Mamemarquees REVIEW!

[javeryh]

LINK TO THE MAMEMARQUEES WEBSITE.

Mamemarquees Review

I am getting closer to finishing my MAME arcade cabinet and it is now time to start shifting my thinking from how I want the cabinet to play to how I want the cabinet to look and its overall artistic design.  If I want to put this thing in my daughter’s room it is going to have to be really nice to get wife approval.  I have known from the start of this project that I wanted to make something girly and personal that my daughter could really call her own and she may not know it right now but in a few years this thing is going to be really cool to have in her room.  To me, there’s nothing more important from a visual standpoint on an upright arcade cabinet than the marquee.  Your eye is instantly drawn there and I think that it can make or break a cab in terms of appearance and the “I want one of those” factor.

Based on the rave reviews around here I decided that I was going to use Mamemarquees to print the custom marquee for my arcade cabinet.  I thought about going to Kinko’s but in the end I decided that a few extra dollars wouldn’t break the bank and it would be worth it.  Anyway, on to the review…

1.  Ordering and Cost

After finalizing my design (thanks again megashock5!), the first thing I did was place the order on the mamemarquees website.  It was easy enough to navigate - I went to the “Customer Design” page and selected the “Customer Designed Marquee.”  This brought me to the ordering page and I was presented with a bunch of drop-down menus to customize my order.  The first choice was the marquee size (there are different categories based on width).  I chose “up to 23.00 inches” since I needed it to be 18.5 inches across ($15.95).  The next choice was whether or not I wanted two pieces of plexiglass to ship with my order cut to the exact marquee size.  The plexiglass will sandwich the marquee for support and installation.  This was a no-brainer for me because I just didn’t want to have to deal with cutting it myself (+$24.99).  The next choice was which material I wanted the marquee printed on - Premium or Ultimate.  Premium is the standard material and Ultimate comes with a luster laminate which coats the entire marquee and is supposed to look even better when backlit - I went with the Ultimate (+$10.00).  Finally, I entered my name and the exact dimensions of my marquee and added it to my cart.  Shipping was $7.99 so the total for the entire order was $58.93.  Checkout was a breeze and they accepted PayPal which made it really simple to pay for it.

2.  Communication

Mamemarquees (Scott) was very responsive to the several emails I sent him over a two or three day span.  I always had a response within a few hours of sending the message.  I actually submitted the wrong file for printing (it was a near-final version I had without some last second tweaks) and he was very understanding about it and he told me he would wait for me to send him the finalized file before printing.  His responsiveness alleviated the little bit of worry on my part that he was printing the wrong file or something.  I’m sure he deals with idiot customers such as myself all the time and it probably makes him a little nuts.  Anyway, it was a pleasure dealing with him.

3.  Delivery Time

I placed my order on January 11 (a Thursday) and I had the marquee in hand on January 20 (the following Saturday) and this was even with the mix-up on my part.  Scott sent the package via USPS Priority Mail with delivery confirmation (which is 2-day delivery, I think).  Talk about fast!

4.  Packaging

The marquee came well packaged in a flat cardboard envelope that was a bit oversized.  It was sandwiched between the two sheets of plexiglass for protection.  Here are a few shots of the packaging and what it looked like what I opened it up:



5. Overall

I am extremely pleased with my overall experience with Mamemarquees.  Both the service and the product are top notch.  The marquee I ordered was a little pricey but definitely worth it.  Based on my experience I can recommend them without hesitation to anyone else out there who wants to make their arcade cabinet really stand out.

Here's the final product:


I hope this helps some of you out there who are debating whether or not to use Mamemarquees!

LINK TO THE MAMEMARQUEES WEBSITE.

[fatfingers]

You forgot to enter BYOAC in the coupons section for the 10% discount!   

[javeryh]

You forgot to enter BYOAC in the coupons section for the 10% discount!   

Oops - I know.  I realized it a few days after placing the order!   

[FrizzleFried]

I have used Scott twice now.   Both times were a pleasure.   If I had to come up with ONE GRIPE it is that the colors on my second marquee were off by a pretty big margin (the blues especially).   Not enough to gripe to Scott,  but enough for ME to notice (of course it was a custom piece of artwork that I did myself...so I,  of course,  would notice these things).

I recommend the HIGHER QUALITY material over the lower quality material he uses.  The higher quality material is like thin piece of plasticish (if that is a word) material...very durable...while the lower quality matierial seems like very high quality photo paper in it's feel.   Both look great...but the higher quality material WILL last longer if you remove the marquee a lot...if I were to order again,  it would be the high quality stuff for sure.

[acevedor2]

I agree.  I had Scott custom make my marquee, CPO and side art.  All look awesome!  I would recommend him in an instant!

[btp2k2]

Yeah, Scott rocks for sure....

The first marquee I did, I went the Kinko's route. It turned out being pricey and not very good looking when lit up. When the lights are on in the room, you can't even tell the marquee is lit.

My second project used a marquee printed from Mamemarquee and it looks AMAZING. The second cab even used a slightly dimmer light, and it still looks brighter....plus it was cheaper than Kinko's...even with shipping.

All my artwork is getting printed by Scott from now on!

[squirrellydw]

he did a great job on my 27" cocktail underlay

[Donkey_Kong]

mamemarquees- Does look like a high quality outfit!

 




I believe I could highly recommend them solely from the information in this thread. WOW! Nice job Javeryh!

[Arcades R Fun]

I can't say enough about the high quality stuff that Scott at MAMEMarquees puts out!
We build full sized upright arcade games in our business that feature full length side art on both sides, ultimate marquee, control panel overlay and front kick panel art, all printed by Scott.
He communicates well with us and goes out of his way to supply a great product but also something much rarer these days..... Quality Customer Service!

 

[Mr. Bubblehead]

I don't think that it is possible to say anything negative about Scott or the products he provides.  I have used MameMarquees on at least a dozen different projects, and each time I have been 100% satisfied with every aspect of my order.  Highly recommended.

[farmecologist]

Scott's service is second to none. 

I would also recommend upgrading to the 'ultimate' film printing material.  It is WELL worth it.

[Unholyknight]

To add to this:

I ordered strictly control panel art with stick-on backing.  It came rolled in a tube with plenty of space for protection on each end.  It included instructions for applying it to the control panel surface.

It went on very easy the next day.  Over the night I turned our kitchen table bench upside down and laid it on top of the control art to make it flatter for easier application. 

Order turnaround was about 5 days.

[Buddabing]

Javery, please edit your post to put a link to the Mamemarquees website.

Also, please add an entry to the wiki entry for MameMarquees.

Thanks,
Buddabing

[More Cowbell]

Another shout out to mamemarquees.com. Quick, reasonable prices, and high quality. What else can you ask for?

[WLVRYN]

I just got my CPO, marquee and side art from them.  Although the process was a little slow, everything turned out really nice.  I had Scott do some basic design work and it took longer than I thought it should, but I'm sure its more of me being an impatient bastard than anything else (not to mention the fact that he has a regular job and just does this on the side).  Also, the original marquee was cut 3/4" too short, and he replaced it with a proper length one no problem.

All in all I'm very satisfied. 

[javeryh]

Javery, please edit your post to put a link to the Mamemarquees website.

Also, please add an entry to the wiki entry for MameMarquees.

Thanks,
Buddabing

Oops - just seeing this now.  Will do!   

[(+_+)]

You forgot to enter BYOAC in the coupons section for the 10% discount!   

Oops - I know.  I realized it a few days after placing the order!   

Flurgle. I just pulled the same eggplant move about a half an hour ago. I just finished ordering my marquee. I went for the premium with no plexi since I already have by 2 plexi pieces cut already. There starting to turn yellow its been so long since I worked on my Hyperspace project.  I was forced to take the artwork printing into my own hands before I died waiting. A word of advice, never let the power leave your own hands. It's lewd, vesivius, salacious, outrageous!

[leapinlew]

Another nod towards MM.

Absolutely amazing. I have no idea why I've been avoiding using them. I've ordered stuff from CAG Kinkos and printed my own stuff. To top it all off - it's a great price.

[moriartyds]

Another shout out for mame marquees.  I sent them some custom artwork (via yousendit) and they printed it and turned it around in less than a week.  Great results too.  I'd definitely highly recommend them and will be using them again.

[doctorhifi]

Top notch service and product.  I've ordered side art, a marquee and a control panel overlay.  Communication with Scott was excellent, installation instructions provided with the product were great, and the product was exactly as promised and better than I imagined.

Its been 2 years now and the side art remains perfectly adhered to the cabinet and the control panel overlay (and I'm not using anything like Plexiglas on top of it) looks just as good as day one.  Not a hint of wear of any sort.

Do yourself a favor and pay the money for their products.  It will take your machine from homemade to professional looking.  I had painted the cabinet prior with a sprayer and it looked good, but in my opinion there is simply no comparison between even the best paint job and the side art overlays produced by Mamemarquees.

[ZORK2]

Can't say enough good about this guy! See my restoration threads that have used his stuff! Top notch operation all the way around!!

Zork2 out.......

[njay]

well i have no good words for it sorry

first emails went fine to scott i send the the x-arcade cad drawings to make me a cpo layout for my controller
he then sent me an email he was still working on it

then nothing i have send him 4 emails in the last few weeks no response what so ever
really a shame i was looking forward to order my marquee and cpo layout   

[BamBam]

He did my custom CP and Marquee and was happy with the product.  He even helped me upload my massive Photoshop images to his server.  He cleaned it up a bit and presto.   

[TAG]

Scott did a great job on the marquee I'll be using on my cab.  Professional level quality, and well worth the money.  Shipment was quick, too.  I'd recommend him without reservation.