Anyone building a multi to sell during the Xmas season?

joeycuda

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Anyone building a multi to sell during the Xmas season?

I'm sure a bunch of you guys have built multi, MAME, 60-in 1, whatever to sell during the Xmas season. My local Craigslist always has some half assed multi cabinets with postage stamp sized pics, etc..

If I did this, it would be
-Galaga style cabinet, likely scratch built from 3/4" birch ply
-satin black finish, with the real deal Galaga sideart (Namco run)
-60-in-1 board
-actual Midway coin door and hardware from a Ms Pac I had to part out
-probably a Galaga marquee, so the end result looks like a mint Galaga cabinet
-either the WG 19" vga monitor or a rebuilt G07, not LCD

Thing is, I already have the monitor, sideart, hardware from a Ms Pac, JAMMA harness, 60-in board, iso, monitor..........pretty much would just have to build a cabinet and buy a control panel.

I realize prices are all over the place on these, and many frown upon this..but I wouldn't be wrecking any original cabinet and I'd pretty much use up parts and wood I've accumulated. Done right, what would you 'ask' and expect something like this to sell for during early-late December?

I realize this is a tired subject for many and annoying one for others, but thanks for any advice. Trying to decide if it would be worth the small investment in materials and larger in time.
 
I have 2 cabinets that I figure I may have ready before christmas.

One I will be putting a trackball, spinner (maybe, but probably) joystick and buttons. I'm going to try to center the joystick.

The 2nd machine is for one of the members of the country club I work at, it will have a trackball, joystick,buttons, and a SF giants theme to it.

I can't wait to get this shit out of my garage honestly. So I have been working on shit lately. :)
 
If you're open to constructive criticism, I think you're approaching this without your customer needs in mind.

The type of customer who wants a multicade is generally a casual player and not at all an arcade collector. Authenticity to original issue means little to them. Things like how much of a pain in the ass it is to get the thing up and down stairs mean a LOT. Total footprint matters because the wife is watching. Even having a flat top is a plus so they can put their beverage there or have a potted plant. It goes on from there but you get the notion.

With weight and size in mind I'd go LCD every time and suggest a reasonably minimal control panel. For a horizontal one you'd do a trackball flanked by two Street Fighter stations but for a vertical multi you don't even need to do that, you can just go 4way-buttonx3-trackball and be done. Elegant and super playable. If you did this all in the size of a Ms. Pac cabaret, so much the better.

If you're making a multi out of existing equipment then of course you don't worry about this stuff as much; you just max out the dimensions and characteristics of what you have. But you said you're building the cabinet outright. If you are, you have the freedom to create a product that works well from the outset and is designed as such.

That said, great luck on your project!
 
If you're open to constructive criticism, I think you're approaching this without your customer needs in mind.

The type of customer who wants a multicade is generally a casual player and not at all an arcade collector. Authenticity to original issue means little to them. Things like how much of a pain in the ass it is to get the thing up and down stairs mean a LOT. Total footprint matters because the wife is watching. Even having a flat top is a plus so they can put their beverage there or have a potted plant. It goes on from there but you get the notion.

With weight and size in mind I'd go LCD every time and suggest a reasonably minimal control panel. For a horizontal one you'd do a trackball flanked by two Street Fighter stations but for a vertical multi you don't even need to do that, you can just go 4way-buttonx3-trackball and be done. Elegant and super playable. If you did this all in the size of a Ms. Pac cabaret, so much the better.

If you're making a multi out of existing equipment then of course you don't worry about this stuff as much; you just max out the dimensions and characteristics of what you have. But you said you're building the cabinet outright. If you are, you have the freedom to create a product that works well from the outset and is designed as such.

That said, great luck on your project!

I appreciate the feedback and I can agree with all of it. I kinda feel though that I'd only put the time into this if I'm building a Galaga clone cabinet, as
-I already have the sideart
-wouldn't need to design anything
-could just copy my original Galaga cabinet, using simpler joinery techniques of course

I agree with you on the appeal of the LCD, but I've had an open frame Wells Gardner VGA monitor for YEARS with nothing to stick it in, so this seems like a perfect candidate.

There are still casual gamer/non-collector types that think Galaga is the shiz-nit and would just like a Galaga cabinet to play. The additional games would be a plus. I am not convinced it would be worth my time, but I imagine I could build the cabinet in a weekend and it would actually be a fun project. On the other hand, if I couldn't sell it, it would take up a bunch of room!
 
Putting together one in a Stern cabinet, touched up the holes and chunks and just put on the first coat of paint. It's going to be a "Super Cobra", got an original marquee, bezel and control panel. The game sucks on the 60 in 1 but at least it's a game that is on the board. I hate when i see games slapped together with a multi board in a game that you can't even play or just some generic cab. last year a guy local was selling a 60 in 1 in a Tron cab! WTF!!!


I picked up an empty Bosconian that I plan to restore when i can find the parts!! I figure this is the perfect cab to copy and make a Galaga multi with an LCD(yes i know they suck) because of the narrow width. Cab would be nice and light and easy to transport(good selling feature!!!!) Only problem is parts would add up fast and you would have to ask alot of $ to make it worth your while. Added up with wood, cabinet parts, paint, artwork, bezel, marquee, pcb, cabinet guts, monitor, control panel, its' going to be well over $500.
 
Only problem is parts would add up fast and you would have to ask alot of $ to make it worth your while. Added up with wood, cabinet parts, paint, artwork, bezel, marquee, pcb, cabinet guts, monitor, control panel, its' going to be well over $500.

That's the problem right there. To do these "right", they cost around $500 to build and I wouldn't want to make any less than 50% profit for my time... That's $1000 price tag. I know there are plenty of guys that build them in multiples, reducing their costs somewhat. I suppose those are the people who make money at it.

Now, if you patch one together, they can be made for much less than that. I sold one a few years ago in a converted Kung Fu Master cab for $599 and it sold on CL in 30 minutes. But all I had into it was about $275...
 
That's the problem right there. To do these "right", they cost around $500 to build and I wouldn't want to make any less than 50% profit for my time... That's $1000 price tag. I know there are plenty of guys that build them in multiples, reducing their costs somewhat. I suppose those are the people who make money at it.

Now, if you patch one together, they can be made for much less than that. I sold one a few years ago in a converted Kung Fu Master cab for $599 and it sold on CL in 30 minutes. But all I had into it was about $275...

I think I could build the wood cabinet for < $100. I'd have to buy a multi type control panel, marquee, and a printed bezel at least. I have everything else, so I suppose that's $0 cost, although the 60-1 cost me. If I could build a super clean Galaga clone and get $750 for it, I would, but I have no idea what I could sell it for. I think it would help to take detailed pics and provide a link to photobucket, vs the locals with just a few tiny, fuzzy pics.
 
It's usually cost me about 250-300 to build one right, getting good controls, sideart, marquee, making it look nice. That said I don't build 'em anymore. Not only is it flooded with multicades, even the buyers are starting to prefer originals. I can't blame them. The emulation is poor, the sound is awful, and half of the arcade experience is playing it dedicated, it creates the atmosphere. Of the few I have built, I found no joy in it. It was more of a "let's get this done" mentality, so I just stopped. Now if I have possible mulitcade cabs, I just sell them to someone else who wants to build one. I prefer restorations.
 
Don't sink a lot of money into one, as most of the stuff you would do to make it better would go unappreciated by the buyer.

I know a guy who does a lot of them. Here is what I have learned from him.

Woodgrain cabinets don't sell.
Nintendo cabinets don't sell unless they still have Donkey Kong or DK Jr. artwork on them.
A Pac-Man or a Galaga will just flip for the same price as one with the 60 in 1 in it, so don't bother.

People think LCD is some sort of upgrade even though it looks bad. I personally say use an old 21" crt PC monitor instead. That is what I did on my 60 in 1.

Most of the guys who sell these things are building crap and don't care 2 cents about the functionality of the machine once the rube walks away with it.

From a "don't build crap" standpoint, do the following.

Get a Namco Reunion 4-way joystick and real happ buttons. People are buying this to play Ms. Pac-Man and if you are sticking an 8-way on there then you are screwing them.

Turn off the 8-way games and the 60 in 1 setup gets a whole lot better (most of the crappy emulation problems are in the 8-way games and they don't play right with a 4-way anyway).

Turn off the attract mode sound.

Set the dip switches so that the 2nd copies of the Pac games are actually sped up (never encountered one that the builder even bothered to do this on).

You still advertise it as a 60 in 1, but explain to your buyer that you turned off the games that don't work right, while other sellers just leave them on in an effort to mislead their customers.

The 19 in 1 is similar but in that case you actually want 2 8-way sticks and need to turn off the 4-way games.
 
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