pacray
Well-known member
This is a discussion that was started in the FOR SALE section, that I thought I bring some focus to, and also change to the DISCUSSIONS forum, just in case anyone wanted to chime in.
I am guilty of turning classic games into Multigames. Most of the time, I find broken and banged up Pacmans and Ms Pacmans, completely restore them with new monitors, all new wiring, and all new side art. I put a Multigame board inside and sell them to folks who generally wouldn't buy a game that looked beat up, or that played just one game.
In my defense, I have on several occasions, come across an excellent specimen. In such cases, I have either done everything I could to keep the game original, or sometimes traded a nice looking game for one in poor condition, since I usually sand it down anyway.
My argument is this; a lot of the cabinets you find these days are so far gone that they are destined to end up as kindling. By taking such a game, restoring it to its former glory cosmetically, upgrading it to play 48 or 60 games, and selling it as a thing of value that is played by young and old, the hobby grows and stays alive. There are collectors who spend a lot of time, money, and space to grow a collection of games, and keep them working, and then there are those who want no more than one multigame, and that is all they will ever have. I wonder which is the bigger group.
So is it better to build new cabinets from scratch that look like classics? It certainly would be easier, and probably more cost effective. Or is there value in restoring the classics, even if it means putting a multigame board inside?
I am guilty of turning classic games into Multigames. Most of the time, I find broken and banged up Pacmans and Ms Pacmans, completely restore them with new monitors, all new wiring, and all new side art. I put a Multigame board inside and sell them to folks who generally wouldn't buy a game that looked beat up, or that played just one game.
In my defense, I have on several occasions, come across an excellent specimen. In such cases, I have either done everything I could to keep the game original, or sometimes traded a nice looking game for one in poor condition, since I usually sand it down anyway.
My argument is this; a lot of the cabinets you find these days are so far gone that they are destined to end up as kindling. By taking such a game, restoring it to its former glory cosmetically, upgrading it to play 48 or 60 games, and selling it as a thing of value that is played by young and old, the hobby grows and stays alive. There are collectors who spend a lot of time, money, and space to grow a collection of games, and keep them working, and then there are those who want no more than one multigame, and that is all they will ever have. I wonder which is the bigger group.
So is it better to build new cabinets from scratch that look like classics? It certainly would be easier, and probably more cost effective. Or is there value in restoring the classics, even if it means putting a multigame board inside?

