40 votes

Rare and working Discs Of Tron arcade cabinet rescued after being left out for trash pickup

7 comments

  1. boredop
    Link
    A holy grail Discs Of Tron arcade cabinet was left out on the curb in the suburbs of Chicago. In an amazing coincidence, it was just a few blocks away from an arcade historian who is currently...

    A holy grail Discs Of Tron arcade cabinet was left out on the curb in the suburbs of Chicago. In an amazing coincidence, it was just a few blocks away from an arcade historian who is currently curating an exhibit about Tron. The article tells the story with some cool photos.

    11 votes
  2. Alanh02
    Link
    What a great article and what a lucky find

    What a great article and what a lucky find

    4 votes
  3. [6]
    Comment removed by site admin
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    1. [3]
      jago
      Link Parent
      Labelling the woman who discarded this great find an "idiot" is ungracious. We don't know her. It may be accurate, for all we know she habitually takes 37 hasty and uninformed actions before...
      • Exemplary

      Labelling the woman who discarded this great find an "idiot" is ungracious. We don't know her. It may be accurate, for all we know she habitually takes 37 hasty and uninformed actions before breakfast, but it's surely more kind to say that she was either ignorant of, or uninterested in, the item's value?

      Article says,

      she wanted to get shot of it. Tim was welcome to take it away for free, but she didn’t really want to discuss the machine’s provenance

      Perhaps there were painful memories associated with this closet-sized construct that had occupied space in her home for far longer than she'd wanted, but had been hitherto unable to rid herself of? And once she had found means of removing it to the roadside, she wanted it to just disappear, damn the niceties of where it would go, and how it would go, just as long as it isn't here anymore.

      Of course that's not a responsible and rational way to deal with an item like this. The trash collector's tag instructing a "BREAK DOWN" recommends a bare minimum of effort that should be obvious to the average tax payer, outside of privately paid trash collection. But we can't know the capacity for responsibility and rationality at play here. (Dare I suggest that a breakdown might be what put this beautiful piece of history on the curbside in the first place?)

      I'm most impressed at the subtext after the comment that the woman "didn't really want to discuss the machine’s provenance." There's no suggestion that the conversation progressed into discovering the value that the item might represent. Nope, just essentially, 'Okay, you don't want to talk about why you have it, or are throwing it away, fine. (As much as that info could be of interest to the future, I'll respect that and) I'll just take it out of your driveway, then. G'day!'

      The guy knew when to take "Take it" as an answer.

      12 votes
      1. [2]
        godzilla_lives
        Link Parent
        You summed up my thoughts to the T. Just because something may be technically worth thousands of dollars doesn't mean that it can be easily sold. It's a giant arcade cabinet, I'm imagining some...

        You summed up my thoughts to the T. Just because something may be technically worth thousands of dollars doesn't mean that it can be easily sold. It's a giant arcade cabinet, I'm imagining some aging or elderly woman who inherited it one way or another and essentially said screw it, get it out of here. It's likely that as far as she's concerned, she was just provided a free disposable service.

        But man, I am jealous. Why can't I have people throwing away beautiful arcade cabinets in my neighborhood?

        I guess my old 12-in-1 will do for now. But a man can dream.

        5 votes
        1. NoblePath
          Link Parent
          Dreams are dangerous. You may one day find an abandoned Polybius game beside the road…

          Dreams are dangerous. You may one day find an abandoned Polybius game beside the road…

          2 votes
    2. [2]
      Astrospud
      Link Parent
      Her throwing this thing out makes me wonder about the other treasures that garbagemen everywhere must stumble upon and, even worse, have to throw out because they have a schedule to follow and...

      Her throwing this thing out makes me wonder about the other treasures that garbagemen everywhere must stumble upon and, even worse, have to throw out because they have a schedule to follow and probably can't leave there to come back and retrieve at a later time.

      5 votes
      1. [2]
        Comment removed by site admin
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        1. godzilla_lives
          Link Parent
          Lol, I just moved apartments and I can't tell you how many items I set by the dumpster (several feet away, in the grass). Clear indicator that this is curbed, take it, it's yours. "No I don't need...

          He said that if you have something you want to get rid of that the trash services won't take to just "set it out there and put a sign on it that says $10 dollars or best offer and it'll be gone by morning".

          Lol, I just moved apartments and I can't tell you how many items I set by the dumpster (several feet away, in the grass). Clear indicator that this is curbed, take it, it's yours.

          "No I don't need this old random piece of furniture from the 80s, but I'm sure someone does!"Reduce, reuse, recycle, in that order yeah?

          3 votes