Last night the legend in the world of LaserDiscs and arcade restorer extraordinaire Jeff Kinder was kind enough to open up his epic home arcade to the NJ Arcade Collectors group for a gathering.
Check this place out! Super skilled in the world of woodworking and restoration, the games in Jeff’s collection are absolutely immaculate. The control panel overlays are as smooth as a baby’s bottom. It’s as if these games just rolled off the factory floor. There isn’t enough superlatives to describe their condition.
Beyond their great condition, some of these games are super rare. There was a dedicated 1983 Atari Major Havoc, a dedicated 1982 Atari Quantum and a huge row of Atari System 1 cabinets, that included a rarely seen 1985 Road Runner. This has to be the best collection of classic Atari games that I have ever personally seen.
As I mentioned, Jeff has been very active in the LaserDisc game scene over the years so of course he had dedicated versions of the Cinematronics classics Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace, featuring iconic Don Bluth animations. Next to those two was a game that I had never personally seen before…RDI Video Systems’ LaserDisc game Thayer’s Quest. That’s probably the only one of those that I’ll ever see in my lifetime.
Everywhere one turns there’s something amazing to see, a row of vector games here, a row of Donkey Kongs including a custom Donkey Kong 2 cabinet, there. Track and Field next to Hyper Sports. Punch-Out! next to Super Punch-Out. A solid group of pinball machines, including Whirlwind, Fun House and Black Knight 2000. A hidden passage way leading to a TRON.
What a collection! It was an honor to have been able to see it and play a few. Thanks to Jeff for hosting. If anyone is within driving distance of New Jersey and they have a home arcade they’re interested in sharing, I’d love to check it out. Let me know.
Thanks for reading and if you’re interested in this sort of thing, make sure to check out the archives of all of my trips to arcades over on the new website www.KnappArcade.org
