I'm curious to form a reference: that Fathom cabinet looks to be in really good shape considering it was... submerged? To what depth? Had any cleaning and recovery been attempted prior to the sale?

I only ask because when I imagine a "game that's been in a flood two years ago", I picture a cabinet with wood having swollen its paint off, ply layers and joints apart, caked with residue filth, and possibly moldy. If water got up to the pf level, I'd imagine the pf would go well past the point of salvage once the plies soak and swell up, warp, pop the inserts, etc.

That one looks like maybe it held a couple inches of water in the bottom for a short time before it drained out? Or can these games actually survive really well, relatively speaking? I mean with all the references to removing the heads I imagine the whole bottom was submerged, but it just doesn't look as bad as I'd expect. There are probably games that were dry their whole lives that look far worse. Or is it actually "worse" than what the pictures say?

Again, not trying to poke anyone's reputation here... this is actually fascinating. The dry Firepower project I've been working almost looked worse in some ways, so consider it a bit of pin-forensics if you will