MY GAME
MY GAME
In the spring of 1999, I made contact with a guy in Pittsburgh named Phil. He, at the time, worked for a pinball company who restored/shopped machines. I talked to him about trading one of my games (my original Fish Tales). After discussing my need for a CV, he tracked me one down and we did the trade.....plus some cash of course. He also found me another one I was looking for, Attack from Mars. How was I going to buy two games at once? And, not to mention, two very expensive games at once? To this day, I still don't know or remember how I did it. But, I did! Anyone else have this problem?
Luckily CV was only $1895. Today, excellent
condition CVs go for almost $1,000 more+ as its popularity and beautiful
design is finally recognized. Once again, like my eventual AFM for MM trade, I
got lucky.
This CV was in exceptional shape. Phil had done a shop job on it including new rubber rings. However, the game was so new it didn't need much else but a quick wax job. The game was originally purchased new in box by another collector. This collector set it up, played 50+ games, and then sold it. Phil picked it up, shopped it out, and sold it to me. In a sense, I was the second owner of the game.
I found out that I had a unique version of CV as well. Even though it was not a "sample" game (because it had the "fat" Ringmaster head installed), it did have the prototype playfield. This was a unique surprise. Perhaps it is an early production model where Bally / Williams had extra prototype playfields available. For more information on the differences between sample and production CV games, click here (offsite).
Not only that, but the CV purple marquee was installed
around the backbox, it was #116 off the assembly line, and it had a yellow
"neon" strip. I have never seen one that is yellow. If you look at the CV
owner's list (located at the link above as well), you'll notice that nobody
else registered has a yellow strip. Hmmm.......anybody have any info on this?
There was also a new 2.0 HOME ROM released in 2002. With this installed, the game is even better than ever. Read about my experience with the 2.0 ROM here.
Farewell:
Cirqus Voltaire passed the "keeper" test
for three years where most games I have sold/traded made it for only one. I
was certain that Cirqus Voltaire would be a keeper. Especially once I
installed the 2.0ROM. Unfortunately, this was not the case.
For the first couple of years I played the game quite often. But, the last year it remained in the corner untouched (unless I had a friend over or was holding a party). I knew it was time to move on. A collector in North Carolina really wanted a Home-Use-Only CV. We talked and made a deal. He picked up CV along with my South Park machine all at once. Nice dealing with you Donnie! Now his name is on the owner's list with the only "yellow" neon strip.
I am proud to say that I had a beautiful CV in my collection. Even though it didn't survive the "keeper" test, the three years I owned it was a blast.
My game continues with
other pictures from my
previous Cirqus Voltaire game HERE
