$4000 is Steep... At that price, it would have to be completely in Like-New condition.
New stickers, perfect paint, restored controls, etc. Basically, Museum Quality.
But $500 to $800 ?! Good luck with that !
Spy Hunter is an Epic classic, and its getting harder and harder to get one.
This was one of my grail games... and I had been searching for one for a few years. I got mine at an Arcade Auction,
for $800... non restored (needed a replacement pedal assembly). That was probably like 10yrs ago... when my buddies
were telling me to wait for a more reasonable price of like $500 to $600. This was also for the Standup version...
and I Really wanted the Sit-Down... which is even Harder to find, and more expensive if you do find it.
As such... Im pretty sure you will rarely find them for under $800 these days.. if you can find them at all. Most
collectors wont ever let this one go. Its simply too addicting of a game... Even more so, when you get good at it.
I had to sell mine, sadly... due to financial ruins.. and its one of my biggest regrets, of anything that Ive had to lose.
Before I sold it.. I restored it to a fantastic level. Removed the pedal rust, repainted all the controllers. Even stripped
a spare power supply, and buffed the housing to a sparkling shine.
There is nothing like the original Wheel. Its designed to be Slammed with all your might... to be able to bump the
baddies off the road... due to genius level programming, that determines your horizontal velocity. If you bump too
slow... they wont be effected much if at all. And if they are bumping at the same time... their velocity will be pit
against yours... and the stronger values will determine whom goes Flying... and how far.
The Gas pedal is smooth as silk... and very high resolution in its readings, and speed control. It uses a high gear
ratio with small teeth gearing. I believe the Pot for it, is a 10-Turn pot. The steering wheel uses the same
high gearing, and the same pot.
The gearing is often an issues on the pedals... as if the pedal has gotten out of whack, the small gear teeth do not
mesh correctly, and some of the teeth wear or sheer off. This is how mine was, and I had to rebuilt my pedal from
the parts of two different pedal assemblies.
The other pedal issue... is what happens when people use a trick to make the car go faster. They place the pedal
above the lever assembly... and the pedals metal stopper brackets cut into the lever bar... eventually flattening
the bar, or completely sheering it off. One of my buddies solved this issue, by installing a block of wood under the
pedal.. so that the wood would wear, instead of the lever bar.
As one might speculate... that if your pedal assembly's gears are stripped... and or you cant find these unique
pots to replace them with... then you have a useless machine. This often leads to these machines getting
parted out. Especially because nobody has ever made any replacements, as far as I know.
Toss in issues with bad power supplies, and no more CRT availability... and you start to realize how many of these
games were trashed, and why. And why they are getting Much harder to find in working condition, and at reasonable
prices. Especially considering how universally loved the game is.