Anybody know about these games?...and what should I do with them?

[bfauska]

I have a possible source for two really large games and since I don't know where I would put them or what I could accomplish with them I am unsure about getting them. 

One is a 6 player X-Men cabinet.  Yes 6.  It has two monitors and they (at the least) have board damage, so the owner is unsure of it operating condition.  I suppose worse case sceneio is that I get it off of the island it's on and closer to civilization so sombody else can save it, or I scavange the useable parts and ditch the rest.


The other is an Atari T-Mek the only functional issue with it is the connection to the controlers.  It should just take a wireing job and it would be running.  The owner describes some damage to the artwork and wood, but it doesn't sound major.  Again I could get it closer to a new home or use some parts. 


If there was a financial gain to be had by repairing these machines (the initial investment is only a ferry ride and use of a large truck) I may consider using them as a stepping stone to a more apropiate cabinet. 

The OTHER option is if any of the local Seattle folks want to get in on this with me maybe we could go pick them up as a team and share the adventure of fixing/parting/restoring/selling/whatevering them.

Input?


Thanks,
Brian

[horseboy]

The X Men 6 player has always been one of dream machines. I love it. Too bad Seattle is like 1500 miles. You will already be on the road, right? I can give good directions to Arkansas...

[bfauska]

I figure that it is a rare enough machine that there should be people interested in it (either after or before I fix the monitors) so getting it off the island seems like a good start.

L8r,
B

[Jeff AMN]

I would absolutely love to have both machines. Man, so many good times on X-Men.

[tist]

i love the 2nd machine, there's one down the street from here.

[DrewKaree]

The X Men 6 player has always been one of dream machines. I love it. Too bad Seattle is like 1500 miles. You will already be on the road, right? I can give good directions to Arkansas...

They can't be considered good directions if they lead you to Arkansas

[horseboy]

The X Men 6 player has always been one of dream machines. I love it. Too bad Seattle is like 1500 miles. You will already be on the road, right? I can give good directions to Arkansas...

They can't be considered good directions if they lead you to Arkansas

You ever been? Northwest Arkansas is a great place. You start heading down south, and ehh.... I can't vouch for those people. 

[Chris G]

The OTHER option is if any of the local Seattle folks want to get in on this with me maybe we could go pick them up as a team and share the adventure of fixing/parting/restoring/selling/whatevering them.

I get one of those "don't even think about it" stares from the wife every time I even joke about a 2nd cab, so that's out for me.  I'd be up for helping you pick them up and work on them, though...

Chris

[shorthair]

Ya all just crack me up. I just could never imagine having that experience.

[RayB]

Those cabs are HUGE. And T-Mek sucks.
Also beware of anyone selling things with the "it's an easy fix" claim. If it were so easy, then why don't they spend the half hour fixing it, and thus increasing the price tag they can ask for it?

[Chris G]

Ya all just crack me up. I just could never imagine having that experience.

You can't imagine the experience of having to compromise with someone you're in a relationship with?  Or are you referring specifically to having multiple arcades in the house?

[btp2k2]

I had the experience of getting those looks from my wife....until she stepped in front of the first cabinet I built and played Joust....after that I had to use a crowbar to get her off the darn thing.

Luckily for me, she gave no resistance when I announced my plans for number.


Brian...I am down.....Shoot me a PM with contact info and lets chat.

[bfauska]

OK, here's the situation...(my parents went away on a weeks vacation, and...)  oops, got sidetracked.


HERE's the situation.  I don't have room for these games, but I'm itching to get my hands on some parts, and these machines happen to have some parts.  Would I be a total  If I picked up these machines and took them apart to use the monitors, controls, coindoors... and sold the art and other parts I don't need.  They are both from the 1990's so I don't think that they are quite classics, but they are a bit rare, and ONE of them essentially works (game functions, but controls are not hooked up)

I think that I could use the parts to make a custom cabinet.  The person trying to get rid of them is willing to let me do with them as I please, but would it be some sort of arcade sin to part these out.  The pictures of the actual cabs are below and as you see the condition of the art is not prime for restoration.

The only other thing I could do is pick them up and maybe sell them to somebody near me, but that just feels sleazy after picking them up for free.






Also, if I wanted to restore just the X-Men, would the T-Mek monitors work?  I suppose if the size is different that makes it a silly question, but aside from that should they be interchangeable?

ANY advice or opinions at all would help me here, and Seattle folks, if any of you have room for these (or one of these) let me know.  I may contact some of you for help moving them either way, but if you could leave them intact, I would probably be willing to help you get them to a good home.

Thanks,
Brian

[Tiger-Heli]

HERE's the situation.  I don't have room for these games, but I'm itching to get my hands on some parts, and these machines happen to have some parts.  Would I be a total  If I picked up these machines and took them apart to use the monitors, controls, coindoors... and sold the art and other parts I don't need.  They are both from the 1990's so I don't think that they are quite classics, but they are a bit rare, and ONE of them essentially works (game functions, but controls are not hooked up)

I think that I could use the parts to make a custom cabinet.  The person trying to get rid of them is willing to let me do with them as I please, but would it be some sort of arcade sin to part these out.  The pictures of the actual cabs are below and as you see the condition of the art is not prime for restoration.

Condition looks pretty good to me.  I agree with others that if they were that simple to fix, the previous owner would likely have done so, but I think you are likely to come out ahead to fix these up and sell them as working and use the proceeds to buy the parts you need.

It's not exactly the same, but think of it as similar to if you had a '69 Camaro that only needed a carburetor, and you dropped the transmission out of it to put in your 79 Malibu and then tried to sell what was left of the Camaro.

The only other thing I could do is pick them up and maybe sell them to somebody near me, but that just feels sleazy after picking them up for free.

I wouldn't have a problem with you doing that.  Nobody needs to know how much you did (or didn't) pay for them - now that you've posted it in a public forum. 

[shardian]

If you have the resources to sell them, and you did the person you got them from the favor of getting out of their house then there is no problem IMO. If you feel guilty, then you could share the profits with them.

[horseboy]

If you have the resources to sell them, and you did the person you got them from the favor of getting out of their house then there is no problem IMO. If you feel guilty, then you could share the profits with them.

And, if you don't like that person, but still feel guilty... you could share the profits with me.

[More Cowbell]

OK, here's the situation...(my parents went away on a weeks vacation, and...) 

...they left the keys to the brand new Porsche, would they mind? Hmmm Nah, of course not.

[Flip_Willie]

  Please, do not pillage the XMEN!  ( I can't tell you how much I would like it. )

Just as it is,
Flip Willie

[bfauska]

Nice catch Cowbell.

Flip, I would get it to you if I could.

I guess it sounds like I should try to play middle man and take in these orphaned cabinets while I try to find them a home, maybe even make them better while they're in my custody.  I still need to figure out where to store them in the mean time.  I suppose I could see if any of my family has room for them, it may mean that they end up outside (covered of course) and this is the ever-damp pacific Northwest.    What to do. I suppose I won't feel guilty if I profit a little after I finally come to a decision and deal with these things.

Still open to suggestions and Seattle based volunteers.

L8R,
B

[Crowquill]

I suppose worse case sceneio is that I get it off of the island it's on and closer to civilization so sombody else can save it, or I scavange the useable parts and ditch the rest.

Is this the mythical isle of giant arcade cabs? 


These are both very specialized cabinets that use lots of dedicated parts. There are pretty much ZERO parts that you could switch between them.

Being the "middle man" might not be bad and get you some money for a cabinet or parts that you can use. OTOH, if your only option is leaving them outside, you might consider passing. Destroying the cabs will get you nowhere. READ THE MANIFESTO! I'd imagine trying to get rid of T-Mek is just going to find a lot of people in a similar situation as you. Even though it was decently advanced for it's time, there aren't a whole lot of people lining up to play a FPS from 1995--much less dedicate a room to it. The 6-player X-Men has a much bigger following. If nothing else you could go beyond the borders of game collectors and into the realm of us comic book geeks. Parting out either cab won't get you far since the unique parts of both games ARE the cabs.

[nostrebor]

The X Men 6 player has always been one of dream machines. I love it. Too bad Seattle is like 1500 miles. You will already be on the road, right? I can give good directions to Arkansas...

They can't be considered good directions if they lead you to Arkansas

You ever been? Northwest Arkansas is a great place. You start heading down south, and ehh.... I can't vouch for those people. 

NW Arkansas is teh awesome. At least it was until I read that Horseboy lives there. I really enjoy visiting the parts of Arkansas that are not flat. NW is one such area.

*Drew need to get out more*

[DrewKaree]

NW Arkansas is teh awesome. At least it was until I read that Horseboy lives there. I really enjoy visiting the parts of Arkansas that are not flat. NW is one such area.

*Drew need to get out more*

I've been to MO.  I heard there were teh kewl people there, but that was from some inbred mountain folks in AR.  I believe his exact words were "dat dave guy shore do got a purdy mouf!"

[horseboy]