Overloaded on 'freebie score!' threads...

ifkz

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What do you do after you've read too many stories here on KLOV about machines in your collection that other collectors have gotten for $50 at auction, or free out of a friendly operator's warehouse? It's driving me crazy...

Say I see a nice Asteroids Deluxe machine here from a collector for $300, I look auction sales/Exidy's price guide and see that is about right for the condition that it is in. I buy it. Then later some new member happens upon a carport with that same game. Or another one chimes in after meeting a friendly operator and getting the machine for free. Hey, it's just taking up space and worked the last time he plugged it in. Lately I feel like I'm the only collector that has hundreds of dollars in each of my games.

Seeing all these 'score!' threads really makes me want to quit reading because it makes me feel bad about the games I've picked up. And I know I've gotten some great deals while I've been at this.

Am I the only collector that's paid fair market value for most of my collection? Or is fair market value now $75 for all? (sarcasm)
 
In terms of arcade games I've never gotten an amazing deal but I only search about once a day and I've never contacted an operator.

Now I work in a second hand store and I look about every hour for console games and I see almost all of them come through so I have gotten some great deals.

From my experience the more time you spend searching the better the chances you'll find some great deal.
 
I think this is a hidden truth on KLOV.. For every SCORE or free one.. there are
a dozen or two sales occuring at avg prices. Whether those are KLOV, CL, or ebay prices. Sure their are a lot of cheapskates here but the one thing that seems to override cheapness around here is the desire to collect and collect.. especially unique things.

While I always try to get good prices when buying games.. there are quite a few that I paid 300, 400, 500, even 600 for. IMHO those are really good prices vs what you see on ebay or craigslist. Many came from other KLOV people. The games are in REALLY nice shape and require little to no restoration. Of could I have grabbed a a bunch of Sub $200 games as well.. Most of those still sit in my garage awaiting restoration. The others are in my basement being played.
 
everyone knows the saying: you get what you pay for

if its free it probably needs alot of work or isnt very good

usually the more you spend on a game the less you need to do
 
The two I just picked up were literally a race to be the first there with cash. I left work at 4pm and drove almost 3hrs to go get them. Plus it helped that the sellers were motivated because they are moving to AZ soon and just didn't want to haul the games..they also were not klovers as the guy told me the amount he paid ... he got royally screwed IMHO.

You gotta be ready to jump if you want the deals..if you hesitate someone else will beat you. I beat out a guy on this deal because I was ready to get them tonight.
 
First, it wasn't an A.D. I found in a carport, it was a mini Tempest :)

Seriously, though, I've had both kinds of luck. I found a working Track and Field for $50 and a mini Tempest for $80. I've bought a Pac-Man for $600.

I have noticed this- luck doesn't find me, I find it. I literally was looking all the time when I found those cheap scores. I look in every open garage/car port, and in all classifieds all the time. It's actually a bit of work to score a game for cheap.
 
First, it wasn't an A.D. I found in a carport, it was a mini Tempest :)

Seriously, though, I've had both kinds of luck. I found a working Track and Field for $50 and a mini Tempest for $80. I've bought a Pac-Man for $600.

I have noticed this- luck doesn't find me, I find it. I literally was looking all the time when I found those cheap scores. I look in every open garage/car port, and in all classifieds all the time. It's actually a bit of work to score a game for cheap.

i would tend to agree

im always searching, this is how i found the bw and defender pin, and the raid im working on as well as the re-import im trying to negotiate
 
I've passed over several games because they were too expensive, but have had my share of luck (boldness?) with games: like the Defender by the curbside with a broken monitor neck, the near perfect Lunar Lander at the Salvation Army store, the $50 SI and SID that just needed monitor adjustments and cleaning up, ... Oooops, now I've gone and poisoned your thread.
 
The biggest problem with the "great score" posts is that it does affect people's attitudes toward the perceived value of games and parts listed here for sale. We're all collectors (some are hoarders) and it's nice to score a great deal every once in a while but keep in mind that your great deal that you had to tell the KLOV world about can/will come back to haunt you. The search function here isn't that great but it does work.

Next time you're bored, use the search function to find all the "great score" games then watch what happens when that same person comes back weeks later trying to sell the same thing they've just dumped their wallet into in a failed attempt to make a few bucks on a resale or restoration. This exact scenario has happened here hundreds of times since i've been a member. All your work and money spent really doesn't account for much here, your a collector afterall, you want it cheap and you wanna do the work yourself.

The "great score" is purely a surface exclamation as far as i'm concerned, 98% of the time you will end up with a machine you've sunk hundreds into by the time you're done with it. New T-molding, a cap kit and hours of cleaning/prep/repair at a bare minimum just cost you well beyond your "great score" price. There really is no argument to this fact though somehow somebody here will find a way to twist this thread into some political or economy debate that has nothing to do with the original post.
 
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Thats why I only get em running. As long as the cab is fairly solid and it works..why bother with dumping cash into something you will never be able to recover.
 
Most expensive was 720 - $750 BIN ebay a few years ago

Recently been lucky.

A free cab, $28 Dollar DKJR, $30 Crime City (just sold for 275)
 
i used to get pissed about hearing how someone got another free game. the guy that lives next to me, he knows i have games he comes home one day with 5 games grand total of said games $0 i was like are you freaking kidding me? five free games all working all in pretty good shape he had a neo geo, Donkey kong, and three others i cant recall. but i was mad about it, i pouted like a little kid. than it hit me i should be happy for him and the rest of you that get the great score, i guess with the hopes that it could happen to me and also that these same people will pay it forward. i have never looked at this as a money making hobby it would be nice to get a little back but the way i see it is its just that a hobby so im happy for the guys that score the freebies and im hoping karma finds me one day.
 
I have been collecting close to 2 years now and only have 5 games. Why? Because I'm one of the cheapest collectors hear. On my 5 games, I have payed anywhere from $0 to $100 dollars for them originally. Getting "Awesome scores" simply takes time and a little luck.

But nothing is wrong with paying a fair market price for games. Like dc2010 said, you get what you pay for. For example, I picked up a 100% working Assault machine for $75. I consider that a pretty good deal - but the machine was no where near perfect. Here is a list of what it needed:

-Cap Kit
-Flyback replacement
-New Joysticks
-Possibly new control panel
-Bondo/sand/repaint
-t-molding
-Refinish hardware
-Marquee light fixture
-Marquee light

Now, if I would have payed fair market price for an Assault machine, I can guarantee it would not need so much work. I'm only in high school and can't afford to 100% restore my games, so I find a good median and stick with it. I like the chase and excitement of finding cheap games and fixing them on a budget.

But if I had the cash, I would have no problem paying a fair price for some of my grails (Moon Patrol, Gravitar, etc)
 
Thats why I only get em running. As long as the cab is fairly solid and it works..why bother with dumping cash into something you will never be able to recover.

Amen to that. These things never looked SPOTLESS when we played them in the arcades, why should we replace everything on them? I'd honestly rather prefer a game with less beautiful parts than one that has all reproduction parts. Battle scars are a sign of character ;)
 
I agree about the luck part, but it also depends on your friends. For example, my borther in law gave me a Pacman before moving to Texas because he was afraid it wont make the move. Another friend of mine remodels rent houses and found me an Asteriods for free, just haul it away. All my other games need work as well. In the 3 years I ahve been at this, I haven't paid top dollar for any of my game but they all need repairs. Not restoration bt repair. Restoration is a completely different thing to me. Restoration is done when they works. Its basically how much you want to spend and what you are willing to get yourself into. As soon as your friends now that you are into this hobby, they will find those freebies for you.
 
What do you do after you've read too many stories here on KLOV about machines in your collection that other collectors have gotten for $50 at auction, or free out of a friendly operator's warehouse? It's driving me crazy...

Say I see a nice Asteroids Deluxe machine here from a collector for $300, I look auction sales/Exidy's price guide and see that is about right for the condition that it is in. I buy it. Then later some new member happens upon a carport with that same game. Or another one chimes in after meeting a friendly operator and getting the machine for free. Hey, it's just taking up space and worked the last time he plugged it in. Lately I feel like I'm the only collector that has hundreds of dollars in each of my games.

Seeing all these 'score!' threads really makes me want to quit reading because it makes me feel bad about the games I've picked up. And I know I've gotten some great deals while I've been at this.

Am I the only collector that's paid fair market value for most of my collection? Or is fair market value now $75 for all? (sarcasm)

Luck favors the bold, are you being bold enough?

Actually, he's being picky. He keeps his games limited to one small gameroom or the garage, and has a list of stuff he wants and doesn't want.

ifkz - you know I give free stuff away from time to time. But if I called you and asked if you wanted a Chicago Coin Big League pitch & bat that doesn't work, you'd probably pass, right? So it goes to our other buddy. Right now you can have a Seeburg Entertainer jukebox that doesn't work and might have a few missing parts. Want it?

This is how free stuff happens. You don't get to choose the titles. You just have to decide to go get it. Then you can decide whether to fix it up and keep it, fix it up and sell/trade it, or trade it as a project for some other project that you DO want.

When you want specific titles at specific times, then you usually have to pay to get them...
 
Mod is right, when I find a game I want, I look at the prices a comparable game sold for and I cough up the money. I have a few cabs that were almost free but I sunk money by the hundreds into them to make them operational and nice. See my $400 Centipede.

I would like to see more threads about game xx bought from a member for a fair price. I just don't see very much of that anymore.

Maybe I'm just jealous of everyone else's freebie stories ;-P
 
i always keep telling you people your cabs aint worth much.when i convert your prices to english pounds you are getting your cabs dirt cheap.

hell!if i got the sum total of cabs that you paid for,got free or hauled from the warehouse for $50 i wouldnt be suprised if the average value of an arcade cab in minty condition was $100.

they always say,its only worth what someone will pay,well you deflated the prices of cabs by not wanting to pay big bucks and now when you buy a cab for $150,spend another $100 on it getting it minty you go sell and noone wants it and they want to pay same price you did.

alright having a basement with 50 cabs in it,when you total up the value you payed next to nothing.

we cant even find dedicated cabs here in uk like you lot,people want £100's for a banged up jamma with 60in1.

theres a couple of pacman cabs on ebay at the mo,one is at £296 last time i saw it and its banged up to hell and ontop it aint working,its not finished yet,go convert that to $'s and thats what things are like here,the other is at starting price of £499.

everything we have here in uk is worth 2x+ what you paid or would sell for on average.

i was lucky to get centipede for £400,thats $632 and that was a rare offering i snapped up,the guy posting earlier only payed $400.

your cabs are worth more money over here,you got cabs that we would be lucky to even see never mind have the oppertunity to buy.ask any englishman if what i say is right and they will tell you i am bang on.even our european neighbours are in pretty much the same boat but,someone from europe would know more about that.

you realy are lucky people when you get a cab for free that i would have to pay 100's of pounds for,you are lucky to get them for the prices you pay never mind free!
:)
 
Every once in a while someone gets a REAL "score", but in MOST cases the "cheap to free" games are either not in nice condition or will need a bit of work. I have spent TONS of money on games since I started collecting back in 1989, and RARELY have I paid less than $350, even for a project game. I DID recently score on picking up a "Big Blue" Capcom Qsound cabinet for $25, which I am doing a custom conversion on. So, in the end, I will have probably about 500 dollars in the game by the time it is all over with. And MOST of you would probably look at the game as-is and think that it is in really nice shape. At the same time that I purchased that $25 game, I also spent $3,000 on a few other games. If you average it out, it comes out to around $750 a game, but two of the games were newer twin racing machines (Outrun 2 and F355, both twins). My games have to look as if you have traveled back in time before I will put them into the collection in the gameroom. Of course, a lot of people on here only care about whether they work or not, and not about cosmetic condition...

Lee
 
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