Opininions from the purists welcome

[keithsarcade]

Chris, if you want to buy an Asteroids cab, let me know. I have an empty one I could sell you for cheap. It is in excellent condition!

I'd take him up on that, if it were me.

 

[savit4l8r]

Tron just called, he said parting that sucker out is okay with him, so you are in the clear...

 

[jphillip5]

I'm a little confused. If someone can part out one cabinet and the parts from that one cabinet end up reviving two cabinets (or even one) isn't a little bit of "preservation" involved? I'm not really for parting out fully working cabs but I have been known to buy a couple of $25 - $50 machines that I have no interest in just for the working monitor. On those, I sell the parts and hope that someone can get their original, non-working game working again.

 

[Robotron]

We should clear up the misconsptions. A purist is not a restoration hobbyist. A purist buys an item as it is and is always searching for the mint condition cab. He treats cabs like baseball cards, in that a bent corner detracts from the value, and cannot be fixed. A resoration/hobbyist usually trys to keep it original, but using repro parts are ok as long as they are good quality and keep the "spirit" of the machine intact. The cab is just wood. Getting a new cab made and simply transferring the parts is ok in my book, because the parts are still original. Now if you replace it with a VGA and a hard drive, it's no longer being restored, it's just a mame cab. Personally if I had access to a new cab, All of my games would be minty fresh built from the ground up.

According to this definition, I'm not a purist. Thank goodness!

What do you call someone who collects arcade games and wants them to be all original and in playable shape, but not in perfect cosmetic shape. He thinks they should look like they have been played for the last 28 years. Just like antiques that have been repainted and made to look like new, have less value than one that is original. He thinks they should be in original condition, unless that condition is so bad that the paint is literally falling off or the side art is all gone, or the CPO has metal showing. In which case it should be restored enough to make it look good. Is there a classification for this kind of person?

 

[MasterFygar]

According to this definition, I'm not a purist. Thank goodness!

What do you call someone who collects arcade games and wants them to be all original and in playable shape, but not in perfect cosmetic shape. He thinks they should look like they have been played for the last 28 years. Just like antiques that have been repainted and made to look like new, have less value than one that is original. He thinks they should be in original condition, unless that condition is so bad that the paint is literally falling off or the side art is all gone, or the CPO has metal showing. In which case it should be restored enough to make it look good. Is there a classification for this kind of person?

I hope so, because that's me down to the letter.

 

[Robotron]

I forgot to mention, that because of the flaws, I find the game to have much more character.

Kind of like Jenifer Gray before she had her nose fixed. She was unique and beautiful in her own way. Now she just looks like all the rest of the women with perfect noses. Ever notice how many acting jobs she got before the nose job and how many after? Just saying.

 

[GORDONFAN]

Not gonna crucify you at all Dave, this thread was purely for input purposes.

Sure. Dude your trolling for controversy. Come on!

Glennon

 

[MasterFygar]

I forgot to mention, that because of the flaws, I find the game to have much more character.

Kind of like Jenifer Gray before she had her nose fixed. She was unique and beautiful in her own way. Now she just looks like all the rest of the women with perfect noses. Ever notice how many acting jobs she got before the nose job and how many after? Just saying.

I actually agree. I like the battle scars. The games never looked perfect in arcades, why should they be perfect now? Haha

 

[joeycuda]

I forgot to mention, that because of the flaws, I find the game to have much more character.

Kind of like Jenifer Gray before she had her nose fixed. She was unique and beautiful in her own way. Now she just looks like all the rest of the women with perfect noses. Ever notice how many acting jobs she got before the nose job and how many after? Just saying.

 

[jphillip5]

Sure. Dude your trolling for controversy. Come on!

Glennon

I don't think so. It's a good debate. Someone (pro "preservation") brought up the argument of classic muscle cars. If you went to a muscle car restoration forum and mentioned parting out a classic, you'd be crucified. Perhaps, but not necessarily. If you don't think they are trading parts just like we are, you're strongly mistaken.

If the parts were readily available for a complete overhaul of a Centipede cabinet I think we'd all buy them. Last I checked, nobody is churning out NOS AR-II's for Atari cabinets lately or Centipede PCB's.

Now, go search for a new quarter panel, carburetor, engine, piston, etc for your '69 Camaro. I think you'll find the options far greater than buying that new AR-II or PCB for your Atari cabinet.

Unfortunately, we are all involved in a hobby where very few reproduction parts, except for art work, are being produced. Without a few people willing to part out a cabinet now and then, none of our machines are going to survive.

 

[joeycuda]

I don't think so. It's a good debate. Someone (pro "preservation") brought up the argument of classic muscle cars. If you went to a muscle car restoration forum and mentioned parting out a classic, you'd be crucified. Perhaps, but not necessarily. If you don't think they are trading parts just like we are, you're strongly mistaken.

If the parts were readily available for a complete overhaul of a Centipede cabinet I think we'd all buy them. Last I checked, nobody is churning out NOS AR-II's for Atari cabinets lately or Centipede PCB's.

Now, go search for a new quarter panel, carburetor, engine, piston, etc for your '69 Camaro. I think you'll find the options far greater than buying that new AR-II or PCB for your Atari cabinet.

Unfortunately, we are all involved in a hobby where very few reproduction parts, except for art work, are being produced. Without a few people willing to part out a cabinet now and then, none of our machines are going to survive.

One difference is that in the car hobby, people don't think twice about spending $60 on a reproduction piece of weatherstripping for a car that will be worth (book value, not that they could find a seller) $20k. A mint Centipede would be under $1000 and a nice would sell for around $500. It's not easy for people in this hobby, myself included, to let go of $100 for reproduction side art. I don't think it's fair to even compare this to the car hobby. I restored a car and it's a money pit. Also, auto restoration drags out so long that you tend to lose track of what you've even spent.

 

[jphillip5]

One difference is that in the car hobby, people don't think twice about spending $60 on a reproduction piece of weatherstripping for a car that will be worth (book value, not that they could find a seller) $20k. A mint Centipede would be under $1000 and a nice would sell for around $500. It's not easy for people in this hobby, myself included, to let go of $100 for reproduction side art. I don't think it's fair to even compare this to the car hobby. I restored a car and it's a money pit. Also, auto restoration drags out so long that you tend to lose track of what you've even spent.

So, if you spent $250 - $300 for fair Centipede cabinet, restored it by dumping another $250 - $300 in parts into it and sold it for $1,000 it's not a fair comparison? That's a pretty good return on investment, regardless of whether it's a classic car or a arcade cabinet. (Yeah, I know, $1,000 is on the exteme high side).

I can tell you to the penny what I've spent on my $100 Centipede cabinet, not including my time. I can tell you, if I sell if for $1,000, even $600, I'll make a healthy profit. Yeah, I bought a part from someone who was parting out a Centipede cabinet as the part I needed from my original cabinet was soaked in mouse piss. To him I say, "thank you".

Edited to add - I'm not advocating tearing apart cabinets and burning them, especially under threat. There's a place for part outs in this hobby, just like there is in any hobby. Let's not lose sight of the fact that it is a hobby, not a way of life!

 

[BeagleBoy]

One difference is that in the car hobby, people don't think twice about spending $60 on a reproduction piece of weatherstripping for a car that will be worth (book value, not that they could find a seller) $20k.

Actually, most of us classic car owners put way more money into our cars than they're worth. Of course, my wife would say I put way more money into my arcade games than they're worth...

(Oh, and weatherstripping for my Galaxie runs about $500. Haven't done it yet, but I probably will. I'm pretty sure I know what the wife will say about that, too....)

 

[joeycuda]

Actually, most of us classic car owners put way more money into our cars than they're worth. Of course, my wife would say I put way more money into my arcade games than they're worth...

(Oh, and weatherstripping for my Galaxie runs about $500. Haven't done it yet, but I probably will. I'm pretty sure I know what the wife will say about that, too....)

Ha..well you know. I meant $60 for one piece, like the trunk weatherstripping. Yeah, I probably have close to $500 in weatherstripping on my car. I agree on the value thing.. Basically cost of restoration project > appraisal value > what you could actually sell it for.

 

[BeagleBoy]

Ha..well you know. I meant $60 for one piece, like the trunk weatherstripping. Yeah, I probably have close to $500 in weatherstripping on my car.

Doh! I should've realized I didn't need to explain to someone with "cuda" in their username....

 

[sosage]

Turn it into a tron.

Ba boom pssssssht!

 

[Dokert]

Sack up and crush that nasty ass cab.