Anyone ever buy Arcade machines from auctions?

[themoneycollector]

I thought it would be fun to get an arcade and play some of my old favorites.

I'm doing research now. Are there any buyers/collectors of arcade games that can give me a few pointers on how to verify if a machine is good? I believe some of them have some self diagnostics? Any other advice?

[K Baz]

I can't help you with the understanding if a machine ia solid before you buy I just close my eyes and hope.

I have had a Bobble Bobble, 1943, Black Tiger and a 1973 jukebox I have bought without having any understanding of the machines or electronics and have had them for 10 years plus with little to no issues. My test is playing them for 10 - 15 mins first and if it appears to hold up I purchase.

I purchase from an old arcade locally.

There is a very comprehives book & school Randy Fromm's Arcade School

Incase it helps

[chippewastud79]

I have bought a few, scored an NBA Jam off of Ebay for $500. Most of the time you should be sure you can get to the machine and see it and play it before you bid on it and avoid ones that must be placed on a pallet and shipped, because all guarantees on proper working order go out the window. The best auctions to look for are people who own a company and are phasing out a type of machine, those are the best bets to be in working order. Or try a local store who specializes in such a thing, but be prepared to pay significantly more from an authorized dealer than an similar machine in an open market auction.

[joncaputo]

I owned a super punch out many years ago - loved that game

[SgtStriker]

I have a Tempest (The best game ever) that I bought about ten years ago. I bought it at a local warehouse for about 600.00. Beware of games with XY monitores such as Astroids, Tempest and Ripoff. They are all older games and XY monitores are hard to keep going and are prone to failing. They are deffinately fun to have but they do take up some space and the girl friend will be sure to hate them. Check the internet for local a warehouse that you can actually go to and test the games. Also look in your local News Paper, want adds. I've notice alot of games sold in my local news paper.

[chip]

Originally Posted by SgtStriker

I have a Tempest (The best game ever) that I bought about ten years ago. I bought it at a local warehouse for about 600.00. Beware of games with XY monitores such as Astroids, Tempest and Ripoff. They are all older games and XY monitores are hard to keep going and are prone to failing. They are deffinately fun to have but they do take up some space and the girl friend will be sure to hate them. Check the internet for local a warehouse that you can actually go to and test the games. Also look in your local News Paper, want adds. I've notice alot of games sold in my local news paper.

The flip side is XY monitors are about the easiest to fix when you do have problems....assuming you would want to fix them yourself. Almost always is one or two of a possible 4 transistors, just replace them all. Regular monitors, while certainly more reliable, require some skill to troubleshoot and fix.
You WILL spend time with routine stuff....broke wires and switches, that type of thing.
Also.....biggest complaint is the dang things are much bigger than you think. They take a lot of real estate.

[trogdor | the burninator]

i had a home-built arcade cabinet i never finished...four player...but it was running MAME, so wasn't quite the same.

[themoneycollector]

Originally Posted by trogdor | the burninator

i had a home-built arcade cabinet i never finished...four player...but it was running MAME, so wasn't quite the same.

Pending how cheap I see the games or empty cabinets, I may do a MAME cabinet. There was one cabinet that was cheap, had a 25kHz monitor. I believe I would just need a JPAC or IPAC and VGA card and at least be up and running.

[trogdor | the burninator]

Originally Posted by themoneycollector

Pending how cheap I see the games or empty cabinets, I may do a MAME cabinet. There was one cabinet that was cheap, had a 25kHz monitor. I believe I would just need a JPAC or IPAC and VGA card and at least be up and running.

yup! and a PC...and ROMs.... but it was super easy to setup. it was close enough to the real thing to satisfy me, but then if you're going to go that route...you could just ditch the cabinet and just get controllers from X-Arcade or something. depends just how much of the arcade feel you want. i only really played one game, Puzzle Fighter.

[SgtStriker]

Originally Posted by chip

The flip side is XY monitors are about the easiest to fix when you do have problems....assuming you would want to fix them yourself. Almost always is one or two of a possible 4 transistors, just replace them all. Regular monitors, while certainly more reliable, require some skill to troubleshoot and fix.
You WILL spend time with routine stuff....broke wires and switches, that type of thing.
Also.....biggest complaint is the dang things are much bigger than you think. They take a lot of real estate.

This is true. Mine broke a few years back and I bought a monitor get well kit online, to fix it. Took a while for a novice, but it's not brain surgery. You can do the fixes yourself.

[willybonk]

this sounds really cool. I would buy an arcade machine