eXidy is the handle of the guy I bought my Asteroids and Zoo Keeper from - he's been putting together data on all the prices he's seen arcade games go for over the years. I know he has probably sold hundreds of the things.
http://www.arcade-classics.com/price_guide.html
The URL there is a little misleading: he is not saying that this is what the games should go for or anything, but rather what he's seen at auctions and to other collectors and such. A good reference so you don't get stuck paying a grand for Xenophobe or something.
Arcade Game Price Guide
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Ice Cream Jonsey
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Arcade Game Price Guide
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Flack
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When people found out I was working on Invading Spaces I had a million (okay, maybe a dozen) requests to include a price guide. I refused, for a couple of reasons.
1, unlike comic books and other forms of collectibles, there is no common agreed upon grading system. Would you believe many sellers cannot even agree upon the meaning of the word "working"? I had a guy tell me once, "the game works, all it needs is a monitor." To me, if I can't plug a machine in and play a game, it doesn't work. The more I dabble in this hobby the more variances I see in people's descriptions. "Working" could still mean no picture, a "good condition" machine might be missing half its innards, and so on. I'm not even sure a single number system from 1-10 would work for arcade games. You might need to rate each component separately (Monitor 5/10, cabinet 8/10, control panel 3/10, and so on.)
2, arcade games (even more so than other mediums) seem to vary greatly depending on geographic location. I scoff at the prices most people pay for their games, just because things are so cheap here in the midwest. If a game sells for $100 here and $200 "there", that's a pretty big difference (especially percentage wise!).
3, auction prices are a joke. I can't tell you how many auctions I've been to and seen multiple cabinets sell for a wide range of prices. At the last auction I went to I saw Mortal Kombats selling for anywhere from $100-$500. Which was the going rate? And don't even get me started on buybacks -- you know, where a seller buys his own game back because it didn't meet the undisclosed reserve price. I thought people were really getting Donkey Kong cabinets for $200 until I realized the same guy who wheeled them in was wheeling them out. I used to stay for entire auctions to document those prices, only to realize years later that many of those games never changed hands.
1, unlike comic books and other forms of collectibles, there is no common agreed upon grading system. Would you believe many sellers cannot even agree upon the meaning of the word "working"? I had a guy tell me once, "the game works, all it needs is a monitor." To me, if I can't plug a machine in and play a game, it doesn't work. The more I dabble in this hobby the more variances I see in people's descriptions. "Working" could still mean no picture, a "good condition" machine might be missing half its innards, and so on. I'm not even sure a single number system from 1-10 would work for arcade games. You might need to rate each component separately (Monitor 5/10, cabinet 8/10, control panel 3/10, and so on.)
2, arcade games (even more so than other mediums) seem to vary greatly depending on geographic location. I scoff at the prices most people pay for their games, just because things are so cheap here in the midwest. If a game sells for $100 here and $200 "there", that's a pretty big difference (especially percentage wise!).
3, auction prices are a joke. I can't tell you how many auctions I've been to and seen multiple cabinets sell for a wide range of prices. At the last auction I went to I saw Mortal Kombats selling for anywhere from $100-$500. Which was the going rate? And don't even get me started on buybacks -- you know, where a seller buys his own game back because it didn't meet the undisclosed reserve price. I thought people were really getting Donkey Kong cabinets for $200 until I realized the same guy who wheeled them in was wheeling them out. I used to stay for entire auctions to document those prices, only to realize years later that many of those games never changed hands.
"I failed a savings throw and now I am back."