Crazy Climber

Manufactured by Nihon Bussan Co. Ltd. (c)1980
Licensed by Taito
 

Crazy Climber… a game that has been on my "want" list since the day I started collecting.  A game that so rarely comes up for sale locally that,  well,  I've only ever seen one in the 9 years I've been in the hobby,  and that one game is the one you see below.  Crazy Climber… a game I pumped so many quarters in at the local Circle-K convenience store in Ontario, California that I swear I paid the rent on the place for a few months.  Crazy Climber… a game that requires skill and patience to play.  Crazy Climber… probably one of the very few games I would call a personal "grail" (i really do dislike that term,  but it stands.)

I was browsing the local CL one day last year when a post caught my eye.  Someone posted a Crazy Climber and Omega Race for ridiculously a ridiculously low dollar amount.  Ho…ly… S#*T I thought!   Next thing that caught my eye was the fact that the post had been up for more than a couple hours.  "DAMN!  Likely gone!", i thought to myself as I picked up the phone and IMMEDIATELY called the number in the ad.  A guy answers the phone and and I ask about the games.  He tells me something to the effect of "Yeah,  they're still here… but there's a guy who said he'd take them but he can't come get them until tonight after work.  If you can get here before then,  they are yours.  I replied that I wasn't really interested in screwing over someone if there was a deal on the table to which the guy says something like "Naw man,  I made it clear to to the guy he needed to call me before he came over to make sure they were still here.  First come first serve."  I tell the guy I was interested in Crazy Climber and he tells me that I'd have to take both the Crazy Climber and Omega Race if I wanted them as that is what the other guy said he'd be interested in.  I confirm the price.  Done.  I load up the truck with my dolly,  straps,  and head on over.

The guys place was a good 25-30 minutes from my place… as I pull up I notice it's a mobile home sitting on a custom cement foundation.  From the front side it looked like a regular ole mobile home but around back the custom foundation was actually a 2nd floor walk-out "basement".  Evidently he planned on building some stairs from the mobile home down to the "basement" area.  Inside were 3 games.  Crazy Climber,  Omega Race,  and an Asteroids.  He mentioned that he was a huge Asteroids fan and that he probably wouldn't sell it,  but if I knew anyone who wanted it,  he'd let it go for [enter ridiculously high amount here].  I told him I'd let him know if I come across someone.  I paid the man and loaded up Crazy Climber.  I told him I'd come back for Omega Race and headed home.  I get home,  unload,  fire up the game and it works!  (He'd mentioned it worked but I didn't bother checking… the price was that ridiculously low).  Omega Race was non-working,  and to be honest,  I would have paid the price I paid for both JUST for the Crazy Climber,  but I figured it was paid for… and I could likely use the monitor… or restore and sell… so back I went.  I get there and I am loading up Omega Race when the guys phone rings.  I hear him tell the guy "Sorry man,  they are sold."  "No… No… i told you to call me to make sure they weren't sold before you came over."  I could tell by the way the guy was talking that the person on the other end of the phone was NOT happy.  Then the guy says "Sorry man,  the guy who bought them is here right now picking up the last of the two."  Then the guy busts out with, "His name is Jon."

Yeah… about this time I am nodding my head "NO" to the guy being that I am not interested in getting in to a pissing match with any of the local collectors.  Regardless of how fair the score was,  I could put myself in the position of the other guy on the phone.  If it were me,  I'm sure I'd be pissed off at the whole situation even though the seller made it clear that if the games were gone they were gone.  Next thing I know the guy is asking me "Uh,  do you go by "Frizz or something online".  Damn!  It's someone I knew.  Of COURSE it would be someone I knew being this is a small market and there are only so many collectors out here.  "Uh,  yeah,  who's on the line".  The dude asks the guy on the phone… "Torin… and he wants to talk to you."  Awe man… I was thinking "If I were 5 minutes quicker I could have avoided this situation.  I also remember saying out loud "Shit,  it HAD to be a good guy."  Anyway,  I talk to brother Torin about the situation… he's very understanding of the situation and we both agree the seller's the douche for not agreeing to "hold" the game for him.  He asks about the games,  I tell him I'm mostly interested int he Crazy Climber and offer up the Omega Race for exactly what I paid for it.  He agrees to buy it and tells me he can meet me at my place to pick it up.  I load up the game,  drive it home and a little while later Torin arrives to pick up Omega Race.   So in the end,  things "sort" of worked out for both of us.  Torin also wanted the Crazy Climber (of course) but was pretty stoked I'd sell him the Omega Race "at cost".  I apologized (more than once) for how things went down.  I assured him I didn't offer more than the asking price in an effort to "steal" the game out from under him (I didn't!) and I had no idea who the "other guy" was until he called.  I was also 100% honest and up front when I told the seller that if he had made a deal with someone else I didn't want to step on their toes.  The SELLER was the one that assured me no "deal" was made and that he'd told the "other guy" to call before he came over to make sure the games weren't sold.

As for restoration… the game is currently pretty much as I picked it up.  I did clean it up… it's amazing what magic eraser will accomplish.  I also fixed the "custom" volume control the guy had running (see to the right).  The game sounded very "tinny" when I first picked it up.  Evidently the guy had no idea how to turn the sound down so he used a piece of what appears to be fiberboard to "control" the volume level.  >GENIUS!<.  The monitor is a G07 and will need to be rebuilt eventually but it works fine… though it takes what seems like a good 45 seconds to warm up enough for an image to appear.  The sticks feel awesome (typical loose Crazy Climber sticks)… and the art on the control panel is in damn good shape for it's age.  I did download and burn the freeplay hack so it will coin up/play when I press P1 or P2 start buttons and I hope that one day someone comes up with a high score save kit… as I'm all over that!  This game will likely be one of the last games to leave my collection (famous last words, eh?).  GO FOR IT!!

EDIT: May 17th, 2016 – A high score save kit is now available for Crazy Climber at www.highscoresaves.com.  You can read a review about this kit HERE.

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