To buy or not to buy?

[FrizzleFried]

Hey guys,

I have been in negotiations with a guy over a FINAL FIGHT cabinet he has in his storage.   He says the monitor is untested...and that he can't even guarantee the PCB works.

He just sent me some picture...





What do you guys think?   Anyone know what this cabinet is from?  He wants $35 and about 20 DVD-R's.  Frankly,  the pain in the ass is going to be the DVD-R's and not the money.

BTW:  I want to convert this to a VERTICAL cabinet.  It should be a matter of just spinning the board or at worst,  having to cut a new hole?

...and it sure would be nice if that monitor worked...

For $35.00 and some of my time...it'd be hard to pass up...looks in pretty decent condition overall from what I can see.

Comments?

[AlanS17]

Have you seen this machine with your own eyes? Have you looked inside it? Does he have any other machines that works?

Lots of times when someone says "untested" they really mean "I'm pretty sure it doesn't work so I'm going to claim plausible deniability by not bothering to test it".

At the very least, try to get some pictures of the inside of the machine and get them posted up in here. Only shell out the money (and time) if you're comfortable buying something that's completely broken (just in case that happens).

[Stingray]

Can't see the whole thing in the pics, but I believe that's just a generic Dynamo cab. Assuming you're looking for a MAME project that's pretty good one to base it on.

-S

[FrizzleFried]

Yah...I am going to do a vertical MAME cabinet.   I am tired of my PACMAN scores being off screen and being left to guess the number of galaga ships I have left.

[AlanS17]

On a completely seperate note, Frizzle... I just noticed your avatar. That's the same cabinet I used in my first MAME project. Was yours originally a Bad Dudes?

[Dervacumen]

Geez two posts Three posts while I've been trying to create just one.

So my third attempt at a response, now updated is a suggestion to purchase if the cabinet is solid.  There is a lot of room in there and the design looks easy to work with.

[shardian]

I bought a top gunner machine in the same type of cabinet in full working condition for $50. Still, for a solid cabinet $35 dollars and a few dvd's is worth it. a few questions though.

Why dvd-r's??? He could go buy a pack for $10...unless there is something on those disks....

why exactly can he not test the board and monitor in this machine? Is the power supply in there? Better to ask this question up front.

As to room in the machine, a 21" pc monitor will probably stick out the back a little bit.

[Stingray]

Why dvd-r's??? He could go buy a pack for $10...unless there is something on those disks....

I'm sure there will be nothing on those DVDs that we need to concern ourselves with.

-S

[shardian]

: these are not the discs you are looking for... move along: 

[AlanS17]

: these are not the discs you are looking for... move along: 

LOL the funniest part was that I was going to write the same thing... but then I told myself it was too 

[ChadTower]

Assume the monitor/PCB/power supply are bad.  If the person doesn't say right out "it works great" then usually it doesn't. 

$35 for that is decent enough if it has a power supply and monitor chassis in it.

[shardian]

: these are not the discs you are looking for... move along: 

LOL the funniest part was that I was going to write the same thing... but then I told myself it was too 

well....we are already posting on a regular basis on a build your own arcade controls website, so I don't think we can all get much more lame.

Check that...posting in a political debate on a BYOAC forum is more lame.

[FrizzleFried]

He claims the monitor uses a different connector or something.  I am pretty much writing the monitor off...and if it works then its a bonus.  He said he BELIEVES the PCB works,  and it does include the power supply. 

Alan - It was a ROBOCOP cabinet that had been converted to a Street Fighter II.  Same exact cabinet as the BAD DUDES cabinet.   I sorta like it...the rounded marquee gives it a unique look.

As for the DVD's...I will say they won't be blank...but I dunno what you guys are referring to...

[Stingray]

If the marquee is rounded (hard to tell from the pic), then it's not the Dynamo that I originally thought it was. Still it looks like a good MAME cab, and the price is right.

-S

[FrizzleFried]

Stingray...the marquee is rounded on my 1st MAME cab that is in my avitar...not this one.

[Stingray]

My mistake. As you were.

-S

[shardian]

Due to this new development in payment.

Since he is unwilling to test the monitor, I think 20 dvd-r's would be more than adequate for payment. He isn't gonna sell a dead arcade cabinet to anyone other than someone in the BYOAC field. Make this known to thie fellow and see if he bites. If he doesn't bite, then it is still a pretty good deal for the cabinet and a possibly working pcb. You could sell off all the extras in the cab and end up with a pretty much free mame cabinet.

[AlanS17]

I have a Final Fight. In fact, I have a couple of them. There's nothing unusual about them. It's a JAMMA game. It's as standard as they come. I can't possibly imagine why there would be something funky with that monitor.

Maybe the plug for the video inputs is different... boohoo. Five or ten minutes worth of work putting a new plug on it will tell you if the thing works or not with a different machine. If it's intact, why can't he fire it up to test it out?

I just don't like the "untested" excuse unless there really is no way to test it. I have some "untested" stuff, but at least I really have no way to test it.

[FrizzleFried]

My understanding (and from the look of the photo) is that it is at the back of his storage unit...he said it was difficult to get the photos he did.   I countered with a 10 DVD-R + $35 offer...i figure it will take me about 20 minutes to "prepare" the DVD-R's each,  10 is 200 minutes of my time...a little over 3 hours...my time is well worth $20 an hour...we are looking at about $70 of my time and $35 in cash...

Plus evidently he has a "larger" CP he is throwing in...I think it's like one I saw online with a slightly triangular shape to it...

I dunno...like i said...even if the monitor is garbage,  I think it's worth it just for the cabinet.

The monitor/PCH/anything else would be a bonus...it looks like there are a couple of good joysticks / buttons as well.

[shardian]

so he is including a cut corner SFII control panel then huh? That would be nice.

Also, if your time is well worth $20 an hour, then you shouldn't be sweating $35. 

[Glaine]

Good point.

And I agree, looks like a good one to fix up (doesn't really look that great to me as it is right now).

I doubt ALL the parts are bad, remember to go through the stuff and check em out later, no use in throwing out a working PSU, etc. Might have something you can ebay off in there, you never know.

[AlanS17]

I would certainly go through and test every piece that's still intact. The approach you take with converting it will probably depend on what you've got available to work with.

As for the "cut corner" CP, it's not going to fit onto that machine. I'm pretty sure you're refering to a Dynamo control panel. As far as I know, it won't fit onto any other machine. It would be nice if it did, though. They're heavy-duty steel, and they already have the perfect button configuration pre-drilled.

[Stingray]

As for the "cut corner" CP, it's not going to fit onto that machine. I'm pretty sure you're refering to a Dynamo control panel. As far as I know, it won't fit onto any other machine. It would be nice if it did, though. They're heavy-duty steel, and they already have the perfect button configuration pre-drilled.

I'm still pretty sure that's a dynamo cab, it just doesn't have the cut corner CP on it.

-S

[shardian]

Yeah, that is a dynamo cabinet. The cut-corner cp should be a direct swap out for the existing cp.

[AlanS17]

Yeah, that is a dynamo cabinet. The cut-corner cp should be a direct swap out for the existing cp.

Not to sound contrary, but how can that be a Dynamo cabinet if the control panel comes forward to a point - not a square? Know what I mean?