OK... This hobby is worse than crack!

mustang_5l

Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Messages
293
Reaction score
3
Location
Surrey, BC, Canada
Ok so I'm fully addicted to this arcade collecting thing now. It started innocently enough thinking that: "hey that would be cool to have one or two at the house..." No, it has become another beast entirely.

It has consumed my garage, my workbench, my tools, my free time and my internet surfing has gone up ten fold. There is so much information available, especially here on KLOV. A big thankyou to all those that have been where I am before and have posted their trials and tribulations while trying to diagnose something at 3am. Your collective knowledge and experience have inspired me not to give up trying to get all these machines running again.

Since starting this adventure I have aquired 7 different cabinets in various stages of operation. 6 working now and 1 awaiting a cap kit and possibly a new chassis (if I screw up the cap kit.) Most of them just need a good cleaning and fresh paint for the sides and some minor repair work. I'm actually on my way out to look at 3 more machines tonight - 2 working and 1 not. Oh yeah... I pick up 2 other empty cabs on Thursday for parts...or do I put them back together too?! That will make 12 total... I think that will be all for now. Unless I can find a bloody cocktail cabinet. I keep missing out on those things!

I have plans to put 2 or 3 in my house and 3 in the garage. The others will go to various friends for whatever parts I put into them, that just need to have one :) (now I feel like a heroin dealer!) Any leftover ones will hopefully be sold to cover some replacement parts for the others.

I grew up in the 80's and 90's and have now settled down or so I think. Playing each game reminds me of all the good times I wasted as a kid blowing quarters into these machines at the arcades. For once I might actually get to finish one of these games with unlimited credits now!

With the guidance from the several members here I have been able to diagnose some board issues on some recently aquired game pcb's. I have successfully de-soldered a Z80 chip and installed a socket in its place. I am eagerly awaiting replacement chips to see if that solves my sound issue on a SF2 WW board. I have a couple of other boards that need work and I think I'm going to have to take my time on them as the last few days have been pretty hectic.

I hope my wife is still around by Christmas time.

Thanks for the addiction to arcade games.

John - aka: mustang_5L
 
Reading this was like reading my own story. But, it actually gets worse believe it or not. I will hopefully be signing a lease agreement on a warehouse space this week.

EDIT - Oh yea- seeing a mustang on there- you're definitely a car guy. I'm a mustang guy too. And I gotta say, the quick easy jobs of arcade games so beats pulling the suspension off a car on your back or torquing a rear end flange nut. And it's quite a bit cleaner too. I'm not sure if I will return to the auto hobby anytime soon.
 
Last edited:
Reading this was like reading my own story. But, it actually gets worse believe it or not. I will hopefully be signing a lease agreement on a warehouse space this week.
I've thought about how much a storage unit would cost. I'm sure lots of us people here have done that, but if the units aren't climate controlled, I wonder if that would cause any problem.
 
What better way than to show off your collection in a 1 hour episode of Hoarders?

I'll stay tunned.

And I find it funny that Mustan_51 is still looking for:
Double Dragon, Final Fight, Rolling Thunder
 
I've thought about how much a storage unit would cost. I'm sure lots of us people here have done that, but if the units aren't climate controlled, I wonder if that would cause any problem.

I live in FL. Hot and very humid most of the year. I've had my arcade in my garage for the most part for the last 5 years and the humidity and weather has not really taken much of a factor on the games. They look as good as ever. The wood does swell though, it's more difficult to pull off back panels in the summer time than it is in the winter.

So yea, let your arcade addiction get to the point where you need a warehouse space to build your dream arcade, it will do fine. Just make sure theres no leaks in the roof!
 
This sounds like my story as well! I love cars, I am a mechanic by trade and my garage is being converted 100% to an arcade. I've always wanted a home arcade and seeing the retarded prices people were asking for their games I figured I'd never be able to afford to have even one game. Two years to 30 I found an Ultracade at a yard sale for $500 and ended up buying it. That game led me here while researching how to add more games. Since then I've had close to 40 games, I've acquired several of my grail games that I thought I'd never find and pulled my wife to the dark side with me. It's truly a sickness but you aren't hurting anyone so who can complain? Enjoy the hobby and spend hours here, you'll start getting rid of your games to get better projects just to have that working grail in your garage.
 
Showing off my track marks. I'll admit it. I have a problem. I dont want help:
(Current Projects in the Garage.)
79d6900d.jpg


4a255e85.jpg


570c5e25.jpg


(Current Projects in the House)
09b501b2.jpg


Lets see your projects/addictions
 
Thank you. That's the new side art from "This old Game".

And your right, Johnny was an albino when I got it.

Its getting there.
 
Nice to see you have SF1 in there. I take it that it's for nostalgic reasons because that game is so bad it almost hurts. I refer to it as SFII beta. Haha.
 
Yes, I've lost so many quarters in this machine in my youth that it owned me.

Now I own it. Still trying to beat it with 1 credit. I'm thinking it's not possible.
3 soild hits & your down… Brutal game.
 
Yes, I've lost so many quarters in this machine in my youth that it owned me.

Now I own it. Still trying to beat it with 1 credit. I'm thinking it's not possible.
3 soild hits & your down… Brutal game.

I figured that was it. :)

What do you plan to do with those other empty Dynamo cabs? CPS1 row?
 
The far back one is now a Black Tiger cab. Waiting for the cpo to come in.
Next to it is a Ghost n Goblins cab, follow by Karnov, and the one close to the garage door is the Clutch hitter.
One of my favorite game. The 91 MLB season. (The Steriods era) Lots of Home Runs. Ha!
 
Thanks guys... well I did pick up 3 more cabs tonight... 2 dynamos and one ancient thing from 81 or 82 with Lady Bug in it. Lady Bug working but its in a hideous wood grain cabinet and its a mini. Don't know much about these ones. Pics to come later...
 
While I see cabs in a garage..I still see space for more laughs
I got three more games from AZ ( thanks Guys for dropping the, off)
My 3 car garage in impacted. Yet I was still able to squeeze in 3 more games..

I am building a little sanding booth and painting booth on the side of the house.

Laughs. I use to have three now I really do not want to think about how many I have.

Lucky for me I have an old store front. It got enough room for an few dozen games. In fact a friend of mine is storing his games there too.
 
Yes, I've lost so many quarters in this machine in my youth that it owned me.

Now I own it. Still trying to beat it with 1 credit. I'm thinking it's not possible.
3 soild hits & your down… Brutal game.

My buddy can roll Marvel Vs Capcom on one credit, but I know that's nowhere near an accomplishment that rolling Street Fighter. Still, I never would have believed him until I watched him do it in my arcade. I was stunned. Dude has mad skills.

Nice setup, you've got some good cabs there, for sure. I loves me some 25" Dynamo action.
 
Ok, garage is full. Had 12 games yesterday and just sold an empty cabinet to some guy... He might take another too. Now I have 11 with 7 working cabinets. Now... what to do with all of them!
 
Ok, garage is full. Had 12 games yesterday and just sold an empty cabinet to some guy... He might take another too. Now I have 11 with 7 working cabinets. Now... what to do with all of them!

Build an addition.. or you can go a different route and do as I do... store more at your buddies places. 1 in my sisters basement (2 hour drive), 1 in my buddies garage(1 hour drive), 2 more a mile down the road in another buddies garage. Since I don't have a garage, I had no other real choice. 2 in the bedroom (would of been 3 but sold Narc) and 1 more upstairs. It's great for me since I usually have something to enjoy when I do go visit my family and friends.

I am flat broke right now so I guess that's a good thing, but I still have the bug myself and I'm on CL and Ebay and here trying to track down that next game.. and on top of that selling everything else that I own to get extra cash for it..
 
Back
Top Bottom