(Topic ID: 167744)

Help with buying retro arcade video games

By Mojosan

7 years ago


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  • 32 posts
  • 22 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 6 years ago by snyper2099
  • Topic is favorited by 3 Pinsiders

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#1 7 years ago

I'm looking to get a number of classic retro arcade video games. Im very experienced in the finer points of buying pins, but not so much vids.

I'm looking to get a fair number of plentiful games (Ms. PacMan, Stargate, Galaga, Robotron, DonkeyKong Jr, and a few others).

Looking for games in very good mechanical and cosmetic condition. Not necessarily "collector quality" but in similar condition to my pins which are all either HUO or minty and very clean.

I seem to be only finding either beat up "players condition" games or games from retailers that are grossly overpriced.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

#2 7 years ago

you could try www.klov.com

i usually reference Exidy's price guide to get an idea of a range for the value of a machine:

http://www.arcade-classics.com/exidy_arcade_price_guide.html

Like with pins, condition impacts value

I used to be heavy into arcades before I saw the light and got hooked by the pinbug, no turning me back!

#3 7 years ago

Good luck..the prices vids are going for you might be better off sticking with pinball

#4 7 years ago
Quoted from Sarge:

Good luck..the prices vids are going for you might be better off sticking with pinball

Really? I find vids to be 10x cheaper than pins.

#5 7 years ago

Classic vids are WAY over priced for what they are - which is essentially boring, basic games inside a 300lb cabinet, that may look "Cool and retro" in the gameroom, but are rarely played. If you're looking for gameplay value, than a "MAME" type machine is what you want. Ms Pac looks pretty sitting there, but Pac-Man 256 played on my Amazon FireTV box is WAY more fun and has replayability.

#6 7 years ago

Vids seem to be cheaper than pins, but are climbing fast. I collect both and I have to say I am finding it much harder to find reasonably priced project games than it was a year or 2 ago. Like Infinite lives mentioned Exidys guide is a good starting point, but the condition of the games you are asking about I rarely see for sale in the open market. The classic vids that are mint or restored usually trade hands in the collector community long before a craigslist add is placed. Don't get me wrong they are out there, but seem to be a bit harder to find than good condition/HUO pins. If they are they are also probably ridiculously over priced.

MAMEs are fun, but just like the virtual pins it just not the same as the real dedicated machine. Bottom line, with the way coin-op collecting prices are going if you don't feel like putting in the time and elbow grease to buy players games and restore them yourself better be ready to shell out some cash because none of these machines are getting any cheaper any time soon.

#7 7 years ago

Buying vids was fun when they were $50-$100 at the auctions ...my friends and I would go home with a Uhaul packed with fun! Now this shit's going for pinball money ...I'd rather spend it on pinball!

Best advice for Mojosan...check out auctions in your area and scour Craigslist.

#8 7 years ago
Quoted from Switch:

MAMEs are fun, but just like the virtual pins it just not the same as the real dedicated machine.

But it comes a HELL of a lot closer. A MAME setup with authentic controls run on a 15khz monitor with a computer fast enough to have no controller lag or screen tearing is practically indistinguishable from the real thing.

#9 7 years ago

I have a MAME cabinet with pretty much every coin op video game ever on it. I'm keeping it but

I actually have a space in my basement that I want to repurpose and it's perfect for a row of classic vids. It's really for when I have people over. On Mame the women play Ms PacMan, the guys play Donkey Kong, Galaga, and a few others. But still only one person can pretty much play at a time.

#10 7 years ago
Quoted from metallik:

But it comes a HELL of a lot closer. A MAME setup with authentic controls run on a 15khz monitor with a computer fast enough to have no controller lag or screen tearing is practically indistinguishable from the real thing.

My #1 game, defender/stargate just isn't the same. I got a trackball and a spinner on my MAME just for Tempest, missile command, centipede, etc too. Still, its just not the same.

And when Im thinking that a row of dedicated vids will have a cool nostalgia factor and not be much more than NIB Stern LE plus a B list tile pin...

#11 7 years ago
Quoted from Switch:

MAMEs are fun, but just like the virtual pins it just not the same as the real dedicated machine.

It's the exact same game, just not being played in a 30 year old piece of furniture.

I use a 33" Wells Gardner arcade monitor running at 15khz and with a CRT that large, the 19" vertical games look great too. Plus you can also play home console games if you want to and DAPHNE plays all those lousy laser disc games you can show off to your friends but never wanna play.

Must haves are a trackball and spinner (works great as a steering wheel too). My fav game from the arcade era is Asteroids, so my control panel also has an Asteroids layout that is identical to the original.

#12 7 years ago

MAME is LAME

#13 7 years ago

I own about 50 vids and 8 or so pinballs. With the vids you listed, all the parts are pretty readily available to fix and restore if you have to do it yourself. Vids are kinds of weird, it seems (to me at least) the ones that should be the easiest to find like Ms Pac, are actually kind of difficult to find. At least until I found my first Ms Pac, then I had three within a month. Robotron, will be the most expensive one you listed and should be the hardest to find, but they are out there.

#14 7 years ago
Quoted from Mojosan:

I actually have a space in my basement that I want to repurpose and it's perfect for a row of classic vids. It's really for when I have people over.

A row does look sweet. I used to be a big arcade collector back in the day. But then I found One Cab Can Rule them All.

#15 7 years ago

I'm more into vids than pins (but love them both!). As mentioned above, klov is a great resource and where alot of the reasonable prices are. Much like pins, you can get the occasional steal on CL but you have to watch like a hawk and be willing to drop everything and run with cash to get them. Any local collectors are probably your best resource and odds are the pin guys are into vids or know someone or vice versa and can make connections. Don't be afraid to be patient and buy broken games. Much like pins, and especially for the classic vids you mention, there is a world of help on the Internet to turn a cheap broken buy into a great keeper game. Unfortunately as mentioned above, and like pins, prices are climbing due to supply and demand, especially in the space of classics and 90s titles as barcades blow up in popularity and people who have nostalgia for these games now have disposable income. My best advice is meet as many people as you can in the vid hobby space and keep in touch, you'll have an arcade before you know it!

#16 7 years ago

I love the odd ball vids and the ones with unique inputs. There's a ton of Japanese vids that are fun to play because you can't emulate them. I do love the classics for the cab art though.

#17 7 years ago
Quoted from PoMC:

My fav game from the arcade era is Asteroids, so my control panel also has an Asteroids layout that is identical to the original

If you think that playing Asteroids in MAME on a raster monitor is anything like playing it on a real B&W WG 19V2000 vector monitor, then you don't remember what playing the game is actually like. The whites of the bullets have to be seen to believed... they are like staring at the sun! I worry about the radiation exposure I am getting every time I play

Vector games can, or course, be emulated too if you have access to hardware like a Zektor board... but it's just not the same, man! MAME is for research and preservation, not for playing games. There I said it. Man up and play your games on real hardware.

To OP, spend some time on KLOV, familiarize yourself with current pricing, and be prepared to pick up a game with issues that you can learn to fix. It's no different from buying pinball, really.

#18 7 years ago
Quoted from Mojosan:

My #1 game, defender/stargate just isn't the same. I got a trackball and a spinner on my MAME just for Tempest, missile command, centipede, etc too. Still, its just not the same.

MAME still doesn't have trackballs right. There are definitely plenty of games that have deficiencies, but lots are near perfect. What do you notice different about Defender? Robotron seems pretty spot on with a D9200 (although the larger screen makes it a bit harder)

Quoted from Mojosan:

And when Im thinking that a row of dedicated vids will have a cool nostalgia factor and not be much more than NIB Stern LE plus a B list tile pin...

The only problem is that word.. "row" with so many good pins out there, it's hard to dedicate that much space for dedicated arcade cabinets. That said, I do own a dedicated Asteroids (mmm vector) and Millipede cocktail (see trackballs above)

#19 7 years ago
Quoted from fuko:

If you think that playing Asteroids in MAME on a raster monitor is anything like playing it on a real B&W WG 19V2000 vector monitor, then you don't remember what playing the game is actually like. .

I owned a handful of Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe, Tempest, Major Havoc, Space Fury, Battlezone, etc back in my collecting days, so I am extremely familiar with vector games. I didn't mean to start a emulation vs arcade machine debate at all. I personally don't care about another persons gaming preference.

*I* just prefer the geeky tech side of emulation, but I totally get the retro vibe of the originals. In my case, one day I walked up to my mint, restored (by me) Ms Pac, played two mazes and said, "This sucks.". I found out about MAME because I was using an X-Men vs. SF Dynamo cab to switch between those huge blue Capcom boards and another cabinet to swap JAMMA PCBs. When I found out I didn't have to haul heavy assed cabs around and didn't need a storage unit anymore, I was sold on building MAME machines...and selling them, which was a huge side business of mine back then.

Enjoy what you want to enjoy!

#20 7 years ago
Quoted from dmbjunky:

I do love the classics for the cab art though.

Yeah, I'd ideally like to get rid of a few more of my vids, but it's tough to ditch a few purely due to aesthetics. I have a Mario Bros w a multiboard and a Super-Pac with a multiboard...so technically my DK Jr. and Joust are redundant....but I love playing those games in their original cabs. I love the DK Jr art.

#21 7 years ago
Quoted from PoMC:

If you're looking for gameplay value, than a "MAME" type machine is what you want. Ms Pac looks pretty sitting there, but Pac-Man 256 played on my Amazon FireTV box is WAY more fun and has replayability.

Kind of like video pinball

#22 7 years ago
Quoted from Rarehero:

Yeah, I'd ideally like to get rid of a few more of my vids, but it's tough to ditch a few purely due to aesthetics. I have a Mario Bros w a multiboard and a Super-Pac with a multiboard...so technically my DK Jr. and Joust are redundant....but I love playing those games in their original cabs. I love the DK Jr art.

Yup. I have no qualms with saying a large part of the reason I want a row of classic vids is because it's going to look really cool.

#23 7 years ago

I can buy and perfectly restore 5 or 6 vids WAY cheaper than a beater pinball. A decent vid goes for ~ $300 a decent pin goes for ~ $1500.

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#24 7 years ago
Quoted from futurepinhead:

I own about 50 vids and 8 or so pinballs. With the vids you listed, all the parts are pretty readily available to fix and restore if you have to do it yourself. Vids are kinds of weird, it seems (to me at least) the ones that should be the easiest to find like Ms Pac, are actually kind of difficult to find. At least until I found my first Ms Pac, then I had three within a month. Robotron, will be the most expensive one you listed and should be the hardest to find, but they are out there.

This responder is correct. If you want a Star Wars game, for example, expect to pay big bucks. And then, if it is busted, good luck finding parts. And what you will also find is that what people call "acceptable" is actually a pile of junk. Horrible cabinets, monitors that don't function.

And then there are the games you have no idea that they even existed. You can get them, but is it even fun? Also, "the mind is kind over time" on this stuff. Graphics have changed over the years and what blew you away 30 years ago is sort of mundane today.

As previously mentioned, Klov.com is good, but be prepared to act within the hour of posting to make a deal on popular items.

#25 7 years ago

Arcade games are mostly restored, and thus garbage for the prices IMO. Once everything is all repro stickers and new paint, might as well simply buy a repro machine. My apologies to those that like the minty look of restored, it's just not my cup of tea. I'm all about the best original you can find.

So, Buy the best original condition machine you can find (cheaper than restored), and do a mechanical restoration as needed. Buttons switches, monitor cap kit, lights, etc.

#26 7 years ago
Quoted from Travish:

I can buy and perfectly restore 5 or 6 vids WAY cheaper than a beater pinball. A decent vid goes for ~ $300 a decent pin goes for ~ $1500.

love Stunt Cycle

7 months later
#27 6 years ago

Good thing I found this page, because I'm looking for a good site to find arcade games. Some of you guys are right when you said that arcade prices are going up to the price of a cheap pinball. I heard of a guy who got his Ninja Turtle arcade game for about $500 several years ago, but lately I've seen on eBay, that same game is going for $2,500 - $3,200 (ridiculous). It's the same thing with The Simpsons arcade. Then again, you also got some arcades like Pit Fighter going for $750 on this one site, which has escaped me for the moment.

The problems I have with Arcade Museum is: 1. you can only put 20 items in your wishlist and 2. it looks like you have to rent a U-HAUL truck, drive to the seller's house with a lot of cash and pick it up and head back. Too much work and I don't like the thought of bringing a wad of cash with me when I prefer PayPal. And I also prefer them to send me the game.

#28 6 years ago

Looking at buying a Pac-Man 25th Anniversary upright with the coin mech in good condition. This is the one that also has Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga. Didn't see it listed in the price guide above, any ideas on what it is worth?

#29 6 years ago

It's interesting to see the prices for vids rising...not just for the big 10 classics, or always hot vector games. I've been getting back into vids again after a long hiatus, there's nothing like playing on a dedicated cabinet. I've got Phoenix Arcades newly produced Asteroids Deluxe fluorescent backdrop coming in and can't wait to give that game some needed love.
Another place to look for games is VAPS...I found my first game, DK Jr. on there. Interestingly, the seller was a very well known vector game uber-guru who is an authority on the subject. Up in my neck of the woods, we also have Maaca, and Cgcc if you want to browse some game prices in different areas.

#30 6 years ago

Just get yourself one of these, and you'll be able to emulate tons of games, and you get the fun of figuring out which oddball controls line up with which game. Fun fact- this control panel can also be used to launch the space shuttle!

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#31 6 years ago
Quoted from Playmatic:

My apologies to those that like the minty look of restored,

I'll always love a minty restore/build of a pinball machine ... For whatever reason, I flat out love the look of a game built with repro/restored playfields clear coated, repro/restored backglasses, fresh paint and quality cabinet decals (where applicable).

I thought I'd be the same with video games, but I'm not. I built up a dedicated Major Havoc and Tapper with freshly CNCed cabinets, quality repro art, etc. It's not the same. They look phenomenal, but I'd rather have video games in cabinets with personality .

I am fussy about LCDs ... I'll certainly use them if a CRT is down, but I hate those things in old arcade games overall. I'm hoping there are leaps in OLED technology sooner rather than later ... I'm pretty sure with some basic image processing, you could get a ridiculously good looking display using a 4K OLED display.

#32 6 years ago

I'm selling or trading a decent Stargate that I rebuilt. I travel around Ohio and KY all the time so delivery is a possibility.

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/47638

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