Making money with Multicades? worth it?

[gozer5454]

All right.. so it looks like most are repurpousing cr@p cabinets...

How about those who are scratch building?

We dont have many cr@p cabinets in NJ. They really dont come up
that often. To be honset I cant see selling a used dinged up cabinet
for 1k + after it gets the Multicade treatment.

I use "used cabinets" for all of them. I stay away from "dinged up" cabinets whenever possible. However, when I see something unsightly like a heavy scratch or a missing chunk, I break out the bondo and sander to make keep the cabinet a little more presentable for potential buyers.

Of course... I'm also not asking higher than $900 for any I've done or plan to do. If I were to go crazy and make a deluxe cab with full vinyls, top-of-the-line brand new electronics and offer atleast a 60 day warranty on all parts, I'd probably ask the maximum of $1600 in my region.

 

[waltdorholt]

If I could sell one for $1000 plus, I would do it too. I just cant believe the average Joe would shell out that kind of money for it.

Of course, mine is just a basic cabinet. Painted black, nothing fancy. Plugged the board into the harness and there you go!

 

[mhanlen1]

I'm in the process of putting together my second. I do it for a little extra cash. The problem is, I hand paint the cabinet with my own artwork, so it takes a lot of time. From a labor perspective, it's kind of stupid- but I hate multis with plain black sides. If I can make a $400+ profit on it, then I'm happy. I only take completely dead cabs that have already been converted and turn them into multis. That way I won't feel like a ruined a classic. I treat them as art projects mostly, and I'm happy that my custom artwork is in someone's house.

Anyway here's what the cab looked like a month ago, in a very early stage of the painting. Right now it's empty, but the artwork is now about 95% done.

 

[gozer5454]

I'm in the process of putting together my second. I do it for a little extra cash. The problem is, I hand paint the cabinet with my own artwork, so it takes a lot of time. From a labor perspective, it's kind of stupid- but I hate multis with plain black sides. If I can make a $400+ profit on it, then I'm happy. I only take completely dead cabs that have already been converted and turn them into multis. That way I won't feel like a ruined a classic. I treat them as art projects mostly, and I'm happy that my custom artwork is in someone's house.

Anyway here's what the cab looked like a month ago, in a very early stage of the painting. Right now it's empty, but the artwork is now about 95% done.

That looks pretty cool! What color will be around them? Yellow?

I agree it's cool to see some non-generic cab arts out there too. It's sad that they really don't sell for any higher than just a generic black-painted cab though. Everyone I talked with (when asked if they wanted me to order sideart) declined the extra cost and told me the sides aren't as important to them as how it looks from the front. This might be because the average multicade buyer is a guy who wants the game in upright form but has to put it into his house and knows that black usually matches other stuff he'll already have (like bars, barstools, LCDs, flat panels, leatehr furniture, other mancave stuff).

 

[JC Arcade]

We dont have many cr@p cabinets in NJ. They really dont come up that often.

I've seen them pop up....but they quickly disappear, get a JAMMA setup w/ 60-1 installed, and get relisted 2-3 days later for $1200+. Here's a Millipede cab that recently got the royal treatment...

Or the one in the Defender cab with the 1942 marquee....

The only money this guy puts in is for the 60-1 and the bare minimum to make it JAMMA compatible if it isn't already.

 

[smalltownguy2]

That's the crap I'm talking about.

 

[racerx1690]

Yea, thats the ones I have a ball with. The sad thing is people are actually buying this garbage. Then they expect me to fix it down the road when it breaks. I blow them out of the water with either the repair, or sell them one of mine. WITH A WARRANTY! The funny thing is that I have never had any of mine break, and have never even gotten so much as a phone call about one breaking.

 

[mhanlen1]

That looks pretty cool! What color will be around them? Yellow?

I agree it's cool to see some non-generic cab arts out there too. It's sad that they really don't sell for any higher than just a generic black-painted cab though. Everyone I talked with (when asked if they wanted me to order sideart) declined the extra cost and told me the sides aren't as important to them as how it looks from the front. This might be because the average multicade buyer is a guy who wants the game in upright form but has to put it into his house and knows that black usually matches other stuff he'll already have (like bars, barstools, LCDs, flat panels, leatehr furniture, other mancave stuff).

I completely agree. My last machine I sold for only $625 and I delivered it. It's a complete waste of time, but I do it because I enjoy doing something different. This machine is entirely repainted inside and out, including all the metal parts. The kick panel and top are all Rustoleum oil enamel Gloss black.

Anyway the Blue will be much deeper, as your only seeing the 1st coat. It's left over Super Pac-Man blue, from my multi semi-restore earlier this year. I use what paint I have.

 

[TheDrewster]

I have done 3 multicades. 2 I have sold, 1 I am keeping (converted my Pac with a LizardLick adapter). The first one was a Centipede with a shot monitor in a generic chinese cocktail cabinet. Parted it out, sold the Centipede parts and that paid for the purchase price. Spent around $150 gussying it up and turned it around for a cool $700.

The next one was my Superman. Bought the cabinet for $60, already had JAMMA wiring and controls, slapped around another $150 for a multiboard and new woodgrain vinyl and custom GameOnGraphix marquee and turned it into $800.

They help support the hobby.

 

[waltdorholt]

For me, I want the games and the controls to work properly first. Then worry about what the cab looks like. Since mine is crammed between other games, I dont mind a lack of side art. It doesnt have to be pretty, it just has to perform. Just like my women.
Id never build a multi in a dedicated cab of course. All the cabinets I have used were already stripped and painted and beat up by the original owners.

 

[Deadly]

I built one and had ~$350 into it. Put it into a bar for a few months and made an average of $7.50 a night. Pulled it and put it in my basement where it received no love. Ran a CL ad wanting to trade for a Honda generator and I'll be damned if I didn;t have a guy offer me a NIB Honda worth $1200. Our very good friend Gozer ended up dealing with this guy as well. Gozer had emailed me with the listing the guy put up on CL for $900 IIRC.

Funny - people buy them and shortly there after tend to sell them again. I think these 60-1's pretty much blow.

 

[Pinball Wizard]

To add to your question – do they even sell? I see them listed on craigslist and eBay all the time listed between 1K and 1.5K, but I have no idea if any of them ever actually sell at those prices.

Maybe a couple of years ago you could get 1K or more, but I just don't see it happening now.

I recently sold one for $1150 and I only had $400 in it including auction fees (I bought it back).

All right.. so it looks like most are repurpousing cr@p cabinets...

How about those who are scratch building?

We dont have many cr@p cabinets in NJ. They really dont come up
that often. To be honset I cant see selling a used dinged up cabinet
for 1k + after it gets the Multicade treatment.

Auctions are you friend. I bought my latest sold 60-in-1 cabinet at auction for $10. The monitor worked, it was JAMMA, and all I had to do to get it to work was put in a switcher off my shelf. I put all new controls on it as well as a refurbed trackball. The cabinet was a Mortal Kombat II that was converted to a Golden Tee 2003. I modified some artwork I found for marquee and control panel but the cabinet was painted black on all sides. I also used some good ol' bondo on it to bring it up to par. I put a little bit more time into this one than I wanted to but that was because of my mistakes.


Currently working on my next 60-in-1 for someone that saw my last 60-in-1 on CL. It was a Ms.Pac that was converted to a Gun Smoke. Someone else butchered it so I don't feel bad doing it. I paid $275 for the game, great monitor in it, a control panel that was already punched for my needs and controls that are in decent condition. I'll end up spending about $200 extra on top of the cabinet cost. I already have a waiting list of people looking for 60-in-1s at my $1200 cost area. Christmas works in your favor too. It doesn't feed the family but it funds my hobby out of control.

 

[rturb0]

For those of you saying there is no market for scratch built cabs - it really depends on your area.

There is definitely a market for scratch cabs where I am.

 

[DPtwiz]

wonder who makes those Gratuitous galaga cab pics turbo!

 

[Fatsquatch]

Compared to several years ago, it's crazy how accepted this topic is within the community these days.

Funny how things change...

(BTW, I'm not making any type of preservationist ethics statement or anything.)

 

[Malice95]

What about cocktails? Do they sell?

I mainly see uprights out there.. I'm guessing thats because there are just less cocktails in the world.

I was tossing around the idea of scratch building cocktail multicades. Less art, simple design, easy to mount an LCD, Easily to cut on a 5x5 cnc router.

As long as I stick with a standard design I can get ready made
metal CPs and art.

Biggest headache is getting the glass for the top.

 

[tigerstyle]

Enjoy killing your hobby and risking legal consequences boys. It's your necks, not mine.

One day the only thing that will be left are going to be shitty cloneboards because people will stop bothering fixing original ones and will settle for the bootlegs 1900-in-1 megapacks.

I'm surprised to see some big name posters admitting to this. Very lame

I can't believe you guys are selling this out in the open.. This shit has killed the market locally, all we see now are guys buying older cabs, doing a quick job with the boards, and reselling them for 1k-2k. It's all dried up now for normal people who want original cabs. I do believe there was an auction in Ontario and most of the vids being sold were multicades starting at 800$. what the fuck.

I also have yet to see a multicade that doesnt look like crap

I don't personally give a crap if a guy does this for his kids at home, or to have another cab with tons of games to try them out, but eh, reselling them for profit is dumb. And not worth it at all. With Microsoft and other companies launching those online remakes of classic titles and virtual arcades for videogames companies, its only a matter of time before they start cracking down on people reselling them. Nintendo just caught some guy selling bootleg nintendo hardware of all sorts in new york, the dude got a 1.5 million fine.

bonus: an older article but still showing that nintendo (For exemple) still cares about old titles:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-10-29-nintendo-piracy-busts_x.htm

 

[Pinball Wizard]

For those of you saying there is no market for scratch built cabs - it really depends on your area.

There is definitely a market for scratch cabs where I am.

How much do you sell these for? I priced out doing brand new ones and I priced around $1200 for everything to be new. Currently I have a high price margin mostly because of the amount of labor I do on these (making $750 profit of the last one I sold). I was still considering that I can then market it as NIB with a 1 year warranty but I don't really know if I could stir that much of a market up on these to turn a good profit.

Enjoy killing your hobby and risking legal consequences boys. It's your necks, not mine...

I do understand that these multicades are killing our classic arcade market and it is hurting the hobby but I look at it that to keep my almost business of a hobby alive that I need to evolve. I used to be able to sell an UR Galaga for $800 easy at auction. Now I'm lucky I can get $400 for them. On the other hand I can buy a used Dynamo cabinet or already mutilated game and put a 60-in-1 in it and easily make $1200 off of it, especially heading into Christmas. I hate to be doing this kind of bad to the market but I see it that if I don't, there just won't be a market.

 

[88mph]

Unfortunately, the guys who make the MOST money on multicades are the ones who gut classics... That way they can sell the original parts (boards, monitors, power supplies, controls, etc) on Ebay or KLOV, and then turn around and sell the multicade on CL. They make their money coming and going.

They don't even have to spend time/money sourcing art for the outside of the cab, since the classic art is already there. They also have the added attraction of the appearance of a vintage cab, which is what some buyers are looking for.

What gets me is that they all advertise them as 'Restored'. That's like ripping the engine out of a '57 Chevy and slapping a modern motor in there. Would any car buffs consider that restoration?

The only thing you can do about this is get out there and buy the games you want before they are gone.

 

[Clytor]

For those of you saying there is no market for scratch built cabs - it really depends on your area.

There is definitely a market for scratch cabs where I am.

This is true. I know a guy that builds cocktails from scratch and does ok. A guy I used to work for orders new cabinets with wiring harnesses already installed from PB & J. He just slaps a board, monitor and a panel in them and sticks a tag on them for $2499. He does have a show room and gets the type of people that have lost of money coming in, saying "I need a video game for my game room/media room." Sales have slowed down but he is still moving some. My personal experience is buying a Galaga with board problems for $50 at a moving sale. I fixed the Galaga and sold the board, marquee and control panel. Ordered a drop in replacement multi panel, adapter harness, 60-in-1, and marquee. I also put a used brick power supply in it. Then sold it for $950 on CL. I will say, however, that I did a noninvasive conversion. The game could be restored to it's original glory by plugging the logic board back in, marquee and dropping in an original cp.