Hmmmm why did I buy this?

To be absolutely honest? Cheyenne. I saw it pop up on Facebook back in 2020 for $650. In my mind at that time these games were at least worth 1700+, so this felt like a steal.This one was working and just needed some cabinet work. It was down in Iowa 3 1/2 hours one way so I had to prepare for a seven hour round-trip. Drove down and met the dude, picked up the game and drove it back. Now remember this is 2020. My kids were like 11 and 8 and I couldn't wait for them to play this wonderful gun game - something we've never had in the arcade. Each took a few turns playing it when I got it back and then I basically told them "OK, that'll be your last game for a while as Dad's gonna restore this one for the Arcade so you'll be able to play it in a few months."

Well months turned into years and here we are in 2025. I've got the cabinet restored and the gun restored, but the game doesn't work and I'm not sure what's wrong. Now my kids are 16 and 13. My youngest will be 14 in less than a month. They are losing interest in arcade games and the arcade in general, and by the time I figure this game out, the oldest one will most likely be out of the house.

I think I would enjoy this hobby much better if I could get rid of half my games and sort of reset the arcade.
Thanks for posting this! So much of it rings true for me. Hopefully some others will heed this as a word of caution, especially when entering a new phase in their life.

If it was me by myself, I would snag projects, buckle down and just get them done. But when you start sharing your life with a spouse and then kids, your free time shrinks, changing your priorities and the things you need to do vs. the things you ought to do vs. the things you want to do really start become a challenge to balance out.

Lately my regret is not getting already working games. I think when I get it all working it'll pay off, but right now, the ratio of time spent fixing vs enjoyed by others (and sometimes enjoyed by myself is really skewed).

Seems everything has been a project, even when I don't intend it to be. And since I don't have as much time, I can't pull out a game, run a bunch of wires and trouble shoot because sometimes I only have a few minutes. Half the time I get interrupted or the gaps of time become too large and I might forget I adjusted the voltage the last time but never set it back to where it was, or some other absent minded thing!

So yeah, to guys with kids, you only have a small window. Use it wisely! Maybe get one of those motion rides they can sit on while you fix the next arcade game you're working on! 😉
 
Gunblade NY (the huge projection monitor version). When I first got in the hobby I thought I had to snatch up all I could. Gunblade took up so much room in my garage (4 uprights worth of space). I never even messed with it. Ended up trading it for some PCBs. I was more than happy to make that trade.
You have a simple problem, you just need a bigger garage. Laughs.
Maybe a airplane hanger or per haps a warehouse.

Saw a house with two barns in the backyard.
I figure i could rent the house and use the barns for arcade machines.

The problem is not always about collecting large arcade machine, it's that your arcade space is too small to contain your arcade dreams
 
I bought a PP cabinet in an auction in 2020. Way overpaid, cab not in great shape, basically just had a working monitor. Regret paying $1k on a working PP but I don't regret owning it. And I got to see Phet arcade on the way home :)
 
Thanks for posting this! So much of it rings true for me. Hopefully some others will heed this as a word of caution, especially when entering a new phase in their life.

If it was me by myself, I would snag projects, buckle down and just get them done. But when you start sharing your life with a spouse and then kids, your free time shrinks, changing your priorities and the things you need to do vs. the things you ought to do vs. the things you want to do really start become a challenge to balance out.

Lately my regret is not getting already working games. I think when I get it all working it'll pay off, but right now, the ratio of time spent fixing vs enjoyed by others (and sometimes enjoyed by myself is really skewed).

Seems everything has been a project, even when I don't intend it to be. And since I don't have as much time, I can't pull out a game, run a bunch of wires and trouble shoot because sometimes I only have a few minutes. Half the time I get interrupted or the gaps of time become too large and I might forget I adjusted the voltage the last time but never set it back to where it was, or some other absent minded thing!

So yeah, to guys with kids, you only have a small window. Use it wisely! Maybe get one of those motion rides they can sit on while you fix the next arcade game you're working on! 😉
This hit home. I don't have children, but became self employed last year, and that eats up most of my time. I've managed to hit the brakes on getting new projects and even got rid of a few I was never getting around to.
 
Starting to feel that way about my Gottlieb/Sigma "New York New York!" cocktail. Bought the empty cabinet for $20 at a swap meet, found a board (courtesy of @Stick013 whom I highly recommend.) Still waiting on control panels to ship, but the more I look at the gameplay, I can't tell if all of this will be worth it! (the poor engrish is the kicker.) Regardless, I will enjoy it simply because of how rare this game is cocktail or not.
 
I picked up a Tron Cabaret in a haul once. You really don't realize how awful that game is until you take away all the pretty cab art, which the cabaret manages to do in spades. That left pretty quick, I think some guy shipped it all the way to Germany.
 
I regret buying loads of shit I dont need. This was an all or nothing deal, I dont like Kickman that much, and there was another pickup full of more monitors and PCBs. Yes, I'll make a little money on it, but the time and space......Only thing I actually used was the harness and buttons from the Sente panel.

1756312742077.png
 
Thanks for posting this! So much of it rings true for me. Hopefully some others will heed this as a word of caution, especially when entering a new phase in their life.

If it was me by myself, I would snag projects, buckle down and just get them done. But when you start sharing your life with a spouse and then kids, your free time shrinks, changing your priorities and the things you need to do vs. the things you ought to do vs. the things you want to do really start become a challenge to balance out.

Lately my regret is not getting already working games. I think when I get it all working it'll pay off, but right now, the ratio of time spent fixing vs enjoyed by others (and sometimes enjoyed by myself is really skewed).

Seems everything has been a project, even when I don't intend it to be. And since I don't have as much time, I can't pull out a game, run a bunch of wires and trouble shoot because sometimes I only have a few minutes. Half the time I get interrupted or the gaps of time become too large and I might forget I adjusted the voltage the last time but never set it back to where it was, or some other absent minded thing!

So yeah, to guys with kids, you only have a small window. Use it wisely! Maybe get one of those motion rides they can sit on while you fix the next arcade game you're working on! 😉
Yep, that's the key, just buy working games and enjoy them with your kids. I started fixing up and restoring these things when my daughter was like 2. She will be 21 in a month and so much of my time since she was little has been spent in the garage working on them. I tried to get her involved when she was little. I even had custom hello Kitty buttons made for a multi game I was going to build with her, for her. Well, time slipped away from me and that never happened. I still have the buttons in my button tote. My boys were born when I was still in the buy everything frenzy stage, so they grew up with it, but they never really got into helping me with the games either. Game after game had to be torn down and restored without their help. Hours and hours of time away from them that I can't get back. Then when I'd get the games done, they'd play them, sometimes fall in love and I'd end up eventually selling their favorites to acquire cash to start the cycle all over again. My oldest boy was devastated when I sold my TMNT pin, my DK cocktail and my DK cabaret. I always promised to replace them, but never did. He is now 16 and hates the arcade. He was getting into Circus and Popeye about 2-3 years ago, but hasn't wanted to play any games in about a year. He is STRONGLY suggesting that I get a pool table or he'll probably never go down there again. As many of you know, pool tables are heavy, take up a ton of real estate and are hard as fuck to get rid of. He's only got 2 years of high school left and then I'd be stuck with the damned thing. Not only that, but I'd have to sell about 10-12 games to even get one to fit. I want to keep my (kid)s happy, but this time I may just have to accept the fact that I may never get to enjoy a game night down there with him again. Which sucks. Yeah, I guess I have a lotta regret from this hobby.
 
I've given up trying to encourage my kids with any of the projects or games, and my wife for that matter. But I still enjoy the process and they don't give me a hard time about it, so I guess that's as good as it's going to get.
 
Ever since this thread began, I've been trying really hard to think of any regretful pickups, but I keep coming up with nothing. Most of the projects or complete games that turned into money sucks or more work than they were worth, came from very early on when I didn't know better and was still learning and making mistakes. So, yeah...I know better now, but I take them as learning experiences.

With that said, one example does come to mind...

The working "Frogger" I bought back in like 2009 from a local op (@Phetishboy may recall they were called Total Rec back then before becoming "Midwest Coin Concepts"). It turned out to be a completely Frankensteined cabinet without almost nothing original to Frogger. It had a "Frogs" bootleg PCB and the cab had a WG K4500 monitor which barely worked, eventually getting junked and replaced with a G07. The cabinet also didn't have any woodgrain and was painted black. The joystick was wrong too. I think I paid $150 maybe $200 for the game, but needless to say, I put much more into that project to get it to a true Frogger. On top of that, I later realized that the coin door wasn't right (it was much taller) even though the rest of the cab resembled a Sega/Gremlin cabinet. To this day, I don't know what it was previously which may explain the lack of woodgrain. On top of that all, the game really doesn't/didn't get much play from me. I think I was in the phase of getting "crowd pleasers" and when I saw the ad for "Frogger" I got overly excited. I really should have inspected it more and asked some more questions before taking it home. Lesson learned.

I have to say that it really makes me sad to read a lot of these posts, especially the ones about regretting time lost with family and loved ones due to disinterest in the hobby. I don't have kids so I can't relate on that level, but I genuinely feel bad for you fellas. It's heartbreaking. At the same time, I feel extremely lucky because my girlfriend, @CarrieZ shares the same hobby. (That's actually how we met, for those that don't know.) So we do, in fact, get to work on many of the same projects together and share enjoyment in the games. I can't say the same for my ex(es)... :rolleyes:
 
I picked up a Tron Cabaret in a haul once. You really don't realize how awful that game is until you take away all the pretty cab art, which the cabaret manages to do in spades. That left pretty quick, I think some guy shipped it all the way to Germany.
I dunno…when it's decked out with a complete Phoenix Arcade makeover, it's pretty delicious. Of course, the full size is killer too. I'll never my cabaret go.

IMG_1878.jpeg
Thanks,
Jason
 
Yep, that's the key, just buy working games and enjoy them with your kids. I started fixing up and restoring these things when my daughter was like 2. She will be 21 in a month and so much of my time since she was little has been spent in the garage working on them. I tried to get her involved when she was little. I even had custom hello Kitty buttons made for a multi game I was going to build with her, for her. Well, time slipped away from me and that never happened. I still have the buttons in my button tote. My boys were born when I was still in the buy everything frenzy stage, so they grew up with it, but they never really got into helping me with the games either. Game after game had to be torn down and restored without their help. Hours and hours of time away from them that I can't get back. Then when I'd get the games done, they'd play them, sometimes fall in love and I'd end up eventually selling their favorites to acquire cash to start the cycle all over again. My oldest boy was devastated when I sold my TMNT pin, my DK cocktail and my DK cabaret. I always promised to replace them, but never did. He is now 16 and hates the arcade. He was getting into Circus and Popeye about 2-3 years ago, but hasn't wanted to play any games in about a year. He is STRONGLY suggesting that I get a pool table or he'll probably never go down there again. As many of you know, pool tables are heavy, take up a ton of real estate and are hard as fuck to get rid of. He's only got 2 years of high school left and then I'd be stuck with the damned thing. Not only that, but I'd have to sell about 10-12 games to even get one to fit. I want to keep my (kid)s happy, but this time I may just have to accept the fact that I may never get to enjoy a game night down there with him again. Which sucks. Yeah, I guess I have a lotta regret from this hobby.
Man, when it comes to kids, I feel this 100%. Time goes way too fast, and I remember the excitement when it all started, and then one day, it sort of just stops. As a Dad that puts everything into this hobby, and how it affected the family in such a positive way, it's really hard when you have to manually try to jump start it now…especially when it doesn't start as often anymore.

Man, I wish a Grinkfest was imminent…

Thanks,
Jason
 
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