73 replies to this topic

[Anders Ooooo]

The Last Chance Mercantile in Marina, California (part of the Marina landfill) received a bunch of the 1st generation Battletech pods. If you have the transportation, you can get one for next to nothing and they'll even load it up for you.





I just bought one and am fixing it up with brand new hardware. I definitely wouldn't expect these will to plug in and start working (though the computer boards seem to be in perfectly good shape) but to anyone handy with electronics, this would be a really fun project for building a amazing gaming rig. I hope some people take an interest in this as I'd hate to see any of these machines just end up destroyed.

[ZIM]

Oh the memories! I was running in those in Chicago way back when. They even had me in the intro video once, before they hired actors. Too bad I'm thousands of miles away from those, would love to grab a pair.

[CeeKay Boques]

"Somewhere near Salinas, I let her slip a way... she's looking for that home I hope she finds it..."

[thelasttrueborn]

Can i pay to have one held for about a month, i might be able to get someone over there to pick one up for me.
any idea how much those original pods cost?

Phone number i can call, email, something?

[Anders Ooooo]

ZIM, on 11 October 2012 - 07:36 AM, said:

Oh the memories! I was running in those in Chicago way back when. They even had me in the intro video once, before they hired actors. Too bad I'm thousands of miles away from those, would love to grab a pair.

Very nice! Sadly I missed an opportunity to ever get to play on these but I expect I'll be soon able to make up for lost time.

[walkingraven]

Today I could, but the wife would rend my mortal soul into tiny little shreds. And I'd probably lose my job. Fate taunts me again. I wonder if these were that same units on "just get them" sale several months back. Must have been a year and a half now.

[Cybermastif]

Too far from Ohio, else I would be all over that.

[Elistaire Drummond]

Too far from Michelstadt, Hessen. You are blessed of having acces to these things. Even I know them from some reports in magazines. Don´t let them rot!

[Anders Ooooo]

thelasttrueborn, on 11 October 2012 - 07:56 AM, said:

Can i pay to have one held for about a month, i might be able to get someone over there to pick one up for me.
any idea how much those original pods cost?

Phone number i can call, email, something?

I don't know how long they will keep these in the yard but here is the website for the store.

http://www.mrwmd.org...-mercantile.htm

Most of them are missing side panels and CRTs, or the door is broken off. I would *not* buy one unless I planned to revamp into a new PC gaming rig. What is cool is that *it seems* that most of the panel functionality: joystick, throttle, buttons, LEDs, etc, go to a simple 8-bit controller board that talks to the main gaming CPU over RS232. This means you could install a new PC and some new flat screens in place of the old hardware, and with a bit of software, have the coolest gaming controller on the planet for cheaper than a Logitech Sidewinder.

Paul

[HSSG MaddogK]

ZIM, on 11 October 2012 - 07:36 AM, said:

Oh the memories! I was running in those in Chicago way back when. They even had me in the intro video once, before they hired actors. Too bad I'm thousands of miles away from those, would love to grab a pair.

Heh, prolly fought you back then, sheesh my BTC card is still in my wallet. Yup, those pods are just as I remember them.

[Atlessa]

Elistaire Drummond, on 11 October 2012 - 08:09 AM, said:

Too far from Michelstadt, Hessen. You are blessed of having acces to these things. Even I know them from some reports in magazines. Don´t let them rot!

Also a little too far from Heinsberg, NRW. (germany) :-/
Guess I'll have to build one from scratch some day.

[SmithMPBT]

I remember dreaming of these back in the early 90's. It's a shame to see them in such disrepair.

[wussie]

ZIM, on 11 October 2012 - 07:36 AM, said:

Oh the memories! I was running in those in Chicago way back when. They even had me in the intro video once, before they hired actors. Too bad I'm thousands of miles away from those, would love to grab a pair.

I'll go halves on the gas with you if you want to share the trip I too remember playing these at North Pier Terminal back in the day.

[NeonKnight]

Wish I even had the room to put one....wife's mother is coming from Korea soon, and she keeps asking me if I have any trips to go to the states for a while....worried because I don;t speak Korean and her mother doesn't speak english and I will start my two month vacation in 3 weeks we'd have nothing to talk about and i'd be home all day...

Seeing as how that's in California, I KNOW I've played in those. Been to the San Francisco site a couple of times (well, Walnut Creek technically).

Ahhh...the memories.

[KosherHamSammich]

Oh the memories of playing in the 1.0 pods for hours and hours on end. Battletech and Martian Football (a franchise that MS needs to bring to Xbox Live!).

I drive by where the old Virtual World in Costa Mesa used to be daily and still miss it.

[Drumatik]

Man i wnat one of thesee....how much was it??? I may rent a uhaul truck and drive one home

[thelasttrueborn]

Anders Ooooo, on 11 October 2012 - 08:10 AM, said:

I don't know how long they will keep these in the yard but here is the website for the store.

http://www.mrwmd.org...-mercantile.htm

Most of them are missing side panels and CRTs, or the door is broken off. I would *not* buy one unless I planned to revamp into a new PC gaming rig. What is cool is that *it seems* that most of the panel functionality: joystick, throttle, buttons, LEDs, etc, go to a simple 8-bit controller board that talks to the main gaming CPU over RS232. This means you could install a new PC and some new flat screens in place of the old hardware, and with a bit of software, have the coolest gaming controller on the planet for cheaper than a Logitech Sidewinder.

Paul

I was gonna bust out the sides to fit in 9 dell flat monitors anyway, maybe geodesic style, my friend in new york had one of the scraped ones and he added 3 monitors for side view. Don't know how but im going to try. by the way i called them up and asked, listen to this

25$ for a seat and the front console

OMG

[Anders Ooooo]

thelasttrueborn, on 11 October 2012 - 10:20 AM, said:

I was gonna bust out the sides to fit in 9 dell flat monitors anyway, maybe geodesic style, my friend in new york had one of the scraped ones and he added 3 monitors for side view. Don't know how but im going to try. by the way i called them up and asked, listen to this

25$ for a seat and the front console

OMG

Yup, that's how much I paid. Both parts fit on a small trailer, just barely, but I only live a few miles away so if you plan on going for the long haul, U-haul! At $25, why not ride in luxury (and safety).

Note: OMG these are so f***ing heavy

[SLAYER]

Any idea which site these came from? Nor Cal so could be Sacramento, SF, or the ones from Costa Mesa I brought up to Sac?

[Anders Ooooo]

SLAYER, on 11 October 2012 - 11:48 AM, said:

Any idea which site these came from? Nor Cal so could be Sacramento, SF, or the ones from Costa Mesa I brought up to Sac?

If it is any help, the serial numbers on some of these are 004005, 004016, 004029.

Paul