Space Duel Cabinet for Sale

[Arcadeboy]

Anyone interested in making an offer on this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3259377355&category=13716&rd=1

I wanted to get at least $500 for it.  I am moving soon and could deliver it anywhere between central Virginia and the Charlotte, NC area.

[BLACK KNIGHT]

Hahaha!  My friend was the high bidder for it!!  I told him your reserve was probably around $500-600...guess I was close!

[Arcadeboy]

Is he still interested?

[skylighter]

Let me get this straight:

You convert a vintage Space Duel cabinet that is worth a good chunk of change to MAME.  You therefore have devalued it greatly and ruined a nice rare machine.

You dont even include at least a peice of plexi to cover the monitor area.

You then put it up on Ebay with a ridiculous reserve.

You get many decent bids.

On the arcade collecting newsgroup, this conversion is completely slammed by a whole slew of people, which can be seen at:

http://groups.google.com/groups?&threadm=AV_Bb.11160%24Vg3.2108%40fe3.columbus.rr.com

Now you are trying to sell it off here in hopes to find someone who doesnt have a clue of its real value or lack thereof.

I would suggest that you take one of the reasonable bids from ebay.

(BTW, glowinc.c0m will definately not be interested)

[Arcadeboy]

Very funny.  I read the posts from the newsgroup.  You guys really should know what you are talking about before writing dumb ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- like that.  

The cabinet was totally empty when I got it with no marquee, no control panel, no anything except the side and front panels were in good condition.  I didn't "hack up" anything.  I actually fixed what little damage there was to the side panels and you could take it as it is now and change it back to a dedicated Space Duel machine again.  I wouldn't want to screw up a classic arcade game that's why I didn't do any more than I did.  I like MAME and everything but, you people take this ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- a little too seriously.  If you really wanted to, you could even restore the damaged control panel I bought off of eBay.  Maybe I'm not "cool" enough for you guys, but I think it looks a lot better than the picture here of how I am "SUPPOSED to convert a space duel into MAME"

http://lousarcade.com/mame1.jpg

Also, if you read the original listing, there is a piece of plexiglass included.

What is a "ridiculous reserve"?  You don't even know what the reserve price was.

This cabinet is worth what I am asking for it, if not more.  Especially, if you compare it with some of really bad cabinets and machines that sell on eBay on a regular basis.  The cabinet was $75 when I bought it.  I spent more money (probably $150 or more) and time to repair the cabinet and get replacement parts.  The control panel parts alone were over $250.  So I'm not sure exactly how I am ripping someone off.      

[Arcadeboy]

And I'm not a llama!  Damn it!

[APFelon]

Hehe! The "I am a llama" is the default text. I changed mine so my MSN guy is wearing a hat. You can change yours in your profile.

[skylighter]

Hehe, I am sorry for giving you such a hard time.

I just found the whole situation kind of amusing.

I dont think you are ripping off anyone.  Actually, it may be worth $500 to someone.

I also know the high bidder on your auction and he bought 4 cabs at the NJ auction this weekend.  Empty cabs went VERY cheap.

One guy bought a dead, but complete Pole Position II for $5 at the auction!  It even looked good.  I was on the other side of the room and completely missed it.

Good luck with your sale and your machine.

[DARRYLICSHON]

I think your photo needed a bigger monitor

[paigeoliver]

The control panel parts alone were over $250.  So I'm not sure exactly how I am ripping someone off.      

That is the problem, you went out and bought a couple of VERY expensive optical rotary joysticks at full price. All the specialty controls at Happs are VERY expensive, but they don't have nearly that resale price. Like Happ's charges over $100 for an Arkanoid spinner, and another $100+ for a trigger stick, a ton of money for all styles of optical rotaries etc, etc, etc.

But, buying that stuff is like buying a music CD. The street value of the stuff is nowhere near what you paid for it. (Like, buy a CD for $17, it is worth $1 the minute you open it).

Star Wars yokes aside, the street value of most joysticks is $5, most spinners and other specialty controls $10-$20. Sure, sometimes they go high on ebay, and sometimes they don't (the last $9 lot of sticks I bought on ebay had an NOS wico mechanical rotary in it, along with about 8 other sticks).

You would be hard pressed to break even selling a cabinet that had optical rotary sticks on it. My suggestion is to pull out that expensive stuff on the control panel, replace it with cheap stuff, and finish the darn project. Then you will see it sell for a decent price. Save that expensive stuff for a game you will keep, because you are never going to get your money back reselling them.

[Arcadeboy]

I probably should have taken out the monitor when I took the picture, but I just left it in.  It wasn't part of the auction anyway, but I figured it would show someone how big of a computer monitor would fit inside.  I'm sure a 17" and possibly a 19" would fit, and this is what I eventually planned to put in it.  The cabinet is basically ready to use except for a computer, monitor, and bezel (which I didn't add because the monitor was going to change).

Has anyone else heard of this joystick depreciation theory?  I'm just not sure how putting worse joysticks inside (which would take away the spinner capability from the control panel) would help me sell it for more.  Most of the control panel cost was the interface boards anyway.

[paigeoliver]

I probably should have taken out the monitor when I took the picture, but I just left it in.  It wasn't part of the auction anyway, but I figured it would show someone how big of a computer monitor would fit inside.  I'm sure a 17" and possibly a 19" would fit, and this is what I eventually planned to put in it.  The cabinet is basically ready to use except for a computer, monitor, and bezel (which I didn't add because the monitor was going to change).

Has anyone else heard of this joystick depreciation theory?  I'm just not sure how putting worse joysticks inside (which would take away the spinner capability from the control panel) would help me sell it for more.  Most of the control panel cost was the interface boards anyway.

No, taking out the expensive joysticks and rotary interface won't help you get a higher price for the cabinet, it will help you actually sell it for what you have into it. Then you can save your expensive rotary joysticks for something that you will actually keep.

Maybe I should give you a different analogy about the joysticks. Lets say you have an old used car that would be worth about $3000 if it ran. But it doesn't have an engine or transmission. Now instead of buying an engine and transmission, you instead go out and buy a $1200 set of wheels and try to sell the car for $3000 that way instead.

So, save your rotaries, and Opti-Pac, put some normal sticks on it, pick up a Celeron 400 comp locally (should be $30 - $40), and some sort of used 19-21" monitor, and actually complete the project. If you look around you should be able to find a used monitor cheap, ones that have yellowed cases, or missing bases tend to sell cheap (I paid $40-$75 each for the five 21" monitors I own).

Basically, invest another $100 to complete the thing, and then it will sell easily. I am suggesting pulling those rotaries because they really are not adding much the the value of the thing.


EDIT

Oooh, looks like you have a trackball too. Man, I would just keep the thing, you have more invested in nice custom controls than you could probably hope to recover by selling it.

Truthfully, the best Mame cabinets to sell are very cheap to make. Cabs with a single 4-way joystick, 2 buttons, a vertical monitor and the 116 4-way vertical games cost almost nothing to make, and will sell for $500 to $800 all day long. I just made one like that for someone (a mini), and it cost me about $125 to make, and I sold it for $500. I probably could have gotten more for it if I had tried.

I know you are moving, but that isn't really any reason to sell your game, I currently own like 16 games, and I have moved several times in the last few years.

[Arcadeboy]

I actually have an old computer comparable to a Celeron 400 that I'm trying to get rid of too.  I just figured no one would really care about adding a basically worthless computer to the sale.  It could run most early games but that's about it, which may be fine for some people though.

Moving itself isn't the only reason for selling the cabinet.  I just really won't have room for it anymore and don't want to spend more for a decent dedicated computer for it.

BTW, Where did you find your cheap monitors?

[paigeoliver]

For cheap monitors look for local ones on ebay, and find out where the used computer/it equipment places are in your area.

A Celeron 400 is not worthless for Mame, it will run 95 percent of the games supported by Mame version .55.

The difference between a working machine and a half completed one is everything. And unless you are moving into a dorm room, I still don't understand why you wouldn't have enough room, an arcade game takes up the same chunk of floor space as an end table or night stand, just put it in your bedroom.

[Sasquatch!]

Has anyone else heard of this joystick depreciation theory?  I'm just not sure how putting worse joysticks inside (which would take away the spinner capability from the control panel) would help me sell it for more.  Most of the control panel cost was the interface boards anyway.

I'm not sure if this is what paigeoliver was getting at, but look at it this way:

You put those expensive (and nice) controls in the cabinet, but by doing so (and asking what you are), you're banking that there's someone out there who will want your cabinet AND those particular controls.  Most people might want one or the other, but probably not both.  That's why you'll probably have a hard time recouping your investment by selling it all as one package.  

[Arcadeboy]

Well, maybe you guys have a point.  If I can't find anyone who's interested soon, I guess I can squeeze it into the corner for a while.  At least I'll get to play with it more.  

It looks like a 17" monitor will be the max I can fit in without butchering the cabinet.  But that's probably good enough for the distance you stand from the controls.  15" really wasn't that bad anyway.

Anyone have any suggestions for the best way to tie a monitor down to the cabinet?  I've just had the old one sitting on the shelf.  It seems like the easiest thing (without screwing into the monitor case) might be just to use some small tie down straps anchored to the shelf.

[paigeoliver]

That is a standard sized cabinet, it will take up to a 21" PC monitor, or a 23" open frame/decased one. It came stock with a 19" vector monitor (same sized tube as a 21" PC monitor).

I know Atari cabinets, I own several of them. Anyway, I have stuffed 21" monitors into minis and cabarets, so I know you can get a 19" in that one. Just stay away from the ones with the speakers on the side.

Oh, it MIGHT poke out the back though, just deal with it, or do what the game manufacturers did when the monitors didn't fit, they cut a hole and made a little plastic cover to go over the part that pokes out.

[Arcadeboy]

It looks like I could fit a 21" monitor inside, but the top part of the screen would be covered up by the top speaker panel unless I'm missing something.

[paigeoliver]

You are missing either decasing the monitor or lowering the shelf that it sits on.

[Arcadeboy]

You are missing either decasing the monitor or lowering the shelf that it sits on.

Maybe your cabinets are different from mine, but it looks like to lower the shelf I would have to move some support blocks that are nailed in (probably destroying them) and the wood piece with the control panel latches which would leave nothing hold the panel tight.

I can see decasing a monitor as an option, but I don't want to be afraid of electrocuting myself everytime I touch it.  I had a bad experience peeing on an electric fence when I was young and don't like playing with electricity.  

[paigeoliver]

You are missing either decasing the monitor or lowering the shelf that it sits on.

Maybe your cabinets are different from mine, but it looks like to lower the shelf I would have to move some support blocks that are nailed in (probably destroying them) and the wood piece with the control panel latches which would leave nothing hold the panel tight.

I can see decasing a monitor as an option, but I don't want to be afraid of electrocuting myself everytime I touch it.  I had a bad experience peeing on an electric fence when I was young and don't like playing with electricity.  

Not all cabinets are identical, but if there is a shelf, then it can be redone, somehow.  A simple way might be to just swap the shelf to the bottom of the support blocks.I would have to see it to know for sure, but there is a way to do it.

[PacManFan]

I'm in the process of MAMEing a Space Dual Cabinet right now, I got it from VeeBorg about 4 weeks ago, he was ready to toss it. I put in a nice 21" KDS pixeltouch into it from BirdTales with a AMD k6-2 450. It plays great, and I'm going to ebay it soon.  I had to take out the monitor shelf that was in there, and put in a new shelf about 2" lower to accomodate the 21". The cab I had was woodgrain sides, so I gave the "classic" mame finish- black marble shelf paper.
No offense, I just hope my cab doesn't get mistaken for that one when I Ebay it..

-PMF

[Arcadeboy]

Oh you horrible bastard!!  You should die for destroying a classic cabinet like that.  Let's all go over and kick his ass right now!!!!!!!