(Topic ID: 231027)

Price Check:Game Plan Cyclopes

By crank

5 years ago


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There are 66 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 2.
#51 5 years ago
Quoted from dung:

Agreed and besides that rarity does not always equate to valuable. If that was the case dinosaur eggs would be highly sought after, its not. Personally I find cyclopes to be ugly as sin, but that is my opinion.

Size is also a factor, especially with the Alvin G head-to-head games.

#52 5 years ago

Cyclopes is a $1400 game, yo

#53 5 years ago
Quoted from ForceFlow:

Size is also a factor, especially with the Alvin G head-to-head games.

Kind of disagree on that. I think what hurts the alvin g head to heads isn't size. You can plop them anywhere in a room since there is no back to them and it gives a nice level of flexibility.

What hurts them is a lack of knowledge in how to service them. Also an issue is a perceived lack of parts. Displays are cheap. The boards are easy to come by dead and people repair them. The boards are reliable. Flipper links can be made by sanding down williams to make them thin enough. Flipper bats for the head to heads are available, but expensive.

That lack of knowledge extends to the games themselves. Both by the fact that many do not know they exist and for the rest what the rules are. Heck, I don't have a manual for football and don't know what all does what on it yet.

The other thing hurting it is that while fun and having a surprising amount of depth, it doesn't feel like a normal pinball. It is a lot more frantic due to constant multiball and an opponent able to send the ball directly down the center.

#54 5 years ago
Quoted from dung:

What hurts them is a lack of knowledge in how to service them.

I don't think that really holds water. You could say that about any game system. Even system 11 can sometimes mystify people.

Just about anything can be serviceable if you put in the time & effort. Heck, I wrote up documentation for two game systems that were either completely non-existent or significantly lacking in key areas. Very rarely is a game completely dead and unrecoverable. Games that didn't boot are what a large number of my bargain price games were. Not everyone has the skills and/or patience for that, though.

Quoted from dung:

Also an issue is a perceived lack of parts.

Sure, that can be true. There is certainly a lack of one-click buy options. It can be a scavenger hunt, but that comes with the hobby. There's only a small number of parts that have taken me ages to find or come up with substitutes for. There's only a few games that scare me off when they're missing a well-known unobtainable part (the submarine on bally atlantis comes to mind).

Quoted from dung:

That lack of knowledge extends to the games themselves. Both by the fact that many do not know they exist and for the rest what the rules are. Heck, I don't have a manual for football and don't know what all does what on it yet.

There are thousands of titles beyond the top 200 that people aren't aware about. Many of them rare, so they don't often see the light of day. The best bet for selling an unusual or rarely seen game is to do a short gameplay video of it along with good photos. Out of the hundreds of games I'm at least passingly familiar with, I still find new ones all the time that I've never seen or played before. I've been hoping I might be able to get my hands on a few Taito games at some point. Most people have never even heard of those titles before, but there are some neat ones in the lineup.

Quoted from dung:

it doesn't feel like a normal pinball.

Yes, I agree--that can be a turn off to people. Sometimes that makes a game interesting (baby pacman or ice cold beer, for example), sometimes not (hyperball, for example). Sometimes a game strays too far into the world of novelty amusements and pinball purists just don't like it.

#55 5 years ago

I'm with the crowd around $1,200 non-working. I mean we're talking about 33 year old tech here.

#56 5 years ago
Quoted from ForceFlow:

I don't think that really holds water. You could say that about any game system. Even system 11 can sometimes mystify people.
Just about anything can be serviceable if you put in the time & effort. Heck, I wrote up documentation for two game systems that were either completely non-existent or significantly lacking in key areas. Very rarely is a game completely dead and unrecoverable. Games that didn't boot are what a large number of my bargain price games were. Not everyone has the skills and/or patience for that, though.

Sure, that can be true. There is certainly a lack of one-click buy options. It can be a scavenger hunt, but that comes with the hobby. There's only a small number of parts that have taken me ages to find or come up with substitutes for. There's only a few games that scare me off when they're missing a well-known unobtainable part (the submarine on bally atlantis comes to mind).

There are thousands of titles beyond the top 200 that people aren't aware about. Many of them rare, so they don't often see the light of day. The best bet for selling an unusual or rarely seen game is to do a short gameplay video of it along with good photos. Out of the hundreds of games I'm at least passingly familiar with, I still find new ones all the time that I've never seen or played before. I've been hoping I might be able to get my hands on a few Taito games at some point. Most people have never even heard of those titles before, but there are some neat ones in the lineup.

Yes, I agree--that can be a turn off to people. Sometimes that makes a game interesting (baby pacman or ice cold beer, for example), sometimes not (hyperball, for example). Sometimes a game strays too far into the world of novelty amusements and pinball purists just don't like it.

Just FYI - The last AG head to head on eBay was over $5k. The one at TPF sold for $5k even with backup buyers.

#57 5 years ago

Cyclopes is as good as any early classic bally/stern gameplay wise but the artwork is love/hate at the best. I dont really see all the hate for it personally, but art is subjective. What I do know, is the deep ruleset, great layout, and entertaining sounds/effects are as good as anything that bally/stern/gottlieb put out out before 1983. The game doesnt stand up as well when taken into the context of its release year, but at this point who cares? Williams had a few games that were on par rule set and depth wise (barracora, defender, and cosmic gunfight come to mind). The differentiating factor here is the rarity: At the most 400 games were made and I seriously doubt half exist at this point. Defender is the only game that is similarly as rare and AFAIK goes for at least 3500. I used to own a cyclopes and trading it away was definitely my biggest pinball regret

#58 5 years ago
Quoted from Damonator:

Just FYI - The last AG head to head on eBay was over $5k. The one at TPF sold for $5k even with backup buyers.

Yep, people do want them and it's not like they usually sit around for too long when put up for sale.

Quoted from Ronnie1114:

I dont really see all the hate for it personally

I don't see anyone hating on it. Most people who are aware of it seem to want it....just not for $3k+, lol.

Some of the popular, rare classic stern titles go for insane prices--basically the same prices that upper mid range WPC games go for.

#59 5 years ago
Quoted from ForceFlow:

I don't see anyone hating on it. Most people who are aware of it seem to want it....just not for $3k+, lol.
Some of the popular, rare classic stern titles go for insane prices--basically the same prices that upper mid range WPC games go for.

I was mainly talking about how everyone hates the artwork...

#60 5 years ago
Quoted from Pahuffman:

I'm with the crowd around $1,200 non-working. I mean we're talking about 33 year old tech here.

Gotta love all these fools looking to get a deal that aint happening, lol

The op has multiple offers at or above 3k for this game non working. He aint gonna sell it to you for 1200.

#61 5 years ago
Quoted from ForceFlow:

I don't think that really holds water. You could say that about any game system. Even system 11 can sometimes mystify people.

Have several locals who have had and sold Alvin G's for this reason. Some of who have liked the games very much. Someone is selling their head to head right now because it took them 2 years and multiple people to get it running. These are very experienced techs, the owner routes machines and services them. In When it takes an entire community to put their heads together to figure out what is wrong it will make just about anyone gun shy.

Others worry about tracking down parts. I have spent a couple years now stockpiling parts. Hundreds of dollars worth. It took two years to buy flipper bats for alvin g pins, most of us are not crazy enough to spend that kind of time. Due to the shape and the diameter of the shaft there is nothing else that will work short of replacing the entire flipper mech.

#62 5 years ago

Cyclopes is easily the best game the company ever produced (LNM prototype notwithstanding). There were owners who swore by it, but with only 400 ever made it went otherwise unloved for two decades due to the art package, until Visual PinMAME came along and started to show folks how good a GamePlan it really is. Word of mouth and general price inflation eventually did the rest. The tech was antiquated even for the time though, the soundboard is discrete circuitry rather than CPU-based.

#63 5 years ago
Quoted from EalaDubhSidhe:

the soundboard is discrete circuitry rather than CPU-based

Not true. The MSU-3 sound board is 6808 or 6802 based.

-1
#64 5 years ago
Quoted from Whysnow:

The op has multiple offers at or above 3k for this game non working. He aint gonna sell it to you for 1200.

I ain't interested in this game - just offering an opinion, which is exactly what OP asked for.

Also, games from this era can easily be found for much less than that down here on a regular basis.

#65 5 years ago
Quoted from dothedoo:

Not true. The MSU-3 sound board is 6808 or 6802 based.

Ah, ok. PinMAME has had it listed as 'discrete', so presumably that refers to the actual sound generator rather than control? The sounds do have an old 'analogue' quality to them, if you know what I mean.

#66 5 years ago
Quoted from Pahuffman:

Also, games from this era can easily be found for much less than that down here on a regular basis.

Apples and oranges. This is a very particular game.

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