Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)
Sorry this post went so long, I guess I rambled. bear with me! Firstly, off
topic...
I built my first MAME cab this past month for a whopping $83. It's not
pretty, but it functions:
http://www.dwarchive.net/arcade3.jpg (yes, still a little unfinished)
For those that care, the cab was free (old gutted Centipede cab, I think),
the old 19" PC monitor was $12, the Happs controls were $52 or so (shipping
included), and the rest was spent on odds and ends like joypads and the
innards (Pentium III 600 overlocked to 720Mhz, with 256 ram and 45GB
hardrive). I was forced to skip the trackball setup due to space issues (and
not wanting to rebuuild the whole water-damaged cab for a bigger control
panel).
Now, I told my step-brother I'd make him one as well, thinking his would be
a similar design. I even went so far as to order (and recieve) the Happs
controls, built a very similar PIII 600Mhz system, and planned on calling my
source for old cab shells... then I found it.
I went into the thrift store about 10 minutes before they closed to hunt for
ebay items, as I so often do. In the back room they had two beautiful shape
arcades! One was Mr. Do!; it worked (the worker there bragged that he fixed
it after tinkering inside for 2 hours, after which the manager slapped a
$250 tag on it instead of the $100 price it previously sported) though the
screen was badly out of alignment. The other was the original Konami TMNT
4-player arcade... aside from some slight wearing/chipping on the corners of
the control panel's paint, it was gorgeous. It was also $150, becuase the
guy "couldn't get it working." Long story short, I bought it. I picked it up
and brought it home the next day. After TURNING ON THE SWITCH (lol) the game
came right on and worked perfect. The screen needed a little alignment (I'm
sure the guy twisted a few things thinking he was "fixing" it) but that was
easy to cure. The only imperfection now is a light/dark issue caused by a
bad cap; I'm ordering a cap kit and getting that done ASAP. The kids have
been playing it all weekend.... ignoring my MAME arcade
Well, I guess I
understand why.
My question is this: I bought it first thinking it was broken, and it would
be the ULTIMATE easy MAME arcade conversion- just add some buttons, paint
it, and wire everything up. It never occurred to me I'd get it working 100%
so easily. The inside is even cleaner than the outside, if you can believe
it... it's truly "virgin." Never been hacked up, rewired... even had some
spare (new) coin return parts inside for replacements. I'm having a hard
time with the idea of hacking it all up for a MAME conversion. It's sort of
like using a perfectly working classic car for parts I could dump the
PCB and marquee on ebay for about $40-$50, maybe more if I included some of
the other bits and peices I strip off.... or I could try selling the whole
thing and just buy a very nice cheap empty shell that would be more "humane"
to MAME-ize I only worry that with local pickup only here in Utah
(shipping's pretty much out of the question) I won't get very much for it.
In that case, I might as well use it for MAME... see my dillemma?
I welcome any and all opinions. And offers, I guess, though that wasn't
really the point of this.
TIA!
CharredPC
Sorry this post went so long, I guess I rambled. bear with me! Firstly, off
topic...
I built my first MAME cab this past month for a whopping $83. It's not
pretty, but it functions:
http://www.dwarchive.net/arcade3.jpg (yes, still a little unfinished)
For those that care, the cab was free (old gutted Centipede cab, I think),
the old 19" PC monitor was $12, the Happs controls were $52 or so (shipping
included), and the rest was spent on odds and ends like joypads and the
innards (Pentium III 600 overlocked to 720Mhz, with 256 ram and 45GB
hardrive). I was forced to skip the trackball setup due to space issues (and
not wanting to rebuuild the whole water-damaged cab for a bigger control
panel).
Now, I told my step-brother I'd make him one as well, thinking his would be
a similar design. I even went so far as to order (and recieve) the Happs
controls, built a very similar PIII 600Mhz system, and planned on calling my
source for old cab shells... then I found it.
I went into the thrift store about 10 minutes before they closed to hunt for
ebay items, as I so often do. In the back room they had two beautiful shape
arcades! One was Mr. Do!; it worked (the worker there bragged that he fixed
it after tinkering inside for 2 hours, after which the manager slapped a
$250 tag on it instead of the $100 price it previously sported) though the
screen was badly out of alignment. The other was the original Konami TMNT
4-player arcade... aside from some slight wearing/chipping on the corners of
the control panel's paint, it was gorgeous. It was also $150, becuase the
guy "couldn't get it working." Long story short, I bought it. I picked it up
and brought it home the next day. After TURNING ON THE SWITCH (lol) the game
came right on and worked perfect. The screen needed a little alignment (I'm
sure the guy twisted a few things thinking he was "fixing" it) but that was
easy to cure. The only imperfection now is a light/dark issue caused by a
bad cap; I'm ordering a cap kit and getting that done ASAP. The kids have
been playing it all weekend.... ignoring my MAME arcade
Well, I guess I understand why.
My question is this: I bought it first thinking it was broken, and it would
be the ULTIMATE easy MAME arcade conversion- just add some buttons, paint
it, and wire everything up. It never occurred to me I'd get it working 100%
so easily. The inside is even cleaner than the outside, if you can believe
it... it's truly "virgin." Never been hacked up, rewired... even had some
spare (new) coin return parts inside for replacements. I'm having a hard
time with the idea of hacking it all up for a MAME conversion. It's sort of
like using a perfectly working classic car for parts
I could dump the PCB and marquee on ebay for about $40-$50, maybe more if I included some of
the other bits and peices I strip off.... or I could try selling the whole
thing and just buy a very nice cheap empty shell that would be more "humane"
to MAME-ize
I only worry that with local pickup only here in Utah (shipping's pretty much out of the question) I won't get very much for it.
In that case, I might as well use it for MAME... see my dillemma?
I welcome any and all opinions. And offers, I guess, though that wasn't
really the point of this.
TIA!
CharredPC
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram