Would You Pay More for 'Perfect' or 'Authentic'?

Wundercade

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On eBay there are a few vendors that sell brandnew cabinet knock offs of some of the classics with generic coin doors and lcd monitors and onboard Jamma mutli-boards.

Which do you personally cough up the primo bucks for... a perfect looking pretender, or the genuine survivor warts and all? And if these pretenders are bringing these prices...then you'd think a real deal cab would be worth more....Just. Makes. No. Sense.
 
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depends what you mean by authentic, as i'm sure every KLOVer will have a varying definition

at what point does something become non-authentic? what percentage has to be "not from the factory"?

e.g., some KLOVers refuse to use new switching power supplies. does that mean if i touch up the paint, that it's now non-authentic?

i dunno ... i think some folks here can lose their minds over the quest for authenticity

and if your arcade cabinet has a soul ... you might wanna call a priest or the Ghostbusters or something ... that sounds 2spooky4me bruv
 
I see your point, but I meant 'authentic' as in...actually used to be an arcade game, and not fresh off a CNC machine. My amazement is that obviously they are getting the prices or they'd be out of business, so there are people willing to pay 1500.00 for something that resembles a classic, but never came from a real arcade manufacturer. I was thinking how absurd it is that something fresh off a CNC machine fetches more than its authentic counterpart.

depends what you mean by authentic, as i'm sure every KLOVer will have a varying definition

at what point does something become non-authentic? what percentage has to be "not from the factory"?

e.g., some KLOVers refuse to use new switching power supplies. does that mean if i touch up the paint, that it's now non-authentic?

i dunno ... i think some folks here can lose their minds over the quest for authenticity

and if your arcade cabinet has a soul ... you might wanna call a priest or the Ghostbusters or something ... that sounds 2spooky4me bruv
 
I see your point, but I meant 'authentic' as in...actually used to be an arcade game, and not fresh off a CNC machine. My amazement is that obviously they are getting the prices or they'd be out of business, so there are people willing to pay 1500.00 for something that resembles a classic, but never came from a real arcade manufacturer. I was thinking how absurd it is that something fresh off a CNC machine fetches more than its authentic counterpart.

If they aren't manufacturing the cabs themselves, then that blank bare cab is costing them ~$400. A new LCD is ~$200. Then add a new coindoor ~$100. CP, hardware, electronics, etc. It gets real pricey to build those brand new pretenders. I imagine the profit on the $1500 is slim, especially if they have a brick and mortar location.

But to answer the original question, I'd never buy one of those for my collection.
 
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Not worth the poor trees they took down to build them. I collect because of the good memories I had from childhood. No history or the funky smell that an old game has.
 
I personally don't see the difference, it's a piece of WOOD FFS.

The "magic" is in the hardware itself, and it's been proven time and time again that multi-boards are NOT identical. Give me original hardware including controls and we're good, I don't care what it's housed in.
This makes people taking old cabinets and putting 60-1's in them, make me scratch my head even more. You have an old POS cabinet AND inaccurate hardware? Why does anyone want this crap?

I'd rather have a nice new cabinet than some stinky beat up piece of shit...
 
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I'd rather have a game with security bar holes, vandalism and maybe even a little water damage before I'll bring an imposter into my home.
 
I'd rather have a game with security bar holes, vandalism and maybe even a little water damage before I'll bring an imposter into my home.

Ditto.

All my games are far from perfect and I doubt I'll restore any much further than they already are as long as they're all working and not falling apart. Gives the garage a more authentic feel
 
I have brand new games I made myself (with no soul :) ), and I worry all the time about scratches, dings, etc.

I have two cars. A awesome 10 year old daily Honda Accord, and a Sports car coupe. The Coupe is perfect. My Honda is cheap to repair, has hail damage, a cracked windshield, and just got rear ended two days ago and cracked the rear bumper. Guess which one I enjoy driving the most?

There's freedom in imperfection.....lots and lots of freedom.
 
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this is why i'll never bother with 100% restoring a game to off-the-factory-floor perfection.

it'd also (in its own weird way) be an eyesore, as the rest of my games - while having proper side art, dedicated-original cabs, no aesthetically major flaws - have their share of extra holes, dings, chips, scrapes, etc

I have brand new games I made myself (with no soul :) ), and I worry all the time about scratches, dings, etc.

I have two cars. A awesome 10 year old daily Honda Accord, and a Sports car coupe. The Coupe is perfect. My Honda is cheap to repair, has hail damage, a cracked windshield, and just got rear ended two days ago and cracked the rear bumper. Guess which one I enjoy driving the most?

There's freedom in imperfection.....lots and lots of freedom.
 
Gotta love the authentic stench of mildew, cat piss, cigarette smoke and dead carcass to boot.
 
sounds like my ex-wife. HEYYYY-OOOOOOH!

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Gotta love the authentic stench of mildew, cat piss, cigarette smoke and dead carcass to boot.
 
I'd say authentic. I prefer a game with some wear on it that plays well as opposed to one that's totally restored. I'd be so paranoid about the first nick or scratch it would drive me crazy.
 
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