To refinish or not to refinish?

[MustardTent]

Okay, so I built my cab about 1.5 years ago.  I gave it a wood finish in the style of the "furniture cab" because I wanted to make it as mom-friendly as possible (plus, the first cab I ever saw was CmdrTaco's Jubei).  Well, now I have a new home with a rec room, and a wife. 

I would really like to strip the finish and make a more authentic looking arcarde machine.  But, I purchased another sheet of (fairly expensive) Oak veneer MDF plywood a while ago as well.
So, is it a total waste to paint an oak veneered machine and a new sheet of oak veneered plywood black?  Would it look any better/worse than if I had a regular sheet of MDF?

I'm so torn about this.  What should I do?

[NoOne=NBA=]

I haven't seen your cab; but, if the work was done well, I'd leave it.

Alot of the early Sega and Centuri games were in woodgrained cabs.

Frogger/Time Pilot/etc....

[CJK]

Yeah, I'd leave it too. I remember a bunch of woodgrained cabs in the old arcades and pizza joints. (I seem to remember a Robotron cab in woodgrain -- am I crazy?)

-- Chris