Price and Difficulty of finding Atari Star Wars?

[SoulBlazer]

One of my all time fav arcade games is the old vector game Star Wars from Atari. Not just cause I enjoy Star Wars, but it was a fun game to play and really drew you into it.

 

Sadly, although it's been tried many times, I've never found a home console port of the game that does it justice. The main problem is that the controller/joystick can't replace the unique control stick that the arcade game used.

 

I've heard over the years that these games are prone to develop serious problems and/or breakdowns and it can be hard to keep one in running order.

 

I was giving serious thought to buying one and had some questions:

 

1) How hard is it to find one in working order?

2) How hard is it to repair and/or KEEP one in working order?

3) What should I expect to pay for a working one? Either sit-down or stand up?

4) What could I expect to add for shipping?

5) What's the chances of getting one of thee upstairs some stairs into a second floor apartment?

[DE2600]

One of my all time fav arcade games is the old vector game Star Wars from Atari. Not just cause I enjoy Star Wars, but it was a fun game to play and really drew you into it.

 

Sadly, although it's been tried many times, I've never found a home console port of the game that does it justice. The main problem is that the controller/joystick can't replace the unique control stick that the arcade game used.

 

I've heard over the years that these games are prone to develop serious problems and/or breakdowns and it can be hard to keep one in running order.

 

I was giving serious thought to buying one and had some questions:

 

1) How hard is it to find one in working order?

2) How hard is it to repair and/or KEEP one in working order?

3) What should I expect to pay for a working one? Either sit-down or stand up?

4) What could I expect to add for shipping?

5) What's the chances of getting one of thee upstairs some stairs into a second floor apartment?

Great questions.

Not very hard at all to find one in working order. It's all about the money.

Dave Murdza (arcade repair guy) who has helped me with my machines, says "Star Wars is a very durable machine". The part that will likely go bad is the the flight yolk and not the board.

As far as your other questions I guess it would depend on your area. My best guess would be anywhere from $900 -$1500 for a working stand up and WAY more for a sit-down. Freight shipping is anywhere from $300 to $600 in the states. And I would suggest getting a friend or two to help you get it up the stairs. Shipping is usually to your driveway only. You would have to call the shipping company on that one.

[Dionysius]

Are they still available in Europe???

 

Gr.

Edited January 28, 2011 by Dionysius

[Crazy Climber]

Star Wars is still a pretty desirable game. They haven't really had the "crash" in prices that coin-ops have had lately. As far as repairs go everything is replacable. You should be able to swap out parts yourself rather easily. Just as long as you don't buy a basket case non working game that you have to troubleshoot back to life you should get some warning when something is going out on it. You WILL have to repair something at one point if you plan on keeping it around for a while, thats just the case for every arcade game. They are old and shit breaks, plain and simple. The monitor is what I worry about with Vector games, they are a little harder to find replacements for and I personally prefer to just swap monitors rather than repair broken ones. Much easier and less dangerous

Oh..price? I wouldn't go higher than $800 for a stand up. Cockpit's (sit down) have reached the "untouchable" status. Not only are they several thousand dollars you have to actually find one for sale