Between all of the authentic parts I purchased on ebay, and encoders, 4 inch trackballs, joysticks, buttons, xboxs for coin-ops 4, I am sure I spent over $1000 in the last 9 years.
Zero completed cabinets.
Boy, do I know that feeling. Had a huge home in Colorado, bought a bunch of arcade components, and even had a TMNT cab
in the garage and was forced to give it all up when Intel closed down our site and my family had to relocate to Oregon. Houses are
much smaller here in Oregon and the wife has said numerous times we have ZERO room in a 2600 sq ft house. I think she's finally agreed that I can find some spare space but now she's afraid I'm going to build it, at 3x the original quoted price, play it for about a month, then just quit and it will sit there gathering dust. Obviously she never spent much time in an arcade as a kid, where as I dumped almost entire paychecks.
So now I'm sitting on new black arcade components (had red translucent that was going to be lit up of course), I've got an entire computer (all spare parts, but it's still an Intel Quad Core Q9450-based system, so should be okay), 2x4s, 2x2s, 1/2" MDF, screws, bolts, etc, just waiting for 2 sheets of the grade A hardwood plywood so I can start drawing, measuring, and cutting. I'm going to go along the lines of the Knievel Woody and ambush's cab as my design inspiration.
Total cost thus far is about $300,
but I still need to spend $100 on the high-grade ply; I need a spinner, an Ipac, and a marquee, marquee light...so I figure total cost will be $700-800. Remember, though, this is a
labor of love, and not just some "stupid hobby."