Lol me too! Legendary!
The connection is, the same fate that befell those poor games also hit poor Star Trek. Dying a painful death only to become a multigame covered in garfield stickers. Don't buy games you don't want or have no intention of leaving whole, there's just too many empty or converted cabs out there to multigame without killing classics. There's just no reason to do it. Sad when a game like Star Trek makes it 25 years in one piece and good shape and then gets parted, painted and pimped for a buck.
I think there are some gross generalizations being made here, with very little knowledge or facts. The Garfield game was a converted, falling apart, water damaged Stargate cab that I got off CraigsList when no one else wanted it. It took a lot of work to remove the damaged parts, Bondo, sand and repair the game. Had I not converted it into a Multigame, I am pretty darn sure it would be sitting in the dump, or have gone up in smoke, instead of being appreciated and played in someone's home. Could I have converted it back to a Stargate? Sure. But I would never have gotten anything close to what it would have cost me in money or time, which means it wouldn't have happened.
Whether you purists like it or not, a lot of classics still exist today BECAUSE someone took the time and effort to convert them to a Multigame. So now instead of sitting in a dump somewhere, they are being played and appreciated as a thing of value. Kids are playing the classics and enjoying them, potentially bringing new people into the hobby.
Most of the games I buy to convert to a Multigame are broken and damaged. The few times I have bought a game that is in good shape, I have either traded it to someone for a game in worst condition, or kept it in original condition as much as possible, while converting it to a Multigame. (Jim? Can I get an Amen to that?)
Now as far as the Star Trek is concerned, my feelings on the issue is that it is a friggin wood grain cabinet, like Frogger or Zaxxon. Yes, it has side art, but otherwise there is no value in the cabinet that I can see whatsoever. If it were a Star Wars, it would be a different issue. In my mind, it is like someone complaining because you take out an original monitor and replace it with a new one. Sure it looks better, runs better and is more reliable, but it isn't original. How silly.
So Pork, I asked what the connection was between parting out the Star Trek and the Garfield game, not because I was "playing dumb", but because I wasn't sure if you were trying to be funny, sarcastic, or what. But in any case, I don't think you know enough about whom I am, or what I do to make assumptions such as the ones stated above in a public forum.
I could make the argument that by taking a beaten up damaged Pacman, making it look new, converting it to a Multigame, and selling it to someone for $2k as a thing of value, that I am doing more to benefit the hobby than any collector who simply hordes games for themselves, and criticizes anyone for taking arcade collecting to the next level. But then this wouldn't be the correct place for that argument. Maybe we can start a new thread under DISCUSSION.
