My first arcade machine!

[Room 34]

As many of you know I mainly collect 2600 games, plus some 7800 and Intellivision stuff. Many may not know that I have owned a Williams "Taxi" pinball machine (1988) for about a year. (The thing has some board problems though... it came with ALL the wrong fuses so some resistors got fried before I caught on to what was wrong. I need to get them fixed soon. But I digress...)

 

Today I finally made the leap and acquired my first arcade coin-op video game. I went to the big arcade auction here in Atlanta and got myself a nice cocktail table Asteroids machine!

 

This was the first time I've ever participated in a "live" auction, so I wasn't sure what to expect. My friend and I got there a couple hours early to inspect the goods. I had my heart set on a cocktail Asteroids, and he wanted a cabaret Galaga or Ms. Pac-Man.

 

I managed to find ONE cocktail Asteroids at the auction, and it was a beauty... original cabinet and glass, great clear display, good controls and sound, overall in very good condition. The original Atari serial number sticker is even still on the cabinet! I noticed a lot of people checking it out early on so I was nervous, but when they finally started the bidding, it was down to just me and one other guy who wanted it, and he wasn't willing to bid much, so I got the thing for $550! I don't know a lot about the prices on these games, but it seemed like a pretty good deal to me.

 

My friend also had fairly good luck. There were, side by side, an original cabaret Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga, both in fairly good working condition. I nudged him when the bidding on the Galaga closed at only $625 without him placing a bid (chicken!) but I got him to bid on the Ms. Pac-Man. He got into a bidding war with another guy and it ended up closing at $775. Maybe a bit more than he should've paid but, hey, at least he got the thing!

 

I think we're both hooked now. When they come back in 6 weeks, we'll probably be there!

 

Last thing... the cabinet on my Asteroids is in very good condition, and the unit looked fairly clean, but I took some Orange Clean to it and MY GOD was it dirty. I did not know it was physically possible for anything to be so dirty. But it's (slightly) cleaner now, after an hour of scrubbing, a half bottle of Orange Clean and half a roll of paper towels!

[El Destructo]

Congratulations on your purchase! $550 is not exactly a bargain, I think. But, if it's in as good a condition as you say, it's a fair price.

 

I've owned a couple of Asteroids tables and really enjoyed them. I paid $200 at auction for the first one, and got the second from my neighbor's porch for $50! Needed a little repair, though.

 

For a while, I used one as a coffee table! It made a nice conversation piece.

[Room 34]

Congratulations on your purchase! $550 is not exactly a bargain, I think. But, if it's in as good a condition as you say, it's a fair price.

The opening bid was $500, so I wouldn't have been able to get it for much less unless no one had bid and they were forced to reduce it. Then again, a DEAD Asteroids Deluxe cocktail sold for $125 right after mine, so I don't know how likely a cheaper price would've been.

 

A place near here is selling a "very good" condition Asteroids cocktail like mine for $900 and a restored one for $1300, so all things considered it's probably the best deal I could've gotten around here.

 

What was the condition of the machine you got at auction for $200?

 

(Incidentally, I feel pretty good about the price I paid, because everything's relative... I'm pretty sure my friend overpaid on the Ms. Pac-Man cabaret, but compared to him, I definitely got a good deal.)

[jedijeff]

Congratulations on the purchase. You have just taken your first step

into a much larger world. Here's hoping you have the space : )

Like you said, price is relative. As long as you have fun that's all that

counts. Over the past 4 or 5 years prices for classic arcade games have really shot up. These days there are a lot more people that just want

that one arcade game they always loved. You just have to hope none of those people show up at an auction and want the same game as you.

Cheers.

 

Jeff

[ATARIPITBULL]

It is fun to have arcade machines in your house, but don't fall into the trap of wanting to buy more of them to quickly, before I knew what I was doing, I bought three machines for a total cost of $1200.00.

 

[DuckandCover]

Eventually, once I have my space problem ironed out, I want to take the plunge and purchase a couple of arcade machines. (My big ambition is Berzerk.) Meanwhile, it's just a matter of saving money. Congratulations on your purchase. All things considered, it sounds like you did well.

[Radioactive42]

Yeah it's very addicting. I'm up to 9 machines right now. The next one is going to have to go in the kitchen! Or I will have to get rid of a machine I don't touch too much anymore