Buying Used Cabinets is it worth it? What do you look for?

[TheRCGuy]

I am new to MAME and I want to build me a MAME cabinet.

Is it worth buying a used arcade cabinet and then making it a MAME cabinet.

If so what should I look for when I am searching for a used arcade cabinet?

Or is it better to just build it from scratch.

[General Zod]

I always look for water damage and termite damage. Either one or both can cause some serious problems.


Overall, buying used can save some time and aggrivation if you're not to comfortable with building your own.

[Jabba]

I bought a used cabinet for my bro...
Watch out as some of them really stink of cigarette smoke... My bro's is still airing out. Stuff seems to permeate the MDF...

[SirPeale]

I agree, water damage is one of the biggest things you should watch out for. 

[RayB]

I'm all for buying a used cab. You usually get something solidly built, and aesthetically pleasing in shape. :-)

Watch for damage that is difficult to repair. MDF/particle board cracked right through for example. Since a gutted cab is usually as cheap as $20, you can't really go wrong.

[TheRCGuy]

Thanks for the Info!! I'll keep you updated adn I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions.

[mahuti]

If you have a little water damage, you can sand it down. The other thing to watch out for is loose joints, or separation in the joints. You might have to screw the thing back together... sometimes it doesn't want to go back together very well. Also, missing leg levelers... sometimes the holes for the leg levelers are busted, and that can be tough to fix. You can repair busted corners pretty easily with bondo, so I don't usually worry about that.

[Tritoch84]

The problem is FINDING the used cabinets, and for cheap. At least where I live, which is hell. Shreveport, LA. Guess I could put up flyers or something.

[paigeoliver]

If you can't find used cabinets then you aren't looking hard enough or are not looking in the right places. I pick up at least a half dozen sub $25 cabinets per year. NOT COUNTING AUCTIONS. My most recent one was a non-working but nice dedicated "TV Olympic Hockey" that was missing one spinner knob and the backdoor for $20.

I ALWAYS have them available in St. Louis. I might not always have the one you WANT available, and I price mine $50-$100, but I do always have them.

[Bloinkxp]

Good luck finding a cab. in LA.  My buddy lives in Monroe...well Ruston really.... and he is S.O.L so far.  Most arcades cabinets he finds are in very poor shape.
Louisiana is not exactly the "Arcade Capital".  Having lived in La and gone to school in Shreveport I can feel his pain.  I recommend going to a Dallas Auction or calling the arcade refurbishers in the area.  Heck try getting hold of Bob Roberts (he is in Louisiana).

Oh well.  Good luck.

-d

[SeaMonkey]

When I was in Indiana and PA I couldn't throw a rock without hitting an old arcade cabinet.

Now that I live in Phoenix, it is dry. Check the net. There ARE no auctions in this state.

Back east is a cake walk compared to here.

I am debating going to the Indy auction in January and driving a truck back full of relief supplies for my desert dwelling brethern....

[Tritoch84]

Good luck finding a cab. in LA.  My buddy lives in Monroe...well Ruston really.... and he is S.O.L so far.  Most arcades cabinets he finds are in very poor shape.
Louisiana is not exactly the "Arcade Capital".  Having lived in La and gone to school in Shreveport I can feel his pain.  I recommend going to a Dallas Auction or calling the arcade refurbishers in the area.  Heck try getting hold of Bob Roberts (he is in Louisiana).

Oh well.  Good luck.

-d

At least someone knows our pain! In ruston, they used to have a good arcade. But this was some time ago. Monroe still has one in the mall, but it's gone downhill like crazy. Good thing I know the manager, he's walking to the back, sees me fixing to put money in some lame carnevil machine and says "no no no no!!!, don't do that. it don't shoot" even though it was running.

Shreveport used to have some, before I moved here (used to live in Farmervile, a town between Ruston and Monroe) but it closed down due to the owner not paying taxes on the place for 4 years. All we have now is the lamest family fun center with a DDR-like machine.

This state is HELL as far as arcades go, and Shreveport is like the, 9th level of hell.

But thanks to that, I opted to just freaking BUILD my own little arcade so I don't go insane.

Thats why I said I might try flyers, arcade machines are rare, and are mostly in pizza places that don't get rid of them.

Oh well, I'll keep trying.

[Arcadiac]

I used a not-rare mostly empty arcade cab for my project, I like it a lot.

Keep posting here and don't give up.

[Tailgunner]

Are you willing to drive over to Dallas? There's a Superauction there listed for the 22th of January.

http://www.superauctions.com/dates.html

[Stingray]

I originally thought Oklahoma was totally dry as far as arcade cabinets go. The first few months of making cold calls to operators and so forth produced exactly zilch. Hang around this board and other vintage gaming boards. The more local contacts you make the better your chances are for being there when the deals come along. I've actually turned down a few decent empty cabs, an have picked up a couple of fully functional classic machines through the folks I've met online.

-S

[Raven..]

I live near Dallas and almost always have cabinets available.  In fact, I have a couple right now, if you want to drive over here.

[Tritoch84]

I live near Dallas and almost always have cabinets available.  In fact, I have a couple right now, if you want to drive over here.

Could you PM me some price ranges maybe?

[thrash242]

I personally would recommend building from scratch.  I would imagine it's more satisfying, you get to decide exactly how you want it to be designed, and it's not that hard.

[fredster]

I've built them from scratch and I have modified them.

Buy it, don't build it.  You can spend a fortune on speakers and parts. 

Look for one that has the marquee light, the coin door on it, and is as complete as possible.

A lot of times you will find a dead game with all kinda cool parts.

I always look for the ones that have the sweet smell of cigarette smoke on them.   I go to the auctions and there are lots and lots of dead cabs for cheap.

[TheRCGuy]

Ok I just bought 3 cabinets everything in them except the monitor's

MK3, Street fighter 2 or 3 & Wrestle Mania. Cabinets are in really good shape 2 are Plywood and 1 is MDF. The cool part I thought is that everything is still in them just the monitors are gone. THey had in spection list where it showed the boards were good just the monitor dead.

So now I have something to start this project

[TheRCGuy]

Seeing how these cabinets has everything in them still what is the best thing to do, or where can I read more about what to do with everything, what to use and what not to use and what parts I need to get.

Thanks for the info!