I picked up the cab today and it's in my garage. It's not perfect

But it's not bad. Looks to be about standard arcade condition. Turns out the guy selling it runs a few arcades in the state and was liquidating his old stock. Unfortunately I got found out at the very end of his current supply. He had some fully functionals that went for $99. Nothing amazing left at that point, but they worked. I should have bid on them when I bid on the cab, but I didn't for some reason. I'm stupid stupid stupid. On the + side, he seems like a nice guy and is really into coin-ops. He was shocked this cab only went for $25. I was the only bidder. He gave me a card and told me to call from time to time. I think I'll be able to snag one here and there before it goes for auction. I almost bid on a spy-hunter pin he had for sale. The auction stated it only lit up, but the playfield and everything else looked great. After talking to him I'm glad I didn't. I think I could have bought a fully functional and gone to lunch for what it would cost to fix that one.
Anyway, Gorf. The marquees are absolutely perfect. Clear, bright, and no fade or discoloration. Beautiful, defintitely the highlight of the cab.
The CP seems complete, all buttons and joystick. Some of the screen printing has rubbed off, all in all it's a 7 out of 10.
The cab has the original glass, no plexi, and seems clear and free of pits and scratches. I need to clean it to get a good look but I think it's good. The monitor overlay also appears to be perfect, but again I need to clean the glass. The cab also has the black monitor bezel.
Coin doors are intact minus mechs and look good. The cab has all 3 locks intact with the exception of the 2 on back missing the actual lock arms. The front lock is complete. The seller actually had the key for the locks. All 3 work, definite bonus.
Sideart is probably 7.5 out of 10. Minor scratches, but 10 yard perfect. That is from 10 yards, looks new(ish).
The cab itself is probably 7 out of 10. Minor damage to front lower corners, minor delamination on right side. Otherwise the laminate is in good shape. The paint on the upper section is in ok shape. Minor lifting/cracking, minor scratches... could use sanding and a new coat of paint. Overall the cab appears to be structurally sound. It is missing all 4 casters, but they look like generics will fit.
Internals. I'm new to this so bear with me. The wiring harness is there and appears to be more or less intact. The board mounted to the bottom of the joystick is present, as is the board that lights up the ranking on the display board. Lighting and speaker hardware is present and appears intact. The powersupply/transformer is mounted on the bottom, and intact as far as I can tell. There are a couple misc. parts attached, and I'd only be guessing at what they are. Unfortunately no monitor or other real hardware.
All in all I think I did good for $25. I'll try and post some pics so those more informed can tell me what they think.
Paigeoliver: I think I'm going to Gorf my Gorf cab. So if your friend's hardware is fully functioning and he's willing to sell at a reasonable price (again building new house, my budget's really tight right now), I'd like to bring this back to life. If I can get it working it will be #1 of the 3 I'm going to allow myself. So if you would get ahold of him and make sure it works and if he's willing to sell and at what price, I'd appreciate it.
I decided to change my house plans, as I will likely sell again in 2 years. No reason to dump all of my money into this one, when the next will be the house I actually want. But I'm still going to have a gameroom w/pool... but I'm only going to have room for 3. I figure Gorf for my classic, a combination HOTD2/Soul Caliber/Ready2Rumble dreamcast cab for my shooter and fun fightes, and lastly an actual mame. I may still make a YDKJ tabletop, I'll have to see how much extra room I have. Mame will have to come last as i still need to replace my home PC, so the mame PC will have to wait. But that should give me time to find 2 Jamma cabs to convert.