Buyer's Guide to Donkey Kong

Pinster

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Newbie looking to buy a Donkey Kong. I have what looks like a solid deal lining up for a very nice plug and play one nearby. It's pricier than what I've seen from KLOV posts, but only by a hair. Far less than CL or Ebay listing stuff...

I'm looking for general guidance on price, what issues to look for, and any misc. education I can get.

Thanks!

Brian
 
how much are they asking for it?

Im almost done restoring a DK JR and it will probably be for sale here soon.

We'll end up settling out somewhere between $650-700 if I go through with it. I'm partial to a DK - it's what I played when I was a youngin' and all that ... so it's what I want.

I've seen a few DK Jr's in real nice shape going for quite a bit less. It's tempting. I understand my modding options may be better with a Jr (like getting the DK II), but I'm still reading up.

Looking to see what's involved with a 60n1 option on a DK too.

Brian
 
To me it's all about patience. DK was one of my favorite games, and I waited about five years until I found mine at the price I wanted. It's all about what you want to pay and how bad you want the game. The 60-1 version of DK is OK, but you can tell it is not the original.
 
We'll end up settling out somewhere between $650-700 if I go through with it. I'm partial to a DK - it's what I played when I was a youngin' and all that ... so it's what I want.

I've seen a few DK Jr's in real nice shape going for quite a bit less. It's tempting. I understand my modding options may be better with a Jr (like getting the DK II), but I'm still reading up.

Looking to see what's involved with a 60n1 option on a DK too.

Brian

NJ area is always a little overpriced for games. I usually have to travel to DE,PA,MD to find the deals. I would think if you were patient you could find a nice one for the 4-500 range with a bit of a drive.
 
NJ area is always a little overpriced for games. I usually have to travel to DE,PA,MD to find the deals. I would think if you were patient you could find a nice one for the 4-500 range with a bit of a drive.

Thanks for the insight. I agree, from what I've seen games are pricey around here in NJ. If our high taxes aren't enough... ;-)

Any info on the 2 board versus 4 board. Monitor health, upgrades, signs of failure, etc. etc. that I should look for?

Thanks!

Brian
 
Id check the monitor for waviness, and listen to hear if you can hear the flyback crackling and know if its about to shit out or not.
 
Id check the monitor for waviness, and listen to hear if you can hear the flyback crackling and know if its about to shit out or not.

Thanks. I was told no monitor burn or issues.

At this point I have a deal pending final inspection. Any other advice on things to check would be appreciated.

Brian
 
Thanks. I was told no monitor burn or issues.

At this point I have a deal pending final inspection. Any other advice on things to check would be appreciated.

Brian

You won't be able to tell monitor burn through the tinted bezel. I guess you have to ask yourself, if it has burn, but I can't see it through the bezel, does it matter?

My biggest concern would be cabinet condition. CPOs, Bezels, Marquees, (and even monitors and PCBs) can be replace pretty easily. Fixing a messed up cabinet is a huge undertaking, and even then you'll never get it the same as it was from the factory because Nintendo used that weird finish. Some people don't care as much about cabinet codition though. For $700 the thing should be working well and in great shape.
 
For $700, you shouldn't have to do much work on it.

I would make sure the picture is centered on the screen and no waviness. I haven't done it on the monitor board, but I hear a cap kit on one of these monitors is one of the toughest to do.
 
Newbie looking to buy a Donkey Kong. I have what looks like a solid deal lining up for a very nice plug and play one nearby. It's pricier than what I've seen from KLOV posts, but only by a hair. Far less than CL or Ebay listing stuff...

I'm looking for general guidance on price, what issues to look for, and any misc. education I can get.

Thanks!

Brian

I sold a dedicated DK locally for $400. It was solid and working, not restored or anything. Biggest downer was no side art, which is a simple $60 fix. Unless it is in fantastic shape, $650-$700 seems high to me.
 
For $700 that Donkey Kong better be in TIP-TOP shape. Full side art. Good T-Molding. Good control panel/overlay. Nice monitor. Clean. Basically a turn-key machine.
 
For $700 that Donkey Kong better be in TIP-TOP shape. Full side art. Good T-Molding. Good control panel/overlay. Nice monitor. Clean. Basically a turn-key machine.

That's what I was aiming for. From the pics I'm getting what I'm paying for. Art, cab, cp, bezel, marquis and coin door look pretty darn good. I know from experience with pins though that pics can lie ... so added to this I have various referrals that the guy I'm buying from is a real good fellow that won't pull anything. It's about as good as I can hope.

ETA is tomorrow night.
 
Heh, a few years ago (prob 2005 or 2006), a local fun park (mini golf, go carts, arcade, etc) had prices on a bunch of their games. They had $1600 on the DK, no side art, monitor dim, mounted vertically (I mean not at an angle, it was up in your face, almost against the bezel) and the cab itself generally in pretty rough shape. He went out of business a couple years ago, always wondered what happened to the games. Had a handful of classics in there.
 
DK Arrival

The DK is home. I'm pleased. Works perfect, needs nothing save for a few minor touch-ups. While I may have found one cheaper if I was more patient or was willing to spend time restoring one ... I'm not patient, and my time is worth more than I would have saved.

Thanks to those who offered advice, much appreciated.

Pics below,

Brian

p.s., tomorrow I pick up a Tempest, woohoo!
 

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Survey Says?

Well I totally am an expert, and that's a nice DK :p

Seriously, that is exactly what a ~$700 Donkey Kong should look like. You could maybe shave a hondo here or there, but you got a fair shake. Any sub-$500 Kong is going to have holes for security bars, scratches in the plastics, and incorrect replacement buttons, at least. You got good art, you got shine, you got good picture. Everything looks up to par here, nice score.
 
Well I totally am an expert, and that's a nice DK :p

Seriously, that is exactly what a ~$700 Donkey Kong should look like. You could maybe shave a hondo here or there, but you got a fair shake. Any sub-$500 Kong is going to have holes for security bars, scratches in the plastics, and incorrect replacement buttons, at least. You got good art, you got shine, you got good picture. Everything looks up to par here, nice score.

Thanks man ... made my day knowing I didn't screw the pooch on this one.

Nooob question: I know what the DK II mod is, what do I need to also have the DK Jr switcher and how does it work (I.e., you use P1+P2 to get to DKII, how do you switch to DK Jr.)?

Thanks again,

Brian
 
There is no Mod Kit for DKJR on a DK Board set. But the dk2 Kit is pretty cool.

You would need a complete dkjr board, Harness.
Thanks man ... made my day knowing I didn't screw the pooch on this one.

Nooob question: I know what the DK II mod is, what do I need to also have the DK Jr switcher and how does it work (I.e., you use P1+P2 to get to DKII, how do you switch to DK Jr.)?

Thanks again,

Brian
 
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