MAME cab for sale in Chicago area. Pickup only! [US-IL-Chicago]

[Tenaku]

I'm moving out of the city and have to sell my beloved cab . It's a converted 'Bad Dudes' cabinet, with original control panel (well, almost original. The joysticks are Happ Supers, but the buttons are all original leaf-type)

The monitor is an uncased Toshiba 27A33 TV, using S-video. Even uncased, this TV barely fits in the cabinet. The display is literally edge-to-edge. If you search the Monitor/Video forum, you'll see that the 27A33 is considered by many to be the best TV for use in a cabinet. NOTE: Uncased CRT tubes can be dangerous! If you don't know how to take the proper precautions, please do not purchase this cabinet!

There are 2 working coin mechs in the coin door. The mechs have been modified to accept any type of coin.

The CP interface is an Ultimarc I-PAC 4 with 56 inputs, most of which are currently unused which gives you plenty of room to expand, if you like. There is a custom 12-volt power distribution block mounted just below the IPAC, which powers the coin door lights. There is plenty of extra connectors and power if you want to hook up additional 12-volt lights, fans, or anything else.

In addition to the I-PAC, there is a custom-built PS2 controller adapter which connects to the parallel port of the PC. I use this to connect a Red Octane DDR pad to the machine for use with Stepmania. Works great!

The speakers are Cambridge Soundworks 'Soundworks Digital' speakers w/subwoofer. Everything is mounted internally in the cabinet.

Power is controlled by a Smart Strip SCG4 powerstrip. This allows you to turn the cab on and off with a single button, mounted on the top of the cab.

The PC in the cabinet has the following specs:
Processor: Athlon XP 2100
RAM: 512 MB PC2100 DDR
Motherboard: ABIT KX7-333
Videocard: ATI Radeon 9200
Soundcard: Creative Soundblaster Live!
Network Card: 3COM 3c905
HD: 20gb
Optical Drive: 48X CD/ 16X DVD

Everything in the cabinet is securely mounted, so the cabinet can be moved without worrying about the guts sliding about. (in the pictures, there are a few loose cables because I was doing some work on it. These have since been secured)

The cabinet is on heavy-duty castors, and can easily be moved on a flat surface by one person.

This cab is very heavy, as all authentic cabinets are. I'll help you get it down to the street from my 1st floor apartment, but you'll need to bring a van, truck, or large SUV to take it home. Pickup only, please. I can't ship this beast.

I'm asking $2000 or best offer. You'll need to pick up the cabinet by the evening of June 12, as I am leaving that night. Reply to this thread or PM me if interested.

[Tenaku]

No interest? Am I pricing it too high?

[leapinlew]

No interest? Am I pricing it too high?

For this crowd, yes. People here build their own stuff and with 2k, I can build 2-3 cabinets myself. Perhaps you can find someone willing to pay out the 2k, but I doubt it would be a build it yourselfer. Although not the same to enthusiasts, the average person may see the $499 deal at Target as a better buy.

With that being said, I'm not sure where the sweet spot for your cab would be. I was at an auction recently and saw a multi-game cabinet that wasn't as nice as yours, but it wasn't bad. It sold for $400. Your probably screaming "BUT MY CP ALONE COSTS THAT MUCH!" and your right. I suppose thats why no one is making any real money building these things....

[bakechad]

You need to find someone who knows nothing about mame and dropped $1500 for a Golden Tee machine in their basement.  They would think you cab is a steal.

I live in the Chicago area.  I'm not interested.  If you get desperate and get to around $500, I might be able to find a quick buyer.

Good luck and it's a shame you need to get rid of it.

[Tenaku]

MAME cabinets aren't worth more than $500 these days, unless it's some kind of custom job.

Hmm... that seems a little strange, seeing as how the parts alone cost well over $500. Is the market really that saturated?

[CheffoJeffo]

Hmm... that seems a little strange, seeing as how the parts alone cost well over $500. Is the market really that saturated?

First --  like your cabinet -- very clean.

But your assertion about the cost of the parts may not be clear to many:

IPac4 - $65, but really since a 2-player machine only need an encoder costing less than $40
Sticks and buttons - say $30
Computer - sad to say, but adequate machine can be had cheap these days
TV -sad to say, but adequate (not nice as yours, but adequate) can be had cheap these days
Cabinet - say $50, including harness and coin door
Speakers - yours are nice, but not necessary to be that nice
DDRInterface - nice, but value will be missed by many

Again, I am not trying to knock your work, but $2000 is more than I paid for my Asteroids, Joust cocktail, MAME box and Galaga combined.

Caveat: Still need an original bezel for Galaga ... $130 from twobits would put the total just over the $2K mark.

Cheers & Good Luck!

EDIT: This is not intended to poison or crap on this thread, so mods please remove it if my posting is inappropriate.

[Tenaku]

Peaked around 03, 04,...

Well, mid '04 was the last time I looked at pricing on a finished cab (when I was building it), so that would explain my gross over-estimation of it's value. There is no way I'm letting this thing go for so little, (too much time and effort involved) so I guess the next task is to convince the wife that it needs to come with us. That's gonna be difficult. Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

[leapinlew]

Peaked around 03, 04,...

There is no way I'm letting this thing go for so little, (too much time and effort involved)

I hear ya there....

I guess it goes to show, if you build it - you better be building it for you. It seems the arcade cabinets share the same fate as a custom car. You can spend a mint on a car and get 1/2 back if your lucky.

[JoeJoe97]

If I had to estimate, counting the multitude of tools that I had to buy because I did not have them on hand, this cabinet had to have cost me between 1.5 and 2 grand.  I'm not saying that its worth that if I try to sell it, but just what I had to throw in to build.