Re: Brians Own Thread

By the way, I thought I'd add that the basis of this whole thread was some
unhappy cheapass that got pissed off he couldn't buy a nearly complete Joust
for $40. This guy is so upset about this that after nearly 3 years he's
still got a hard on about it. Do you really think anybody gives a real ***
about $40 lousy dollars enough to waste an afternoon with a newbie ***
that acts like the world owes him something? Funny thing is that I actually
had a complete non working Joust that I offered to sell this *** for
$250 at the time but he was too cheap to buy it. He didn't even bring enough
money with him to buy the additional parts he expected to be given for free.
That's why we had to go across the street to the ATM. Good old Todd didn't
have any money in hos wallet at the time. More of me wasting time on a
newbie jerkoff. Next time Todd, bring some real $$$. Better yet, why don't
you just buy a Joust already instead of admitting that after 3 years you
STILL haven't got yours done yet! Still trying to pinch the old penny huh
Todd! Cheapass.

Brian


<todd1814@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1181014467.192460.44170@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I don't think the OP of "Can I Get Some Advice" deserved to have his
thread hijacked so I figured I'd give Brian his own thread. I'm sure
he'll get a woody from it anyway. I tried to hold my tongue on the
original thread but Brian's arrogance demonstrates an obvious lack of
humility. Anyone who's been served a heaping helping of humble pie
knows that it's a hard dish to swallow, but I think Brian's turn is
long due. So here's my one and only experience with him.



I met Brian in August of 2004 when I bought a Joust cabinet from him
(http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.video.arcade.collecting/
browse_thread/thread/6964050ab513304c/8d4be2e5161be93f?lnk=gst&q=brian
+adkins+joust&rnum=12#8d4be2e5161be93f). It was one of those
horrible, uncomfortable experiences you'd rather just forget. I
offered him $40 for the cabinet, he accepted and I drove several hours
to pick it up. When I got there, Brian rambled on about his wife
leaving him for some other guy and taking his daughters to Florida. I
wasn't sure what I was supposed to say but put up with it because I
wanted the cabinet. It was obvious that Brian was really unhappy and
had regretted putting his game collection over his family. He also
seemed to be obsessed with games. Obsessed in a really unhealthy
way. Eventually Brian told me the story of how this was his first
Joust machine. How he and his family worked on it together and that
he didn't want to get rid of it. I was pretty sure he was about to
start crying over it or maybe he already was. I couldn't really tell
but it was an aweful experience for me. I didn't know if Brian was
trying to solicit more money or have me feel sorry for him. I only
knew that I was getting more uncomfortable with this guy every
minute. What aggravated me most about the deal was that Brian
proceeded to remove parts from the cabinet while I stood there and
then offered to sell them back to me. For example, he removed the
glass bezel and set it aside. Then he offered to sell it to me for an
extra $40. He also removed the coin door and didn't include the
control panel. This wasn't cool but I was buying the cabinet to
restore and more than anything I just wanted to get away from him.
After an hour of listening to Brian sob about his family and losing
his machine, he followed me across the street to an ATM so I could get
extra cash to buy the bezel. I paid him and spent another 15 minutes
hearing the same story about his wife leaving him. During this
conversation he kept touching the cabinet in the back of my truck,
looking at it and explaining how excited his kids were when they
stripped the paint off to find artwork underneath. Really sad but
also really creepy. I felt like I was adopting the guys dog or taking
away one of his kids. I finally had to just say a quick "OK, I've
gotta go" and jumped in my truck. While driving off Brian suggested
that he might want to buy the game back after I finsihed restoring
it. I thought "Yah, fucking right". I remember getting onto the
interstate, pushing the accelerator to the floor and looking in the
rear view mirror to make sure he wasn't following me. I shouted the
words "Oh my God" and "Holy ***" over and over while working my way
up to 90 mph. Might have thrown "What The ***" in there a few times
too. Truly the freakiest experience I've ever had with a collector.



I'm still working on restoring the Joust cabinet that I picked up from
Brian. Within 30 days of buying the cabinet he put the control panel
up for sale on e-bay. I thought it was sort of funny but decided not
to bid on "my" control panel. That is, the panel that he took from
the machine he sold me. I've since bought a control panel from
Brian's brother Ken. I also bought a set of boards that I fixed,
built a wiring harness from scratch and stripped and filled the
cabinet that was supposedly "perfect". The corners were brittle and
broke off when we loaded the cabinet. I replaced those with new
wood. Brian had also painted the sides black (eggshell black) and
said he was about to put Joust artwork over that. He gave me a photo
of the cabinet as he had previously restored it. Yup, Joust artwork
over black sides. Never mind that they're supposed to be brown.
Brian didn't quite believe me when I told him that.



I might actually finish my Joust project this year. I don't care if
it's not the original paint. I enjoy restoring games; painting,
fixing wood, wiring, electronics, artwork and everything else that
goes along with it. I don't play them all that much. Mostly when I'm
having a few drinks. I don't care which games Brian has decided are
"classics" and which are not worthy of collecting. There are more
ways of being a collector than the Brian Adkins way.



My judgement of Brian's hostility is that he still has regret for the
loss of his family and putting his collection ahead of them. I would
also say he feels slighted at the dwindling value of the games he's
put so much into. Perhaps his games are the only thing he has left to
lose and he can see the value of those slipping by.



FWIW: I'm not a psychotherapist - but I did stay at a Holiday Inn
Express once.



Regardless, I dislike Brian's rant about how other people should or
shouldn't collect games. I thought about posting my experience with
him in the past (because it freaked me out so much) but thought I'd
just keep it to myself. Call it sympathy. Given his attitude in this
thread I no longer have any sympathy for him.



.