orig Bubble Bobble Cab for $499 incl shipping to the city I live in

[gavkiwi]

I love bubble bobble, Ive always wanted to MAME a cabinet, but I found a BB cab in NC that is an orig. I dont want to MAME it, I want to restore it back to its glory days and give it a bit of an update to the sideart. Give it more of a  modern look as far as the sideart is concerned. Well I found a BB cab for $300 + $199 incl shipping to my zipcode. I still have to pick it up at a depot, np, I have a pick up truck I can borrow. So I want ppls opinions, is it a good deal, There are numerous cabs about a 3-4hr drive from me for $200 dollars, but I dont really want that commute unless they have something I really want, which they seldom do. Local ppl are pricing old crap cabs for 3-400$ anyways. I dont know if I should pull the trigger on this, 

Gav

[Jeff AMN]

I just sold a Bubble Bobble, actually.

It's a really great game, but you'll want to make sure that the board is DEFINITELY original. There were a ton of bootlegs made for it.

I feel that if you like any game enough, only you can decide what makes it worth it. I wouldn't bat an eye at paying $500 for a game I really liked. I sold my Bubble Bobble for $350, by the way.

[Malenko]

only you can decide if its "worth it" if you have the cheddar and the game makes you happy, why not get it?
My girlfriend called me retarded for dropping $650 on an Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 , but its in a DEDICATED MKII cab, so I couldn't resist , the cab was in near mint shape, what kinda shape is yours in? got pix?

[gavkiwi]

heres the Auction

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=006&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=160128592779&rd=1&rd=1

[Jeff AMN]

For what it's worth, my cabinet was much better. It had two 4-way leafswitch joysticks, a fresh paint job, Bubble Bobble control panel overlay, and even the manual.

Still, if you like the game enough, it's worth it.

[RayB]

Look at the photos, it's NOT an "original". It looks like a Gottlieb cabinet (Juno First, Mad Planets, or  Krull) and look at the title, it says BOBBLE BOBBLE.  In other words, it's a bootleg board.

PS: I don't think there ever was a dedicated Bubble Bobble.

[gavkiwi]

Bugger, o well, I have a bit of an 'untrained' eye, thanks for pointing that out, well then Ill keep looking, i want a MAME cab sooo bad, heck id even put one in the garage to have one. I need a bigger house with a games room LOL

[Aurich]

IIRC there is no such thing as original Bubble Bobble cab, I think it only came as a conversion kit. So you'll never see an "original" cabinet.

[Jeff AMN]

IIRC there is no such thing as original Bubble Bobble cab, I think it only came as a conversion kit. So you'll never see an "original" cabinet.

Yeah, this is true. It was, like many Taito games, conversion only. It's a great game, but it definitely kicked a lot of classics to the curb. I've seen Bubble Bobble in Rally-X (mine), Pac-Man, and a few generic cabs.

[Crowquill]

Probably the closest you could get to having a cabinet like it *would* have had if it were a dedicated game would be a standard Taito cabinet like Elevator Action, Jungle Hunt, and Qix had.

The one I remember playing a couple times was in an Elevator Action cab. One thing to watch for in how the conversion was done is how they mounted the monitor if it was originally a vertical game. Most are fine, but I've seen some severe hack-jobs to do this. Usually it'll be obvious if it's badly done. I think that's why Williams cabs were so popular for most conversions as most were horizontal to begin with.

If I were you I'd just try to find one that looked to be in pretty good shape and as cleanly converted as possible and includes the marquee. You would probably want to get a replacement overlay later on anyway.

That cabinet is definitely a Q*Bert/Mad Planets cab. The Juno First, Krull, and 3 stooges cabs were a slightly different style (like the one in the KLOV listing for Bubble Bobble). While the bootleg board is the deal-breaker for me, that's really not too bad of a conversion.

While it's definitely helpful to us, I always wondered why most bootleg boards changed the title. It's not like it makes it instantly legal to rip off Nintendo by calling your game 'Donkey KING Junior.' The one that still amuses me is 'Mr. Du'. Is he German?

[Malenko]

thats definitely a aQ*Bert cab. Looks like a good conversion,but yes, the bootleg board would be the deal breaker for me too. Theres no bids on it, so lowball him and be sure to point out the fact its a bootleg, maybe you can get the cab cheap then just pin down a bubble bobble board