Author Topic: Possible DK cab comin' my way?? Fingers crossed! (NOW W/ PICS!!) (Read 13994 times)

ArtsNFartsNCrafts · « **on:** March 05, 2008, 06:08:28 pm »

I came in contact with an individual an hour north of me who runs a company that is responsible for putting arcade games in grocery stores and wal mart lobbies and stuff. He said that the machines run on a "route", going from the best location to the worst location, spending X amount of time in each. He said that after a machine has completed its route, it goes back to his warehouse and just sits there, usually used for spare parts, or just collecting dust.

He said that he has an 8000 sq. foot warehouse FILLED with old arcade games, and that he's positive that there are at LEAST five or six nintendo and/or donkey kong cabs back there.

I ask him the obvious: "Are they working?"

To which, he replies:

"If one isn't working, there are probably enough back there to where we could probably take the working parts from any of the DK cabs, and put them in one cab, to make you a working one."

I ask him the next obvious: "And how much would this cost me?"

"I'd let one go for $150."

I ask him to repeat that, as I was pretty sure I had misunderstood him.

Nope, $150.

"For just the cab? Or for a cab with all the guts in it."

"For a working cab, with all the stuff inside."

Needless to say, I'm gonna have to make a trip up there this weekend, to see if 1) The cabs are in decent condition, and 2) If any of them are working or 2a) If I can rustle up enough parts from OTHER dk/nintendo machines to get one up and running.

Everyone...please cross your fingers for me.

TelcoLou · « **Reply #1 on:** March 05, 2008, 06:10:32 pm »

Cool! *crosses fingers*

... wonder if he's got any Tempest machines.

ArtsNFartsNCrafts · « **Reply #2 on:** March 05, 2008, 06:12:05 pm »

He said he's got hundreds of old cabs in there. We'll see.

Honestly, I'm not getting my hopes up, because this REALLY sounds too good to be true, y'know?

Fozzy The Bear · « **Reply #3 on:** March 05, 2008, 06:42:42 pm »

Quote from: ArtsNFartsNCrafts on March 05, 2008, 06:12:05 pm

He said he's got hundreds of old cabs in there. We'll see.

WOHHHHH!!!

This sounds like one of those holy grail type arcade warehouse finds!! Take a video camera with you and get a good look at what's in there.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

ArtsNFartsNCrafts · « **Reply #4 on:** March 05, 2008, 09:07:36 pm »

I might just have to do that! That might also show whether or not he's operating legally, haha.

javeryh · « **Reply #5 on:** March 05, 2008, 09:12:46 pm »

Good luck! Where is the warehouse?

ArtsNFartsNCrafts · « **Reply #6 on:** March 05, 2008, 09:15:34 pm »

About an hour north of me.

TelcoLou · « **Reply #7 on:** March 05, 2008, 09:16:25 pm »

Quote from: ArtsNFartsNCrafts on March 05, 2008, 09:15:34 pm

About an hour north of me.

Greedy!

ArtsNFartsNCrafts · « **Reply #8 on:** March 05, 2008, 09:22:06 pm »

I'll go check it out first, and if there's anything good, you guys will be the first to know (anyone else would think I'm a loser for getting all school-girl giddy over a donkey kong cabinet).

CheffoJeffo · « **Reply #9 on:** March 05, 2008, 09:38:34 pm »

Buy two ....

barrel_hopper · « **Reply #10 on:** March 05, 2008, 09:46:18 pm »

I would give my right " you know what for that" I got a guy trying to make me pay through the nose for popeye. Wish me luck tomorrow I am gonna go try and score a DK JR for a decent price. Keep us posted

ArtsNFartsNCrafts · « **Reply #11 on:** March 06, 2008, 08:46:34 pm »

I know it's silly, but I called this guy once more, to make absolutely CERTAIN that we were on the same page. And it looks like we are. The deal is this:

Dude has several DK/Nintendo machines (in addition to, apparently, hundreds of other old classic machines collecting dust in his warehouse). He said he didn't know which had guts and which didn't, but that there are probably enough of them to find working parts out of all of them and put 'em in one cab. He said some of them may have boards...some of them may not. But if there is a board I want to put in it, I could certainly take one. If there is a working monitor(s) in any of them, I was welcome to that too. Same for the power supply, wiring harness, etc.

$150

It sounds too good to be true, but I can't just rule it out as that. I HAVE to go check, y'know? Perhaps it really is some fluke diamond in the rough situation.

He also mentioned having several original midway cocktail machines up there. I wonder how much he'd be letting those go for. I'll report back once I check it out, and see what he's working with here.

I can afford a working DK cab for $150. I can absolutely afford that. I CAN'T afford a non-working cab that I'm going to have to sink even major $$$ into. I'm willing to spend cash on aesthetic restoration, but I can't get into the uber expensive stuff, like finding a working monitor, power supply, etc.

Fingers still crossed.

surface tension · « **Reply #12 on:** March 07, 2008, 02:49:31 am »

I have to ask... why are you still at home on the Internet?!

Good luck, I'm looking forward to the result. I can't help picturing the recently posted video of that warehouse from a few years back. Now that would be too good to be true!

barrel_hopper · « **Reply #13 on:** March 07, 2008, 06:56:46 am »

Is this place anywhere near VA? If it is maybe after you get what you need you could share the info with a fellow collector?

padstack · « **Reply #14 on:** March 07, 2008, 03:09:35 pm »

how far outside of knoxville is this?

Jeff AMN · « **Reply #15 on:** March 07, 2008, 03:15:04 pm »

I'll buy your DK cab FOR YOU and pay for shipping if you can get me the same deal on a Star Wars in there. Basically I'd consider that $150 a finder's fee. Heck, if he has a Star Wars, PLEASE let me know and we can work something out and I'd make it worth your while.

wmba · « **Reply #16 on:** March 14, 2008, 09:16:27 pm »

So what happened with this?

TelcoLou · « **Reply #17 on:** March 14, 2008, 09:23:31 pm »

Maybe he brought it home, but it was haunted, and he got scared to death

Lutus · « **Reply #18 on:** March 14, 2008, 11:25:10 pm »

Or maybe it was an emulator on a PSP that was the wrong version firmware.

Or is that a really old can of worms.

ArtsNFartsNCrafts · « **Reply #19 on:** March 16, 2008, 08:59:29 am »

It's been crazy the last few weekends. I'm on springbreak this week, so I'm going up one morning to check it out. I've been corresponding w/ the guy, so neither of us have forgotten about each other. I'll take a camera!

ArtsNFartsNCrafts · « **Reply #20 on:** March 19, 2008, 07:34:10 pm »

Hey guys. Thought I'd update you.

I went to this supposed "holy grail". Dude wasn't joking. He has a crapload of old cabs, and they're all in pretty decent condition! As I mentioned before, I was in search of a Donkey Kong machine, and this is what I've encountered. I need your all's advice!!

This guy probably had 15-20 Nintendo cabs. Some were Vs. cabinets, others were Mario Bro's cabinets, and a few were Donkey Kong or Donkey Kong junior.

The storage area that these were kept in was a dark, 8000 square foot 2nd floor of a 2 story warehouse...I had to take a service elevator up to the thing. these cabs hadn't seen the light of day in I don't know how long. And there were so many cabs, you could barely walk through it all. The guy just goes "Look through all of it. Snoop around in whatever you want. let me know if you find what you want."

I found one cardboard box that I opened up, and it was FILLED with immaculate NES Mario Bro's control panels...

So anyway...back to my donkey kong search:

So I come across a blue donkey kong cab with donkey kong JR guts inside of it: monitor, PCB, coin mech and box, power supply, etc. It had a DK Jr. Marquee and CPO also. The CPO was in GREAT condition...the buttons were clean and didn't stick at all, and the joystick was good too...the problem: the cab looked AWFUL.

So I happened to find a blue cab that looks GREAT. No chipping, paint was nice and clean, needed new t-molding (but hey what old Nintendo cab doesn't?), etc. I asked "Is there any way we could take everything in the busted up cab, and put it in this clean cab?"

He says "Sure, why not!"

Sidenote: I also brought my donkey kong pcb with me to see if we could set it up in one of the cabs.

Sidenote #2: None of the Nintendo machines had side art on them, save for the Mario Bro's cabs.

At this point, I went back upstairs to rummage around a little more....and wouldn't ya know it, I find an original Donkey Kong bezel that is in GREAT condition. No chipping or anything. So I run that down, and put it on the front of the good blue cab.

Then when we ran into problems: Not all of the wiring was inside the DK Jr. cab. It was missing a few of the cables. The guy said that he has bins upon bins of cables at his house, and if there are that many nintendo cabs in the warehouse, then he's almost certain he can find the right cables w/ the proper pinouts and all that.

So here's a rundown of what we found:

1 blue, empty Nintendo/Donkey Kong cab in great condition.
1 blue Nintendo cab with Donkey Kong junior inside (complete with PS, monitor, coin mech, coin box, etc). Cab is crap condition.
1 Donkey Kong Jr. CP.
1 Donkey Kong Jr. Marquee
1 Donkey Kong bezel
Incomplete wiring.

So here are my options, assuming we actually find the proper wiring:

1) Assuming we get it to power up, and get the proper wiring, I could replace the DK Jr. board with my Donkey Kong PCB, and get the correct marquee and CPO. However, I don't know if my PCB will work, given that it's the TKG3 model (4-board PCB).

2) Assuming we get it to power up, and get the proper wiring, I could keep the DK Jr. PCB, and eventually do a Double Donkey Kong mod.

Regardless, the deciding factor in whether or not I purchase is whether or not we can get the proper wiring, and get it up and running.

Suggestions? Advice? Help? Please?

bleargh · « **Reply #21 on:** March 19, 2008, 07:59:00 pm »

Quote from: ArtsNFartsNCrafts on March 19, 2008, 07:34:10 pm

Suggestions? Advice? Help? Please?

Take a really big truck. Load everything into it.

Then, give me a call and I'll give you the address to the house here where you can drop it off.

grbgemen · « **Reply #22 on:** March 19, 2008, 08:10:15 pm »

even if you dont get it running, i would still buy everything you can to make it mostly complete. hell i would figure out a way to buy as much as possible. assuming that he is willing to let you do so.

dstone · « **Reply #23 on:** March 19, 2008, 08:25:21 pm »

Wow, great find! And I echo what others said, buy everything you can. Grab a cabinet to get yourself fixed up immediately and then a project cab or two.

Quote from: ArtsNFartsNCrafts on March 19, 2008, 07:34:10 pm

I found one cardboard box that I opened up, and it was FILLED with immaculate NES Mario Bro's control panels...

Also, were those Super Mario Bros or just Mario Bros? If they were the plain Mario Bros, would he happen to have one for a DK cabinet conversion (the narrow DK style Nintendo cab, not the original Mario Bros cab)? I'm kinda in need of one...

Edit: Looking for one like this.

ArtsNFartsNCrafts · « **Reply #24 on:** March 19, 2008, 08:30:24 pm »

I'm pretty sure they were like that one. And I'm assuming that the cab I'm moving everything over to is the right cab; the CP fit perfectly flush on the new one when I moved it over, and it clasped into place...and the original DK bezel fit perfectly on the front of the cab.

Also, I should correct myself: The joystick on the DK Jr. CP was missing its spring, so it was all wobbly and 'flacid' (

). he said he would get a clean, working joystick from one of the other nintendo cabs and install it. I assume that will work, but the other nintendo joysticks look like they have a little black plastic washer/dust thing on the top...is that removable? or does it matter?

If I have trouble finding the proper wiring, could I make my own? If so, where would I get the proper connectors?

Also, the model of the DKJr board is: "DJR1-02-CPU"
the model of my DK board is: "TKG3-07-SOU"

I really wish I could use the DK board, but I'm thinking the wiring isn't going to match up. If someone could correct me on this, that'd be great.

I made a little dagram of the outputs on the power supply:

[7P-SOU] [9P-CPU] [10P-CLK]

where would I find the other inputs/outputs for the other hookups? Do some go from...like...the power supply to the PCB, and then some from the PCB to the monitor?

wmba · « **Reply #25 on:** March 19, 2008, 08:50:39 pm »

Where is this guy located? (the one with all the cabinets).

Also.. good luck with your DK cabinet. I am in the process of building one as well.

barrel_hopper · « **Reply #26 on:** March 19, 2008, 09:03:37 pm »

I would like to find some holy grail place like that. I am about to go pay $400 for a Popeye cabinet to work on

ArtsNFartsNCrafts · « **Reply #27 on:** March 19, 2008, 09:11:05 pm »

he's in kingsport, TN.

lemme know if that popeye happens to have an extra wiring harness in there!

rrcade · « **Reply #28 on:** March 20, 2008, 09:11:11 am »

In case you don't know what you've stubbled on, you are never gonna find a complete working dk for under 500 so take it! If you don't have the money...borrow, steal, cash advance from a credit card...whatever and buy as many of his working classics as you can and if you resell them here,klov,rgvac or ebay you WILL Definately double, triple, or better your investment!!!!!!! You're never ever gonna find an operator that's gonna give you deals like this...seriously!

ArtsNFartsNCrafts · « **Reply #29 on:** March 20, 2008, 10:17:02 am »

Yeah. You're probably right. I'd really like to get it working, that's all. I know that my wife will slaughter me if I bring home a non-working cabinet and it's just taking up space in our home. She has been more than patient with my little "arcade addiction", but she totally will not stand for that. It's a different story if it were working. Are there any reliable people out there who still do the double donkey kong mod on DK Jr. Boards?

ArtsNFartsNCrafts · « **Reply #30 on:** March 20, 2008, 01:09:00 pm »

So I contacted someone on Ebay who said they could wrangle up a donkey kong Jr. Harness for me and send it for about $15 plus shipping. I told 'em I needed pics first. Still waiting. Fingers perpetually crossed.

Do I just need the P1-P10 connections? Or are there more connections than that?

Thanks guys!

update: does this look like a good wiring harness to you guys? (see pics)

ArtsNFartsNCrafts · « **Reply #31 on:** March 21, 2008, 10:25:24 am »

Sorry to bump this for the sake of bumping it. But can any of you DK'ers tell me if that looks like a complete harness for DK or DK Jr?

I appreciate everyone's help and suggestions. This should be the finishing blow.

dstone · « **Reply #32 on:** March 21, 2008, 10:52:16 am »

Dude, just pull the trigger on it already! I can't stress enough how unlikely it will be for you to run across something like this again. Even if you don't get that harness from eBay, there's always ones popping up here and there. Plus, they seem to be pretty easy to modify. I had a DKjr harness that I re-wired for my Mario Bros cab. All you need is the schematics of the connector (which you can download with the board instruction manual), a soldering iron, and a continuity tester. Easy as pie.

And tell your wife the cab is working, just not all the parts are working together at this point.

ArtsNFartsNCrafts · « **Reply #33 on:** March 21, 2008, 10:54:07 am »

It's not on Ebay...it's someone I contacted who said they had an extra one..I just wanna make sure it looks okay before I buy it.

so....does it look okay?

dstone · « **Reply #34 on:** March 21, 2008, 11:14:09 am »

From what I can tell, it looks to be pretty good. I'll have to pop the back of my MB to double-check, but it looks like everything's there.

ArtsNFartsNCrafts · « **Reply #35 on:** March 21, 2008, 11:16:24 am »

K. I'm planning on getting the thing, and it's not going anywhere..in fact, the guy selling said he would rather get it up and running before I take it home, so I will have gotten my money's worth out of it....and the price point is gonna stay where it is...so if I can get everything I can to get it working, I'm gonna. No huge rush, really.

stan2323 · « **Reply #36 on:** March 23, 2008, 11:38:09 am »

Quote from: ArtsNFartsNCrafts on March 21, 2008, 11:16:24 am

No huge rush, really.

GET IT BEFORE THE GUY REALIZES WHAT HE HAS!!

ArtsNFartsNCrafts · « **Reply #37 on:** March 23, 2008, 11:39:49 am »

Dude knows what he has...he's told me. He said that he acknowledges that these things are worth several hundred or more to most people...he said that to him, they're just taking up space in his warehouse...

stan2323 · « **Reply #38 on:** March 23, 2008, 11:49:52 am »

Quote from: ArtsNFartsNCrafts on March 23, 2008, 11:39:49 am

Dude knows what he has...he's told me. He said that he acknowledges that these things are worth several hundred or more to most people...he said that to him, they're just taking up space in his warehouse...

They dude is a moron, not sure how else to put it. If he has something that is "just taking up space" to him but is worth a lot to someone else get rid of it already. Make some money and let other appreciate it. One mans junk in another mans treasure.

ArtsNFartsNCrafts · « **Reply #39 on:** March 23, 2008, 12:18:23 pm »

I guess one man's treasure is another man's waste of space....

I told him he could be making a LOT more off of them, but he said $150 under the table would do it.

I didn't argue.


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