The use of "mint" and "HUO" rant

john rainbo

Active member
Joined
Jun 2, 2008
Messages
1,314
Reaction score
7
Location
Illinois
The use of "mint" and "HUO" rant

I see people, mainly idiots I would guess, throwing around the words mint and HUO when selling arcade and pinball machines, and I think it's time we finally nip this in the butt.

Mint means MINT. As in, like it was just opened and there is NOTHING wrong with it. Perfect, in other words. I've bought games new that were NOT mint. Something wrinkled, bent, smudged. That's not mint, and it's new. To use the word mint so freely is idiotic. I almost don't believe that mint exists outside of super anal retentive owners.

HUO. What in the name of god do those letter stand for? Home Use Only. HUO is not okay to use when it's been in an arcade, then cleaned up (in a house.... wink wink). HUO means that thing has never seen an arcade/bar/laundry mat, or whatever. It's not okay to say HUO when it has been in a house for the last few years. The O stands for Only, not "lately". HUL? Fine.

And it's just plain insulting to the intelligence when people state these things, and you can clearly see in pics it's not either. Lock down bar is mint? NO. HUO? Why the fuck would you put a lock down bar in your own house?

So please, people... I'm sure your games are fairly nice, but for god's sake, don't lie about them to sell them. It would appear that vid sellers/collectors are far less anal than pin guys, so it's okay to use these terms more loosely. Don't. There are plenty of other adjectives in the english language to use that will get the point across more accurately.
 
Totally agree with not using these descriptions so freely but, arguably, mint does not necessarily mean perfect. Mint is as it came from the factory and, to your point, that may include blemishes. In some hobbies, such as coins, you can have a mint specimen with a blemish that actually makes it more valuable.

It's really just semantics until someone comes up with a standard for grading, and for arcade games, that's not likely. If I see mint or perfect in a description, there better be some detailed pix to back it up.

As for HUO, I guess the implication is that it hasn't been exposed to the abuse of being in an arcade or on a route but, frankly, I've seen some homes where the game would have been better off in the wild...
 
and I think it's time we finally nip this in the butt.
The saying you are reaching for is: "...nip this in the BUD", as in, "let's kill this thing that I don't like in its infancy before it blossoms into something we, as pissed off citizens, can't control".
 
The saying you are reaching for is: "...nip this in the BUD", as in, "let's kill this thing I don't like in its infancy before it blossoms into something we, as pissed off citizens, can't control".

Irregardless, this could be a blessing in the skies.





.
 
Yes, HUO only means it went straight from the factory to a house. It may have changed houses over the years, but was never in a commercial or public location.

It doesn't meant that it is perfect either.


Now, mint could mean never used. I have a few Ms. Pac manuals that were never pulled from the plastic bag they were put in on the back door at the factory. Never opened. Still might have a water stain or something depending one what the game went through. Technically it's mint because it was never used, and is perfect on the inside. I most likely wouldn't advertise it as so.

In fact, I never use words like "mint", "HUO, "perfect", etc when selling anything....
 
Hey... I have a mint HUO Pac Man with lock bar, faded side art and damn near white T-Molding for sale. Oh, and it has Centipede burn in...
 
Like we mentioned on the other thread, though, some games came from the factory with lock down bars. Nearly every williams pin from 95 on, for instance. Medevil Madness had a lockdown bar when it came from the factory, every single one of them.

I think most of the people that use the term mint and HUO so freely are people who have no clue what they're doing, they're not trying to be deceptive as much as they're being ignorant.
 
And yet another good reason to pipe in and say GET PICTURES WITH NO EXCEPTIONS!
I don't see HUO thrown around a lot but MINT is over used. Pictures help because people think MINT can be used because (here's a phrase I despise) for it's age it's very nice.

A scratch is a scratch and a a ding is a ding. I don't care if it happened in 1980 or yesterday. If this arcade has ANY blemishs it is no longer MINT.

I have a Yogi Berra baseball card with a rounded corner. Card is MINT .... duh.
 
And yet another good reason to pipe in and say GET PICTURES WITH NO EXCEPTIONS!
Pictures help because people think MINT can be used because (here's a phrase I despise) for it's age it's very nice.

When I describe a nice game I have, I often use the phrase "The game isn't mint, but it's very nice for it's age"

Whatcha think about that one?
 
I was just checking, what you said was a little unclear because you said "(here's a phrase I despise) for it's age it's very nice"

So I was trying to see if you didn't like that phrase, or didn't like it when they were talking about Mint.

I agree, if they say it's mint for it's age, that's b.s... but nothing wrong with saying a game is nice for it's age, if it isn't mint.
 
Haha - "nip this in the butt" he says!

I bet he wants an NBA Jambs.

- M1A

I blame that one on this show.

150px-MTV_Jams.svg.png
 
I see people, mainly idiots I would guess, throwing around the words mint and HUO when selling arcade and pinball machines, and I think it's time we finally nip this in the butt.

Mint means MINT. As in, like it was just opened and there is NOTHING wrong with it. Perfect, in other words. I've bought games new that were NOT mint. Something wrinkled, bent, smudged. That's not mint, and it's new. To use the word mint so freely is idiotic. I almost don't believe that mint exists outside of super anal retentive owners.

HUO. What in the name of god do those letter stand for? Home Use Only. HUO is not okay to use when it's been in an arcade, then cleaned up (in a house.... wink wink). HUO means that thing has never seen an arcade/bar/laundry mat, or whatever. It's not okay to say HUO when it has been in a house for the last few years. The O stands for Only, not "lately". HUL? Fine.

And it's just plain insulting to the intelligence when people state these things, and you can clearly see in pics it's not either. Lock down bar is mint? NO. HUO? Why the fuck would you put a lock down bar in your own house?

So please, people... I'm sure your games are fairly nice, but for god's sake, don't lie about them to sell them. It would appear that vid sellers/collectors are far less anal than pin guys, so it's okay to use these terms more loosely. Don't. There are plenty of other adjectives in the english language to use that will get the point across more accurately.
Don't forget to throw the use of the word RARE in there. I'm looking on craigslist the other day and this clown has a pinball machine listed as rare so I looked it up, 12,000 made now how is that rare.
 
People if you are getting this mad about an craigslist ad, ebay auction, or klov post that isn't YOURS you have no life. There will always be people that use terms like "Mint" or "HUO" that aren't to YOUR liking..doesn't mean you need to blow a gasket...in fact I find it funny that you would worry that much about what SOMEONE else is doing. If your as smart as you think you are you know yourself that it isn't "HUO" or "MINT" so its not like your getting screwed with a purchase. I always ask for pictures anyway and if I'm not satisfied with those I don't buy.

It seems more and more that klovers believe that their view on the collecting world is the only view that matters...well that just ain't the case, sorry to burst you bubble. Your always going to have people that either don't know what they have or find out that its not as valuable as what the thought or that its much more valuable than what they thought...SO WHAT! It seems to me that the ones who always bitch are the same ones who are tire kickers and never spend any money anyway and the complaining about description is your frustration because you can't get the seller (even an uneducated one) to sell you something for a buck. Just my rant!:D

Note to self...use "HUO" and "MINT" and don't forget "NOS" too in all future selling posts where I'm selling anything. :rolleyes:
 
I was just checking, what you said was a little unclear because you said "(here's a phrase I despise) for it's age it's very nice"

So I was trying to see if you didn't like that phrase, or didn't like it when they were talking about Mint.

I agree, if they say it's mint for it's age, that's b.s... but nothing wrong with saying a game is nice for it's age, if it isn't mint.

Sorry I left the smiley face off - kind of makes things look different than what was meant. Yep - if the phrase "for its age it's very nice" is used in conjuntion with the term "mint" I find that ridiculous.

Roadrunner - it's people discussing pet peeves and for what it's worth I NEVER tire kick anyone. I always pay what is fair and a common price because I hate it when people low ball and tire kick me. In fact I've personally traded a nice machine for a much lesser machine and was happy to do so because the KLOV member involved was happy. It's also a reason I only list auction links here instead of trying to sell.
 
Sorry I left the smiley face off - kind of makes things look different than what was meant. Yep - if the phrase "for its age it's very nice" is used in conjuntion with the term "mint" I find that ridiculous.

Roadrunner - it's people discussing pet peeves and for what it's worth I NEVER tire kick anyone. I always pay what is fair and a common price because I hate it when people low ball and tire kick me. In fact I've personally traded a nice machine for a much lesser machine and was happy to do so because the KLOV member involved was happy. It's also a reason I only list auction links here instead of trying to sell.

Deadly I'm happy for you and hope you sleep well at night now that we all know this. Its just not this thread this has been hashed and rehashed over and over and I come to same conclusion as I stated above..the only people bitching are the ones that can't get what they want for what they want to pay...the terms used are simply excuses to bitch...that is all!:D
 
Back
Top Bottom