WTB Various Vids & Pins in Phoenix area: MVS, Williams, Atari

Mike Valmike

Well-known member

Donor 2012, 2014
Joined
Aug 19, 2012
Messages
1,577
Reaction score
26
Location
Arizona
Rating - 100%
5   0   0
WTB Various Vids & Pins in Phoenix area: MVS, Williams, Atari

Hi folks,

[Please read at least once to understand what we're trying to buy and why. The list of games we want is at the bottom. List updated February 2, 2013.]

So, my M.O. at my vintage arcade and game store, Desert Sky Games, has been to do the restores myself and occasionally flip games. But business has picked up beyond my capability of keeping up with it. Now that we've got a better idea what gets played, we want to set our sights on getting some PERMANENT keepers, games we'll only sell at a price nobody should pay. A month ago we had 13 units on the wall, and we're down to 7 right now. Seven!!! And we have two in the workshop and I have NO time to work on them. Flipping has been so easy lately that we've let ourselves run low on gas!

So what I am offering is this. I am going to list the units we want. I won't list prices, those we can negotiate if you have it for sale. But I will save you some frustration by saying: We are willing to give decent value on these. Not retail, but we won't grind you down to typical KLOV pricing expectations. You're helping me; I'm going to return the favor. Fair is fair.

Now, since we're willing to pay, we need to have units that work 100% and that are reasonably clean and sharp looking. They don't have to be Fizgig-perfect cosmetically but they need to have no significant work to be done. We're finding out that our dedicated units with complete sideart and great controls, get played MUCH more, add a lot to the aesthetic of DSG, and basically enhance the gaming experience we set out to deliver. Whereas our bare-bones conversions earn poorly and get ignored. So in short, we are seeking those units that LOOK and PLAY WELL, but ARE NOT collector grade and so are NOT the ones YOU guys prefer for "keepers."

The last bit of the equation is this: We are finding ourselves with no time to go gather. If you are selling to us, you need to be able to deliver to DSG in Gilbert, Arizona (Phoenix suburb). Yes, we can absolutely help you unload. Yes, part of why we're willing to pay decently on these is because we want the stuff brought. We may have to trade some photos before we make a deal but once it's done, we need it here. Once it powers up and we know it works, we pay you money dollars and you drive off with a fat wallet and a smile. This requirement may limit our audience to folks who are either in AZ already, or who could potentially do one big road trip and bring multiple units. Clearly it won't make sense for you to eat up hundreds of $$$ shipping us a game from Ohio.

Sound good? Here is our wish list.

1. Neo Geo MVS original dedicated full-size
- We have a 161-in-1 cart for it so carts are not required. We would prefer it not be a 2-slot because of the PCB being directly beneath the control panel and thus subject to easy damage. Even the 1-slot unit will work, especially if it started out as a dedicated Metal Slug or Samurai Shodown unit. 4-slot is fine. But we want it to be clean and intact and have a great 25" display, and not be a conversion.

2. Multi-Williams in a Robotron or Joust cabinet with the multi-control panel.
- If we had a chance to build this ourselves we would stow the original parts to make it restorable. But we've seen the multi-Williams game in some of your arcade pics here and it really looks great. For ergonomic reasons we want to stay away from the Defender and Stargate cabs, and we're guessing MP and Bubbles are too rare to use for this. Sinistar is vertical. That leaves Robotron and Joust. Original cabinet art, as long as it's fairly intact, can be left exactly the way it is, we love it. We'd prefer a PCB that correctly handles coining up between games, whether the JROK or ASD one.

3. Asteroids or Asteroids Deluxe upright, with the forthcoming multi-vector board, with a control panel to match. Obviously nobody will be able to get us this just yet. But we want to run it. I have no expectation that we could build a color vector treasure trove -- that's collector stuff, most of my players won't see the value in it and won't be interested. If a color vector multi comes out at some point we'll assess that when it happens. You guys can have no fear that another collector is out to snipe your Gravitars and Black Widows and Quanta in the wild. But for what should be a fairly cost-effective B&W vector, hell yeah. There are several Asteroidses in the PHX area right now but their owners want a king's ransom for them, and that ain't happening.

4. 720 Degrees. A personal grail of mine, because emulation just doesn't cut it on this title.

5. Tournament Cyberball 2072 4-player dedicated. Another grail.

6. A clean Ms. Pac-Man or Galaga we could drop our multi-vertical board into. We have the homearcade control panel with the stick, three buttons, and trackball. It works great and our players love it. Our current cabinet is a real fixer upper, though, and I've got some customers interested in taking it home and sanding it down to blank and starting from scratch. I'd like to let them. Since our multi-vertical is our #1 earner right now, we have to replace it before we let it go.

7. Dance Dance Revolution 2-player, MAX2 or newer. We don't want to throw a whole pile of cash into this one but we've got some players who dig it and there should be a cost-effective way to run Extreme 1 or 2 or something.

8. There are a few games we kinda sorta want at the right price, but these should not be considered priorities so our offer will be somewhat more modest. XYBots, Marble Madness, Tempest, Indiana Jones, and Championship Sprint.

9. Clean Yie-Ar Kung Fu. We have a guy who wants one as originally shipped, but it was kit only in the USA (per my question in the general sub-board). We have a marquee and PCB, in case you are missing either one, but otherwise they would just become spares. Still doesn't have to be collector-grade, but this one needs to be really sharp.

10. Down the line we'd like to get the pinballs Lord of the Rings, TRON Legacy (doesn't have to be LE), Star Trek TNG, Star Wars Trilogy (the '97/'99ish one), and Avengers (doesn't have to be LE). However we don't usually throw around that volume of cash on coin-op buys except once in a great while. If you have one of these you'd like to unload, let me know what kind of deal you'd be willing to work out. I know a couple of these are still available brand new but we'd rather get them aftermarket for less with modest wear, as long as they're 100% functionally and not torn up cosmetically.

BTW anyone who is interested in trading their equipment (vid or pin) for Magic: the Gathering cards... I can make you a deal you will NOT be unhappy with. You can be sure of that. :)
 
Back
Top Bottom