Looks like the era of $100 dollar arcade machines has arrived.

Wundercade

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Looks like the era of $100 dollar arcade machines has arrived.

Anyone else notice this? I noticed a flurry of 100 dollar cabs from Asteroids to fighters to 25" Jamma schmups on CL and eBay. People starting to figure out these games are only valuable to an increasingly small pool of collectors and aren't lottery tickets but big boxes taking up space?

Just picked up a Gyruss super cheap a couple days ago, never thought I'd get one at that price.





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Anyone else notice this? I noticed a flurry of 100 dollar cabs from Asteroids to fighters to 25" Jamma schmups on CL and eBay. People starting to figure out these games are only valuable to an increasingly small pool of collectors and aren't lottery tickets but big boxes taking up space?

Just picked up a Gyruss super cheap a couple days ago, never thought I'd get one at that price.





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I love it. i want all the games on CL to go cheap that way I can build my collection. Plus it eliminates the vultures that buy just to flip for a profit, cause if there's not a strong market for these vultures then the rest of us can get some resonable priced games.
Glennon
 
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They are usually listed for alot more here. Non working for $100 happens more than working.
 
Anyone else notice this? I noticed a flurry of 100 dollar cabs from Asteroids to fighters to 25" Jamma schmups on CL and eBay. People starting to figure out these games are only valuable to an increasingly small pool of collectors and aren't lottery tickets but big boxes taking up space?

Just picked up a Gyruss super cheap a couple days ago, never thought I'd get one at that price.





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Yeah, I think it's funny. I'll take pretty much anything working for $100 all day..People do still try to gouge though. Recently I've seen a Lethal Enforcers for $900, a Commando for $700, and an Operation Wolf for $900 I believe...That gets me more than the $100 cabs, people thinking those games are worth near that. LOLS
 
I bought a Gyruss in very nice condition about 10 years ago for $100. Of course it was covered in chicken shit and the speakers were dead. Was sitting in barn for 5 years. I guess chicken shit helped preserve the CPO since it was in near mint condition.

Mike
 
ITs more like the era of free to 100$ and I grab every pos can can get and spend at least all nght back and forth on craigslist, more than half my games were all craigslist finds and very cheap, do you think the market will rise at all for these games,I'm talking about big money for any type of machine, and I don't mind buying non working its a way for me to get them cheaper, if it wasn't for all my games being max of 200 or less I don't think I could be in this hobby.
 
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Do you think KLOV members are the only people that buy or collect games? I bet for every active KLOV member - that actually buys games - there are another 2 or 3 people out there that buy and enjoy games too but are not on any user groups.

As far as your observation on prices - it must be a regional thing.

Anyone else notice this? I noticed a flurry of 100 dollar cabs from Asteroids to fighters to 25" Jamma schmups on CL and eBay. People starting to figure out these games are only valuable to an increasingly small pool of collectors and aren't lottery tickets but big boxes taking up space?

Just picked up a Gyruss super cheap a couple days ago, never thought I'd get one at that price.





..
 
ITs more like the era of free to 100$ and I grab every pos can can get and spend at least all nght back and forth on craigslist, more than half my games were all craigslist finds and very cheap, do you think the market will rise at all for these games,I'm talking about big money for any type of machine, and I don't mind buying non working its a way for me to get them cheaper, if it wasn't for all my games being max of 200 or less I don't think I could be in this hobby.


That is about where I am at too. I bought a pretty nice original neo geo MVS 4 slot last month for $200 and had to force myself to pay that much. I am glad I did, because it is a lot of fun, but it was hard to do. I had to remind myself that I bought a nice game for less than the price of 4 sushi dinners.
 
do you think the market will rise at all for these games,I'm talking about big money for any type of machine

The games are worth what the right buyer is willing to pay. I'm sure there will be some good money to be had for the right machine, in the right condition, but for a lot of games I don't think so.

Overall it's just an aging, ultra-niche market, and not for the sane. I think the gougers had their day, made their money off these old games. I for one applaud lower prices, I'm in it to play the games, and I don't feel bad when a seller realizes he doesn't have a grail in his barn, it's a shitty old machine. I've seen the price on pretty much everything I'm interested in drop since I started getting into it around 2000'ish.

Most people just make a blasted MAME machine and are done with it anyways, I don't think this hobby is even remotely the size that some people think it is.
 
i cant stop myself from buying its getting really obsessive now, its pretty much all i do is constantly on my blackberry at work checking every online add i can find
 
I agree with Vicemikey. The availability of Mame, plus having the old games available on consoles and PCs for cheap or free made the market bottom out for the original arcade machines. Most people question paying $10 for an old game on a computer, let alone $100 for a machine that is only capable of playing one game.
 
I hate losing the value of my collection though. I know I will never be able to sell my burgertime for the 700.00 I bought it for... or my Tron for the 800.00.

But from a hobby point of view, I like the fact I can afford more games not. Hate losing my garage to the hobby but doesn't that happen to any hobby anyways. LOL

.
 
it all averages out.. games were WAY overpriced for a few years there.. we paid more during the boom and less now so what.. it's supposed to be fun, not an investment.
 
I hate losing the value of my collection though. I know I will never be able to sell my burgertime for the 700.00 I bought it for... or my Tron for the 800.00.

But from a hobby point of view, I like the fact I can afford more games not. Hate losing my garage to the hobby but doesn't that happen to any hobby anyways. LOL

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Yeah, i'm sure that could make you wince a little, but man if you have a good looking BurgerTime that's totally worth it. With Tron you never know, you're pretty much guaranteed more demand for the game when the movie comes out, whether it turns out shitty or not. I wouldn't worry too much about losing money on those, those are the staples, the Pacs, Trons, Nintendo stuff, etc. Not to mention both Tron and BurgerTime are unique cabinets with unique art styles, those will always have a decent market, right? :) You'd never want to sell a good tron anyways, I'd give you a virtual groin punch.

The real beauty rests in a lot of the jamma shit, prices are falling faster than my pants in Jessica Alba's bedroom.

And like the post above, the old arcade rehashes you can buy for a few bucks aren't bad most of the time. I bought some old games on Xbox live and was 110% pleased with them.

If I had the space and was looking to make a buck on this hobby, I'd be stocking up on the old staple games, I'm willing to take $100-$400 risk per machine for some of these games.
 
Sort of unrelated but a lot of multi-cades make me sick, mainly the retail looking ones with the EXTREEEMEE generic arcade graphics. Damns you Mame! lol
 
There was a really nice Altered Beast near chicago for $100 (it looked almost mint). I think he sold it a few minutes after he listed it. I emailed him about it. He already took the ad down so I cant post it.
 
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