Buying DK Standup, What to look for?

[DrChek]

A buddy of mine has made an offer on a Donkey Kong machine and will be going to check the machine out in a few days. He's got no experience with actual arcade hardware, and I've only built a MAME bartop, but know more about the classic machines than he does. The seller says everything works and the screen is clear and bright. From the pictures, I can see that it is an orange cabinet so it is most likely a DK Jr. conversion. The CPO, marquee and bezel are definitely DK, but there is no side art (more evidence of a conversion). Unfortunately I won't be able to go with him to see it but I wanted to give him some stuff he should look at to check the machine out.

Any suggestions?

[Nephasth]

Educate your friend as best you can before he goes (too bad you couldn't go with him). I went with a friend that was buying a MK1. The seller told us before we got their that it was "all original". The seller was asking $300 or $350. Got their and it was in a 19" cabinet, clearly not "original". I opened it up and it was missing a few minor things, like the test switch, the bezel was from some other game just turned around (more evidence of not original), and the monitor had some burn in from the previous game. I told my friend to use these points in negotiating. He asked the guy if he would take any less than what he was asking, the guy said $250 and before I had a chance to let a word out, my buddy jumped on it. I think he could have gotten him talked down to $200, maybe even less. My friend was just so ---Bad words, bad words, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when saint censors you?--- excited to get an arcade machine, he wasn't thinking about actual value. The more your friend knows before he checks it out, the more likely he'll be able to get a fair deal. And tell him to keep his cool, if the seller won't sell it for a fair price, there are plenty of other arcade games out there.

[leapinlew]

One thing that always irks me is the speaker opening. If it's chipped or anything, it's a ---smurfette--- to repair. I never could get mine right.

Look for burn marks above the player 1 and player 2 buttons. That's where people used to put their cigarettes. If the joystick is sloppy, and doesn't move in all directions, don't worry it's not broken.

[Donkey_Kong]

One thing that always irks me is the speaker opening. If it's chipped or anything, it's a ---smurfette--- to repair. I never could get mine right.

Look for burn marks above the player 1 and player 2 buttons. That's where people used to put their cigarettes. If the joystick is sloppy, and doesn't move in all directions, don't worry it's not broken.

We use Durham's rock hard water putty for a lot of imperfections like that.  Just don't go nuts with it as it can be a ---smurfette--- to sand when fully cured.

[LeedsFan]

I have no experience of buying a DK cab... but I can reiterate some stuff I've heard before. Make sure the artwork is in decent nick. OK after all these years it won't be perfect. But if it's totally missing or ripped to hell it's a bargaining point. Make sure marquee lights up. No biggie if it doesn't but it's a bargaining point.

I'd look carefully for screen burn. I'd also play the game carefully and listen for any missing sounds. I'm no tech expert but stuff like that means you need to mess with the game board to get it right. Not something I'd personally want to get into. Also make sure it's the correct board and says "Nintendo of America 1981" on the attract screen. That's the correct updated American boardset. Early Japanese boardsets just say "Nintendo 1981" and they have the ladder cheat and the boards in order 1,2,3,4.

I wouldn't worry too much about the joystick being sloppy etc. Sure you can use it as a bargaining point. But repro Nintendo 4-ways are available new if you need to get one. It might still have the original Nintendo buttons which are now unobtainable. If it doesn't then it's no biggie to playing the game, but again it's a negative to the original cabinet. Make sure to see underneath the CP. Those Nintendo buttons were micro-switch and not leaf, but they did have a rather unique bracket and setup under there.

[boardjunkie]

99% of all DK cabs were orange. There were some red ones out there, but they were actually factory converted Radarscope cabs. Its a pretty rare occurance for one to turn up in the wild....

[boardjunkie]

Brain fart.....they were blue. Why was I thinking orange??