Arcade - Bobs Skerries

Optimus Prime

Went out to Skerries today and into Bobs Amusements.. There is a few photos so started a thread for it, more photos in second post.

It was like stepping into a time machine, but if it also brought you to an alternate reality where everything was broken. I dont think there was one working thing in the place, even the coin pushers, that where working, didnt have a single coin in them!! I dont know how the place is open. The kids rides, like knightriders car, the German Barons BiPlane and the silver helicopter are all still there, i mean i was on these as a kid and im 40 now! Its cool they still have these and to see them again.

They have some good games, Punch-Out, Outrun, Affterburner, 3 Electrocoins "Working" with more blocked off in the back, of the working cabs one has Shinobi in it, but the boards need work, the graphics are all messed up on all of them. No plane on Afterburner, unless you go left, Shinobi is basically a green screen.

Space invaders, Operation wolf turned off.. There was an operation thunderbolt though, punchout has screen issues, think the monitors needed capping.

it was sad really. It still is amazing to walk into that place though knowing i played those games years ago and was on those kids rides. Its just a pitty they dont work on the machines.

Has anyone here ever approached them about buying anything?.

Some photos!

Optimus Prime

A few more!

Inviere

Amazing, some of those amusements look strangely familiar to me. That monkey in the cage thingy, very vague memories of seeing either it or something like it when I was a kid. Some great pics there, almost looks like an urbex photo shoot of an abandoned arcade

Optimus Prime

Inviere wrote: »

Amazing, some of those amusements look strangely familiar to me. That monkey in the cage thingy, very vague memories of seeing either it or something like it when I was a kid. Some great pics there, almost looks like an urbex photo shoot of an abandoned arcade

Yeh they used to have one that handed out prizes the same way but it was a parrot in the cage. Didn’t see that one there this time.

Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime wrote: »

Yeh they used to have one that handed out prizes the same way but it was a parrot in the cage. Didn’t see that one there this time.

There was one of them in naas outside the sweetshop.
I seen one for sale in mayo a few years back.

BGOllie

oh man that operation wolf and after burner !!

love that invaders cab too . very unusual marquee

eddhorse

Great pics thanks, they are just fading away in that place...poor cabs.

Retr0gamer

I lived down the road from Skerries but never really got to visit the place much as my parents had an aversion to all things videogame related. They did have a great selection of games there. I remember they had the konami Asterix game, Raiden, Outzone. That Shinobi cabinet was there since year dot and was always massively popular. For whatever reason there were always lots of people playing it. I didn't realise they still had games there and I go for walks in skerries and often walk right by the place. I really should pop in and have a look.

o1s1n

Would love to nab that After Burner! I wonder would they be interested in selling anything?

Optimus Prime

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I lived down the road from Skerries but never really got to visit the place much as my parents had an aversion to all things videogame related. They did have a great selection of games there. I remember they had the konami Asterix game, Raiden, Outzone. That Shinobi cabinet was there since year dot and was always massively popular. For whatever reason there were always lots of people playing it. I didn't realise they still had games there and I go for walks in skerries and often walk right by the place. I really should pop in and have a look.

One of the electrocoin there beside shinobi has raiden in it. The screens on all those need looking at though.

80s Synth Pop

They only open the large side of the building in the summer time. Usually it's just the small section on the right side with the sega rally (one side working), 2x goliath cabs with superman/vendetta, a point blank and an outrun that takes your 50c after 50 tries but you get back around €5 in 50c that are clogged up


Bob himself passed away sadly a few years ago and a family member runs the business. The owner is very nice and showed me a list of boards she has on her phone and but they are expensive/untested (ebay prices). No cabs are for sale but I'd say you could try again after the summer season and see.

It's a lovely place to visit and kite surf. Jacque's cafe up the road has great views over the sea and good food to match.

Didn't know you were a kite sufer.
I used to be massive into it for 6/7 years back in the kitesufing.ie days.

dav09

This is great, thanks for sharing. It would be brilliant if the machines were maintained but great that this still exists.

Are any of you familiar with any other arcades around the country which are worth taking a visit to and which are a bit stuck in time with some nice old machines operational still? (Besides the newer barcade style venues)

Optimus Prime

Ive seen 1 or 2 old style cabs in newer arcades, but i personally have never come across an arcade like Bobs still in Ireland that is like stepping into the past.

Star Lord

Aww man, I've never been there, but that looks like a step straight back into the early/mid 90's!
That Shinobi screen in particular needs a little love though!

Still love the old woodie cab style.

CathalDublin

They've dual Daytona, that's my grail

OutRunner

Hope no one minds me resurrecting this thread. For those that don't know, Bob's Casino never made it through COVID and has been closed ever since.

Was wondering if anyone knew what the current state of play is with the building, and arguably more importantly, all those relatively well-preserved arcade machines?

Worth also mentioning that Bob's Casino gets a shout out on the new Grian Chatten solo album.

dav09

Bob’s was raided by the UK arcade folk not long after this post unfortunately, and no I hadn’t anything to do with it. I visited twice and tried to buy a few cabs but they wanted things gone in bulk and were speaking to a few people at that stage, most of their prices were fairly crazy. By the time I tried to visit again apparently it was cleared out.

There was probably like 300 cabinets and I think 2/3 truck loads left and 20 Goliaths got sold to Level up (16 of which went to Arcade Club too) so I’d say theres still a rake of stuff in there. They had Loads of Goliaths and Duets along with probably 100 original cabinets, mostly not working. Rare stuff like Champ Sprint, Big Buck Rodgers, Space Duet, Atari Tx1 and plenty more.

There’s a bit of a story why they had to get rid of stuff quickly but timing things were really unlucky. I managed to snap about 100 photos on my last visit, it was incredibly I can dig them out if anyone is interested.

OutRunner

Thanks for the update dav09. It was a real gold mine in there. I moved to Dublin just before Covid and was lucky enough to pop by the summer before COVID hit. I really couldn't believe what I was seeing. That bank of machines that was dormant out the back blew my mind. It was clear even then that the place didn't have long left, but I had hoped that maybe someone could have given the place the Token treatment. Took a few pics myself that I'lll try and upload.

Feel sad that those machines couldn't stay in Ireland, but I'm glad they may have gone somewhere they will be properly maintained (I hope).

OutRunner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121197942#Comment_121197942

Also, just saw your Free Play Arcade Club thread - did anything further get off the ground with it?

OutRunner

Uploaded these direct from iPhone - not quite sure how to fix the erroneous landscape pics.

dav09

Yeah that'll be going ahead, 2024 for sure though and will likely be small scale to begin but putting together the final stages of the plan now. Yeah it was fascinating. I'll see if I can dig out all of those photos

geotrig

god id love a game of operation thunderbolt or wolf these days nothing better than grabbing those little uzi with the rumble /kickback

o1s1n

Always remember Operation Wolf as being the first arcade game I ever played, in Fun Palace Bray.

Probably around 1989 or so, mad to think it was still probably relatively new at the time!

My only interaction with games before that was the Speccy so as you can probably imagine it left quite the impression.

Retr0gamer

I walk by the place often enough as i grew up near it and often go to skerries for walks with parents. Never got to go into it that often because my mam hated me playing videogames but I do remember some of the cabs when I did get there like the Shinobi, outzone and Raiden 2 cabs.

OutRunner

I could be wrong, but there's a Scud Race twin on Done Deal that looks like the one they had at Bob's (I can't post links because I'm too fresh on here, but do a search for "scud-racer-twin-arcade").

dav09

Yeah I was considering doing an arcade bar back about 5 years ago. Was researching/ meeting operators and stumbled upon here. I ended up getting involved in another project here in the end instead of going on my own. It's an awful shame I never got anything. They sold machines to a few trusted collectors over the years as they logged all of their sales. I was close to a deal or two but those trucks came over before I could visit. They had I'd say bout 300 machines, 3 full containers, an arcade and upstairs and store full of games. They also skipped hundreds over the years, it was absolutely crazy getting to visit. There was a reason they had to sell things fast it seems there's a bit of a story to it, but they were kind enough to let me take a some photos.

OutRunner

Such an incredible collection. So much could have been done with that space and it’s contents. I’d be really keen to hear the story behind why they had to clear out. Do you think there’s still machines left in the building?

KeRbDoG

Their website is still up - https://bobscasino.wixsite.com/website/shop

dav09

I'd be shocked if there wasn't games left behind, after arcade club came I believe they still operated as an arcade with plenty of stuff, and as I said they had so much I'd be surprised if stuff wasn't left behind.

Yeah something happened between the first and second visit typical of these seaside arcades I don't want to go into too much detail, first time I visited they were not keen on selling much but second time everything almost was for sale. Hope someone can make contact and try get a few bits, they also operated on other sites I.e. Mosney over the years so they might have arcades still dotted around somewhere. It's a real shame it closed and they had to sell up their stuff, it was such a unique spot, machines weren't well maintained though for the most past, but the owner did say they wanted people to be able to come back and it would still have the same games people would remember playing when they were younger.

ofthelord

Seen this thread on the front page of Boards and had to take a look. I used to spend l lot of my summers at my grandparents house in Skerries as a kid in the 80s/early 90s and spent a LOT of hours in this arcade. Great times. so many great games in there, remember a favourite was operation Wolf which took a lot of my pocket money

Optimus Prime

Yeh sunk a lot of money into that operation wolf myself. Sad to see it in a corner facing the wall when I was there ! I remember sitting in that knight rider car as a kid and the plane. That monkey machine with the prizes as well I can remember as a kid and a parrot thing they had too.

last time I was there that point blank was working but in attached building they have all the snooker tables in. They had an outrun in there too I think. That was a few years back now.

another thing I always remember from there is the kids “ferris wheel” just in with the amusements outside. I’ve a photo of my brother and me in it as kids and a few years ago we got a photo of our kids in it together. Unreal it lasted so long.

Retr0gamer

Those amusements are still there but mothballed.

Inviere

Every time I see an Electrocoin Xenon I'm instantly brought back to the mid 90s. I don't think there's any other arcade cabinet in existence that has such a nostalgic affect on me. There's something about the bezel colours

dav09

I wonder is there a plan to reopen, would be nice is someone made contact as I'm sure there's plenty of stuff there still that could be enjoyed. A lot of arcade businesses seemed to closed during COVID and arcades generally couldn't open much at all especially during peak season but a few that seemingly closed permanently reopened recently.

CathalDublin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121209726#Comment_121209726

I was wondering was this bobs?

https://www.donedeal.ie/otherelectronics-for-sale/mario-kart-arcade-gp-2/35238635

dav09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121290899#Comment_121290899

It's not unfortunately I know who has it, and bobs didn't seem to have anything from 00's on from memory I think just before they closed they got Basketball and one or two bits.