Donkey Kong Restoration Questions and bad news.

[barrel_hopper]

Hello everyone! It has been a while since I have posted, but I am glad to be back.

I just want to warn readers I kind of mixed a rant in about the bad news and then my question, so you can skip ahead or if you decide to read it all, I commend you.

First some bad news for you all. I had my DK JR Cab with a Donkey Kong Board in it, High Score Save kit and D2K Jumpman Returns stolen by a friend that used to be like a brother to me. My mom asked me to store the game somewhere for a while since we were going to rent the upstairs of our home to someone. I thought to my self, there is no better choice than my best friend in the whole world. Everything was good at first. We played it together all the time. Then, a girl came into the picture and we started spending less and less time together. The machine eventually broke, seems like some kind of board issue and has not been playable for some time. So I ask him for it back. The original deal was that he would just "store" it for me since we were best friends, more like brothers at the time. Now he tells me that I sold it to him and he has given it to his daughter. I know where the machine is and I know it it still out of commission. Well, he did not buy it from me, as I would NEVER have sold that game. It was my pride and joy. I have $650 invested into the DK JR cabinet, $70 into a DK Bezel and $175 or so into the DK board plus whatever the HS save kit and the D2K roms cost. Plus a new joystick. All and all I would say probably close to $1000. To ass insult to injury he, not his daughter has put stickers all over it!!!!!! I was going to take him to small claims court, anyone know if this would be worth it? I have family and friends that can testify I bought the machine. When I told him that the machine was never for sale and he knew that he brought up a Mexican made strat he gave me that I sold a while back. So this is true, but that guitar was given to me with no strings attached, and as friends there was allot of giving both ways. Hell I built him a decent desktop from parts I had, gave him a laptop....the list could go on. But none of this matters as it was stuff we did for each other as friends. He then went on to tell me that I was a greedy son of a gun and he would see me in court  and that he would be sure to bring his daughter he gave the machine to. The one that does not live with him and he rarely see's. So I got pissed and said "forget it keep the machine! But stop pretending you give a sh*t and get the thing fixed if you really care about your daughter and then I will be happy, even offered to help since he and his new girl are expecting and money is tight for them at the moment. That is about the last time we spoke.

I still really want my machine back, but here is the good part. In the past I also bought a beat up Popeye cabinet. Due to health issues it has been sitting gutted in the garage for over two years. Since I am about to turn 30 I figured as a present to myself I would finish the bondo work and paint part of the restore if nothing else. So I feel like another 3 to 6 hours of prep work and she will be ready to spray. I even have a friend that is going to help me paint it with his nice air compressor powered paint gun, so I am psyched about that.

I will post some pics here shortly, but it is amazing what a little bondo and allot of elbow grease can do. The back bottom where the power strip is was completely gouged out at the bottom edge, it now looks perfectly square again.

The main issue I am having is the back edges of the cabinets sides, as I am sure anyone that is familiar with nintendo cabs knows they tend to chip and what not, well that is the hardest thing to get straight with the bondo. I could sure use some tips. I want them to look prefect, but I cant tell if I am just being to o.c.d about the edges. Seems like putting the back door on and continuing to bondo might be the best way to do it, but it is just so hard to avoid sanding off to much bondo and the chipped parts show back up. I will get pics up asap to show what I mean. The front is almost done, just needed work on the speaker panel and very bottom of the bottom panel. Also I filled in the horizontal monitor holes and the holes for the bolts on the coin door panel that are there so a lock bar could be added. So to sum this up, I am bummed about my other machine, but I am really proud of this one I am working on. I mean it has really come a LONG way. I know when I am done with the prep and lay on the pain she is gonna look like she just rolled out of the 80's. It just sucks I gotta buy another DK board and harness, or converter so I can use the popeye harness. ALL NEW artwork, high score save kit and D2K rom again. Money is super tight and will be for a while, so once she is painted the remaining parts of the resto are going to have to be slowly piecemeal'd. That is OK with me, just cant wait to get it looking like new and inside. In the mean time I am sure I can get a harness adapter and put my DK JR board in it, and that is better than nothing.   

So wish me luck everyone, and if we have any lawyers or people with small claims court experience, please chime in. I am not going to go into my old friends current personal issues, but he ain't gonna pony up the money to fix it. He spends his money on things that are more important than the kid he is expecting or fixing the machine for the daughter he already has on a daily basis. So I don't feel like the big bad guy who is gonna take away his favorite thing in the world she never see's or plays. She is at the age where her Nintendo DS and Barbies are more important than a 30 year old arcade game. I just feel like my x best friend is doing this cause he knows it means allot to me and wants to hurt me. I have had old biker buddies offer to ride over and help me "take it back" but I feel like just going into his house with his there and starting to load up my machine might get the police called on me. I could be a real jerk and make him loose his job based on some info I have that can be verified, also call social services on his pregnant girlfriend that spends his/her money on the same "problem" that is keeping them from having the money to fix the machine and also hurting an unborn child. Now while I feel like someone needs to intervene for the sake of the child, I just don't have it in me to call his boss and tell him that his only and long time trusted employee is doing him very wrong. I am sure that threat would get me my machine back, but if I really pissed him off he could and probably would beat my --I'm attempting to get by the auto-censor and should be beaten after I re-read the rules--. So that is where my gun toting biker friend could come in. Keep the peace and help me load up the machine.

So let me ask you all this, if someone stole something dear from you, and you had some major stuff on them that could cost them their job unless they gave you back what was your's, would you feel right making that threat? Is small claims worth it? I am surprised he has not sold it yet to help support his little problem.

Or, should I just let it go. I have pretty much done that, but when I really get to thinking about it.....I get a little upset.

I wish I could at least reason with him and offer him my working JR board so I could get my DK board back and perhaps the DK bezel I paid $70 for.

So that is it for now. I am going outside to take some pics of the progress.

Thanks in advance,

Adam S.

[IG-88]

Take him to court. Unless you gave him a receipt for it, sounds like theft. Seems pretty open and shut to me.

[Spyridon]

that guitar was given to me with no strings attached

Not much of a guitar without the strings.       

[astroone]

That's a bummer that your friend is doing that to you
I would say small claim's court

[Drnick]

The question here is do you feel the urge to be friends with him any more and can you handle any guilt and or repercussions from the threat if you have to carry it out and it all goes bad.  If he was any kind of friend he would have just given you the machine back. As he obviously does not want to give it back then sure you can take him  to the small claims court.  You would probably win damages, which he would obviously not pay. But would it get you your machine back?  I would go round with the Biker buddies and explain that his little "Issue" is known and that you're sure that his boss and social services would be most interested in what you have to say.  All he has to do to make you go away is just wheel the machine out in one piece.  If he really cares about not giving you the machine back more then he cares about his job and or family. Well then he's just messed up. If he has any conscience at all he should realise that in the scheme of things giving you the machine back is just the right thing to do. 

[Maximus]

Ditch the guy, he's no friend any more.

Ditch the negative energy and put your positive energy into your new cabinet, it will be better than the first one and you'll have the pride of knowing you brought one back from the dead that needed the love.

Let the turds float downstream, don't go swimming after them, life is too short, enjoy yourself and cut your losses.

[IG-88]

Ditch the guy, he's no friend any more.

Ditch the negative energy and put your positive energy into your new cabinet, it will be better than the first one and you'll have the pride of knowing you brought one back from the dead that needed the love.

Let the turds float downstream, don't go swimming after them, life is too short, enjoy yourself and cut your losses.

Good advice. Well said. 

[twistedsymphony]

I would take him to small claims... the worst thing that happens is you're right back where you are now...

Also without any proof that you sold him the machine it's just his word... as long as you have proof that YOU bought the machine originally and receipts for all the work that you did that's all you should need.

The strat he gave you really doesn't factor into it, separate instance altogether.

[opt2not]

What a jerk-move from your so-called "friend" eh?  Greed does some silly things to people.
Back in the day, something like that would be deserving of a good ol' fashion ass-whoopin'.  Unfortunately, those days are long gone and I'm told you can't do that anymore...

Just take the high-ground. Forget the small-claims, in the end it's not really worth your time.  Cut your losses, and relish in the fact that Karma will balance it all out.