Hoping to get some advice/feedback on a couple of Universal machines.

agaraffa

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Hey All!

I've been a member here for ages but never really got into the hobby so haven't been around in ages.

Anyway, the reason this thread... I have the opportunity to pickup two Universal machines (Mr. Do! and Lady Bug). I'm a huge Mr. Do! fan and asked this guy many years ago to keep an eye out for an original cab for me as he's in the business and a few days ago out of the blue he emailed me and told me he found one. I was shocked because it's been so long, but I'm seriously considering picking them both up. I'd love to restore them both to their original;l glory, but if that's not possible, I figure I could put together one good cab between the two of them.

The guy is asking $800 for the pair, which I think is a fair price. They're definitely project cabs though, and I'm not the handiest of guys. Based on the limited pics I'm attaching, do they look like way too much for a complete newb to try to undertake?

Thanks All!IMG_20250930_101818.jpg20251001_134023.jpg20251001_134036.jpg20251001_131956.jpg20251001_132020.jpg
 
Seen some water for sure. Its a fair price for them. $500 would be better
 
I agree on offering a little less... but both cabs look very salvageable. Cool to still find ones that have never neen converted.
 
Those are both fixable. I have repaired worse. Do you have someone to do the work for you?

You should probably pass on this and wait for something already done.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone. You kind of confirmed what I was thinking. As much as I like the idea of a project, I also don't want to have two 40+ year old big, heavy boxes rotting in my garage that I'm too overwhelmed to get started on.

My friend has a CNC machine that can do 4'x8' sheets. But if I'm going to be "replacing" the damaged wood, depending on how much needs to be replaced, when does it become easier to just build a new cab with the same dimensions and call it a day?
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone. You kind of confirmed what I was thinking. As much as I like the idea of a project, I also don't want to have two 40+ year old big, heavy boxes rotting in my garage that I'm too overwhelmed to get started on.

My friend has a CNC machine that can do 4'x8' sheets. But if I'm going to be "replacing" the damaged wood, depending on how much needs to be replaced, when does it become easier to just build a new cab with the same dimensions and call it a day?
I would suggest you consider this:
Yes, they will need work, but the important stuff (the marque, the bezel, the upper bezel, the control panel) are ALL there.

The backs of the games look sun bleached. So what? Who looks at the backs of games? They are up against the wall.

If you love Mr. Do, you could offer 400 for both, he may come down to 700, you offer 500 and make the deal. The CRTs alone would be worth that.

First things first - how do they smell? Cat pee - not so good.

A lot of people think they have to restore games. You could do a Roadworthy Rescues "restore" and clean the art up, clean the boards up, put some spray paint on the coin door, and you're good to go.

You don't have to make it look like new. You have to make it playable.

Battle scars from 40+ years of service are just patina. Relish that these are survivors. I'd go for them if they don't smell bad.
 
Been there.

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I would suggest you consider this:
Yes, they will need work, but the important stuff (the marque, the bezel, the upper bezel, the control panel) are ALL there.

The backs of the games look sun bleached. So what? Who looks at the backs of games? They are up against the wall.

If you love Mr. Do, you could offer 400 for both, he may come down to 700, you offer 500 and make the deal. The CRTs alone would be worth that.

First things first - how do they smell? Cat pee - not so good.

A lot of people think they have to restore games. You could do a Roadworthy Rescues "restore" and clean the art up, clean the boards up, put some spray paint on the coin door, and you're good to go.

You don't have to make it look like new. You have to make it playable.

Battle scars from 40+ years of service are just patina. Relish that these are survivors. I'd go for them if they don't smell bad.
Thanks for taking the time to post this. I think I'll take a drive to see them this week and see what my gut tells me. I keep going back and forth... I know this probably isn't popular around here, but I'm just an old dude (56) who's into retro stuff and now that the kids are getting older am looking for a hobby. I watch a lot of YouTube channels that focus on restoring old arcade games, but also ones that get into retro consoles and restoring and modding them. Consoles don't do it for me the way the old arcade cabs do, but they're also a lot cheaper and less intimidating to work on... Don't think anyone ever blew themselves up because they didn't discharge an Atari 2600 the right way. :ROFLMAO:
 
Been there.

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Wow! That's impressive... thanks for posting! I've been watching Tighe Lory's videos where he goes through his Mr. Do! project., I think I saw that he's a member here.
 
Update for anyone interested...

A good friend of mine and I went to see the machines in person this morning. They look to be in a lot better shape than they appear in the pictures. They both need a lot of work but I was afraid the cabinets were going to be almost irreparable short of replacing a lot of the wood.

One of them, I think the Mr. Do! still has the original monitor it came with, but the other has an old DK (Sanyo I think he said) monitor. The Do has a (messed up) picture but the Lady Bug has none (sound only wen you power it on).

I think we're planning on picking them up next Tuesday.
 
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