminator 2 right after a 10 inch snow storm (thank God for Hemi's and a 4 wheel drive) , the movie theater outing and RoadBurners pickup and the the best piece in my entire collection, a HUO Tron. Ah....memories....

Starting with the beginning of last year, we have Terminator 2, Sinistar, Narc, Robotron, Road Burners, Hyrdothunder, Megatouch Maxx Crown, and Tron. I seriously don't have any space left. Yes, the year 2011 has been good. I may be 2 weeks late with this posting, but on that note, Happy New Years everybody!