Wizard of Wor?

smass

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Hi, I have been a lurker on this forum for a while. First post so a bit about myself. I grew up in the 80s and was mainly a PC game, console game guy. I visited arcades often enough and I have a computer tech background. I got into emulation a few years ago and have built a couple of upright MAME machines. I am now looking to start working on restoration projects to build out a 6-8 cab collection.

A friend of my wife's has a working Wizard of Wor. Its been in his house for a decade or so and appears from the pictures to be in good shape. He claims everything works on it. I would assume that its possible the monitor will need a cap kit and it will need some general cleaning up.

I am not a particular fan of the game, but the artwork is really cool and its an early midway. If I can get it for a good price I may just clean it up and keep it - or offer it in trade for something I really want.

He floated a price of $500 for it. What is a reasonable price to offer do you all think? :)
 

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Make sure wizard's voice and all three speakers are working. There are separate volume pots for each of the speakers inside coin door. If it's not a must have game for you I would offer $400 and see what happens, it is worth what he is asking if he's firm on price.
 
Fully working and in good original shape ... $500 is a fair price, but not a "bro" price IMHO. It also depends on location.
 
I'd grab it for that if fully working. I have one and just played the other night with a buddy. You can play together or fight each other. 2 player action on games adds value imo.
 
The game can have graphic issues and still look like it's working. Very common to have a bad ram on one if the 2 ram cards.

So play test it. Make sure the joysticks work correctly as it has 3 point leafs. Investigate it as 1 joystick looks like it has a slightly different shaft.

If it's missing a color, that could be really bad.

Make sure you hear left right and center channels.

$500 is a very good price for fully working.

I forget if wow has a glass of plexiglass monitor plexi. Don't clean it with windex. If it's plastic, you need a plastic safe cleaner.
 
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Wizard of Wor is the kind of came where a dedicated machine is so much cooler than what you have probably tried on MAME.

Try to get it for $400 and keep it around a while. I bet you'll love it.
 
I have a Wizard of Wor that I got from a guy locally who kept it in immaculate condition in his house.

Its the sister game of Gorf, so if you get this game, you will want Gorf as well...parts are somewhat interchangable...(aforementioned RAM cards, and great for testing)

It talks so that makes it cool to me....the game is so so..not bad, but average I would say...but I like the talking....;)
 
The game can have graphic issues and still look like it's working. Very common to have a bad ram on one if the 2 ram cards.

So play test it. Make sure the joysticks work correctly as it has 3 point leafs. Investigate it as 1 joystick looks like it has a slightly different shaft.

If it's missing a color, that could be really bad.

Make sure you hear left right and center channels.

$500 is a very good price for fully working.

I forget if wow has a glass of plexiglass monitor plexi. Don't clean it with windex. If it's plastic, you need a plastic safe cleaner.

Thanks for the tips. I will take a look at it before making a firm offer. If its truly working 100% I will go to $400 and see if he wants rid of it. If it has anything but minor issues I will probably pass.

And agreed with another poster - if its in good working order I will probably keep it. I played a lot of Gorf back in the day so going after the duo would be interesting. :)
 
WoW is not the most groundbreaking game, but it is a super fun head-to-head game to play over and over with a few friends. You can help each other out and try to get the highest combined score or be total cut throat and really try to win. It's not hard to learn how to play so it's a pretty quick learning curve for your friends.

So I agree that you should buy it, play it for a few years, then sell it and get your $500 back. That's often how dedicated games work. :)

Also, there's a test ROM out there that you can buy and if something starts acting up, you drop that in and it'll help you figure out what component died.
 
I love the game as it gets super fast & all u can do is find a "safe" spot & fire as fast as u can. & when the Wizard pops out randomly it's cool when you get him!
 
First off, add your city/state to your profile.... chances are, if you pass it up, a fellow collector will jump on it.

My input:

This hobby is really about collecting the games you love and enjoy playing. That's what it boils down to. However, there are "undiscovered gems" in vintage gaming. It's quite possible that once you've got it, you'll fall in love with it. Really, you won't know if you don't try.

Any issues with it should be easily handled, especially with the level of technical wizardry around here. If you can handle a soldering iron, you're well on your way.

Depending on your area, $500 could be a very reasonable(if not outright "good") price. Another reason why location is important. Honestly, I don't know anywhere that $500 is a "OMG! This idiot thinks he's sitting on a gold mine!" price.
 
Okay - so I was a little aggressive and offered $300. I expected to get counter offered around $400, but he took the $300 offer. The machine belonged to his partner who passed away a few years ago, and he just wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate it and he didn't want to go through the bother of posting on ebay or CL and dealing with strangers.

So at this price, I am taking it as is. He powered it up and says everything is working - at this price if I arrive and there are some small issues I am not going to worry about it.

I am picking it up this weekend so I will post some better pictures and a run down of any issues next week. Thanks for your input everyone - I am excited! :)
 
Okay - so I was a little aggressive and offered $300. I expected to get counter offered around $400, but he took the $300 offer. The machine belonged to his partner who passed away a few years ago, and he just wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate it and he didn't want to go through the bother of posting on ebay or CL and dealing with strangers.

So at this price, I am taking it as is. He powered it up and says everything is working - at this price if I arrive and there are some small issues I am not going to worry about it.

I am picking it up this weekend so I will post some better pictures and a run down of any issues next week. Thanks for your input everyone - I am excited! :)

Wow. I'd have to say you got a "Bro" price there, even if it does have some issues. Well done!
 
Well - picked it up today. I am going to work on it a bit tonight and take some pictures. Its not working currently. I arrived and he attempted to get it working - marquee and power to monitor but no game. I told him given it could be anything I would only go $200 and he took it.

So I am going to need some help with this one....

But for the price I am looking at it as my restoration baptism of fire... :)
 
first thing, buy the arcadeshop power supply. don't mess with the boards! don't clean or reseat chips. power first. if you can meter the linear power supply then check it for voltages. if not, just swap the power supply and see where you are at.

http://www.arcadeshop.com/i/931/midway-power-supply-kit-2.htm

take a pic of the monitor pcb. you will probably have to recap it. could be wells 4600 or 4900 or electrohome g07.

wizard of wor is not the easiest game to work on. so take it slow and ask questions. there is a safety interlock on the front door. the boards should slide out through the front.
 
Thanks for the power supply link. I went ahead and ordered it. I am just working on cosmetics for now until that comes in.

Here is what happens when I power it up. Marquee light comes on. Monitor comes on, but only has some colored dots and what vaguely looks like text - too fuzzy to make out. No sounds coming from the game at all.

The monitor is a Wells Gardner 19K4616. I attached some pictures of the back of the monitor and the boards. Everything looks intact and completely original.
 

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