Value of repo cabs vs. orginal?

nutballchamp

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The Cliff Hanger thread got me curious what my Cliff Hanger is worth. My Cliff Hanger is all fake but 99% accurate to the original and all mint. The pc boots and all the lights turn on with the cabinet switch. Boots straight into Daphne Cliffhanger with minimal Windows logos. Is a less mint cab that's original worth a little more or a lot? Aren't all these games going to be emulated at some point do to laser rot?

What about other repo cabs/artwork in the works? Quantum, Star Wars?

My repo Cliff. It's the only non-original game in my Arcade.
Cliff1.jpg
 
Personally, I wouldn't want a cabinet that was repossessed. :)

Yeah, yeah. I'm a dick.

Seriously though, I would think a Cliff Hanger would be worth quite a bit less without the original laserdisc hardware and guts. On the other hand, I'd imagine that emulation on these are probably spot on.
 
IMO, collectors want as much to be original as possible. Personally, for my collecting, the cab and boards need to be original. For me new monitors, power supplies, and repRo artwork (as long as it is a good repro) are just fine. Crazy laser collectors that pay huge bucks probably want everything original.

Repro cabs can get nice money for a game with name value to the average joe that has no idea of the value. Galaga and Ms Pac for instance.

I would think yours is worth the cost of what it took to make.
 
If you sell it to anybody here, my guess is you'd take a 25-50% hit off of what you would get for a comparable condition "original" machine. If you sell it to a "casual" gamer, probably much less of a deal. Problem being I don't know any casual games who have even heard of Cliff Hanger...
 
as long as it's 99% accurate, i'd rather have what you do than a 30 year old unreliable setup, that has a laser rot expiration date on the disc. Value? worth the same in my opinion, if not more for being mint.
 
Cliff Hanger is so unusual and unpopular that a guess on the value would be just a wild guess, repro or original. If you could find a buyer at all would be the better question, rather than its "value".

For more popular games like Star Wars or Tron, I'd say the value of a mint repro would be very high, similar or the same as a near mint original. I wouldn't care if it were original or not if it looked like it were brand new. Tron or Star Wars? $1000-2000 if a very nice repro. Of course the cost to build a repro of those games would probably be even higher.

Wade
 
I may build a "replica" Quantum one of these days.

I'm wondering though..let's say the cabinet is an exact copy of the original, the sides copied from a similar cabinet with a flush trim bit, blocking exactly the same, every cut identical:

How would materials used affect the perceived value to a collector?

The original cabinet was made of particle board, but what if the replica cabinet was built from 3/4" birch ply, which is a superior material in just about every way. It would be covered in the sideart on the outside and black vinyl on the other side, so you wouldn't necessarily even be able to tell. On a reproduction cabinet for a higher dollar game, would the picky collector, ok with it being a new cabinet, prefer the original inferior materials?
 
i am doing the quantum repro cabs in particle board, melamine actually. It is extremely close to the original, from 5 feet away you can't tell. 6 inches away, you can tell by the minor texture it's melamine and not heat laminated film. Quantum, black widow, gravitar, are identical cabinets, with the exception of 4 pieces. only 1 of which is exposed, and it's under the control panel.

You have to use original parts even on a repro. Even if it's just a coin door. most people reuse all the metal cabinet parts they can.
 
The Cliff Hanger thread got me curious what my Cliff Hanger is worth. My Cliff Hanger is all fake but 99% accurate to the original and all mint. The pc boots and all the lights turn on with the cabinet switch. Boots straight into Daphne Cliffhanger with minimal Windows logos. Is a less mint cab that's original worth a little more or a lot? Aren't all these games going to be emulated at some point do to laser rot?

What about other repo cabs/artwork in the works? Quantum, Star Wars?

My repo Cliff. It's the only non-original game in my Arcade.
Cliff1.jpg


while original is great and nice. I personally don't care if a game is remanufactured as long as it looks and feels like the real thing. Oddly enough I don't like fake boobs. Eventually they'll all be running on mame or somekind of repro board... how long can these old boards hold out? 30 years plus is a very long life for something that had a 30 day warranty 30 years ago.
 
i am doing the quantum repro cabs in particle board, melamine actually. It is extremely close to the original, from 5 feet away you can't tell. 6 inches away, you can tell by the minor texture it's melamine and not heat laminated film. Quantum, black widow, gravitar, are identical cabinets, with the exception of 4 pieces. only 1 of which is exposed, and it's under the control panel.

You have to use original parts even on a repro. Even if it's just a coin door. most people reuse all the metal cabinet parts they can.

I only have 2 concerns about building a new cabinet, using particle board, and neither should be an issue in a HUO, climate-controlled environment: swelling from moisture, as Atari cabinets have tended to do, and not being as durable when it comes to the edges getting nicked.
 
Personally I don't think the cab being a reproduction would devalue it much if at all. It's the fact that it's basically got a computer rather than the original laser disk and other hardware that would devalue it IMO. Yes I know the computer should be less likely to fail and especially in the case of a LD game it should be 100% accurate if not actually quicker to respond than an original with regards to controls and finding scenes. With regards to LD games this is probably truly an upgrade yet not being original would still mean it's not worth as much in most collectors eyes.
 
Anybody that knows the game well enough to want it in their collection is probably going to want it original with a working laser player. I'm not into laser games but if I was, that is how I would want it.
 
The innards being the same will net you a lot more but the cabinet itself should go up in value for being new and sparkly among your average buyer. There are some hardcores, mainly in the hobby, that would prefer originals but to have something that looks better than any originals could without serious restoration is going to appeal to the "retail" buyer.

As someone who was once a "retail" buyer and has one repro cab, their first (a Ms Pac/Galaga frankenstein), I can attest to this. Hell, mine is far from original running a fairly rare 3 in 1 multiboard from 2001 but I didn't care. I'd like to replace the joystick eventually but it still suits me pretty well. Wouldn't pay what I did then again but happy to own it. :D
 
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I'm usually picky about a game being original but Cliff Hangers were going for $4k at the time the repos were available. Mine came in a little under $1k after I was done so defiantly worth it to me. It's probably the one game in my arcade I feel best about as it looks great and I have no worries about it breaking down. If I would have found an original Cliff for less than $1,500 I probably would have bought it instead of the repo. Glad I didn't as I much rather have a reliable laser game. It looks and plays exactly like the real thing, after the Windows logo goes away :).
 
I have seen BattleZone, Star Wars and other games using computers rather than their original parts. If it is known, it will devalue the game to collectors, but not the average home buyer. That being said, many laser collectors, including myself, understand the orignial laserdisc players are just not solid or reliable any more (some even from the factory). One of my laserdisc games uses an adaptor and a newer laserdisc player, but I do also have the original, non-working unit. My other game has an original laserdisc player and I would prefer to use something newer so the game is reliable all the time.

The question is... Do you want to play the game or have a laserdisc game that is original, but non-playable? If you can get both, that is an absolute plus, but not always reasonable/doable.

Scott C.
 
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