I went to that same auction too (less than 4 miles from my house) and bought my first cab with intentions of making it a MAME machine.
Given the selection of units at the auction, I was prepared to spend about $200. Here's the ones I was looking at (in order of preference):
Soul Edge
GigaWing
Bust a Move (Neo Geo with the oversize CP)
Sunset Riders (4 player)
Cowboys of Moo Mesa (4 player)
Simpsons (4 player)
Open Ice (4 player)
All cabs had oversized control panels approx 37" wide. All had 25" monitors.
The Soul edge machine used to be a NBA Tournament (4 player) cab. It was pretty beat up. Front corners broken, cuts in the case for security bars across the coin door. It needed a ton of work. I figured it would go really cheap. When it came time to auction it, the owner had them start the bidding at $200. The owner ended up buying it back at around $300, I think. The same thing happened with the Bust-a-move (Neo Geo) that he brought. The Neo Geo control panel was really messed up. Looked like water damage. The owner ended up putting both units back in the auction later. I don't remember what they ended up selling for.
Well, after the run up on those two beat up units, I really didn't expect to have a chance with the GigaWing machine. It was in really nice condition. a little scuffed on the sides but nothing a coat of paint wouldn't fix. When it came up for auction, the bidding topped out at $210. Suprised at the low price, I raised my card and got it for $220. If you figure in the $10 I paid for the "bidding card", the 10% "buyers premium", and 6% NJ sales tax, my total cost was $266.52. It was a little more than I wanted to spend but given the wonderful condition of the machine, I am completely thrilled.
I was told that Sunset Riders and Cowboys of Moo Mesa ended up going for more than what I paid for my cab as well. And they were pretty beat up as well. It goed to show you, you never know what people are going to bid up.
I got GigaWing home, cleaned it up, and checked it out more thoroughly and here's the list of what I've found wrong with it:
bent "feet" (bought replacements for $4 at the show)
marquee light not working (replaced bulb but still dead)
coin door lock missing
rear door lock broken
two coin mechs missing
one coin mech "eject" doesn't work
two burned out coin door lights
power cord missing ground prong
two missing "cartridge clips" on the Capcom System II board
I also think that the power supply might be a little off as there seems to be some electrical noise of some kind on the monitor. It's mostly only visible when the screen is showing very light colors. I'll have to research and investigate further.
The monitor itself is bright, sharp, and doesn't appear to have any burn in.
From the dates on the monitor and coin door, It appears the cab was made in 1992. The Capcom system 2 and Gigawing cartridge are dated 1999.
The cabinet is suprisingly narrow. It's exactly 24" wide inside and measures approx 26" outside. Many other cabs I measured at the show were 27"-29" wide.
Now the design work on my MAME control panel begins!
...
Krick