Is Szabo's Arcade still around ??

I ordered 2 similar items from Szabo last year. One took 12 months, the other about 10 months.

Quality: first rate

Price: as low as anything comparable

Time: disappointing, as I was thinking more like 3 months

I would try one of the UK vendors in the future, knowing of course that shipping is costly
 
I ordered 2 similar items from Szabo last year. One took 12 months, the other about 10 months.

Quality: first rate

Price: as low as anything comparable

Time: disappointing, as I was thinking more like 3 months

I would try one of the UK vendors in the future, knowing of course that shipping is costly
https://www.arcadeartshop.com/ is one of my go-tos.
 
I ordered an art pack from Joe back in July. Still haven't received it.

I also "tipped" on checkout.

Last time I reached out he said it was printed and just needs to be laminated. That was over a month ago.
 
what 😐 this tipping-for-merely-existing trend we're seeing these days is getting a bit out of hand

i (maybe) would tip only if after a pre-agreed on period lapsed that for every day late, an incremental refund would increasingly accrue and return to me until the product was delivered to satisfaction

I also "tipped" on checkout.
 
It seems many have a similar story. All reproduction artwork I own comes from either Phoenix, TOG or Szabo. I wouldn't buy from anyone else based on the artwork quality and accuracy. I've gotten immediate shipment of a beautiful Mario Bros. bezel and side art from Darin, waited almost two years for incredibly accurate Arm Wrestling side art and a marquee package from Rich, and have requested numerous custom projects (including the logo design for my arcade) and waited more than 6 months on each with Joe since his shop has gotten more popular in recent years.

The most important thing here to me is the quality of the work I've gotten from all three. I don't mind the wait with the latter two, probably because I went into it with the expectations that it would be a long wait but the final product would be worth it. This is a hobby for me, and while it would have been nice to receive the items sooner, I have no regrets and wouldn't do it any differently.
 
what 😐 this tipping-for-merely-existing trend we're seeing these days is getting a bit out of hand

i (maybe) would tip only if after a pre-agreed on period lapsed that for every day late, an incremental refund would increasingly accrue and return to me until the product was delivered to satisfaction
I'm actually really curious who does tip on the Szabo website.

I mean, I paid 400 bucks for an art pack and then tipped 15% on top of that.
 
I'm actually really curious who does tip on the Szabo website.

I mean, I paid 400 bucks for an art pack and then tipped 15% on top of that.

I don't remember seeing a tipping area but I wouldn't add a tip if I was buying something from there. Tipping is meant for the workers, not the owner. I imagine it is just him and his wife running the business.
 
Whenever I would get a new game and I knew I would need artwork before I even worked on one rusty bolt I used to order the art package cuz I figured by the time I get done working on it it'll be time to apply the art and that's when it would come with any vendor. Nowadays, it's beyond that. I've had some project so long that I'll even sell or trade the project away to somebody else before I even get the artwork. I love seeing these posts where someone will have something like a side art for a game that came from one of the vendors And they can sell it for top dollar because anybody else waiting for one will only have to wait the shipping time.

I also used to send in scans or even original art pieces if they were in really good shape so some of these guys could color match or make sure the product would look as good as original. But I don't do that anymore either because it takes forever to get the items back. I feel bad because I think a lot of us would want to help but again it's like a slow moving glacier it'll happen but you can't hold your breath
 
Idk I like @ReproArcade The brits are really fast usually have cheaper prices and thats with the ship time and cost to ship over the pond. Artwork is great quality and willing to do custom jobs. Had an area51 side art custom made for dynamo hs-5 cab and it matched perfectly to a NoS kit control panel art i had for it and a MK full kit and it looks great.
 
your gesture is very commendable, helping out a small biz and a fellow hobbyist, but a shame the same courtesy isn't reciprocated
however, devil's advocate, it seems this is the norm regarding art printers 🤷‍♂️

I'm actually really curious who does tip on the Szabo website.

I mean, I paid 400 bucks for an art pack and then tipped 15% on top of that.
 
Ever notice all of these threads eventually fall into two camps...

One camp thinks it's BS that you have to wait 6-24 months for a product with little communication.
The other side that defends businesses that don't bother to communicate with their customers......cause they do good work. :rolleyes:
 
"Is there really enough arcade art business to justify a full time shop?"

Why does the shop have to be full time arcade? Can't arcade prints be prioritized equal to other jobs?

I can tell you that my local printer will be damned sure I don't have to wait, they are used to doing jobs the same day or next day and they communicate the likely timing up front. As you'd expect any good, honest business to do.

Maybe that's the problem - send off business gets lower priority when you also have customers walking in the door? IMO it should still be first come first serve, adhering to the customer's up front timing needs agreed upon.

Eventually the print to order stuff will all be done locally - the printing equipment now is awesome, the source images are not usually original work, and there's little benefit to waiting for someone elsewhere to get around to printing something.

Shop local, except for screen printing which requires volume and someone like Phoenix.
Just to have a bit of a conversation around this. Printing the customers art is only one part of this game. %80 of my time is spent restoring scans, testing prints, colour matching etc to be able to offer new products. So you are stuck in a loop. Either prioritise prints and never be able to offer new products that people need, prioritise new scans you are working on for customers but delay other prints OR find a balance in the middle which will can potentially upset people waiting for prints or potentially upset people waiting on new scans for their prints. it's definitely a juggling act on what to prioritise and the printing it only a small part.

That said, IMO. No one should be waiting months with the exception that it's a complicated custom piece but I cant talk for anyone else's business. We tend to be 2-3 weeks from order to delivery for most international orders.
 
I ordered 2 similar items from Szabo last year. One took 12 months, the other about 10 months.

Quality: first rate

Price: as low as anything comparable

Time: disappointing, as I was thinking more like 3 months

I would try one of the UK vendors in the future, knowing of course that shipping is costly

@ReproArcade does free shipping if I recall. I got a custom set of Blitz art form him once. Came decently quick.
 
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