BILLINGS — A Billings family is downsizing a collection that spans decades — from antique tractors and tools to Chuck E. Cheese arcade games more than a decade old.
Watch the full story of the auction below:
One token was once all it took to keep the fun going. Now, those games are getting a new home.
For Marcie Shaw, the machines carry a personal connection. Shaw played those games in her childhood.
"I was a little kid back in ShowBiz Pizza, and before it was even Chuck E. Cheese, I used to ride that rocket ship," Marcie Shaw, Rick's daughter, said Saturday. "It's really cool to be able to do that and watch it grow."
The auction is the latest chapter for Rick Limpp and his wife, also Marcie, who have spent decades collecting everything from tractors to collectibles.
"These are tractors that Marc (Marcie) and I have collected up since the original collection was sold back in 1998," Rick Limpp said.
While dozens of items are part of the auction, not everything is leaving.
"We still keep enough to keep us interested and so I can say I definitely got two or three antique tractors left and some antique cars," Limpp said.
So how does a collection like this grow so large? For Limpp, the answer is simple.
"If we see something you know, along the side of the road, like somebody's having a little sale in their yard or we see a tractor with a sign on it or a whole car with a sign on it, we'll stop and look and sometimes we buy it and sometimes we don't," Limpp said.
For Rick, one man's junk can really become another person's treasure — though not every find was met with enthusiasm at home.
"There's been a few times she said, 'My goodness Ricky, what'd you get that for?" Limpp said.
But letting go of the collection isn't easy.
"It's sort of like a little heart wrenching to see it go," Limpp said.
For Reata Limpp, the auction is an opportunity for someone else to experience a piece of history.
"It just gets to a point where we have so much stuff that we want to share that with other people. And I think giving people an opportunity to have the stuff that we have. And then experiencing the early fashion kind of times makes it like... It's just nice," Reata Limpp said.
