Jolt Country

When I was, oh, seventeen or eighteen years old, I saw a magic trick performed right in front of me that blew my mind. While working in a local restaurant I watched a customer make a dollar bill "float" in mid air, about a foot away from my face. I knew it was a trick, but for the life of me I could not figure out how it was done.

After going over the details of that night over and over and driving myself crazy for a couple of weeks, I went down to the local magic store, plunked down $24.95 (I was making somewhere around $150/week at the time) and bought the instructions to a trick known as "the floating dollar bill."

For my $25 I got a sealed envelope that contained a folded up piece of paper with the secret to the trick written on it. The secret to the trick was "magician's thread," a very thin thread that's almost impossible to see. The instructions said to tie one end of the string around a wad of paper that could be kept in your mouth. The other end was to be embedded into a small, sticky wad of wax or gum paste, and stuck to a button on your shirt. To perform the trick you remove the sticky end of the thread, stick it to something near you (in this case, a salt shaker), and move the item across the table. To float the dollar bill, you simply fold it in half and drape it across the string.

For $25, I don't even get the thread. And in less than a minute, I went from someone who was completely baffled by a magic trick to a guy who felt stupid for (for lack of a better word) "believing."

It is within that context that I present to you my summary of last weekend's local arcade auction.

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About five years ago, "Funtime Pizza" (we'll call it) had a dream. The owner, a middle-aged Asian man, borrowed a million dollars to build a building and open a combination pizza buffet and arcade. Construction ran long and expenses built up and by the time the doors finally opened, the owner had borrowed around 2 million. Add that to the fact that out of "location, location, location," Funtime Pizza had none of the three, and you can see that the place was doomed the day the doors opened.

Maybe six months after they opened, Mason and I met a friend up there at noon on a Sunday for lunch and some game playing. Literally, we were the only people in the place. I told Mason at the time, "play all the games you like -- this place won't be here long." In some cases that was hard to do as half the games were already broken or non-working.

I was right. Last year, after bleeding money for a couple of years, the place closed. A sign went up claiming "GAMES FOR SALE" but the owner wanted to sell all of them (around a hundred or so) together as a lot. All the regular locals sniffed around the place but as far as I can tell, nothing ever left. A couple of decent offers were made, but the owner got caught up in "how much he paid" vs. "how much stuff is worth" and couldn't let it go. Instead, he decided to have a no reserve auction yesterday to clean out the building in hopes of leasing it to the next restaurant owner.

So that brought us to yesterday.

Out of 100 games, I'd say 40 or so were 100% working, and that's only because someone brought in at least 10 60-in-1 Multicades. I think everyone here knows what those are but in case you don't, they're arcade machines that play 60 different classic games like Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Zaxxon, and so on. To a classic collector they're worthless and somewhat offensive; however to the general public, gosh, if one machine plays one game and another one plays sixty, then the second one must be worth more. Prices reflected that; the cheapest one I saw sold for $575; the highest I saw was $1,250.

The biggest problem for heavily advertised private auctions such as this one is they draw in a bunch of amateurs. Don't get me wrong, I'm no pro, but at these you end up with people who have never been to an auction before overbidding on everything and driving the prices up. The good news is, most of those people are usually only looking for one game, so once they buy one they go home.

When the first game (Fast and the Furious) went for $1,600, I knew it was going to be a long day and I was right. Prices were up and down all day. A couple vendors picked up all the redemption machines for pennies on the dollar. The bigger the machine was the less it went for (I'm guessing most people didn't have a way to move them). A gigantic dual-cabinet Time Crisis 3 went for $700. A two-seater Initial D with a ram issue went for $125. A non-working 18-Wheeler cabinet went for $25.

Auctions like this one are always a little bittersweet to attend. On the one hand, you're literally bidding pennies on the dollar on games while the owner of the failed business is standing there watching you. It's creepy and feels dirty if you think about it too much. On the other hand, if there's a silver lining at all, it's that at least some of the games being sold are going into people's homes for someone else to enjoy.

Some of the games sold at the auction had already been listed on Craigslist by the time I got home. A giant Jurassic Park with a questionable projection monitor that sold for $150 was on Craigslist for $3,000 "or best offer". Some of the redemption equipment is there now, too.

I saw all the normal shenanigans that I talked about in my latest podcast about Arcade Auctions. I saw shill bidding, I saw games being sold as "just working" that weren't working a year ago when I was in the place ... all of which just reinforced that arcade auctions are such a "buyer beware" scenario. I was told that after I left, a fight broke out and cops were almost called when someone was caught taking working parts off of someone else's machines. Sad.

Below is a link to all the pictures I took before the auction began.

http://robohara.com/photo/index.php?alb ... KC_04.2012

Flack wrote: Construction ran long and expenses built up and by the time the doors finally opened, the owner had borrowed around 2 million.

We had the same situation in our house. My sister used about $50,000 of her own money to open a Subway Sandwich Shop, but didn't know that Doctor's Associates Inc. - the franchisor - routinely underestimates actual costs to open a Subway by about 1/2. Well, she actually did raise another $50,000 but it folded anyway. Restaurants are very easy to fail.

She was once talking to me about it when she had sunk the first $50,000. I was the only person who offered her the opinion I had. "Walk away." Everyone else felt she should try and raise more money to continue the business; I was the only one who said she should cut her losses and run.

I mentioned the story of an investor who was trying to have a building constructed, but weather and other problems were causing delays and cost overruns. After dropping several million dollars - it was either $9 million or $19 million - the investor walked away and told the contractor he could have it. He ate several million dollars, but that's the kind of attitude you have to have if you're going to be successful in business, you have to be willing to admit that sunk costs are not a reason to stay if the investment turns sour (or goes south, take your pick of phrases) and be willing to walk away.

It took her a few months after she went back to work at her old job, but she paid back everyone from whom she borrowed the additional $50,000.

after bleeding money ... the place closed... the owner wanted to sell all of [his video games] together as a lot... but the owner got caught up in "how much he paid" vs. "how much stuff is worth"

Another example of someone who had no business getting into business. That's why we have depreciation schedules because equipment wears out and even the IRS recognizes this. Anyone who's bought a car should know that the instant you drive it off the lot the value drops 50%.

I mean, I bought The Orange Box on the strength of Portal alone, and paid $49.95 for it. Four years ago. It was definitely worth it, and when I originally bought it I wasn't even interested in Half-Life 2 but then I discovered how much fun those 3 games were. Now you can buy The Orange Box new for $19.99.

To a classic collector [60-in-1 machines are] worthless ... offensive... to the general public, gosh, if one machine plays one game and another one plays sixty, then the second one must be worth more. Prices reflected that; the cheapest one I saw sold for $575; the highest I saw was $1,250.

I watch American Restoration on The History Channel, it's a spin-off of Pawn Stars. It's a story of a Las Vegas company that restores antique equipment like old Coke machines, old gas pumps, 1930s toys, etc. And there are two things, when they do a restore, they make the thing look nice as well as return it to original operating condition. But one thing they're careful about is that the restoration not destroy an item that is valuable by removing what a future buyer for the customer's item would expect. In some cases you want to leave the original paint job if possible, and other such things.

To a non-collector, however, they'd expect a restored item to look factory new. In most cases, that's how his stuff comes out, but when original condition is important you should know this stuff.

Auctions like this one are always a little bittersweet to attend. On the one hand, you're literally bidding pennies on the dollar on games while the owner of the failed business is standing there watching you.

Liquidating any operation is not pretty. Sheriffs who have to do evictions carry sidearms because sometimes the people being evicted are willing to forcibly resist.

Some of the games sold at the auction had already been listed on Craigslist by the time I got home. A giant Jurassic Park with a questionable projection monitor that sold for $150 was on Craigslist for $3,000 "or best offer". Some of the redemption equipment is there now, too.

Part of the "Greater Fool Theory" in which you buy something on the presumption you can resell it for considerably more to someone who's stupid. Resulted in the dot com bubble where companies with no plan for monetizing their operation got lots venture capital money to burn, and did so. Also goes back to the Tulip Bubble of the 18th century when people were buying tulip bulbs at enormously overvalued prices - equivalent of hundreds of dollars apiece - because they figured there's an even greater fool willing to pay even more.

I saw all the normal shenanigans ... shill bidding... games sold as "just working" that weren't ... someone was caught taking working parts off of someone else's machines. Sad.

The common comment going back to the Roman Empire if not earlier is the latin phrase, caveat emptor which I think also means "buyer beware." Nothing new here that hasn't gone on since Plato was alive.

I was working help desk for an Internet Service Provider, back when we still used dial-up to connect. Boiler room style operation where you have something like 50 desks in a room where people receive phone calls and use their computers to look up thing to solve the customer's problem. On the other side of the room, I saw two guys working on one of the computers, they had it open on top of the desk. I took no notice of it, I didn't know one way or the other about it and figured they were fixing it. Oh they were 'fixing it' all right, as in 'the fix is in.' Turns out they were stealing components out of it. Two guys got fired over it.

Oh, I'm listening to your podcast, and as I put in the comment, I loved the line you had (paraphrased) about buying a game at an auction, "Sold for $25, let's move on to the next game before the guy [comes to his senses and] changes his mind!"

So ... anyone want to talk about arcade auctions?

What were you most tempted to bid on??!

Come on, DAMN YOU, you've been in your house a few months. You already have 3 or 4 games there. I know you have the bug! You're infected!

Infected!

Ohh gawwwd, yuuurrrrrrr one of them!!

William Clay wrote:Ohh gawwwd, yuuurrrrrrr one of them!!

All right, you, you've got a lot to answer for! Ellis' murder for one thing!

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:What were you most tempted to bid on??!

Come on, DAMN YOU, you've been in your house a few months. You already have 3 or 4 games there. I know you have the bug! You're infected!

Infected!

GREAT QUESTION!

(... which I will answer at the end of this long post!)

My experience thus far in life in regards to cohabitation with females has taught me that the fairer sex does not directly oppose the "gathering" habits of we "hunter/gatherers" as long as they (womenfolk) are not subjected to seeing the fruits of our hunts on a daily basis. I suspect this behavior has been genetically bred into women throughout the ages. Cave women certainly didn't protest when their protector brought home freshly-slain meat from the day's hunt, but almost assuredly furrowed a brow at him if he chose to skin the poor thing in the middle of her cave's formal living room. Going to strip clubs is good, inviting strippers over to the house is bad. There's a reason God created garages folks, and it's not for providing shelter for your car; it's so men have a place to put the stuff "she" doesn't want to see. There's a reason most married men don't have "Cradle of Filth" posters hanging in our living rooms. Anyone who thinks it was a man who invented the idea of a man cave is fooling themselves. My wife, always eloquent, probably summed it up best for me: "You can buy whatever you want, just as long as I don't have to see it." When I suggested gauging her eyes out, she sent me to my man cave.

Sorry. Where was I? Oh, right -- buying arcade games.

Not counting the two machines I currently have for sale, I have four machines that I plan on keeping for the time being. If you're only going to own a few machines, then every machine has to do one of two things: "provide an experience that can not be reproduced via emulation," or "play a lot of games."

720, one of the four machines I kept, falls into the first category. That machine gives me something that MAME cannot. The cabinet is unique. The controls are unique. The experience is unique. MAME cannot give me what that machine gives me. For as long as is practical, that machine stays.

The other three cabinets all fall into the latter category -- they "play a lot of games." There's a vertical 60-in-1 that plays a lot of the classics -- not perfectly, but passably. There's a horizontal 19-in-1 that plays a bunch of Williams games. The cabinet's in great shape, but the emulation is shoddy. Finally there's a MAME cabinet that's disassembled and in pieces. Theoretically it'll play all the games that both of the other machines play, plus thousands more, better.

So ... the question that must be answered before I can answer your original question is, "where can I put arcade machines in the new house?" Downstairs, I'm limited to the garage. Upstairs I can put them anywhere I want; the limiting factor becomes moving each one of them up (and someday, down) 17 steps. My garage is full of garage stuff at the moment -- tools, shelves, stuff, and yes, arcade games. But there's no space to put arcade games without moving a bunch of stuff out, and there's no real place for that stuff to go at the moment so, not sure if that's doable. Upstairs there are a few nooks and crannies to put games, but nothing like an "arcade" -- more like one machine here, another machine there, etc. Anything more than about three machines, and I'll have to rethink the machines being out in the garage.

Which brings us to your original question: "What were you most tempted to bid on??!"

GREAT QUESTION!

The nicest machines there were, by far, the Multicades. They had the nicest cabinets, the nicest artwork, and the nicest monitors. That being said, I already own one, and owning two seems like overkill. (Sometimes owning just one seems that way.)

Although the selection that day was shitty, I must admt I gave the pinball tables a once over. If you're a guy who sees arcade collecting as a fun but occasionally frustrating and expensive hobby, I think pinball is that x10. When I hear about the nightmares (and money) pinball owners go through ... my heart says yes, but my brain says no.

There were machines there that looked nice but don't pass my "two rules of game owning if you don't have much space." There was a sweet looking Joust cabinet there, but my Multi-Williams plays joust almost perfectly. And it's in a Joust-shaped cabinet so ... tough to justify.

I could, someday, see myself owning a sit-down driving game, although I'd rather own a gutted sit-down driving cabinet, MAME the shit out of it and make it play a bunch of driving games. I don't know how well that would work out without an infinite level of tweaking, but the dream is there. And since I complain about how much space the machines I already own take up, owning a freakin' gigantic driving machine seems silly.

So ... no, Jonsey. Nothing that day really tempted me. That's not to say there aren't things that don't, but none of them were in Mustang, Oklahoma that day.

I was wondering why you went to the auction at all. You just sold off a bunch of your machines to free up space, did you not?

Is it the arcade/hoarder thing? I understand collecting can be addicting.


THE
TAPS INSIDE ELBOW
WITH TWO FINGERS
AARDVARK

Old habits die hard, I suppose. I told everyone who would listen (including myself) that I was "just going to hang out" ... finally my wife pointed out that to "hang out" I didn't need to take my dolly, my trailer, or a thousand bucks in cash.

I guess no matter how little sense it would make for me to buy anything at this point, if the price were right, I'd probably still do it. Sigh. I'm an addict.

I don't know why this amuses me, but I'm guessing the majority of the stuff that sold at the auction is now being flipped. I guess that's what these people do, but still, it's interesting to watch it in action.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RDC-MARK-VIII-2 ... 4164d647d4

That sold for $6,500 at the auction. I had to move out of the way so the guy could take the pic -- I was leaning on the rail throughout the duration of the auction.

Can they make the indoor bumper car area any smaller? 24 x 24, might as well drive a VW in a closet.

There would certainly be no issue with losing sight of someone, no.