$100 Tempest -- Good deal? Or not worth it?

TheSilby

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Donor 3 years: 2011, 2013, 2015
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Location
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So for the past few weeks I have been dealing with a gentleman on the Oregon coast who had a Tempest advertised for $100. The ad was not very descriptive and there were no pics:

Ad:
"from a game arcade , it is in a big box about 6 ft. tall. the game box is in good to average shape. it lacks the high voltale supply to the video. good for a tv repair man. the box alone was estimated to be worth $200"

Honestly, I figured it would be gone quick but shot of an email anyways asking for pics. I know, $100 Tempest, I shouldn't have even asked, I should have went and picked it up. The problem is, it was about 2 1/2 hours away from me and I already have a Tempest project. Last year I picked up an empty Tempest cab (with marquee and control panel) from a local collector. I have since picked up a harness, spinner, and a monitor. The only thing left that I needed was a PCB and the front tinted bezel.

Well, he is on dial-up internet. The only picture I ever got out of him was a closeup of the control panel. He did state that it was complete except "the high voltage was gone."

I finally make arrangements to head on down and pick it up. I take my 6-year old son on the trip figuring we could at least hang out on the beach (we have been having crazy nice weather here lately). We arrive to see a not so pretty game sitting in the dirt ground in the wood shed.....sweet. Cabinet has definitely been in some moisture and is swelled up pretty good. The back bottom corners are trashed. No back door and it is missing the deflection board. Well I drove all this way, I wasn't going to leave with out it. We load her up and head on to the beach for a little cold Oregon coast sunshine.

And here she is in all her glory. Good deal? Or not so good?

Photo set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25994792@N03/sets/72157625962928556/
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The boy at the beach:
5410874691_3d455b58a9_z.jpg
 
Yeah, good deal for sure. I love the patina of old arcade games myself, so as long as you can get her playable and sturdy, that's all that matters to me :)
 
Worth $100.00... but $100 + 5 hours driving time and the fuel associated... meh... maybe.

EDIT: Lets figure it out. If I drove 2.5 hours 1 way that equates to about 165 miles.... 165 miles round trip comes to 330 miles. My truck gets 15mpg ...so a 15mpg I'm lookin' at 22 gallons of fuel. 22 gallons of fuel at $3.10 a gallon comes to $68.20 So $100 + $68.20 in fuel... plus whatever you value your time at... still not a bad deal.
 
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Fixer upper for sure. But all and all it's was probably worth it.
 
Good deal on the game. A little rough around the edges but definitely fixable. I saw the pic of the boy and at first thought that was the seller. :)
 
Even if you consider the cabinet trashed, the parts are still worth more than $100. You can pick the best parts your your machine and sell the rest or wait for a converted Tempest cabinet to put them in. The HV PCBs are out there so the monitor can be fixed.

PLUS, you got to spend time with your son at the beach.... PRICELESS!!!

Scott C.
 
I had contact with the same guy about that game. I am going to bandon dunes in 10 days or so, and I was going to try to haul it back to sacramento with me on the trip back.
he said hte high voltage was gone, but not the deflection board. (I got the impression he didn'tknow the difference anyway)

glad a klover got it.
 
Decent deal but the cabinet is toast. Good parts donor though so what the heck. I'd buy water logged Tempests all day long at $150. :001_sdrool:
 
Hey

I need some Tempest parts for a restore project .. part it out to me!!!

Specifically the ARII board and the L bracket that attaches the monitor frame to the internal cabinet support.

And maybe the wooden supports for the PCB and the coin box?
 
Decent deal but the cabinet is toast. Good parts donor though so what the heck. I'd buy water logged Tempests all day long at $150. :001_sdrool:

Agreed. Great deal, considering the parts. Use em to build another color XY game!
 
Good deal, yes. Use parts for your project and sell the rest or keep as spares. Cab is worthless in that condition though, not worth $200 as the seller claims. But for the parts I'd say you did well.
 
Hell, it's worth $100 if he included that kid... That kid appears to be in really good condition.

I would consider your purchase a "score"...
 
I appreciate the input. You guys make me feel a little better. I was pretty disappointed when I saw the condition of the cab. I guess I was just hoping that I would luck out and the cabinet would be in sweet condition. As it stands, I don't know if the cab can be salvaged. The particle board is close to an inch thick in spots. The sideart would definitely need to come off and a heavy dose of wood hardener and lots of sanding.

I would consider going the route that eXidy recently went, but I don't know if I can afford a Major Havoc boardset. But damn this looks nice:
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http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=167956
 
The cab looks like brand new compared to what I find in Mississippi! I'd kill for one of those.
 
Hello fellow Oregonians!

Maybe I should expand my game searches on Craigslist to the coast after my basement barcade is complete...
 
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