Making a career out of Mame cabs / restorations????

[Pooman2084]

I'm leaving my job towards the end of the year and was thinking about what I'd like to do in the future. Well i think it's time to get off the Corporate ladder and to do something I actually want to do.  

Anyway, is there anyone in the UK that would be interested in starting a retoration / repair / cabinet building business? I have some money to invest and am quite keen, but if it were easy or profitable why aren't there other such companies out there.

Has anyone had any experience of trying to make a living out of this? I'd be interested to know how you got on before I throw my little investment away.

[android]

I wouldn't put all my eggs on that one. Remember that as fun as it may be, the arcade business is dying. Arcade game collecting and restoration is a nostalgia business. I.e. the only reason why people like us buy cabinets is because that reminds us of our youth. For other people is just wood and silicon. So unlike antiques, paintings and such, there's really no intrinsic value on arcade games. Therefore, once this generation moves on, your market will practically dry out. Why don't you instead start something like Chuck E. Cheese in the UK? That's a cash cow and you can still work on what you like.

-- Android

[gajaman]

I've often thought about how good a "classics only" arcade would be - I'm not sure how profitable it would be though, particularly with mame around - would people pay 50p/

[NickS]

From what I have seen from arcade collecting groups like UKVAC and others there is a demand for cabinet making in the UK.

Defender cabinets seem to be the ones that I hear asked for the most. Often several times a week. I recently saw a tatty and empty Defender cab sell for several hundred pounds on ebayUK. I recently came across a person in the US who produces repro artwork and also sells newly built shell Defender cabs for around $450 (

[paigeoliver]

I gave away a pair of Defender cabs 18 months ago for nearly nothing. (Traded one for an I-Pac, and the other for a Tetris Plus boardset).

Any real money in games would not be in restorations, which is a money losing endeavor once you count labor. But in making a product that people want. Like the I-Pac, or those Oscar spinners.

I have "made money" at the hobby, but at a rate of about $1 an hour, at best. (Sure, I sold that game for $100 more than I paid for it, BUT I spent $20 or so picking it up, another $30 on assorted parts, probably spent 20 hours fiddling with it, and 10 hours locating and picking it up (Looking for games to buy does count as work when it is a business), and 4 hours selling it.

That leaves me with 34 hours put in to make $50. Not too good of a profit.

There are only a few games that people really want repro cabinets for. Once the supply of extra boardsets run out for those games, then the market for repro cabinets will dry up too. For that matter, as soon as the bottom drops out of the market on any particular title, then the market for repro cabs will die for that title.

Bottom drop out? Yes. There are a few games that have a steadily raising population, as people rebuild, restore, and even bootleg them.
Every month that passes puts hundreds more Ms. Pac-Mans into circulation, probably 50 Galagas, along with probably a dozen odd Defenders, Dragon's Lairs, and other assorted A-List games. There are only so many people who even WANT a Defender, or a Dragon's Lair. Eventually even the Ms. Pac market will be glutted eventually (go to any game auction and count the "New" bootleg Ms. Pac machines, now imagine how many more are sold quietly in the paper).

Mame itself has a large effect on the arcade hobby. It has really affected the value and desirability of oddball games, conversion games, and other non A-List games. When you can play anything you want anyway, you just aren't going to want to bother with a ratty looking Street Smart machine.

I am going to have to cut my collection down due to space concerns, and I am really torn between three options.

1. Keep the best looking games, because I can play anything in Mame anyway. (Kangaroo, Jack the Giantkiller, Berzerk, and English Mark Darts).

2. Keep the games that are the most fun. (Turbo, Crystal Castles, Berzerk, and Time Pilot).

3. Keep the games that Mame isn't the best for. (Amazing Maze, Turbo, Assault, Crystal Castles).

If it wasn't for Mame, then the answer would be very simple. Keep the games that are the most fun.

[NickS]

I gave away a pair of Defender cabs 18 months ago for nearly nothing. (Traded one for an I-Pac, and the other for a Tetris Plus boardset).

I guess you are located in the USA but in the UK Defender Machines are extremely popular at the moment. Mint condition Defender Machines regularly go for between

[SirPeale]

I've often thought about how good a "classics only" arcade would be - I'm not sure how profitable it would be though, particularly with mame around - would people pay 50p/