Something Different....arcade warehouse raid!
 

Ok,
I'm tired of the console wars as well. I thought I would give you all an update on my hobby. As some as you know, I collect and restore REAL arcade games. I have several and, like any junkie, think about arcade games day and night. It completely dominates my brain !

Anywho....
Most collectors will tell you that the ultimate thrill is finding an undiscovered warehouse (undiscovered by a greedy collector) full of classic arcade games and pinball machines. There are a lot of these out there....unfortunately, most have been discovered by collectors who raid the contents and sell them off on ebay. I know of one warehouse that has not been cleared out, and I have taken several games out of this warehouse in BFE, Kansas. But, the owner has become a little more educated on the hobby and has jacked the prices.

Any game collector is constantly telling everyone he runs in to about his hobby in the hopes of getting a hot tip. These hot tips are usually about someone's uncle such and such, who use to own the such and such, who has a bunch of old 80's games that he does not know what to do with!

Well....
I have finally made the contact with a person in a small town in KS that may have just what I described above....a virgin warehouse! I spent a brief time talking to the owner and set up a time to visit this friday morning.

What will I find? How will the owner deal with the situation? Will I find a rare classic gathering dust in the back of an old building?

..............stay tuned, I'll keep you posted :)

How much do machines often run anyhow?

Depends, like anything else.
Kind of like cars....there are Ferrari's and Yugo's

I have seen them go at auction for $10.00 and as high as $25,000 ! but most of the good classic games that everybody likes usually goes from $250 to $750 with most in the lower of that range.

These are the most popular "Classics"
MRS PAC MAN
GALAGA
TRON
ROBOTRON
CENTIPEDE
DONKEY KONG
DIG DUG
SPACE INVADERS
PAC MAN
DEFENDER

I hope you find some real gems FonMan. How many arcade games do you currently own? Can you list some of them? :)

I would love to see pictures of your "game room" :)

That sounds like a really cool hobby, I've always wanted a classic arcade game but could never justify spending money on one. Some day maybe I will though. I too would love to see some pics of what you have.

Well FonMan, you can hook me up since the wherehouse is in Kansas -smile- You can just drop off a Galaga machine on the side of 435 highway near the 95th street exit in Lenexa, I'll take care of the rest. Good luck to you, hope you find some treasures!

Find me a Discs Of Tron Enviromental please :)

I want TRON and Dragons' Lair.

:D

-k
###

Tron and DL are easily acquirable, they had some show like 2 weekends ago at the SJ Fairgrounds where those were for sale.

How do you deal with screen burn in? Are those monitors custom jobs or are they just tvs?

Fonman, would you consider this place expensive? I've been looking at their cocktail models.

http://www.arcadegames.com/html/clas...s_arcades.html

WOW :eek:
This thread took off after I went to bed :)

In my current collection

Dig Dug 100% Restoration
SPy Hunter Upright 90% complete
TRON !!!! (My baby, awaiting minty-fresh new side art)

Currently looking for:
Galaga
Mrs Pac Man
BurgerTime
Track & Field
Dragon's Lair
Space Ace
Donkey Kong
Tempest
....and anything else interesting

I have several sitting in a warehouse for whenever I want to take on new projects....they just take a loooooong time (not to mention that the wife's Durangon is now parked outside so I can have the garage space:))

As soon as I figure out how to store my pictures on the internet, I will have them up (any advice about free servers would be great)

I once thought that as well, and there are some expensive games out there, But if you are willing to learn and look around the internet, you can get them VERY cheap. Its very addictive and takes A LOT of space !

hehe,
I tell you what. I will post what I find on this thread. If you are serious, maybe we can work something out. I kind of doubt that they will be free, but maybe cheap :)

BTW, I'm out in Olathe.

I had the chance to get a EDOT (Envir. Discs of TRon) a couple of months ago for $400 :eek: (which is crazy cheap for this) but it was in Birmingham Alabama. By the time I figured out how to get a trailor and get a date set, it was sold :(

They are BIG SOB's though !

(I want one also :))

I have a TRON (no, you cant! :)) and it was my reason to start this hobby....I must have put about $125,000 in quarters in to that machine back in the day. Luckily, they made a boat-load of them so they can be found. Top quality ones go for well over $1000 sometimes. I got my working one for $200 !

Dragon's Lair is another story. They are ALL crazy expensive, routinely going for $2000 in good condition. I am hoping to stumble across one in a warehouse someday....like FRIDAY !!

That sounds like a cool hobby. I'd probably want the Simpsons and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I'm not really into the classic games.

I HATE screen burn-in. If it is noticable, I trash the monitor or trade it. I buy brand new ones if I plan on keeping the game from WellsGardner or HappControls. Believe it or not, they are old RGB monitors. The funny thing is that they cost more than TV's or computer monitors now. I usually find decent ones for under $200

You can find them, but they can get expensive. Especially DL

STAY AWAY FROM THESE GUYS

They have good stuff, but if you did a little looking on EBAY or on the newsgroups or a local game auction, you can find all of that stuff for at least half these prices.

To give you an example, I was at an auction in KC last weekend that had PERFECT coctail Mrs. Pacman that went for $950, and thats even a little high.

The site you listed is a business for people who have no idea how much this stuff cost. I'm sure a lot of pro athletes and movie stars buy from these guys, but unless you have that kind of jack lying around with no other good use, stay away.

BTW, almost all big cities have game auctions. I know of ones around the midwest in cities like KC, Des Moines, Dallas, St. Louis, Denver, Minneapolis, and sometimes Omaha. I here of others all over the place.

This is a hobby I'd love to get into.....when I get a house. I love the classic arcade games and I've already told my wife to expect to see some in our place, just as soon as we get something other than a one bedroom apartment.

Where can i find out if there are game auctions in the Sacramento area?

Fonman,

What would be the ultimate find? In terms of money and/or your personal preference?

Good luck and bring home a winner

This is something I want to get into too someday. But alas, only have a 1 bedroom condo at the moment :(

My dream would be to have a Dragon's Lair, Tron, Street Fighter, Rolling Thunder, and that game that is like a holgraphic projecter.. what was that called even.. Time something I thought.. That game was sweet, I remember the gameplay and all that was no big deal, but never remeber anyting cooler than looking at it.

I'ld love to see some pics too when you get a chance.

That's a harder question than you might think. One of the rarest and most sought after games is the very first production video game......this one, it's called COMPUTER SPACE:

BTW, this can be found at www.klov.com
This site is the bible for collectors and players and it lists ALL arcade games

http://www2.webmagic.com/klov.com/im...uter_Space.jpg

Abstract
This is the first ever arcade video game. The game is a basic space-war type game where single players control a rocket ship and face off against two flying saucers or, in the two-player version, players battle each other.
Cabinet Information
This game is housed in a fiberglass cabinet. Most of them had metal-flake paint jobs of varying colors. The one-player and two-player cabinets differ slightly. The one-player's control panel is offset, and the cabinet molded along a sweep to accompany it. The player controls are all buttons. The two-player cabinet has a Chevron shaped control panel, a vague "V" shape to the lower front of it, and uses both joysticks and buttons for the player controls. Both machines have a single coin-slot in the control panel.
Description
The game takes place in outer space. The player controls a rocket ship. The enemies in the game are a pair of flying saucers.
Gameplay
The rocket ship controlled by the player can be manuevered through space using rotational buttons and a thrust button. The fire button is used to make the rocket ship fire missiles.
When the two enemy flying saucers attack, they will fire missiles at the rocket ship. The player must have the rocket ship fire missiles at the flying saucers to destroy them.

The object of the game is for the player to have the rocket ship to destroy the flying saucers more times than the flying saucers can destroy the rocket ship, the player must also try to have the rocket ship outscore the flying saucers in order to get extended play in hyperspace. If the player attains hyperspace the playfield will turn from black to white and feature a vision of daylight in outer space. The game will end if the flying saucers outscore the player's rocket ship and time has expired.

:D

This would be a great find due to its historic significance, value, and collectability. But the game is boring.

The games that I would get VERY excited to find include Dragons Lair, Space Ace, ROBOTRON, Galaga, Burgertime, Crystal Castles, or an EDOT. Also, a Missle Command Cockpit (sit-down) is VERY rare and would be cool to own.

Re: Something Different....arcade warehouse raid!
 

The couple that owns the Alamo Drafthouse cinema in Austin, TX does the same thing except for movies. He found a guy with a warehouse full of old horror flicks on film. For people familar with the Alamo Drafthouse, the movies they show on "Something Weird Wednesday", alot of them are from taht warehouse. One of the 'gems" he found in the warehouse was an original film canester for Halloween. The film had a little water damage from the leaking roof though.

Hope you get some good stuff.

FonMan, I'll give you some webspace on my server if you would like for hosting pictures/webpage about your setup ;) Let me know.

Growing up my dad used to restore arcade machines and put them on locations, etc. When I was a little tyke we had a gameroom with like 15 machines in it, was a real blast. It's a hobby I have always wanted to pick up as well -- would love to get a old beater and take time fixing it, but I just don't have the space for doing such atm... eventually I will though.

My father goes to video games auctions still now and then (we live in St. Louis), you know of any good resources on the internet that say when there will be upcoming auctions of the sort in the midwest?

I second the request for more info about how to find out about auctions. I do check the paper on Sundays, but I've never seen anything. Do I just need to keep checking or are there some good resources on the net?

I'm building a MAME cabinet (on hold till I get a widescreen TV) but I would love to score an MKII machine in decent shape for a reasonable price.

That hologram game was Sega's Time Traveler... they also made a horrible fighting game on it called Holo Fighter (or something like that). Anyways, they released Time Traveler on DVD awhile back, I think it comes with 3D glasses... it won't have the holographic effect on your TV of course, but it would be cool to have to play on your DVD player ;)




http://www.digitalleisure.com/TT/TTDVDVideoBox.JPG

Keep an eye in the newspaper in the "auctions" section until you find one. Make sure you go to one to get on the mailing lists.

Also these sites

http://www.gameroommagazine.com/shows.htm

and

www.superauctions.com
(There is one coming to San Jose next month :))

also

Search the newsgroups or go to the google section called "groups", hit the ".rec" button and search "arcade"
You will actually find a lot of people selling directly there. Its is also a GREAT place to learn.

I highly recommend going to an auction without the intention of buying anything just to see how it works. You get to play the games for free and can judge what kind of money the different stuff goes for. I have a blast at them.

The last auction I went to last weekend sold a MK for $125.00 in great shape, working all the way.

I would keep looking in the paper, but check out my last post. I cant emphasize the Newsgroups enough, great source for info about games and auctions.

Thanks for the info Fonman, I'll check out one of the Super Auctions when then come to CA in October.

Sweetness. Thanks for the info :D

Thanks a bunch, that's it! Dvd huh? Interesting...

I would hate to see what that thing went for at an auction. I think I remember the fighting game, it was terrible, you're right.

This is a nice topic, and has me dreaming, my girlfriend, will realistically only be behind a golden tee purchase she loves playing it so much.. I'm gonna have to check out an auction too, thanks for the info.

golden tee is great - I would bet you can pick up an older one pretty cheap.

Awesome hobby, there is just something about oldskool arcade systems that gives you the jittery feeling, I remember walking into one of my buddies houses and finding one of those original streetfighter cabinet, I'm like oMG, all the memories of highschool after school spending hours with friends throwing fireballs, awesome.

:D UPDATE :D

So I went to the warehouse yesterday. Unfortunately it wasnt the "virgin" warehouse that I have been dreaming of....guess I will keep looking and following leads. They had some classic games, namely a few Mrs. Pac-man's, but they wanted crazy money for them. They had a ton of PINS, but all over $1000. This is not necesarily a bad price, but I plan on buying just one PIN for the game room, and none of the ones they had really interested me that much.

I will keep you informed on the next adventure and post with the results of the next auction if anyone is interested.

Tim

Thanks for the information, hopefully I can find an auction in Houston