Cab Graveyard

[tophatne1]

I'm sure it has been posted on here before but this is crazy. From the looks of the people in the pictures it looks like this was a long time ago.

http://www.alsarcade.com/Andy/arc/grose/index.html

[SavannahLion]

 

[Crowquill]

It's sad to see the machines falling apart from neglect, but the ---daisies--- setting them on fire should be...set on fire.



Still not as bad as

[Luigi]

As horrible as this:

http://www.time.com/time/picturesoftheweek/0,29409,1645260_1412424,00.html


 

[DashRendar]

Cabs that they don't make anymore...gone forever.

They're a limited resource that need to be preserved!

 

[RandyT]

Worse yet.....

http://g4tv.com/videos/43819/human-wrecking-balls---arcade-armageddon/

Human --bags of cream-filled twinkies--, more like.

[CheffoJeffo]

Wasn't that picture, as featured on the Time site, already deemed Photoshopped ?

And, yeah, the human wrecking balls are --bags of cream-filled twinkies--, but I wouldn't lose sleep if they came to Toronto and killed some of the Big Buck Hunter 33" showcase cabs that plague us.

[DillonFoulds]

HAH. I'm in Alberta, brosef. Our idea of arcades are big buck hunter, big buck hunter II (which both attract swarms of people) and a variation of a Golden Tee (which sees next to no play always). That's it. MAYBE a pin if we're lucky. The biggest theatre in my city has an ultracade, that sees also next to no play (and it's beside the only DDR machine in the city, so it's always overcrowded by 12 year old girls to play me some Bust-A-Move. Sometimes if the Girlfriend and I catch a late flick, and they haven't turned the ultracade off by the time the movie's out, I'll be lucky to get a few rounds in, but that's it.

[DashRendar]

Well, I wonder if these will eventually become true collector's items.

Right now they're still common enough where they're not *that* rare.  But as time goes on, they're disappearing (fires, people scrapping them, people hacking them up for bad MAME conversions, etc).

There's not as much demand for something like this now due to home consoles as well.

But in 10 or 20 years, will their value rise?  Finding a Dragons Lair cab now for $500 is one thing, but how much will that same cab cost in the future?

Will it be something like a 1940s Wurlitzer Bubbler Jukebox that originally cost $800, but now costs $8000 due to how rare they've become?  (And even though we have iPods which are cheaper and easier to find?)

[RandyT]

Will it be something like a 1940s Wurlitzer Bubbler Jukebox that originally cost $800, but now costs $8000 due to how rare they've become?  (And even though we have iPods which are cheaper and easier to find?)

I think it's highly unlikely.  The old bubblers are in a different class from a painted plywood box.  The more common arcade cabinets will continue to be cherished by those who collect them, but the intrinsic value will probably be low until they are 100 years old.  It's already been 30 years, and most, with a few exceptions, are still moving at scrap value.

Which is why you see idiots smashing them for "fun".

[Dartful Dodger]

Worse yet.....

http://g4tv.com/videos/43819/human-wrecking-balls---arcade-armageddon/
Human --bags of cream-filled twinkies--, more like.

I saw that episode on tv, the games were all PsOS. The pinball games looked like the were just shells filled with old computer parts and covered in glass.  They didn't even bother to try and pretend they were real pinball machines by adding cheap grapgics.

[ark_ader]

Well, I wonder if these will eventually become true collector's items.

Right now they're still common enough where they're not *that* rare.  But as time goes on, they're disappearing (fires, people scrapping them, people hacking them up for bad MAME conversions, etc).

There's not as much demand for something like this now due to home consoles as well.

But in 10 or 20 years, will their value rise?  Finding a Dragons Lair cab now for $500 is one thing, but how much will that same cab cost in the future?

Will it be something like a 1940s Wurlitzer Bubbler Jukebox that originally cost $800, but now costs $8000 due to how rare they've become?  (And even though we have iPods which are cheaper and easier to find?)

You can always find a restorer for any item.  Heck I tend to visit the local furniture restorer because of the old and rare items he stocks I cannot find anywhere else.  You want a Dragon's Lair cab in 20 years? - no problem as the cabinet designs will always be available (granted that wood being still around), just the internals will be different.  Two years ago prices of cabs were a lot different to what they are now. But valuable in the future? - don't bet on it.

[RandyT]

I saw that episode on tv, the games were all PsOS. The pinball games looked like the were just shells filled with old computer parts and covered in glass.  They didn't even bother to try and pretend they were real pinball machines by adding cheap grapgics.

I noticed that as well.  They weren't so kind to the video side though.  The Scramble cabinet was actually running and looked to be in good shape.  There were others that were functional as well.

It's also bad in that it promotes the idea that the old games are junk and smashing them like that is okay.  Bad for everyone.

[CheffoJeffo]

It's also bad in that it promotes the idea that the old games are junk and smashing them like that is okay.  Bad for everyone.

You know, I've argued before on behalf of collectors who have smashed up cabinets (or burnt them, or towed them behind cars, etc.) because they couldn't even give them away ... and I still think that is OK, but after Randy's post, I am rethinking my prior position that it was OK for Todd Tuckey to show cabinets (which were utter junk) being tossed off the roof in his commercials.