Author Topic: Before I destroy this original (Read 4666 times)

studboy62 · « **on:** April 22, 2004, 01:04:00 am »

Hey guys, I'm new to the board and not too overly familiar with the MAME community. So I thought I'd ask all of you, the experts, about my newest project before I go and destroy an original.

The original has pictures posted here.

This is an original 1981 Centipede game in complete working condition. As it stands we can still put it back together and it will run. My buddy, Jay, got it at a yard sale last summer for $30 cause someone had run over the power cord with the lawn mower. He fixed the cord and brought it home because his mom loves Centipede.

On the main game board is a sticker with the date of June '98 on it. We think it was restored then because the monitor actually has a Pac-Man board burned into it and is mounted upside down.

Jay also has an old computer that I have recently fixed up. Our plans are to strip the box and use that for our new MAME machine/jukebox. We want to sell off all the old components in order to finance our little project. However, everyone I've told about this project so far has literally yelled at me for destroying an original. So my question to all of you is, should I do this?

Could we make as much money by cleaning up the original Centipede game and selling that as we could by selling off the individual components. Are the cabinets and original artwork valuable at all? I've already seen the same monitor we have in our unit on ebay for $65 and it didn't even work. Ours works and has the full chassis. I don't know if the rest of the stuff is valuable to people that are restoring these old machines or if they are looking to buy the things as one whole completed piece or even if they are that popular. I mean how much demand is there for an original working Centipede control board?

Help me out here guys. I'd really love a MAME box and am really looking forward to this project. But I'd feel really guilty, and stupid, if I found out I was destroying a valuable antique.

If it's worth it, I won't destroy the box but just take measurements and copy the design. If it's not really worth it I'll recondition the box and sell off all the internal components to people that are refurbishing their own Centipede games.

Magnet_Eye · « **Reply #1 on:** April 22, 2004, 02:14:13 am »

I think most people here will say do not mame it. It's a working classic! Find some other cab to mame, preferably an empty or non working cab of some kind.

GamingGreg · « **Reply #2 on:** April 22, 2004, 02:40:57 am »

Agreed. Most people here will tell you the same thing -- "Don't destroy a working classic". If it was beyond repair, the story might be different.

You can always fix and restore it a little, and then sell it (shouldn't be hard to find a buyer for a working Centipede). Then you can use your profits to find a non-working cabinet to MAME. There's plenty of dead cabinets around if you look.

patrickl · « **Reply #3 on:** April 22, 2004, 03:53:35 am »

I'd guess a working Centipede would be worth more than you could fetch for the seperate parts. But then I know nothing of cab values

There are already some measurements of a Centipede cab on Jakobud's site, maybe those could help.

Minwah · « **Reply #4 on:** April 22, 2004, 05:12:53 am »

I have to agree also. I expect you could get a pretty decent price for that cab on ebay...

maraxle · « **Reply #5 on:** April 22, 2004, 07:24:01 am »

You are much better off restoring the original machine than MAMEing it. Even if you just put it back together and did some minor touch-ups, it would probably fetch $600. You could buy a lot of MAMEable cabinets for that much...

SirPeale · « **Reply #6 on:** April 22, 2004, 07:40:25 am »

Yup, don't MAME it. Especially if it's working, and all you had to do was replace the power cord!

hulkster · « **Reply #7 on:** April 22, 2004, 07:49:07 am »

um....just replace the power cord and sell that baby to somebody who likes classics too much! those old games like pacman and asteroids and donkey kong and all that, you can just restore certain parts and sell it for 1000. at least thats my thinking, i could get bashed for saying that, but oh well, its a free country!

Lilwolf · « **Reply #8 on:** April 22, 2004, 08:10:12 am »

Centipede wasnt' jamma was it? I'm assuming that the answer is no.

You might want to take a look to see how hard it would be to setup a complete pluggable mame solution (like jpac + arcadeVGA where you don't touch any of the original connections... so you unplug the original centiped board, and plug into a computer.

but with a vertical trackball with one button setup. Do you really really like others? There are some good ones.. but centipede is probably the best (the one I play the most with my trackball anyway).

But all in all... don't rip out anything... don't cut anything... It will retain its value a LOT longer..

also... to find its real value... search on ebay... and see what they have been selling for. Some go for obsene amounts (ms-pacman, tron) and some I would guess would...don't (galaga). So you might find that in the condition yours is in... its only worth a few hundred.

but all in all... I'm pissed that I ripped my original cables / control panel up still.. but they didn't have arcadevga or jpacs back then.

Sylentwulf · « **Reply #9 on:** April 22, 2004, 08:34:55 am »

Yeah, that's in too good of a condition to be killing. As was said above, even if you ebay it exactly like it is, you'll be able to buy a different cabinet and still have plenty of money leftover to use on the pc/monitor/other "stuff"

nighthawk2099 · « **Reply #10 on:** April 22, 2004, 09:15:18 am »

Here's an idea....

I'll buy the Centipede cab. from you for $50 (a $20 profit...) and you use the $50 to start work on a NEW cab.

j/k - or maybe not, depending on what you want to do.

But the truth is, if you are just going to gut it, sell it to someone who wants it (or just keep it as part of your future game room), and build your own cab (or find one that has already been gutted.)

Goz · « **Reply #11 on:** April 22, 2004, 10:11:41 am »

Quote

Centipede wasnt' jamma was it? I'm assuming that the answer is no.

Nope not a Jamma originally.

They do make Jamma conversion boards to use centipede board with a Jamma harness, but very unlikely if it is an original cab.

-Goz

flampoo · « **Reply #12 on:** April 22, 2004, 10:28:36 am »

MAME it! MAME the hell out of it! Then take the sideart, bezel and control panel, set them on fire and laugh maniacally!

Buddabing · « **Reply #13 on:** April 22, 2004, 10:32:46 am »

Quote from: studboy62 on April 22, 2004, 01:04:00 am

Hey guys, I'm new to the board and not too overly familiar with the MAME community. So I thought I'd ask all of you, the experts, about my newest project before I go and destroy an original.

The original has pictures posted here.

This is an original 1981 Centipede game in complete working condition. As it stands we can still put it back together and it will run. My buddy, Jay, got it at a yard sale last summer for $30 cause someone had run over the power cord with the lawn mower. He fixed the cord and brought it home because his mom loves Centipede.

On the main game board is a sticker with the date of June '98 on it. We think it was restored then because the monitor actually has a Pac-Man board burned into it and is mounted upside down.

Jay also has an old computer that I have recently fixed up. Our plans are to strip the box and use that for our new MAME machine/jukebox. We want to sell off all the old components in order to finance our little project. However, everyone I've told about this project so far has literally yelled at me for destroying an original. So my question to all of you is, should I do this?

Could we make as much money by cleaning up the original Centipede game and selling that as we could by selling off the individual components. Are the cabinets and original artwork valuable at all? I've already seen the same monitor we have in our unit on ebay for $65 and it didn't even work. Ours works and has the full chassis. I don't know if the rest of the stuff is valuable to people that are restoring these old machines or if they are looking to buy the things as one whole completed piece or even if they are that popular. I mean how much demand is there for an original working Centipede control board?

Help me out here guys. I'd really love a MAME box and am really looking forward to this project. But I'd feel really guilty, and stupid, if I found out I was destroying a valuable antique.

If it's worth it, I won't destroy the box but just take measurements and copy the design. If it's not really worth it I'll recondition the box and sell off all the internal components to people that are refurbishing their own Centipede games.

You will be destroying a valuable antique and if you destroy it to build a mame cab you will feel stupid. The cabinet is in good shape, the art looks like it's great shape.

Now that you have it apart, clean it up carefully and take measurements. If you don't tell them you were thinking about mameing it, you can ask the guys on klov to help you out with the restoration process. Once it's done, it'll be a beautiful addition to your game room.

BTW the circuit board which you didn't know the function of is a power supply board.

studboy62 · « **Reply #14 on:** April 22, 2004, 10:57:31 am »

Wow guys, this is awesome. Such response!!!!! I'm a memeber of a few other boards (non-arcade related) and I never get this kind of response. Thanks so much.

I will talk to my buddy Jay, tell him what you've all told me. Technically he owns the box but I'm sure he won't be destroying it after I talk to him.

Ok, now I do have some restoration questions though. If you notice, the bottom of the box is a little roughed up because it was sitting out in the yard. The wood is all rotted and chipped. I can replace the very bottom piece but how should I recondition the sides? I was thinking of putting some wood putty on it and repainting it. I also need to replace the plastic molding strips that go around both sides of the box. Where can I buy those?

Also I have some msg board questions. I got an email notification from android. I don't know how to respond to it though. Android, if you are out there, email me at lawillemin62@yahoo.com. I would definitely be interested.

Thanks so much guys. This board rocks!!!

fredster · « **Reply #15 on:** April 22, 2004, 11:51:51 am »

Dude, that machine is worth $400-$600+ in the shape it's in. Put an ad in the paper and sell it. You will be shocked at how many people will come for it.

You just lucked out at $35. Just because that's what you got it for doesn't mean that's all you can sell it for. This is AMERICA man, profit motive!

If you want cabs, go to www.gameroommagazine.com and look up the shows. Find an auction and carry it there. For that cab you can trade it in for maybe 10 freaking dead ones.

It's not smart to tear it appart when you can sell it to finance more, lots more.

Put it on ebay. Tell them they need to use North American van lines to blanket ship it. Otherwise, it's their problem.

mmmPeanutButter · « **Reply #16 on:** April 22, 2004, 12:27:17 pm »

Quote from: studboy62 on April 22, 2004, 10:57:31 am

Ok, now I do have some restoration questions though. If you notice, the bottom of the box is a little roughed up because it was sitting out in the yard. The wood is all rotted and chipped. I can replace the very bottom piece but how should I recondition the sides? I was thinking of putting some wood putty on it and repainting it.

Check out OSCAR's post at:

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=16970

He has restored his centipede. I'm starting mine soon and this will be a great resouce. Hopefully he will have the centipede restoration pages completed soon.

Oh yea, as you can guess, my vote is don't destroy it.

Where are you located?, I can come pick it up this afternoon.

hulkster · « **Reply #17 on:** April 22, 2004, 12:43:40 pm »

Quote from: studboy62 on April 22, 2004, 10:57:31 am

Wow guys, this is awesome. Such response!!!!! I'm a memeber of a few other boards (non-arcade related) and I never get this kind of response. Thanks so much.

I will talk to my buddy Jay, tell him what you've all told me. Technically he owns the box but I'm sure he won't be destroying it after I talk to him.

Ok, now I do have some restoration questions though. If you notice, the bottom of the box is a little roughed up because it was sitting out in the yard. The wood is all rotted and chipped. I can replace the very bottom piece but how should I recondition the sides? I was thinking of putting some wood putty on it and repainting it. I also need to replace the plastic molding strips that go around both sides of the box. Where can I buy those?

Also I have some msg board questions. I got an email notification from android. I don't know how to respond to it though. Android, if you are out there, email me at lawillemin62@yahoo.com. I would definitely be interested.

Thanks so much guys. This board rocks!!!

yeah man, this board is like the best ive ever been to. you could ask about what kind of rocks are the best to skip over a pond in georgia on a thursday with shorts on, and youd still get like 10 responses. this board is titties.

studboy62 · « **Reply #18 on:** April 22, 2004, 12:45:01 pm »

mmmPeanutButter, I love your icon.
"I know your out there somewhere Eh Steve. I'll blast you till tomorrow noooooooon!!!"

Thanks for the link to that post. That is exactly the box I have so it was very helpful.

BTW, I'm in Mid-Michigan, about 20 minutes west of Lansing right of I-96. If you are serious about buying it let me know.

SirPeale · « **Reply #19 on:** April 22, 2004, 12:52:25 pm »

Quote from: hulkster081 on April 22, 2004, 12:43:40 pm

...you could ask about what kind of rocks are the best to skip over a pond in georgia on a thursday with shorts on, and youd still get like 10 responses...

Flat, round disc shaped rocks. Doesn't really matter what kind, as long as they're that shape.

mmmPeanutButter · « **Reply #20 on:** April 22, 2004, 01:01:24 pm »

Quote from: studboy62 on April 22, 2004, 12:45:01 pm

If you are serious about buying it let me know.

I've got mine to restore and besides, my girlfriend has made it very clear that one arcade is enough.

more arcades?... new girlfriend?... more arcades?... new girlfriend?... $:-\$

creatine28 · « **Reply #21 on:** April 22, 2004, 01:11:26 pm »

What type of monitor is that? I'm asking cause I have an old Centipede cab that someone converted to a Sky soldiers, but my monitor is having some issue's and I haven't been able to identify the brand or model #? From the pictures, it looks like my monitor is the same. Does anyone know what the stock monitors in the Centipede cabs were? GO7? Wells?

Thanks,

Steve

paigeoliver · « **Reply #22 on:** April 22, 2004, 01:16:45 pm »

Here do this.

Go to the rec.games.video.arcade.collecting newsgroup (groups.google.com if you don't know about newsgroups).

Post a message listing the Centipede for sale, and require that they give you a conversion game of some sort as part of the deal. You will get some money, and you will get a non-collectable cabinet to use for your Mame project.

AlexC · « **Reply #23 on:** April 22, 2004, 04:47:27 pm »

The last two pics gave me chills, specially the one saying "Finally have an empty box that's ready for a new paint job "

Scary thought

spidermonkey · « **Reply #24 on:** April 22, 2004, 08:14:53 pm »

Oh man, those pictures along with the written progress makes me want to cry. That ain't progress dude. That is what you call "a damn shame"

don't do it...DON'T DO IT ! Put it back together and sell it. There's plenty of collectors out there that would snap that machine up in a New York minute. Trust me if you sell it as a complete working game you'll have plenty of money to buy an empty cab,a monitor and all the new joysticks and buttons you'll need for your MAME machine. That game is probably one of the top ten classics of all time and is still highly sought after so do the right thing.

shmokes · « **Reply #25 on:** April 22, 2004, 11:52:01 pm »

Yeah...if you got $600 for it you could spend $100 on an empty cab, $400 on a Wells Gardner D9200 27" arcade monitor and you'd still have some money left over to go toward joysticks and stuff. You'd be golden.

As it is you'd have to list multiple auctions...go through all the hastle. Learn more and feel like a moron later on for making such a bad decision, etc. AND MAKE LESS MONEY IN THE PROCESS!!!

By the way, that plastic stuff is called T-Molding and it's super cheap.

www.t-molding.com

DarkKobold · « **Reply #26 on:** April 23, 2004, 08:35:54 am »

I'm in Michigan. How much do you seriously want for it?

Santoro · « **Reply #27 on:** April 23, 2004, 08:56:54 am »

I am wondering if this guy is just trolling here - they might never have intended on saving it.

This coming from a cynical New Yorker, but I am very suspicious.

(for those who haven't checked his site lately, they have stripped it bare.)

Minwah · « **Reply #28 on:** April 23, 2004, 09:14:41 am »

Quote from: Santoro on April 23, 2004, 08:56:54 am

I am wondering if this guy is just trolling here - they might never have intended on saving it.

This coming from a cynical New Yorker, but I am very suspicious.

(for those who haven't checked his site lately, they have stripped it bare.)

What a shame

Maybe 'Jay' wasn't keen on the restore+sell idea

Santoro · « **Reply #29 on:** April 23, 2004, 09:26:58 am »

I was actually suspicious the day he first posted because of the post's tiltle. It almost seemed designed to evoke a response. I kept quiet then, but now that they basically ignored advice that they could get decent money for the cab, I think this was good old fashioned trolling.

But I've been wrong before, who knows. Maybe they are just impatient.

SirPeale · « **Reply #30 on:** April 23, 2004, 10:24:33 am »

He did respond again. Didn't anyone see the post?

He's going to talk to the guy that actually owns the cabinet. It's about halfway up.

Santoro · « **Reply #31 on:** April 23, 2004, 10:44:50 am »

Maybe I am confused but he says he will probably be able to convince Jay to restore the cab, then the website in the link above shows it being torn apart, proudly proclaiming

"Finally have an empty box that's ready for a new paint job and an actual PC with WinXP and 5,000 classic arcade games."

Sort of makes you go 'WTF?' Why bother asking if you are going to completely ignore what you have been told by a knowledgable community? Maybe Jay doesn't listen much to what his buddy thinks? Maybe he didn't know he asked?

Ultimately it's none of my business and maybe I am the only one who sees it this way. I'll stay out of it.

SirPeale · « **Reply #32 on:** April 23, 2004, 10:49:19 am »

I saw the same, but think perhaps it was torn asunder before posting here.

Time will tell.

studboy62 · « **Reply #33 on:** April 23, 2004, 11:57:18 am »

Wow Santoro, thanks for the vote of confidence. Maybe you could read the post a little more carefully next time. I said that in it's current condition we can put it right back how we found it and make it run again. It's probably better we took everything apart anyway cause all the components are clean now and it will look a lot better when we put it back together.

I wrote my original post with that title because yes I wanted a response. Everyone I'd told so far about the box had literally yelled at me about ruining it. That's why I've waited so long and didn't start sanding it right away. I didn't know the old games were so popular still.

Chill man, I'm not trolling or whatever that even means. I'm very new to this whole scene and wanted real advice.

Also, you'll notice that someone left me a link to another post and I've been asking questions on that thread and this one on how best to restore the rotted parts of the box without damaging the the artwork.

SirPeale · « **Reply #34 on:** April 23, 2004, 12:08:19 pm »

Easy, tiger. It's just that we're still a little put off by another guy, who was doing what you're doing, but actually went thru with it.

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=10;action=display;threadid=18359

You're asking a lot of questions, and that's a great thing!

Santoro · « **Reply #35 on:** April 23, 2004, 12:51:13 pm »

OK, I apologize, it looks like I jumped the gun.

As for what a troll is, an example of a troll would be someone who went to the GreenPeace forums and asked "what's the best way to conceal my company's pollution?"

The way you titled your post it sounded as though it was calculated to elicit maximum uproar. If the cab is being restored, then I am glad to be proven wrong. No hard feelings I hope.

(I need to move away from the city. Anyone got real estate in Vermont with lots of tech industry nearby?)

SirPeale · « **Reply #36 on:** April 23, 2004, 02:05:13 pm »

Real estate in Vermont with tech industry nearby = a place in Vermont I've never heard of.

No...wait...Randolph.

http://www.leddynamics.com

Zakk · « **Reply #37 on:** April 23, 2004, 03:04:34 pm »

My $.02 is that if you go ahead and continue to wreck that cabinet (paint the sides...wahhh???) you won't get much help from the group here. If you restore it to working condition and sell it to someone who values the game (which -everyone- wants to see happen), you'll be a bit of a local hero. Almost everyone here has converted a cab (or made one from scratch, but I'll bet the majority converted), but to take a working centipede and mame it up is wrong wrong wrong.

Welcome to the group, now go talk some sense to your friend.

And for the record, it -does- still seem like a troll post, please feel free to prove me wrong

"Stop me before I club this baby seal!"

hulkster · « **Reply #38 on:** April 23, 2004, 03:23:42 pm »

well ive seen all the opinions on this post, and there are a lot of vets here. well this opinion is coming from someone who could give a rats ass about old games. i mean, i played donkey kong and centipede and all that, but only for about 2 quarters worth. the mame cabinet is infinitely more "valueable" to an arcade junkie like myself (dont get pissed old guys) than one game. yeah its cool to have that arcade feeling in your basement or what have you, but if you will need about 20 games to make it feel that way. why do that, and have your significant other get all mad, when you can have one machine with all those games plus thousands more on it?? if you are all about having the original board and controls and just one game for one machine, then listen to the vets...and theres nothing wrong with that....but if you are about playing many games on one set of controls, then dont just mame that thing. i dont care about destroying a classic necessarily, but i would care more about how much you can make on a little clean up of that cab! i mean seriously, thats like taking the very first Pez dispenser and lopping off the head cuz you want to put a pokemon head on it for your 2 year old to play with (pez collector dudes would piss their pants if you did that....same thing here) so clean it up, fix that power supply or whatever, and sell it for $1000 and build a pimp ass mame cab!!!

Santoro · « **Reply #39 on:** April 23, 2004, 03:25:26 pm »

Quote from: Zakk on April 23, 2004, 03:04:34 pm

"Stop me before I club this baby seal!"

EXACTLY!
In eight words you explained exactly what I was trying to say. At least I wasn't completely insane.


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Author Topic: Before I destroy this original (Read 4666 times)

maraxle