Arcade price crash?

I just checked the local CL for the first time in a long time since im not looking to buy anything and Holy Smokes prices ARE crazy! makes me wish i had a bunch of the cabs ive sold off in years gone by.
 
Disagree. Classic cars actually make my point. Cars from the 40's and 50's are worth about half what they were worth around 15 years ago. Basically when a generation hits the other side of 60, the objects that they coveted start to lose value because those people start dying off and there is nobody with a true emotional attachment to keep those values up. Sure, they still have worth but nowhere near what they were worth to people who grew up with those objects. Cars represent an even bigger part of our society than arcade games. Cars from the 60's and 70's have started their slide in value because of the reason I said. Cars from the 80's and 90's have started to rise because people who those cars meant something to are starting to come into disposable income.

There are limits to your theory. I don't think the value of a 1987 Mustang GT will never eclipse the value of a 1967 Mustang GT.

80's and 90's cars are going up but they are mostly not that valuable. The only ones that buck the trend are rarities and special stuff like Corvette ZR-1's and GNX's. Every once and a while a certain car will go nuts for almost no reason. This happened with Ferrari in the 90's and its happening with Porsche 911's right now.

The car market isn't the arcade market, but always seems to be the go to comparison.
 
I've got a nice 1994 Ford Taurus (cheapo car) I'll trade somebody for a nice 1956 Ford Fairlane (cheapo car) if anybody's interested.

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one limitation of the next generation will the be the electronics theory.
We had electronics classes in our High School and electronics technology was popular vocation in the 80s-90s.

Now kids get computer/software, and a lot of electronic items involve software programming interface such as "app" interfaces.

If the next generations are still into classic arcade stuff it'll likely come from their work with emulation or FPGA. I don't see them popping down to radio shack to buy a resistor kit and soldering iron.
 
one limitation of the next generation will the be the electronics theory.
We had electronics classes in our High School and electronics technology was popular vocation in the 80s-90s.

Now kids get computer/software, and a lot of electronic items involve software programming interface such as "app" interfaces.

If the next generations are still into classic arcade stuff it'll likely come from their work with emulation or FPGA. I don't see them popping down to radio shack to buy a resistor kit and soldering iron.

I do not see them going to Radio Shack either.
 
Same here. Just picked up a converted Zookeeper and Wizard of Wor cab. Would love to restore them, but there's no way I could justify paying the price to piece them back together.

This...I'm no longer buying projects for this reason. (Sure all games need work)..with shipping putting together a classic can be a money dump. That $200 PAC man will cost $500 at least in shipping and parts.

Original glass bezel $100
Pcb $100
Marquee $50
Monitor $100 to $150
Art $200
Stuff $50

I'm exaggerating slightly, but I would say the average arcade costs around $400 in parts to put back together from a beat shell. At least. And I have found old pins need around the same if you buy them cheap and unrestored. With pins though at least you don't feel like you're pissing your money away.
 
hell, don't even bother venturing off KLOV

some the prices PCBs on KLOV are going for are hurting my brain (and i'm still relatively new to this)

I just checked the local CL for the first time in a long time since im not looking to buy anything and Holy Smokes prices ARE crazy! makes me wish i had a bunch of the cabs ive sold off in years gone by.
 
hell, don't even bother venturing off KLOV

some the prices PCBs on KLOV are going for are hurting my brain (and i'm still relatively new to this)

Silly question.
How can relatively new to this with that many post?

As for rising costs, I deal with people who restore games to have and not to sell. I still buy parts for some of my favorite vendors and when I score a deal like the CP latches. I will keep a few and give away some to those people.
 
Buyers control the market.

If you stop overpaying for cabinets, the price will drop. We totally dictate what this stuff goes for.

Yeah. You will miss some. But it all comes back around.
 
Disagree. Classic cars actually make my point. Cars from the 40's and 50's are worth about half what they were worth around 15 years ago. Basically when a generation hits the other side of 60, the objects that they coveted start to lose value because those people start dying off and there is nobody with a true emotional attachment to keep those values up. Sure, they still have worth but nowhere near what they were worth to people who grew up with those objects. Cars represent an even bigger part of our society than arcade games. Cars from the 60's and 70's have started their slide in value because of the reason I said. Cars from the 80's and 90's have started to rise because people who those cars meant something to are starting to come into disposable income.

I understand your logic, I really do. The one flaw here is that you are making the assumption that arcade cabinets' appeal is limited to a single generation. From what I've seen, that's not entirely true. I'm 41 myself, pretty much right in the middle of the golden age of arcade gaming I was in my younger years, under 10 years old. My teens were late 80's kit games and 90's JAMMA.

I have met people as young as 14 today that are just getting into the hobby and I know some older ops that are in their 80's. I think it's fair to say that the arcade hobby bleeds across generations to some extent. That alone will contribute to stable demand for the foreseeable future.
 
Maybe there's a regional market effect as well. I've noticed a few big name titles listed (arcades) for $1000 or higher and not selling here in Pittsburgh. You see the same crap listed for months. They see the eBay price and list at that. Well , I have limits on what I can spend right now. So no, I will not pay $1500 for your unrestored dust covered hunk of shit donkey kong. Ultimately it will always be a buyers market because these games are only worth what you are willing to spend. Right now my cap is $600 arcades, and $2000 for a pin. I simply don't value them beyond that. They are a limited supply, but also a limited interest. If I exceed $1000 on something it will be a pin. Pins are going to go up. Arcades in the sense that I see them ( 79 through 86 ) have an aging fan base. I am 49. My 21 year old loves games zero arcade interest. Heck in 15 years I'm not sure if I want to be hauling these up and down stairs.


Caveat: if you have the cash (which would also probably mean you have the space) please spend freely and grab the games you enjoy. It's a short life . Get the games you want! If I had space and budget I wouldn't fuck around I would just get what I wanted. Most good arcade titles can be had for under $2000.
One individual's demand elasticity curve is not the market. I expect demand to ebb and flow, but the supply of surviving classics is dwindling.

Now maybe if CRTs were proven to cause cancer, the bottom might fall out.
 
I understand your logic, I really do. The one flaw here is that you are making the assumption that arcade cabinets' appeal is limited to a single generation. From what I've seen, that's not entirely true. I'm 41 myself, pretty much right in the middle of the golden age of arcade gaming I was in my younger years, under 10 years old. My teens were late 80's kit games and 90's JAMMA.

I have met people as young as 14 today that are just getting into the hobby and I know some older ops that are in their 80's. I think it's fair to say that the arcade hobby bleeds across generations to some extent. That alone will contribute to stable demand for the foreseeable future.

Cars and the collector cars span from childhood to death. The number of people who either collect cars or are in the car hobby is many times larger than people with arcade cabinets. A far bigger number of kids who play with Hot Wheels cars will end up with with a collector car or have their own car than kids who play video games will own arcade cabinets.

Anyway. Time shall tell.
 
Cars and the collector cars span from childhood to death. The number of people who either collect cars or are in the car hobby is many times larger than people with arcade cabinets. A far bigger number of kids who play with Hot Wheels cars will end up with with a collector car or have their own car than kids who play video games will own arcade cabinets.

Anyway. Time shall tell.

a hot car looks good in anyone's garage or driveway.
an arcade machine in a living room or garage is typically just a conflict with the wife.

I could see the Bally Midway cocktail style cabinet surviving the test of time because it will fit easily in a rec room and double as a nice desktop for clutter inbetween play.
 
Disagree. Classic cars actually make my point. Cars from the 40's and 50's are worth about half what they were worth around 15 years ago. Basically when a generation hits the other side of 60, the objects that they coveted start to lose value because those people start dying off and there is nobody with a true emotional attachment to keep those values up. Sure, they still have worth but nowhere near what they were worth to people who grew up with those objects. Cars represent an even bigger part of our society than arcade games. Cars from the 60's and 70's have started their slide in value because of the reason I said. Cars from the 80's and 90's have started to rise because people who those cars meant something to are starting to come into disposable income.

Disagree.

The golden age of any hobby will always be the golden age. There is value in "how it all began".

Super Man comic book #1 will always be worth more than a 90's comic, even though the 90's kid never had Super Man #1.

Also, this:

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