The Current State of Arcade Collecting

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sun Dec 13, 2009 11:37 pm

You have forgotten:

- Crystal Castles. In cocktail form!
- Arkanoid. Which I built from disassembled, separate parts!

I only have 13 games, so you pretty much remembered all of them.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 7:27 pm

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:MIGHT I ask what Q*bert went for? I am going to be deeply shameful if I paid more for a working Q*bert board last year ($170 + shipping) than actual, whole Q*berts are going for.

I sold them as a package deal for $400. That being said, I paid $50 for the Zaxxon at an auction (working) and it has since broke, so even if you say I got a good deal on it, I'd guess the Zaxxon is worth $50 (or less) now so that vast majority of the $400 was for the Q*Bert. I paid $100 for mine at a garage sale (one of those wacky events) and haven't done a thing to it in five years. When I first got it the only problem with it was the bottom 1/3 of the screen was slightly out of focus and I lived with it for a few years. Then one day I pulled the glass of and cleaned it and lo and behold there was no monitor problem ... it was just dirty. I'm an idiot.

AArdvark wrote:So Q-Bert was low game on your ditch list? Wow, I always thought Q-Bert and Zaxxon to be pretty good machines, even if I sucked out at both of them....

In reality, what it boiled down to was Q*Bert was a game I could sell in this current economy. I've listed a couple of different non-classic games (working) for $100 and haven't been able to sell those, so at least I could sell the Q*Bert. My arcade building will hold at maximum capacity about 25 games -- that leaves enough room to play them all and walk around. Right now I own 30. I have five games out in my garage that have never even made it to the arcade because I'm so out of room.

Ultimately what I would like to sell off would be most of my machines that can be easily emulated in MAME. Q*Bert's actually a pretty bad example of that because of its unique control angles, but stuff like Gauntlet, and Shinobi, and Bucky O'Hare, and all those other games I just had to have that all use a joystick and up to 3 buttons ... yeah, those are pretty much gone. Ultimately I'd like to get down to about five machines, with one or two of those being MAME/Multicade machines. I'm keeping 720 for sure. Karate Champ would be a tough one to let go, because of its lineage. I'll probably keep a driving game of some sort as well.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 3:40 pm

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:You have forgotten:

- Crystal Castles. In cocktail form!

This doesn't count because it's never on, and is now covered by dust, random pieces of clothing, and empty pizza boxes.

- Arkanoid. Which I built from disassembled, separate parts!

This doesn't count because of the sad memories.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:08 pm

pinback wrote:- Crystal Castles. In cocktail form!
This doesn't count because it's never on, and is now covered by dust, random pieces of clothing, and empty pizza boxes.

I just assume nobody wants to play it!

It was the first one I ever got. I'd - I should rank them in terms of how attached I am to them, I think?

- Arkanoid. Which I built from disassembled, separate parts!
This doesn't count because of the sad memories.

Not all who travel through life in the good ship vaus are lost, Pinner.

bruce · Post by **bruce** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 10:48 pm

Apropos of nothing, I got my MAME cabinet back together today.

Dampness and MDF don't work together so well. But after some reinforcing with 4x4s and 2x4s it's in OK shape again. I need to paint the exposed new wood screws black, but at least it has casters again and I put the CPU back in and played a few things.

Bruce

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 9:09 am

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:It was the first one I ever got. I'd - I should rank them in terms of how attached I am to them, I think?

Here's my collection and how I have them ranked.

[Keepers]

720
Why: unique controls, expensive, somewhat rare.

48-in-1
Why: plays a lot of games.

Karate Champ
Why: Unique controls, I love this game, history with cabinet.

MAME (Cactus Flack's)
Why: Needs updating and work but works.

[ON THE FENCE]

Commando
Why: Plays perfectly in MAME, dedicated cabinet, looks great.

Speed Buggy
Why: Rare game, not perfect in MAME, steering wheel.

Super Off Road
Why: technical Issues, gigantic, but unique and 3 player.

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Why: Good condition and have to add a lot of MAME buttons to play it.

[SELLERS]

Bucky O'Hare
Why: Plays perfect in MAME, conversion cabinet, no attachment.

Buster Bros
Why: Plays perfect in MAME, conversion cabinet (Joust), needs recapping.

Centipede
Why: Don't love it, needs work.

Gauntlet II
Why: Never play it.

Heavy Barrel
Why: Don't even like this game.

Mortal Kombat
Why: Need to reassemble first.

Ms. Pac-Man
Why: It's on the 48-in-1.

Neo Geo MVS
Why: These play perfectly in MAME.

Rampart
Why: Plays perfectly in MAME, in Gauntlet cabinet.

Road Riot 4WD
Why: Game is borked.

RoadBlasters
Why: Steering cap went out or something. Fun but unstable (?)

RoboCop
Why: Plays perfect in MAME, plus I hate it. Ms. Pac cab.

Shinobi (x2)
Why: Plays perfect in MAME, suicide batteries.

X-Men
Why: Plays in MAME, good condition cabinet, 4 player.

[CONVERTERS]

Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
Why: Dead, would make awesome MAME cabinet.

Rampage World Tour
Why: Dead, would make awesome MAME cabinet.

[EDIT: I forgot about the ones out in the garage.]

Burgertme (Sell)
Why: Too much of a project for me.

Janky 48-in-1 in a JAMMA cabinet with a PC monitor in it. (Fence)
Why: Do a real conversion on it, perhaps.

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 4:08 pm

That list makes me itch to go out and buy a game now.

I don't have room...

I don't have room....

THE
LIMITED WALLSPACE
AARDVARK

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:51 pm

Flack wrote:Here's my collection and how I have them ranked.

[SELLERS]
Gauntlet II
Why: Never play it.

I've totally got to buy that from you, if you do decide to sell it one day. Provided it will fit in my house. I have a bi-level, which means that stairs are involved immediately, and Gauntlet II may very well be too wide to go up or down. Frustrating! I'll see if I can find specs on its length, width and height.

I don't think I'd play it much either, but it was on my top-100 games list, and I do get the chills whenever I play an inferior version of it on MAME or the 360 or something.

How many people did it take to move that thing? Actually, I bet you wrote about it in Invading Spaces. That is so clutch, by the way: anyone interested in ever buying one of your games can consult a perfect-bound reference as to the game's history.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 7:07 am

With the control panel off, it's no wider than any other game. The problem is, it's really "deep" and sticks out from the wall quite a bit. Moving it up stairs wouldn't be a problem unless there's a turn in them. Then it might be a pain in the ass.

Mine has some slight video problem. I've traced it down to the video wire, I think. Sometimes all the sprites are missing every other line and sometimes they're not. Also, the red goes away. If you wiggle the video wire, it fixes the problem. I really need to track down one of those wires. I have a spare control panel for it as well, with four spare joysticks.

I did write about it in the book. I bought the game from two gay men who were going through a breakup and so when I picked it up they were having a total love spat. Very awkward.

Oh, and I moved it by myself with a dolly. I have lots of games that are heavier.

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 11:04 am

Was that the one that got moved in the back of a pickup truck in the middle of a torrential downpour?

THE
REIGN O'ER GAUNTLET
AARDVARK

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 8:43 am

Nope -- that was Heavy Barrel.

The funniest thing about that story, looking back, is that I was willing to drive so far (16 hours, round trip) and pay so much for a game I didn't love (or really even like). Granted it was a slightly different market then, but I can get comparable working games locally for $100 all day long now. It's all about who you know, and back then, I didn't know anybody.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Mon Jan 25, 2010 7:26 am

Guys came by to pick up Q*Bert and Zaxxon yesterday. They're gone.

I think I'm going to put my Shinobi cabinets up on the chopping block next. Yes, cabinets. Some people carry a spare tire, I have a spare Shinobi cabinet.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Mon Jan 25, 2010 8:55 pm

If I remember right, the Phoenix Arcade guy was the dude who picked them up, yeah? He does some amazing work with reproduction artwork (which I know you know, but I live for the moment that someone else not into arcade games reads these threads). I think he did a repro Q*bert "swearing" marquee at one point.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 4:56 am

Two different guys with unfortunately the same name.

The Phoenix Arcade guys I was referring to were the guys around here. They are building a new arcade and since the old one burned down ... phoenix from the ashes and all that.

I told them there was already a Phoenix Arcade person and he was pretty well established in the arcade community and they said ... "meh." Maybe our guys will be Phoenix Arcade East.

To give you an idea how awesome their new arcade will be, they just shot a video of all the games they've collected over the past couple of months. Keep in mind that these games are going into a private residence.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Wed Jan 27, 2010 1:15 pm

I sold my Burgertime project cabinet yesterday. It was one of those cabinets that looks great in pictures but terrible in person. I sold it to a guy who lives out of state but I agreed to deliver it to his sister's house who lives here in OKC. I tried to explain the condition of the cabinet the best I could and I hope he's not disappointed when he finally sees it.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Fri Jan 29, 2010 12:23 am

Flack wrote:The Phoenix Arcade guys I was referring to were the guys around here. They are building a new arcade and since the old one burned down ... phoenix from the ashes and all that.

I told them there was already a Phoenix Arcade person and he was pretty well established in the arcade community and they said ... "meh." Maybe our guys will be Phoenix Arcade East.

On one hand, it's not ideal to take the name of something like "Phoenix Arcade" when there already is one in your hobby.

On the other, yeah, their stuff LITERALLY BURNED DOWN. So I think they can make a "fair use" claim to the name, if it ever comes to that.

Unless the guy doing all that nice artwork was an atom bomb survivor. Wakka wakka!

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Fri Jan 29, 2010 6:00 pm

Yeah, that other Phoenix Arcade has 720 repro side art for $60 that I would really like to have.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 10:06 am

I tried selling my Centipede for $300 and got no bites. I lowered the price to $200 and still got no bites. At this point I can either part it out and make $150-$200 and then throw the cabinet away, or hang on to it for another year or two and see what happens.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 5:13 pm

It's brutal out there.

On Twitter, I had mentioned that I was put in contact with a guy - a dealer, I think - named the Wolfman who was selling a Warlords cocktail for $1000. He sold it before I could take a look at it, but I guess that's the kind of game still getting good money.

I was telling Pinback that, if I got the Warlords game, I wanted to sell one of mine because I don't want to be the dude with 14. After he said some cruel things you can't take back about Wizard of Wor, we realized now is a terrible time to sell. What would I get for anything? Jack and shit, I'm afraid. Might as well hang onto them, yeah.

Poor Centipede! Why do I get the idea that if I lived in the same state as you, I'd have bought like half the stuff you've sold over the years?

js · Post by js » Sat Feb 20, 2010 8:49 pm

I'm about to buy a truck just to make an Arcade Collectin Trip, Y'All!