Finally an 'incredible deal' story of my own

[8BitMonk]

We've all seen them, the post where someone scores an unbelievable deal in their area. Well, after years in this hobby (and wondering if I'd ever stumble upon such a deal) it finally happened to me.

I noticed a garage sale listing with a BurgerTime buried amongst the other odds and ends. No contact info, just an announcement the sale would start at 8am the next morning so I figured I'd stop by and check it out. I didn't make it there until around 8:30 and by that time two people had already looked at it! The lady told me it was working fine while in the basement but something must've happened moving it upstairs for the garage sale because now it wasn't getting power.

It looked in really good shape, I took the back door off and noticed the interlock switch was a little out of place and had some tape on it.



I wondered if it hadn't just come loose and thought it this is worth a gamble if I could get it for a good price. The seller was initially thinking $800 but offered it at $400 since it wasn't working. I countered $300 and she had to call her brother (who had owned it since college but now lived out of state) and... SOLD! I ran to an ATM to get cash and by the time I got back there was already another person there looking at it. The seller jokingly said 'the price just went up' but luckily stuck by the deal.

I got it home, threw the interlock switch hoping for a quick fix, hit the power and... nothing. Crap! Maybe this isn't going to be so easy. I glanced around a little more and then I saw it, how the hell did I miss that? Look in the lower left pic below, see anything missing?



Wonder where that's at... hmm looked around some more and... there it is, wedged in the pcb holder!



Plugged it in and boom, fired right up! Monitor needs a cap kit and some touchups on cosmetics but overall very solid and I think $300 is an incredible deal for a working BurgerTime.





 

[Slippyblade]

Sweet!  Love me some Burgertime!  I suck, but love the game.

[wp34]

Congratulations. That's a great score and Burgertime is one of my favorite cabinets.

[DudeRegular]

Nice! Good grab man.

[8BitMonk]

Debating what to do with this now, keep and completely restore or basic fixes and re-sell. I love the Burgertime cab, it's a classic, distinct and cool looking but I have limited space and think the game play might get repetitive.  Perhaps I could do a multi that doesn't ruin any of the original.

Another option I've been thinking of is rental. There's a guy in my area doing that now, $75/mo. and people can rent a game for as long as they like with a small refundable deposit. Anyone done rentals before?

[BadMouth]

I'd turn it into a dedicated 4-way cab without hacking anything.
The 1 action button would cover a lot of the vertical classics.

If there were a few 2 button games you had to have, you could use the player select buttons.

[8BitMonk]

Thanks for the idea, was considering that but also recently picked up a Dig Dug cabaret (which is much rarer and takes up less space) that is a good candidate for a dedicated vertical multi. Decisions decisions. :/

[Aceldamor]

I know it's a troll...but holy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- talking about raping dedicated cabs makes my blood pressure spike.

Congrats on the BT score...I would pay 300 for a working BT all day ery day!!!

[8BitMonk]

I know it's a troll...but holy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- you guys make my blood pressure spike.

Not sure what would make your blood pressure spike. I'm all about restorations (check out my Joust resto thread) and respect for the original cabs, my cab's aren't being bastardized or mame'd (pun intended) in any way.

Also, for the record, the Dig Dug cabaret came to me with everything but the power supply and monitor ripped out and a multi put in. Even though I'll use it as a multi, I'm actively seeking an original PCB, ARII, joystick etc. to completely restore it.

[Paul Olson]

If you were near Reno, I would pay you at least $600 for it as it sits. I have been looking for a BurgerTime for about 10 years now.

[paigeoliver]

Thanks for the idea, was considering that but also recently picked up a Dig Dug cabaret (which is much rarer and takes up less space) that is a good candidate for a dedicated vertical multi. Decisions decisions. :/

Don't fool yourself on the space thing. Atari cabarets basically take up the same chunk of floor as a full sized cabinet. The only space you save is that you MIGHT win the space lottery and that couple inches narrower they are might just be what you need to get another game into a row. But if you only have a few games, then these are the same size as an upright.

[Mr. Peabody]

Stellar. If you're not that into it, I recommend selling it to Paul for cost.

[yotsuya]

I know it's a troll...but holy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- talking about raping dedicated cabs makes my blood pressure spike.

Congrats on the BT score...I would pay 300 for a working BT all day ery day!!!

Right... The Dig Dug is rarer, so that makes it a better candidate to multi? Madness.

[8BitMonk]

I know it's a troll...but holy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- talking about raping dedicated cabs makes my blood pressure spike.

Congrats on the BT score...I would pay 300 for a working BT all day ery day!!!

Right... The Dig Dug is rarer, so that makes it a better candidate to multi? Madness.

Madness, really? Alright drama queen. It's rarer which means I want to keep in my collection, thus it's a better candidate. Read my previous posts, it came to me with a multi-board in it and I'm looking for parts to do a full restore. Do you really think I'd hack up a rare (or any for that matter) original cabinet? Gimme a break.

[yotsuya]

I did miss that second post. My apologies.

But do I think that someone would hack a rare original cabinet? Yeah. To stick a Pi in it, probably. The way you phased it initially didn't mention restoring, just the "better candidate to multi" phrase.

But good for you. If I can help you find any parts, let me know.

[8BitMonk]

I did miss that second post. My apologies.

But do I think that someone would hack a rare original cabinet? Yeah. To stick a Pi in it, probably. The way you phased it initially didn't mention restoring, just the "better candidate to multi" phrase.

But good for you. If I can help you find any parts, let me know.

Thanks for the parts help offer. I actually made what I thought was a fair offer for the PCB on ebay from part_gallery along with the wiring harness and test panel and the guy told me he's not going to play my 'jewbag' games. Great seller, nice ethnic slur. 

[yotsuya]

I did miss that second post. My apologies.

But do I think that someone would hack a rare original cabinet? Yeah. To stick a Pi in it, probably. The way you phased it initially didn't mention restoring, just the "better candidate to multi" phrase.

But good for you. If I can help you find any parts, let me know.

Thanks for the parts help offer. I actually made what I thought was a fair offer for the PCB on ebay from parts_gallery along with the wiring harness and test panel and the guy told me he's not going to play my 'jewbag' games. Great seller, nice ethnic slur. 

It wasn't socal1234 or someone like that, was it?

[8BitMonk]

Nah, the ebay business name is part_gallery. Here's a link to the listing.

[parkway]

Nice grabs.  I'd love a DigDug cabaret one day.

[ChanceKJ]

.

[8BitMonk]

Interesting end to this story. I had been bugging a local collector to buy their Robotron for over a year and they weren't interested in selling. I'd check back every few months and eventually no response. However... they were interested in trading for a BurgerTime!  Robotron is my gra.. um, my favorite game and at the top of my want list so BurgerTime had to go. Sorry BurgerTime, it was fun, you're an awesome cab but Robotron edges you out.

Really stoked to restore this one.

[Malenko]

love me some burgertime but I look forward to the robo restore. 

[opt2not]

Wow, where do you live to get these sweet deals on cabinets that don't need that much work?  That BT didn't really that much restoration, just the CP redone, and some cleaning overall. Even the scratches on the sides look paintable with touchup. That Robotron is pretty much good to go too! What do you need to restore, the edges look great, the sides are clean, and it looks complete!  I say just clean it up and get it working and you're done.

Good call on the trade though. Robotron > Burgertime in terms of replay value. BUT, I would argue that BT is less intimidating and more approachable to the masses. If you're good at BT, getting up to the later levels just gets ridiculously fast to the point of silliness. With Robotron you can get to a high skill level and pretty much coast the way through multi-million scores.
Every arcade I've been to in the last little while (3 this month in SF, San Jose and Santa Cruz) had a Robotron, and they were never busy. I did get to attract a crowd at the SF arcade when I was playing to 1 million (didn't want to go further than that 'cause it takes about 25-30 mins for each million) . It was great to have that old arcade feeling of people crowding around to watch you game.

Robotron is an incredible game if you're good at it, but terribly frustrating if you're not.  Your wife will probably avoid it like mine does.

[DeLuSioNal29]

Nice score, congrats!     Love to hear stories like this one.

DeL

[8BitMonk]

That Robotron is pretty much good to go too!

The pictures hide it but the Robotron needs a good amount of work, I'll do a full restore. I'll repaint and re-stencil it, clean it completely etc., I like the machines I keep to be pristine.

Acquiring a Robotron was all about my love for the game, I'd agree that it's not as universally liked. It's more of a collectors favorite than a casual players favorite. I could play it endlessly though, it's almost meditative. I never played it in the arcades as a kid, it would kill me too quick and wasn't a good value for my quarter. When I built my Mame machine I re-discovered it and have loved it ever since. My high is a around 1.8 million, haven't broken the 2 million mark yet. I notice the joysticks on an official machine are quite a bit different than the U360's I normally play with. I was able to play one out in the wild at The 1Up in Denver when I was there recently, only put up 800k. 

[opt2not]

Once you get used to the original Wico's, it's like butter, you really can't go back to margarine.
Though U360's could be considered I can't believe it's not butter, but it's just not the same thing.  The originals, when the grommets are properly softened and worked-in feel amazing for hitting those diagonals, or doing the "spread-shot wiggle", and you can also adjust the leaf-switches to your personal liking as well.

Eventually I'm going to try Randy's Dominux8 sticks, especially since I'm living in the US now and shipping won't be as terrible as it was in Canada. But I have doubts that I'll replace my originals on my Robotron cabaret. I'd most likely put them in a custom stick or something.

1.8 million on Mame is pretty good. Having a dedicated cab, this score will go up for sure. You'll get to that point where you're just cruising through and the time just passes by. I haven't hit my highest score yet, but I've gotten past 7 million and just let it go 'cause it takes a while to be standing there for that long. I get too tired, and I don't really like playing Robotron sitting down. It's a game that requires my whole body    I give mad props to the guys who do marathon runs on these types of games. The stamina needed is impressive.

[Mr. Peabody]

Real Robo is just different than MAME - of any stripe and era.