PriceQuote UR's: Mr.Do, Arkanoid, Super Cobra, Double Dragon? (Upper Midwest)

[MonitorGuru]

Long story short... for a weekend's over a few months last year I used my skills to help fix up 4 games for someone who didn't have any technical knowledge. Did cap kits, monitor adjustments, added up-front volume controls and hidden credit switches behind the coin reject buttons, replaced a dead board, cleaned up wiring, etc... for him.

He originally had $800 to $1000 on each game at his rummage sale about 2 years ago (even before I fixed them  ), which was obviously very high.   Anyway, I've been researching prices on eBay for the last month and see that they all have dropped even more than the "max $500 each" I told him about 18 months ago.

I'd like some user's opinions of what they feel they would be worth to someone if they were able to pick up assuming it was in their area.  I will post my thoughts later (not to skew the results). I will forward him the details in the end. Thanks in advance!!


Here are the details:
Mr.Do: Conversion of a GDI "Red Alert" cabinet. Painted red over old logos, starting to flake. Overall: C+ condition. No dedicated graphics other than marquee.

Arkanoid: Converted Frogger. Still has original DC power board (disconnected). No original graphics. Overall: B+ condition.

Double Dragon: Dedicated, still has Taito side art. Never converted. Some fading of marquee, bezel and CPO. Overall: B

Super Cobra: Dedicated, all original, sides formica'd over (original side art should be under it?) Bezel is flaking the pink and green paint. Moderate wear on CP with a X scratch. Overall: B-

[Stingray]

I don't see anything there that I would personally be willing to pay more than a couple hundred dollars for.

-S

[RayB]

ditto

[MonitorGuru]

Thanks --- anyone else have comments?

Here are the eBay values I've seen over the last 4 weeks:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arkanoid (Upright only): $137 to $255
Super Cobra (None).  $177 for a Scramble (predecessor to SC)
Double Dragon: $114 - $266
Mr.Do (Conversion ONLY):  $200 - $350

I was going to tell him to expect about $200 to $250 tops for each of them before doing detailed research and now it seems that it about what I was expecting.

Arkanoid and Super Cobra have the nicest cabinets ready to be converted back into a Sega (Frogger/etc.) or Sterrn (Bezerk/etc..) game, while the Red Alert (Mr.Do) is a pretty bland conversion and probably has more value in the Mr.Do board and wiring than in anything else. The Double Dragon is a nice enough cab for horizontal Jamma conversions.

I would think most people "actively looking" for *these games* would pay $200 to $250, but the fact is most people arn't looking for these games (Other than Mr.Do) and therefore it's as a cab + resale in parts, and the parts values (not counting monitor) in each cab are worth $50 to $75 tops, and we know the most people pay only $25 to $75 for an empty cab, bringing the value to about $75-$150 less monitor which typically only ads about $25 to $50 to the value considering used monitor/burn in. 

Therefore $125-$200 might seem too be the "scavenger" value on them, correct?


I know he'll be disappointed but with the market value (especially ebay which seems to be quite low now...even significatly less than "physical" auction pricing (aka shills/buybacks)) but with everyone's comments we can help him price them for the market so that he can get rid of them.

I wish I had interest in any of them, but I don't...

[paigeoliver]

Those are $100 games pretty much across the board. Don't price games from ebay, as the prices there DO NOT reflect the true market value that the 97 percent of games sold OFF ebay sell for.

[MonitorGuru]

Thanks paigeoliver...  I know personally, I would not pay over $75-$100 if I *really* wanted them (and *really* being a stretch of a term, as there are few games that I would ever say really on)

The key is that he's not intending to list on eBay, but just sell locally in the paper / at his next garage sale... and we're 250 miles northwest of Minneapolis, so there really is nothing here...  (Works for and against... virtually no competition but also a lot less interest).

Thanks for the input, I concur.  Actually personally, I can't even bring myself offering over $25 for each of them, then have to store them--all of which are cabinets I don't have any interest in.

I just want to make it clear with others input that his $800-$1000 value he put on them was extreme 2 years ago, and insane now, and the $500 I suggested 2 years ago has been cut in half or more for a local sale now...

[paigeoliver]

I suggest he sells them for $100 each. For $200 each he is going to get a gazillion tire kickers who will walk away at that price once they actually see the condition.

[Wyluli]

Well, I'm not an expert here by any means, but I have a dedicted original Double Dragon in fully working condition that I paid $300 for.  That is the max I would pay for a fully original of this cab tho.  Of course I love having all original stuff and not conversions etc... :-)

[Stingray]

I suggest he sells them for $100 each. For $200 each he is going to get a gazillion tire kickers who will walk away at that price once they actually see the condition.

I think the Mr. Do would probably bring $200 pretty easily, but I agree with Paige otherwise.

-S