ARCADE FLAT PACK

[abegeman]

Hello,
I have done some work recently building a few  arcade cabinets  which i have used with my PC to run MAME and other emulators . (www.www.arcadecontrols.com for more details). This really has brought the whole  arcade experince to life!

I know that there are a lot of people out there that would like to do the same thing, however do not have a arcade cabinet or the skills to build one. I was fortunate enough to find a arcade cabinet that i have used as a template to build others.
 
I was thinking about using my designes to put a "Flat Pack" arcade together that i could  mail to people over the internet. The idea is that i send all of the parts nessesery with instructions in a flat pack and people assembel the arcade cab on the other side

I haven't decided as of yet if i should include monitor etc as this will cost alot of money to ship.  THe pack would include the whole arcade cabinet including 2 joysticks sticks art etc. All that would be required is a monitor and a PC to plug in. I have worked out to cover my costs this would be around $200 - $250.

Would any one be interested in this? If response is high enough i will start manufacturing these. Can people let me know if they think this is a good idea? Or even if they would like to put there name down to buy one. I have loads of photos of my finished cab also if any one is interested

Thanks
abegeman@myrealbox.com

[rchadd]

think you will find most people here make their own anyway - its part of the fun.

...currently undecided whether this actually comes under the category of "spam" or not?

[abegeman]

Well it was just an idea, i know alot of people do not have access to the tools etc needed to make a CAB. And this is not spam as this is the only forum i have posted it on. I was just interested in peoples opinion

[menace]

You might want to include photos of the finished product (this board accepts pictures 250kb or smaller @ 640x480 resolution) and detail in a parts list whats included--i think if done properly there is a market for flat packs.

Oh and this IS arcadecontrols.com so we are looking at it by default in order to see your message--Was there a particular post you were referring to?

[SteveJ34]

Well it was just an idea, i know alot of people do not have access to the tools etc needed to make a CAB. And this is not spam as this is the only forum i have posted it on. I was just interested in peoples opinion

It's difficult to say what number of sales  would be made  but there would be those that would be interested from time to time. There are a few others already offering similar service/products but with the exception of one cocktail unit I'm familiar with I believe the price points are much higher.

[tcleary]

two that i've seen that do something like this:

www.mameroom.com
www.slikstik.com


my brother actually recently ordered the slikstik one, it looks really nice, and convenient that you can easily take it apart.  

[pointdablame]

If you could seriously keep the prices that you are suggesting, I think you could find a lot of people who would be interested.  You may not get a huge response from here, since many peole here prefer to build themselves, but if you went to eBay at that price, I bet you'd do very well.

[Snarbald]

What would shipping cost?

[paigeoliver]

I seriously think you would have a hard time making any sort of quality NEW product at that price.

KeyWiz Max 1.5 - $34.95
Cheapest chinese buttons and joysticks from coinopexpress. $15
Leg levelers with mounting hardware $9
t-molding $6
marquee and monitor glass $20
coin door $60
marquee rails $5
control panel brackets $3
speakers, marquee light, etc $15

I am at $168 already without counting WOOD, labor, any shipping on the parts you need, and also leaving out a lot of stuff, like control panel overlay.

[Snarbald]

How about forget including all the coin door and such?
How much would it cost to get a ready to finish/assemble flatpacked arcade cab shipped?
If he could find some kind of deal on shipping, that $200-$250 price tag could look pretty attractive.

[Darkstalker]

Yea, I'd personally be more interested in something more of a cabinet, screen glass, and marquee with no control panel top.

Basically, something that would allow me to use my own paint/graphics, CP layout/overlay, and hardware (joysticks, buttons, monitor, etc).

Because of the high overhead of the plywood/MDF sheets involved, I wouldn't see people paying more than $150 over the cost of the build materials.  Shipping would end up being in the $100 range for ground so that leaves $50 profit which has to cover remaining expenses.

You might find some people interested, but $150 over cost would be close to the "just do it myself" range.  

[spystyle]

I'm a llama

[gprime]

This is a bit off topic.. but..
If someone were to manufactor some sort of plastic cabinet shells (like those neo candy cabs) that are durable, light, but collapsible for easy shipment, I think they would have a huge demand. Because its definately something you *cant* make at home, and those things are just so darn sexy

[Trillian]

If someone were to manufactor some sort of plastic cabinet shells (like those neo candy cabs) that are durable, light, but collapsible for easy shipment, I think they would have a huge demand. Because its definately something you *cant* make at home, and those things are just so darn sexy

How do they look?
Any pics on the net of them plastic thingys ?

[OSCAR]

How do they look?
Any pics on the net of them plastic thingys ?

Here are some examples:
http://www.coinopexpress.com/products/machines/cabinets_only.html

[gprime]

How do they look?
Any pics on the net of them plastic thingys ?

Here are some examples:
http://www.coinopexpress.com/products/machines/cabinets_only.html

Yeah those. I don't know what it is about them, but I absolutely love them. I always keep my eye out for a cheap shell on eBay (in Canada) but  they are hard to find (for a *reasonable* price).

[paigeoliver]

If you have the cash you could import a shipping container of the plastic  ones. I don't see them on the site right now, but I know coin op express used to sell kits of the 21" cabs in boxes (the whole cabinet minus monitor, comes in a box for around $129).