Frustration. It finally happened to me. Advice?

Mindl3ss

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I finally had the unfortunate experience of setting up a CL deal with someone and having the guy sell it out from underneath me.

A few weeks back a guy posted that he had a ton of game marquee and was selling them all. He didn't list them, just left a number, said call and ask if he has what you need. So I called, he had a six slot Neo Geo marquee (what I was looking for) that he would sell me. We chatted for a bit, and he seemed like a decent guy.

So, the only issue was that he is about 2 hours south. But, it happened that we would both be at the Portland Retro gaming expo. He said he would hold it and bring it to me.

When I got there, the first thing I did was locate his booth. He wasn't around yet, but due to all the marquee, I figured it was his booth.

When I noticed there was someone at the booth, I just asked if he had a six slot marquee. he said he did previously, but had sold it. I asked if it was sold, or on hold. He said it was sold. Then I told him I was supposed to pick one up from someone at the show. He said "oh... so that was you I spoke with on the phone. Sorry, most people from CL flake out"

needless to say, I don't have a marquee now.

This has just frustrated me. If it were an easier to find marquee it wouldn't be such a big deal. But I have never really seen another for sale.

So here is my dilemma. Do I just give up the search and try to find another Neo Geo machine with more common parts? or do I press on. I know if I do, when I find one, the victory will be all that much more sweet. I'm just tired of having too many non working or non complete games, and I want to play my Neo Geo carts.

If I don't go on, I will be parting a six slot out here soon. I have a lot of good parts for it, memory card reader, credit LEDs, the six slot PCB, control panel and maybe even a Bob Roberts harness

My ideal solution would be a 2 slot mini. I really really want one. But, I would take most any original dedicated system.

Sorry for the rant... just had to get it out.
 
The only advice I can offer up is, never wait. For the game I got last week, I had to tell the guy I'd be at his place the day after I spoke with him, and even then I was waiting for something to go wrong with the deal. As that window of time expands between you and the seller, there's always a variety of things that can take place which will alter the deal, like it or not.

If you'd been really looking for that marquee for some time and this was the only one you'd ever seen available, by God I would have been in my truck and on the way down the road to get it..
 
I know it sucks to have an item sold out from under you, sorry. That said, if your machine is playable except it's missing a marquee... play it. enjoy it. and keep an eye open for a marquee. Don't let it bother you. Patience is a virtue in this hobby.

Just my two cents.
 
At OP - if you expect the worst you'll never be disappointed. There's a thing called Paypal. You probably should've pre-paid for it and either had seller ship it or arranged pickup at the show. Really sad when I have defend a seller for expecting to get hosed on a CL deal.
Clearly the seller has had more than his fair share of CL trash screw him over and sadly this affected your sale. If anything drop anthony @ quarterarcade and email and see if he can locate what you need.
 
I know you don't want to hear this but for an item like that I would have had the guy ship it rather than wait on someone I didn't know to hold it for me.

But that aside since it doesn't help you after the fact. I took a look on the net to see what a six slot neo geo marquee looked like as I had no idea. Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like a piece of plexi that is basically red with 6 holes in it to place the game cart card or whatever. Above each hole is a number from 1-6. If I'm correct this leads me to a question. Is this marquee area lit? It did not look to be in any of the pics I saw. If it isn't why not just have someone like rich from this old game print you an underlay that for now you can mount behind plexi or between two pieces of plexi? It seems like a more logical option than scrapping a game you like because you can't find a marquee.
 
Can't believe no one has suggested looking on the Neo Geo forums,although I'm going to guess you've already gone that route.Keep looking,you'll find one!
 
Can't believe no one has suggested looking on the Neo Geo forums,although I'm going to guess you've already gone that route.Keep looking,you'll find one!


Couldn't suggest them because I'm actually not familiar with them! Good suggestion tho-
 
Yeah, I realize the "don't wait" thing goes without saying. The guy is a dealer down in the Portland area. My cousin has bought a few things from him over the last few months.

I didn't know that at the time, however. I even confirmed with him I was coming to get it. First contact was about two weeks ago, confirmation was about 2 days before the scheduled meet date.

As for the underlay part, I prefer screened on Plexi. You are correct, about it being a very simple marquee. And they do back light them, but most aren't because they use a special back light and that's a common fail point.

I'm going to keep my eye out for a while. I just got the monitor I plan to install in this thing, so hopefully that works.

It's just frustration. Being a "rare" piece doesen't help.

And yeah, Gutsman. I keep my eye on the Neo Geo forums. But not as much as I should, I guess.

I guess the good news on it is that I got my PC10 marquee, finally, and got a great price on it from the same guy
 
Definitely post a want add on the Neo forums. Someone probably will have one for you. I've seen a few 6-slot marquees sell in the last year and one was NOS. If they didn't have the mini-marquee slots you could just repro it but waiting a bit for a real one will work best.

If push comes to shove you may be able to do a straight trade with a member there for a two-slotter. I personally love my 6-slotter and will not be relinquishing it any time soon.
 
Definitely post a want add on the Neo forums. Someone probably will have one for you. I've seen a few 6-slot marquees sell in the last year and one was NOS. If they didn't have the mini-marquee slots you could just repro it but waiting a bit for a real one will work best.

If push comes to shove you may be able to do a straight trade with a member there for a two-slotter. I personally love my 6-slotter and will not be relinquishing it any time soon.

You might hit up Msadda,KaPH33n,or the chief on the NG forums.They usually are selling a lot of various things.I've personally bought from Kaph and the chief and they are great sellers.I know kaph and msadda are on these forums,but not the chief.

I'll keep my eyes open and let you know if I come across one.
 
Yep, main room, right when you walked in to the left of the doors

oh... man. THAT guy.

I went late Tuesday. I passed by and said, "Hey you wouldn't happen to have a Tron marquee would you?"

He fired back, almost angrily, "I'm not selling any of my Tron stuff until the movie comes out."

Damn dude... at least lie to me and tell me you don't have anything. I was surprised how blatantly dickish he was in basically admitting he was waiting till he could jack up the price.

Probably best you didn't do business with him.
 
oh... man. THAT guy.

I went late Tuesday. I passed by and said, "Hey you wouldn't happen to have a Tron marquee would you?"

He fired back, almost angrily, "I'm not selling any of my Tron stuff until the movie comes out."

Damn dude... at least lie to me and tell me you don't have anything. I was surprised how blatantly dickish he was in basically admitting he was waiting till he could jack up the price.

Probably best you didn't do business with him.

I got a shady vibe from him, and my cousin confirmed too. Although they seemed to get along (probably my cousin just playing it cool so he can get the hook up) He told me he lies a bunch about what he has in stock, and that he probably never had the marquee to begin with.

I made my point about how it was a dick move, and I hope I did it in a fair fashion. Even if I don't care for the guy, I don't want to burn any bridges over it.
 
You did what I would've done, if not paying for it right away, at least staying in contact and letting him know you were still looking to buy it. I've done that with two games so far, and every couple of days I was sending a message or calling and saying that I'm still here for the deal. But it sounds like that guy was just a dick to begin with.

There's a reason that it didn't go through, that means you don't owe that guy anything in the future, lol. Best of luck on your search, if you happen to find one around my area, let me know and I'll grab it for you. Then it would at least be safe and waiting for you, as I have no need for it.
 
yea,things do get sold out from under you on CL,it's just the nature of the beast i try very hard to be as honest as i can,i sell on CL and ebay but not an enormous amount.as a matter of fact i put my stun runner on CL and had a few response's within a couple hour's but the next day i had a guy that live's a long way's away call me that really wanted it i told him i would hold it for him,i could have sold it locally but this dude is an avid collector said he has over 200 game's he said he's a member here but i dont recall his screen name,any ways he emailed me this morning saying his money order is on it's way.and a game mover was coming down from dallas to pick it up,some people on there will take who ever throws money at them first. i HAVE done that but it was when i was selling something really cheap that was worth alot more so in those cases it's who ever gets here first cause it's a really good deal and those alway's go fast.
 
Had a guy promise me a Missile Command and Asteroids in very nice condition for $125 for both, then sold them out from under me because it was going to take me a few hours to get off work. Told me they were mine, then after we hung up would not answer my call later. Total douche move, but at least another forum member got them.. Don't know if he paid the same amount or not, or whatever, but I just chalked it up to another craigslist experience.

I've also had one where I drove 3 hours one way to get hosed, but that's another story. Bottom line is to assume the sellers on craigslist have no integrity and hope for the best.

I've also had people tell me they were coming over to buy a game, gave them directions, etc., only to have them never show up or call or answer the phone when I called them.. A couple of times. So it goes both ways.

But I saw someone post in another thread, what do you expect from a free service that also caters to hookers and perverts? :)
 
There is just something weird about CL people sometimes. I found a retractable hose reel for cheap, worked the deal via email and went to pick it up all within a morning. I get there and the thing is sitting out on the driveway. Nobody answered the door and I pounded, then rang the bell and pounded some more. I left the money under their wiperblade and left them an email from my phone as I went away. I immediately got a THANK YOU response!

I imagined the person had some hideous deformation. Why wouldn't you answer the door?????

Because its free I guess people don't feel like the deals deserve respect. Good or bad, ebay and classifieds are at least a little more "real" cause there is a fee.
 
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