you know what...I got schooled

darkcat1

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I'm not blaming the ebay seller but I'm real new at this and I'm sure I got schooled on my first cab witch is a gauntlet conversion to a 4 player Xmen. I got it thinking that it was a minor issue of loose wires since it seems to sorta work(but not really...it displayed so...) and wound up with a water damage cab that had to be completely rewired. I don't know jack about wiring so I found a repairman and it wound up costing $160 to fix.(this is on top of $300 shipping and the $200 for the cab)

have you ever gotten something that looked easy but turned out to be a mess? I'd like to know that I'm not alone
 
It's worse when you have a lot of experience with repairs, see the problems right off and think, "I know exactly what the problem is", then end up spending months fixing it because it wasn't the simple fix that 99 out of 100 would have been with that exact same problem.

You're only mistake was buying it off of Ebay and their pics. I'll bet you could have spent that $500-660 and found one within driving distance that was in better shape and worked when you brought it home...
 
Lesson learned. I've been stung a few times before too.

Now I practice a few rules of restraint:

1. Buy in person. It's only way to see what you're getting into. Even pics can be deceiving. You have to lay your hands on it first.

2. I don't ship cabs. If I can't find what I want locally, I'll wait until I find it. For $300 I can get some nice stuff locally.

3. I don't call repairmen. I taught myself to be the repairman. But then, I like this hobby, and I like learning how to fix things myself. If I can't fix it myself, I find someone who can and work out a deal with them. Everyone wins, including my wallet.
 
Hah,

Yea man, I'll chime in on this. I notice we have about the same amount of posts, and the same number of machines. I'd bet that you and I both fall into the "gaining our sea-legs" level of collecting.

My first 3 cabs were a Main Event converted to an MK3 (the "grail" game I wanted), a horribly beaten up and painted black Millipede (converted into Bad Dudes), and a highly sun faded Operation Wolf.

I was 19, I let them sit in storage for two years, paying $80 bucks a month. In the end, I tossed them in the dump after pulling the MK3 board.

So many regrets.

I thought the Main Event cab was the same as the TMNT/Simpsons, and that I would be able to convert it to a dedicated game...wrong. Cab was different, and art was not available at the time, even if it wasn't.

Millipede, at the time Phoenix Arcade had not ran the front art, and Archer McLean (Yes the awesome one) was slowly tackling the side art for his personal cab. I was in somewhat monthly contact with him for a year or so, but he was in no rush. He was doing an awesome job, but it was going to cost a pretty penny coming from the UK.

At some point, I realized that it would be best if all the art came from the same place. Phoenix Arcade had no interest in doing the sides if Archer was already messing with it, and Archer's cab had a great front with no issues. To this day, no one sells the sides, and Archer got out of the whole art business. I of course found out that Millipede art isn't in high demand, as most folks will Multi-pede a Centipede cabinet if they care about the game. Sadly I prefer the Millipede cab's art, but the cab seems less common overall.

With the cost of storage, and the lack of art, I tossed this cab (still regret it) without stripping the parts that many around here could have benefited from.

Operation Wolf, yea, was never going to find replacement art. Still think it does not exist. Again, I should have stripped the parts for someone with a better cab.

So, yes, I have my many regrets.

However, in my mid/late 20's I figured out what I just read someone on the forums call "Phase 2", where you stop buying games to have games, and start buying games you care about.

I found my "Grail" Dedicated MK3 cab, in Tuscon for $80 bucks, a 12 pack of Bud, and a bag of In-N-Out burgers.

A buddy of mine at work who is a little older than me knew I was into collecting and hit me up one day. Said he had a couple of cabs he got off an old buddy who ran an arcade back when he was right out of high school. Was cool with selling them to me for $250. I grabbed a nice Missile Command Cabaret (my mom's favorite) and a little game called Dragon's Lair. Awesome. I swore to him to never sell the DL, not that difficult of a request. :D

After a while I wanted the full size MC, and someone posted a cab on CL for $100. It wasn't working. I figured I could swap guts from the cabaret to remedy that. Got it home, found out it was a loose cable on the power supply. whole cab works. Picked up Takeman's CP repro...sweet. Still need to order the side art.

Traded cabaret to Jawhn for a Pac-Man cocktail table "project" I'm working on atm.

Point is, hobbies like this are kind of like poker. You have to lose some hands to learn how to play. I'll never buy a cab again that I haven't already sourced artwork for. I ALWAYS verify if the machine is original or a conversion of something else before I buy. Most importantly, I aim for games I care about, and have skipped over many great deals because of it.

Ultimately if you're in it for the long haul, try to look at the mistakes as the cost of learning, and don't make the same one twice.
 
Yeah, there's always a few like that. But keep at it and you will get better at recognizing good deals and better and fixing them yourself. The guys on here are an amazing resource and seem to always be willing to help out even if you are a complete knucklehead at this stuff like I am. Don't feel bad....it's a right of passage.
 
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