Where to buy arcade machines

[cpmer]

Was wondering where is a good place to go to buy arcade machines. Ive tried ebay and searched on google but with very little luck. I was wondering if theres a good place on the net . Im looking for games like x-men(six player cabinet) mortal kombat and some others.

 

[thepd7]

Originally posted by: cpmer
Was wondering where is a good place to go to buy arcade machines. Ive tried ebay and searched on google but with very little luck. I was wondering if theres a good place on the net . Im looking for games like x-men(six player cabinet) mortal kombat and some others.

I second that, except I am looking for Police Trainer preferrably in TX somewhere.

 

[cpmer]

oh and no mame building cabinet homemade stuff either. That stuff seems to be pretty popular but not what im interested in

 

[Conky]

I've always wanted my own Defender machine.

 

[cpmer]

hmm...i thought i would get a better response than this

 

[amish]

check your phone book. i found a distributor in Indy that sold them.

 

[chickadee]

perhaps the website www.byoac.com might be a bt more helpful?

 

[Electric Amish]

My friend bought a Cyberball machine on EBay

 

[vi edit]

http://vintagearcade.net/inventory.shtml

No clue on shipping prices (or vendor reliablity for that matter)

 

[imported_Superdude]

You can buy machines at auctions. Check out www.superauctions.com They are shady dealers but good games can be found at their local auctions. I own several games myself and they were all bought at auction or a local warehouse near me owner by a arcade operator. LMK if you live in IL, I can hook ya up with some good deals...

 

[axnff]

I know a guy that spent a lot of time on Ebay. My understanding from several conversations:
There were a variety of standard cabinets for specific game systems. Each arcade game was a daughtercard to the CPU board that was installed. So you could quickly change from, say, 1942 to Twin Cobra (to make an example up). In many instances, buying a new game from the manufacturer involved getting the board and artwork and installing in an existing system. They also sold the machine ready to roll.

So this guy had a few standard arcades, and then collected just the artwork and game ROM boards and could switch out at will. Apparently, this stuff is a lot easier to find on Ebay.

If you go to a bar, pizza place, wherever you can find arcades, you should be able to find the distributor's name on a sticker somewhere (most states require this by law, IIRC, mine does). They will often sell to you if you see a game on location that you want. You can then get replacement buttons, joysticks, etc to repair it. If it is referred to as "shopped", it should mean that all artwork, mechanical, and electrical devices have been replaced or repaired to like-new condition. Buying an arcade in this condition is usually dramatically more expensive than repairing it yourself (it can turn a $500 fixer-upper into a $2500 "shopped" arcarde, if there's any sort of demand at all).

This place seems to be a good place to start, either for buying or repairing. IIRC, the collector I spoke with really liked Happ parts, but I can't remember where he bought them from...

 

[altonb1]

Originally posted by: Superdude
You can buy machines at auctions. Check out www.superauctions.com They are shady dealers but good games can be found at their local auctions. I own several games myself and they were all bought at auction or a local warehouse near me owner by a arcade operator. LMK if you live in IL, I can hook ya up with some good deals...

Where do you live? I know there are auctions in South jersey, Timonim, MD and I believe York, PA in the Mid-Atlantic area.

you are probably looking for the wrong thing, though. Try doing a search in google for "coin-op auction" and you should get what you want. The cool thing baout the auctions is that you can go for the day. get there in the morning with a long extension cord. As the day progresses, you just plug in the machine you want to play and USUALLY the cabinets are unlocked so you just ring up credits. FREE ARCADE FTW!

Auction Game Sales has a nice auction. Your best bet, though, is to just check out THIS LINK!

 

[purbeast0]

the best bet is to try and find some stuff online. thats how I found mine. I dont remember the site because it was years ago, but it was after a bunch of surfing the net and finding a site.

I wanted a Killer Instinct machine, but I could not find any locally and I did not want to spend an arm and a leg for it because I was like 19 and in school. On ebay they were going for like $800 - $1000 at the time.

After seearching I came accross a site that had KI2 for sale 30 minutes away from me in Virginia. I called and the guy said there was interest already and he wasnt sure if the guy was going to purchase and he'd get back to me. Well the guy didn't get back to me but I kept bugging him and eventually he said I could take it.

So I picked up a 25" Killer Instinct 2 arcade game from a Time Out. It was funny because it was in the back of the arcade in a storage room, and they let me test it out. When I was taking it to the car, everyone in the arcade looked at me like "holy crap is he taking that with him?!?" and one guy asked me how much it was and when I told him $300 he almost ****** his pants at how cheap it was.

Here's a pic of it.

I now have kller instinct 1, mortal kombat 1, and mortal kombat 2 that all plug/play in it

Also check out the usenet in retro.gaming.video.arcade.classics because you can post a want ad on there.

EDIT:

LMAO @ the Killer Instinct price on that site linked above ...

Killer Instinct Original Cabinet $1,695

my $300 deal was a fvcking STEAL

 

[Slick5150]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
the best bet is to try and find some stuff online. thats how I found mine. I dont remember the site because it was years ago, but it was after a bunch of surfing the net and finding a site.

I wanted a Killer Instinct machine, but I could not find any locally and I did not want to spend an arm and a leg for it because I was like 19 and in school. On ebay they were going for like $800 - $1000 at the time.

After seearching I came accross a site that had KI2 for sale 30 minutes away from me in Virginia. I called and the guy said there was interest already and he wasnt sure if the guy was going to purchase and he'd get back to me. Well the guy didn't get back to me but I kept bugging him and eventually he said I could take it.

So I picked up a 25" Killer Instinct 2 arcade game from a Time Out. It was funny because it was in the back of the arcade in a storage room, and they let me test it out. When I was taking it to the car, everyone in the arcade looked at me like "holy crap is he taking that with him?!?" and one guy asked me how much it was and when I told him $300 he almost ****** his pants at how cheap it was.

Here's a pic of it.

I now have kller instinct 1, mortal kombat 1, and mortal kombat 2 that all plug/play in it

Also check out the usenet in retro.gaming.video.arcade.classics because you can post a want ad on there.

EDIT:

LMAO @ the Killer Instinct price on that site linked above ...

Killer Instinct Original Cabinet $1,695

my $300 deal was a fvcking STEAL

Wow.. You got a GREAT deal. $300 for the cabinet alone would be a steal.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: Slick5150

Originally posted by: purbeast0
the best bet is to try and find some stuff online. thats how I found mine. I dont remember the site because it was years ago, but it was after a bunch of surfing the net and finding a site.

I wanted a Killer Instinct machine, but I could not find any locally and I did not want to spend an arm and a leg for it because I was like 19 and in school. On ebay they were going for like $800 - $1000 at the time.

After seearching I came accross a site that had KI2 for sale 30 minutes away from me in Virginia. I called and the guy said there was interest already and he wasnt sure if the guy was going to purchase and he'd get back to me. Well the guy didn't get back to me but I kept bugging him and eventually he said I could take it.

So I picked up a 25" Killer Instinct 2 arcade game from a Time Out. It was funny because it was in the back of the arcade in a storage room, and they let me test it out. When I was taking it to the car, everyone in the arcade looked at me like "holy crap is he taking that with him?!?" and one guy asked me how much it was and when I told him $300 he almost ****** his pants at how cheap it was.

Here's a pic of it.

I now have kller instinct 1, mortal kombat 1, and mortal kombat 2 that all plug/play in it

Also check out the usenet in retro.gaming.video.arcade.classics because you can post a want ad on there.

EDIT:

LMAO @ the Killer Instinct price on that site linked above ...

Killer Instinct Original Cabinet $1,695

my $300 deal was a fvcking STEAL

Wow.. You got a GREAT deal. $300 for the cabinet alone would be a steal.

Heh yah I know. it was a STEAL. I couldn't believe it. I mean it's a full 25" monitor that is in 100% perfect condition. The only thing that DIDN'T work on it was the light behind the marquee was dead. I never replaced it though and didnt care enough to do so.

 

[cpmer]

Thanks for the links. I might also try callin a few arcades and seeing if there sellin anything

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: Slick5150

Originally posted by: purbeast0
the best bet is to try and find some stuff online. thats how I found mine. I dont remember the site because it was years ago, but it was after a bunch of surfing the net and finding a site.

I wanted a Killer Instinct machine, but I could not find any locally and I did not want to spend an arm and a leg for it because I was like 19 and in school. On ebay they were going for like $800 - $1000 at the time.

After seearching I came accross a site that had KI2 for sale 30 minutes away from me in Virginia. I called and the guy said there was interest already and he wasnt sure if the guy was going to purchase and he'd get back to me. Well the guy didn't get back to me but I kept bugging him and eventually he said I could take it.

So I picked up a 25" Killer Instinct 2 arcade game from a Time Out. It was funny because it was in the back of the arcade in a storage room, and they let me test it out. When I was taking it to the car, everyone in the arcade looked at me like "holy crap is he taking that with him?!?" and one guy asked me how much it was and when I told him $300 he almost ****** his pants at how cheap it was.

Here's a pic of it.

I now have kller instinct 1, mortal kombat 1, and mortal kombat 2 that all plug/play in it

Also check out the usenet in retro.gaming.video.arcade.classics because you can post a want ad on there.

EDIT:

LMAO @ the Killer Instinct price on that site linked above ...

Killer Instinct Original Cabinet $1,695

my $300 deal was a fvcking STEAL

Wow.. You got a GREAT deal. $300 for the cabinet alone would be a steal.

Heh yah I know. it was a STEAL. I couldn't believe it. I mean it's a full 25" monitor that is in 100% perfect condition. The only thing that DIDN'T work on it was the light behind the marquee was dead. I never replaced it though and didnt care enough to do so.

Hey dude, I got my Killer Instinct 2 machine for $295 too!

Hey man, try SuperAuctions for some arcade games. The may come to your city and you can pick up some good deals there.

 

[cpmer]

thanks for the super auctions link but it seems they only have 1 planned auction and thats in orlando

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: cpmer
thanks for the super auctions link but it seems they only have 1 planned auction and thats in orlando

Yeah dude, don't worry about that. They should update the schedule later in July and it will give the whole years worth of dates. And let me tell you, there are a ALOT of dates. I'm sure there will be a few in your area.

 

[cpmer]

bump just to see if i can get anything more out of this thread

 

[Kelvrick]

Oh man, I want a Virtual On machine so bad...