New to the hobby and need buying advice....

osudd

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Hey guys, I am just getting into collecting coin op games and need some advice. For a long time now I have collected NES games and some other vintage stuff but just now being able to start collecting Arcade games.

I have a guy that is offering Donkey Kong, Ring King, Joust, Time Pilot & Dig Dug for $2000. They are all in really nice shape with no cracks or chips and pretty good graphics still in tact. Could you guys help me to gauge if this is a fair price or not?

Thanks and I look forward to being an active member in this forum!!!
 
Hey guys, I am just getting into collecting coin op games and need some advice. For a long time now I have collected NES games and some other vintage stuff but just now being able to start collecting Arcade games.

I have a guy that is offering Donkey Kong, Ring King, Joust, Time Pilot & Dig Dug for $2000. They are all in really nice shape with no cracks or chips and pretty good graphics still in tact. Could you guys help me to gauge if this is a fair price or not?

Thanks and I look forward to being an active member in this forum!!!

It's really difficult without knowing a bit more information. Are these in their original cabs or are they conversions? Are they all working 100%? Are the monitors crisp with little to no burn? Is there any sign of water damage?
 
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Donkey Kong, Ring King, Joust, Time Pilot & Dig Dug for $2000

$400 each is not bad. A little high for Ring King, but overall it's not the rip-off of the year. It's a good deal if DK, Joust, TP and DD are working and in nice, above average cosmetic condition, and like OTT above me says, they all have to be dedicated.

Post pics if you buy them!
 
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Dig dug is not in the $400 range, I can get them in good shape for $200 and less all day, I know of three sitting idle right now at one op's.
 
While those prices are not the cheapest in the world (especially by some KLOV member standards) they seem completely reasonable if the games are in as good of shape as you say.

Pics would definitely help.
 
Thanks for the responses guys, yeah these are all working 100% and are in original cabinets according to the seller. Here are a few pics of them....
 

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Thanks for the responses guys, yeah these are all working 100% and are in original cabinets according to the seller. Here are a few pics of them....

They all appear to be in nice shape! You have an instant collection right there. Here's my breakdown on pricing:

Joust - $350-$500
Donkey Kong - $250-$400
Dig Dug - $250-$350
Time Pilot - $200-$350
Ring King - $150-$250

If you haven't haggled yet, I'd offer $1500 and would be willing to go $1700-$1800. But with you not having any games now and just getting into the hobby- $2000 is still a fair price IMHO. Good luck and let us know what happens!
 
Having seen the pics, I'd offer the seller $1800 if I were you, and see if they'd take it.

But, $2000 is not bad, though, and that's a decent set of games to start a collection with.
 
One thing to note, the Donkey Kong doesn't have graphics on the sides. Did all of the originals have the graphics? Does adding the graphics increase the value much?
 
One thing to note, the Donkey Kong doesn't have graphics on the sides. Did all of the originals have the graphics? Does adding the graphics increase the value much?

Yes, all original DKs came with side art. Use that as a haggling point with the owner.

Reproduction graphics are available... and, frankly, if you put it in the center of a row of games, you'll never notice. :D
 
For someone just starting out I recommend buying decent working games from a collector (which looks like you may be doing)...even if they are slightly on the high side.

As you move into the hobby buying projects or looking for deals (Craigslist and what have ya) is a good way to learn to fix them.

The last thing you want to do starting off is get frustrated buying someone else junk (at least as a noobie) and no real means of fixing them

Of course...even well maintain machine can implode on ya for no reason...these thing are 25+ years old.

With that being said would I buy that lot? Probably not but..I'm a cheap basted! But for someone starting out the deal doesn't seem to far off

I'd probably offer $1250ish and the Ring King back...but that's me







One thing to note, the Donkey Kong doesn't have graphics on the sides. Did all of the originals have the graphics? Does adding the graphics increase the value much?
 
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