Adventures at my first arcade auction

[kayoteq]

Since I already have one (stripped) cabinet, I went to a local auction to see what else I could find on a budget.
I thought I'd share my adventures so others new to this kind of thing won't repeat my mistakes, perhaps.

Either way, here goes. Warning: rambles.

I set some basic rules before I went: Budget, usefulness, and what I needed/wanted. Then I  bent and sometimes broke them.

Of course, there was too much visual stimuli and I managed to emerge with most of my money despite my actions.

What I did wrong: Impulse buy of a cheap, somewhat functioning pinball machine. Just because I don't have parts, and it would take $$$ to get parts for it. No shoving a jamma harness into a pinball case. Only saved by the re-sell right off the bat with a profit that took care of the other things I bought. Don't count on that kind of luck, though.

These auctioneers will gladly sell you something and hold you to it, even if it's overpriced and a mistake. It's a matter of seconds between losing a bid versus backing out when it gets too rich. These guys want to move on to the next item, so stay sane.

Some of these bidders have a working budget in the thousands, buying these things to make money, not a hobby,
so your desparate attempt to buy x game for less than $100 is nothing to them if they just have to put in one of their spare PCB's in the cab and resell it for double next auction or put in on site and rake in quarters.

Did I mention keep in budget? Get what you need?

Avoid the 'brand names' unless you really, really  want that Galaga/Pac man etc. If anything, find a converted Midway; with the crazy prices going for intact ones, you can do a project one for less money and have pride of restoration.

Research *here* well before arriving. That kept me from being interested in, say, a Pole Position
because of the many systems that fail.

Things I didn't buy that I 'needed'. Centepede glass. Yep, I could have solved my marquee/bezel problems right away with a $75 purchase. The bidding went to $50 and I couldn't justify it, becuase,  my cab isn't functioning yet, that money should be going towards those important bits that make the game work.

Of course, most items for sale there are full systems. That's where I went bargain basement. I wanted a cocktail cab, and got one for the right price since it's a funky conversion that I can unconvert and have something that fits in the  living room better than the full-size cabs. . despite that I end up getting a second upright.

Since I'm pretty darn n00b on all this, I'm on a budget and have to pick from the stuff that these guys consider worthless.

Get there early, so you can tell what's a good game in the category of what you want, versus things like a Donkey Kong that pretty much was a box with parts related to the game inside, needless to say not working. Despite that, it went for $70.

I won four bids, resold one before I even left the parking lot, and just about came out ahead. Pure luck.

Now the rationalization: why I did what I did.

Box of joysticks (some new): Cheap. I still ended up spending less than one new controller, and I have some stuff I can either sell or install in the cocktail.

Cocktail: Well, if you can get a intact cab for less than materials to build one, so  I went for it. Same price as the box of joysticks.

Pinball: A reasonable price.  not 100%, working, though.. Why it was a mistake: I don't have pinball parts. The instant resell offer saved me. Who knows, I may have made a mistake in *selling it*, but I don't have the means or the contacts to do anything with it. Again, luck. Or the guy knew what I had and figured it was worth the trouble to make an offer.

Jamma cabinet: power supply, working crt, cabinet (duh), and jamma interface. Nice and generic so I'm not erasing any history if I decide I want to shove a PC into it. Even if the controls are bad, whoops didn't I just get a box of a dozen joysticks?
The reason I wanted a second upright is that it's a horizontal monitor, where my 'home' game is vertical.

Let's just say I stayed well within my budget, got two fixer-uppers and parts. But that was a hard ponder whether to keep the pin. Maybe next time

All said and done (finally, you say) I ended up spending half of what my local operators would sell me one of their generic cabs directly from their business.  So I came out ahead, of sorts.

But it can be a dangerous place, so keep your head.

[bfauska]

Thanks for the auction report.  It's funny, there seems to be plenty of cabinets available from private parties here in the Pacific Northwest, but I don't see many vendors, and I've never seen an auction.

One time, I went without a truck and took my Mercury Sable and a rechargeable saw.  I tried to cut a Jungle Hunt cabinet in half and cram it into the car!  I got the top half, had to abandon the bottom half, and I broke the monitor neck hauling ass out of there. 

I did that once with a Star Wars Sit-Down cabinet I got for $100.  Cut it in half to put on the roof of my Ford Escort, left the front half at the auction and the rear fell off my roof on the way home... oh well.

[kayoteq]

Well.. I've been 'conservative' in regards to arcade cabinets for years and years.. The 'junker' is that Centipede. I set out determined that there would be no spending past $200. (all done and friend's gas money paid: $80 total)

MAME really helps in regards to not jonesing for so-and-so game..

The game? Pinbot Pool. It's long gone, so I indulged in looking it up.  the price range goes from $95 to $350, with one sale of an apparent primo one for $750.  Rough shape. scratched, worn art, couldn't even play a game because half the mechs were'nt going, targets not popping*, etc. A lot of work, and my experience is more suited towards computer/crt things. Not that I won't indulge eventually for the right price/condition.

The one I regret was after this transacton, *not* bidding on the "Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind" pin that went for a decent price. Ah well. Again, I kept my head and consider myself ahead of the game. And the bidder for that CE3k probably would have kept going till they got it. (On the pin I bought, the guy said 'the auctioneer didn't see me' maybe yes, maybe no. I thnk it's got a good home now either way. )

Nope, doing okay on that. So he says..

With my new cocktail and generic** jamma cabinet, purist folks  can feel utterly relaxed about the future state of my Centipede. A real nice one went for $275, so I know to keep in budget there.  Bit by bit, back together over time. I can play the 'pede on my computer for now. Atari parts are going back in best I can, at worst a combo centi/millipede PCB. forgive me. 

As far as auction moving disasters go, there was one headless pin at the auction. "It's somewhere on highway 81", apparently caught a wind and fell off. Ouch. No such disasters for me, I have a very helpful and  patient friend with a pickup and we safely moved the games to the 'staging area' I have. 

Yeah, let's add that to the 'important' list: never buy anything larger than your transport vehicle's capacity!

Tomorrow is exploratory surgery time, see what parts can go where and figure out what the cocktail used to be before Trivia Whiz... couldn't wait,  went over to the game.. . it's a Galaxian!
** second update: dang it, the jamma cabinet isnt's generic.. I was feeling deja vu.. finally tracked it down..
 it's an old Asteroids Deluxe with a standard CRT and original control panel all to bits now. Can't get away from Atari, it seems. 

[Dartful Dodger]

Were you at the auction in Darien on Saturday?

Does anyone know how much the gryo went for?

[CheffoJeffo]

I really think Super Auctions are a bad idea for most people for their first auction experience.  I grew up going to the occasional estate auction and those will give you a very cheap and quick lesson in 'auction fever' and 'don't bid unless you REALLY want it'.

I've done plenty of dumb things at Super Auctions, though.  One time, I went without a truck and took my Mercury Sable and a rechargeable saw.  I tried to cut a Jungle Hunt cabinet in half and cram it into the car!  I got the top half, had to abandon the bottom half, and I broke the monitor neck hauling ass out of there. 

Yep, that was dumb.

 

[kayoteq]

Oh, this was Kingsport, TN. They have them just about monthly. I'll take requests next time.. folks sell odd boxes of parts, and generally at a good price, except for the standard $10/transaction fee.

Told one friend, I may have him hooked on the concept of owning a pin. Guess who will probably have to fix it..
Have to start determining service fees
To everybody else in the bidding cluster, this, was worthless to them:

Just what I was shopping for. Nope, no street fighter 2 pcb.  I was just going for horizontal monitor, really.
The home-made monitor mounts at the base are a bit split and need replacement, but that's about it.
Sorry if it's getting off-topic.. just showing what careful shopping and  a bit of  luck can do.

Follow the future progress over in the Projects department as I take on 3 3 3 cabinets at once between consulting jobs!

One of my client's machines..  I worked on over 50 of these things this summer..

makes a jamma interface look like two cups and a string. Sometimes I've had to crawl _into_ these things..
(A futurama episode I forgot was on my flash backup drive, safe to play just before I re-imaged the HD)