what do empty cocktail cabs go for at auctions usally?

[hulkster]

there is an auction coming up on the 20th here in nashville, tn....and i have talked with the girl that wants me to build her a cocktail cab with some 80's games in it...and she wants to spend no more than $350.  i have the PC for free, the 19" monitor for free, the ipac2 is mine which i will use for this, and so all i need is an empty cocktail cab with a coin door and ill be good to go.  however i would like to know what i can expect to pay for a non-working, basically empty cocktail cab at an auction?  also, will these come with the glass top?  

[GGKoul]

In Canada they go for under $100.  Usually around the $50 range for an empty cabinet.

[RayB]

Occasionally I've seen working cocktails with arkanoid in em, go for $125-$175 cdn. So that should tell ya there... remove the monitor, remove the game board, and yer basically left with what, $50 or less worth of parts?

[paigeoliver]

There are rarely EMPTY cocktails at auction at all. There are dead ones though. When MrArcade and I were at the st. louis auction saturday he bought two of the twin monitor nintendo ones for $35 each. A working Birdie King 3 one went for $45.

Note, the ever popular Midway style cocktails rarely show up dead, and command at least $100 when they do.

[Witchboard]

I got my 8 Ball Action for $1.    Just needed a power supply.  Unfortunately now It's going to cost me around $100 to convert it back to a Donkey Kong.  

[danny_galaga]

well thats ONE thing us aussies aren't so lucky in   . cabs seem to go for a lot here. i looked at a very sorry looking cocktail cab (japanese/aussie style) before i built on instead. he said 'not for sale', but if he did wanted something like $600-$700 (from memory). it was something converted to 1942, which didn't work properly.
so to an aussie, we'd be happy with ANY of the prices mentioned here!

[paigeoliver]

Well of course you are going to have high prices from an operator. We are talking about auction prices here. I don't think you guys have auctions.

[wboy]

yeah we do, but the operators (one comes to mind) run them every few months or so.... have fake bidder friends within the crowd.... or alternatively, a ridiculous high reserve price.

[hulkster]

There are rarely EMPTY cocktails at auction at all. There are dead ones though. When MrArcade and I were at the st. louis auction saturday he bought two of the twin monitor nintendo ones for $35 each. A working Birdie King 3 one went for $45.

Note, the ever popular Midway style cocktails rarely show up dead, and command at least $100 when they do.

okay, whats the midway style of cocktail?  is that style like Kyle Lydstroms plans?  not the desk style, but the traidtional style?

[paigeoliver]

Midway, specifically the design used for pac-man. 19" monitor, no legs, coin door on one side and flat control panels that extrude from the sides.

[paigeoliver]

As opposed to the Japanese/Austalian design, which looks like this.

[paigeoliver]

THere are a few other designs as well, but the other designs are mostly similar to the two presented above.

[Witchboard]

That boy loves his video games.

[Gunstar Hero]

He certainly does seem expressive and enthusiastic!  

[hulkster]

well heres a little update to my situation.  i now have two other customers who are very intersted in me building a cab for them.  but of course they are wanting to know exactly how much its going to cost.  

im getting the pc's for free basically depending on which games they want to play...but they are still wanting to know exactly how much it will cost.  one guy wants to play karate champ....and as you know you need two joysticks to play it.  well he doesnt want to spend a lot of money, so hes thinking about a cocktail (but then there isnt room for karate champ unless you do the panel on the side of the cocktail but im not a fan of that)sooooo.....hes wanting an upright possibly.  how much would you say i can estimate on spending for an upright cab with 2 players (2 joysticks, not 4 for each player...so only 1 player karate champ) and a pc that will handle mostly just 80's games, and maybe some early 90's games?

[zaphod]

I assume you have sat down and actually worked up the numbers for your known materials?  It sounds like your co-workers (?) are wanting the world for practically nothing.  IMO, this could become a losing proposition for you, at least in time spent.

On the other hand, it could be fun (and instructional) to go through the process.  You'd be learning on their cabs.

Just something to keep in mind.  One cab won't be bad, but three charities might be start to become real work.

[paigeoliver]

Really, I find it is better to just keep an extra cabinet around that is already built up, and simply sell THAT when someone inquires. When you start getting into custom orders you run too high of a chance of building some weirdo cab (because it had to be able to play Xybots and Vindicators) and then being stuck with it because the person flakes.

[hulkster]

well i plan on getting the money up front, or at least a down payment to avoid getting the shaft.

[danny_galaga]

ok, this is not empty but it gives you an idea of how high they go in australia:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=6127240976&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

[paigeoliver]

ok, this is not empty but it gives you an idea of how high they go in australia:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=6127240976&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

Well that IS a Galaga.

[paigeoliver]

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3945&item=6128203633

That one is much more affordable, although still much higher than they go for here. I know I gave one like that to soulcon for around $50 US.

[Soulcon]

Yes, but keep in mind that some will ask low ball  amounts and then charge you a bazillion for shipping. YTour best bet is find a local yocal and see if you can't pick it up. Paige did me that favor and I can say I would gladley drive the distance again. Now all I need is room to work damn huge Atari Basketball.

-Soul

[danny_galaga]

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3945&item=6128203633

That one is much more affordable, although still much higher than they go for here. I know I gave one like that to soulcon for around $50 US.

i like how he says it has no game board and then goes on to say that he has no way of testing it. hehe

[Goz]

I've never seen an empty cocktail at an auction.

For the fact that the Arcade Depot Cocktail Kits are quick and easy to put together, look proffessional, and do not cost that much; I'd consider going that route.

kit + encoder + computer + monitor + art = cost.

Plus you'd be able to show the customer what the cocktail could look like before hand.

If you decide to build from scratch, I have a set of control panels (made by whammoed) that I can sell ya.

-Goz

[Paladin]

I tried to find an empty cabinet locally, but no dice.  I then looked at buying an ArcadeDepot kit, but after adding shipping, control panels, plexi, coin door, glass clips it turned out to be cheaper to just buy a complete cocktail and MAME it.

Yes, I do feel a little guilty for MAME'ing a working game but I did sell the board to someone who needed it and I was the only bidder on the cabinet.  I ended up buying a new monitor which made the project go over my budget, but I think it was still cheaper than if I got a kit.

Make sure you add up the cost of all the parts you will be using before making up your mind.  If you're interested, my cabinet project is here:
http://home.comcast.net/~dark.paladin/cocktail

[paigeoliver]

I tried to find an empty cabinet locally, but no dice.  I then looked at buying an ArcadeDepot kit, but after adding shipping, control panels, plexi, coin door, glass clips it turned out to be cheaper to just buy a complete cocktail and MAME it.

Yes, I do feel a little guilty for MAME'ing a working game but I did sell the board to someone who needed it and I was the only bidder on the cabinet.  I ended up buying a new monitor which made the project go over my budget, but I think it was still cheaper than if I got a kit.

Make sure you add up the cost of all the parts you will be using before making up your mind.  If you're interested, my cabinet project is here:
http://home.comcast.net/~dark.paladin/cocktail

I have pretty much an identical machine, except mine is a Gorf so the joystick and button positions are reveresed.

[Paladin]

Yea, my cabinet was originally a Rally-X - so it had the joystick on the right and button on the left.  I don't care for that setup, so all I had to do to change it was slightly enlarge the original square hole for the joystick until it was big enough for a button to fit in.  Then I bought a Pac Man reunion joystick and put it in the original button hole.  Top it off with some custom modified Galaxian CPO's and it turned out great.

[paigeoliver]

I'd have pulled that same swap, but my Gorf overlays were perfect and my Gorf glass wasn't bad either, so I left it as Gorf. I did swap the sticks for 4-ways though.