How much for a empty cab?

[slicer_d]

Hey guys I have been looking for an empty cab locally (for maming) and was wondering what is a decent price?  I realize it can vary quite a bit depending on what type and certain cabs are worth more then others (ala starwars which I wouldnt mame anyway).

What would you guys be willing to pay for a clean empty cab then didn't need much work and what about a little bit more beat up cab that need some dings filled and t-molding replaced?  Also how much more would you pay for a monitor with it?  Say a 19" or 25".

I called some dude today and he wanted 375 for a empty cab no monitor that seemed a little pricy.  Also if anybody in Arizona mainly Pheonix metro area but I visit Tucson to has a cab to get rid of I would be interested.

[TheGatesofBill]

I got my empty cabinet for free, and it is in very good condition. So unless this cabinet is something rare or in perfect condition with sideart, I think that is very high.

[shumph]

that is insanely high


hell i only paid 75 for my near perfect working millipede

[IG-88]

I just got 2 for $40 total. Keep shoppin'....

[SirPoonga]

My double dragon II cab was free.  It needs some fixing and no monitor.

[OSCAR]

I got a very nice empty Dynamo cab minus monitor & ps for $20, solid Sinistar cab minus monitor & ps for $30, working Time Pilot that needed the monitor fixed ($5 part) for $90.

$375 is very expensive for an empty cabinet!  If you happen to be anywhere near Detroit, PM delta88.  He can hook you up with a good cab for very little $$.

[eightbit]

In my area this is my experiences.

Empty beat up 19" cabinets are often free. Empty 25" cabinets are worth up to $75. 4 player cabs are woth more. Good controls add to what the cab is worth. Popular cabinets and nice artwork can often add a lot to what its worth. The reproduction artwork is usually going to cost you $70-$300 for both sides so keep that in mind.

You can often easily get working games in the $250-$500 range so $375 for an empty cab is crazy unless its something special.

I know little about monitors.

[slicer_d]

Cool thanks for the info guys.  I live in Arizona so if anybody want to sell me one or can point to the right direction that would be cool.

I dont know why that guy wanted so much he was asking 1200+ for the rest of his working machines as well stuff like pacman galaga and such it was all way overpriced.

[william1983]

exactly how i feel i know this idoit near me he wants 1200 for a pacman machine and a 1000 for a playchioce machine!!

i am sorry but as much i will pay for a pacman machine is 200 maybe 300 dollars...

yes you can tell i grew up around the advanced arcade era...ala street fighter and mortal kombat time range..

[SNAAAKE]

Open up yellow page and start calling arcades.OR try ebay.

[Howard_Casto]

exactly how i feel i know this idoit near me he wants 1200 for a pacman machine and a 1000 for a playchioce machine!!

i am sorry but as much i will pay for a pacman machine is 200 maybe 300 dollars...

yes you can tell i grew up around the advanced arcade era...ala street fighter and mortal kombat time range..

If the games are working and in good shape then that's a reasonable price for the pacman.  It's a very popular game so to find one working in good shape is gonna cost ya.  The playchoice is a little high but considering they come with two monitors it's not real bad.  

On the other hand every mortal kombat except for mk2 can be gotten for a song.  And a street fighter cab is practically worthless.    

This just makes good common sense to me....... the older it is, the more it's worth.  (assuming both are in similar shape)

[william1983]

well we both have our opinions on games..

thats what makes us different regardless i still dont see how anybody would pay that much for a pacman game.

[Lilwolf]

When I lived in New Mexico... I kept an eye at Arizona because I had family (extended) that I thought I could get pick up items... and I could drive out...

There where tons compared to New Mexico (nothing like detroit).  And I was able to get a bunch of full running games for cheaper then that.

the person you talked to was really reaming you.  He probably was laughing to his buddies when he got off the phone with you.

btw, for 300 if you get a cab with perfect sideart and a working 25" monitor... it might be worth it.

Ebay is a good place to start... Calling up local arcades will be better... but you might have to wait.

And free - 50 bucks is a normal price...

building your own is one day of woodwork... and about 100 in wood

[eightbit]

building your own is one day of woodwork... and about 100 in wood

People often forget that you often get more than just the wood in an empty cabinet. Many times you'll get the glass, a coin door, marquee retainers, leveler legs and or other bonus items. Thats all bonus stuff that can easily be worth another hundred especially with coin doors. So a mostly empty cab could cost you $200 to replace, just keep that in mind.

[neuromancer]

I got my empty cab with a fully working (albiet somewhat lame) game inside, including a functioning monitor and a working coin door for $100 off ebay. One of the buttons was broken.

Condition of the cabinet was excellent.

Bob

[greywolf22]

Hey,  I'm actually in Tucson and bought my cabinet from a store named Pinballs & More for about 60 bucks (it was empty, but in decent shapes, hope to have pictures up soon), but I drove by there the other day and it looked like he now sells go-carts and not arcade cabinets anymore   (go figure).  Anyway, he might have some information on where in AZ to look...I just wish I could remember the name of his new store, but if you do a search on yahoo, I believe the number still comes up, if not let me know and I'll see if I can find it.

[paigeoliver]

I might as well chime in and list the purchase price of all my (current) cabinets. I will also include the condition they were in when I got them.


Kangaroo $100, minty, working, dead monitor.

Crystal Castles. $250, decent, fully working. Has some major scratches on the cab.

Time Pilot (cocktail). $50. good monitor. no boardset or harness. Had major glass flaking, and most of the metal was rusting/flaking. (This is ALL fixed now, but of course the monitor blew on it).

Victory (Pinball, shopped), traded a Jamma cabinet, 17 boardsets, about a dozen marquees, and a few control panels for it.

Force II pinball. (semi-working). $150 ebay, buy it now.

Cherry Master cabinet. Originally paid $50 for this as a fully working poker machine.

Artic Mini mame. Traded a poker boardset and wiring harness for it. Was complete game minus boardset, and with broken joystick.

Battlezone no boards, no monitor. Free.

Amazing Maze. Complete, bad boardset. Free.

Tournament Solitaire complete, very nice, had battery problem. $52 ebay.

Space Firebird (first time). $100. Complete, working, had missing sprites. (later, parted, and sold).

Space Firebird (second time). no internals, no joystick, got it back for free.

[slicer_d]

Thanks for the info guys I think I found a local guy that might be able to hook me up.  All of the ebay auctions in my area suck they are either not very mameable because of there funky shapes or they are all minty working cabs that I wouldnt want to mame anyway.  I would just kill for a decent jamma cab that that I could play with for cheap.  I wont really be able to work on it till X-MAS break anyway so maybe its for the best.

[DARRYLICSHON]

IF YOU LIVE WHERE THEY HAVE AUCTIONS . I GO TO SUPERAUCTIONS IN ATLANTA GA. I GOT A CAB FOR $5.00 AND A COCKTAIL FOR THE SAME , THE CAB WORKED WHEN I GOT IT HOME , SO NOW I HAVE TO GO BACK AND GET ANOTHER ONE , THEY HAVE A WEB SITE SAME NAME .COM , THEY GO ALL OVER THE USA , BUT THERE ARE OTHER AUCTIONS IN ALOT OF PLACES , GOOD LUCK

[paigeoliver]

exactly how i feel i know this idoit near me he wants 1200 for a pacman machine and a 1000 for a playchioce machine!!

i am sorry but as much i will pay for a pacman machine is 200 maybe 300 dollars...

yes you can tell i grew up around the advanced arcade era...ala street fighter and mortal kombat time range..

If the games are working and in good shape then that's a reasonable price for the pacman.  It's a very popular game so to find one working in good shape is gonna cost ya.  The playchoice is a little high but considering they come with two monitors it's not real bad.  

On the other hand every mortal kombat except for mk2 can be gotten for a song.  And a street fighter cab is practically worthless.    

This just makes good common sense to me....... the older it is, the more it's worth.  (assuming both are in similar shape)

$1200 is way high on a Pac-Man. Unless it had a new monitor and all new artwork.

My friend has a dual monitor Playchoice, he bought it from another collector for $100. The guy had originally listed it at $175 and gotten no takers.

Also, show me a Street Fighter cabinet. The Streetfighter series was almost all conversion kits.

[slicer_d]

The funny thing about Arizona is it has the 4th largest city in the nation but we never get anything cool.  We just get looked over for everthing.  Also since a large percent of growth has happend it the last 15 years or so we dont have a lot of older stuff lying around so its just no fun.  I will keep checking websites and the paper for stuff though.

[greywolf22]

I know what you mean about Arizona, frankly I was shocked to find someone who actually sold Arcade cabinets here in Tucson...of course now he sells go-karts as I mentioned above, so I guess it wasn't very profitable for him.  Too bad too because he was very helpful at not only providing cabinets (had a few to choose from), but also bulk ordered the buttons,joysticks, etc for me, so I just paid the cost of the item and not the shipping (since he was getting them anyway, he just let me pick out what I wanted).  Guess for my next project it's building one from scratch, or finding some place to drive to to pick one up.  Good luck with your search  

[StatusQuo]

Ya, I got mine from pinballs and more as well. But I'm kinda sorry I did. I paid $75 for an old cabinet with nothing but a crappy control panel. Nothing really meet my needs. But I was excited and just wanted somthing. But most things I wouldn't have noticed unless I had time to work on it. I did build a control panel this summer, but man does it looks ugly on my cabinet. I'm thinking I should just pull out all the stops and laminate  it, and then it wouldn't hurt my eyes. Your best bet may be to just build one. Thats what I should've done.

[greywolf22]

Hey Status,

I know what you mean, I had to do some "repair" work to my cabinet.  Looks pretty good I think, but in retrospect, if I had more wood working experience, and a place to work (like a garage or a back yard), I would have built my own as well.  Mine is good for a first experience, and I have learned a lot working with it.  Hope to have some pictures up sometime soon (when I get the chance to work on my website)...the arcade cabinet I got didn't even have a control panel with it...just a big empty space, so my friend and I were able to contruct one that fits well with the cab, but the amount of time we spent repairing could have gone into building.  So I guess it just boils down to time,space, money and experience.  Hopefully I've learned enough and I'll have more time space and money in the future  

[Brogner]

$375 is very expensive for an empty cabinet!

I agree.  I couldnt believe a Blitz 99 cab with no boards, no monitor, big crack on the front,  going for $320  at the St. Louis auction  

[paigeoliver]

$375 is very expensive for an empty cabinet!

I agree.  I couldnt believe a Blitz 99 cab with no boards, no monitor, big crack on the front,  going for $320  at the St. Louis auction  

I think that actually DID have boards in it. I remember looking in the back of the junk cabs earlier in the day and they all seemed to have boards.

I have a few more recent buys to add to the list.

Defender (with all painted art intact), Arch Rivals conversion, no PCB, no coin door. FREE

Defender. All painted art intact. Nothing else there except t-molding and the speaker panel. $20.

Turbo. Complete minus bezel. All taken apart. $20

Space Invaders Mini. Dead (color) monitor, no control panel, no PCB, no marquee, no bezel. FREE