Sorry folks, been out of town for several days....
1) First off, they're heavy. Way heavy. If you're going to get serious about collecting them, invest in a good appliance dolly. It's a must own. If you're only going to get one or two machines, you can rent them from your local UHaul or Ryder branches for pickup purposes.
Way ahead of you. I've done so much moving over the past 10+ years that I bought two such dollies. I was hoping they wouldn't be so heavy.
Monochrome games also have very little in the way of discrete circuitry so they may be easier to work on than others.
That's kinda what I was banking on and figured it would be a good place to start. Gonna start looking for that Atari Football now.
3) I've never been to an auction, but if you have a super auctions near you (
www.superauctions.com) you may want to check it out.
There's a Super Auctions auction coming up next weekend in St. Louis. I
might give that a shot, even though it's 4+ hours away. I'll see if I can borrow my dad's pick-up. Money Makers (
http://www.moneymakersarcadegames.com/) is the weekend after that in Nashville. That's alot closer.
I've found great deals just watching eBay and keeping tabs on places that already have machines. Just make a search for places within 100 miles and check it regularly.
I've been trying that for several months, but the only things that come up are insanely over-priced machines...saw one about a month ago for a Popeye @ $4,000. Who the hell would pay that? Guess that's what I get for living out in the middle of nowhere...slim pickins.
Craigslist is another good source; just make sure to arrange for some face time with the machine so there are no surprises.
I found this:
http://stlouis.craigslist.org/ele/156414489.htmlThis one I'd be scared of...that is, putting it all back together. Dunno if I'd want that big of a challenge. Not even really sure what game used to belong in that cabinet.
http://stlouis.craigslist.org/fur/161536837.html@Sauza12 - I've been reading that you should bring about $200 in cash to most auctions. They use that as a "down-payment" of sort and that some auctioneers won't let you bid unless you put the $200 up front. But, if you don't win anything, you get the $200 back, or if you do win something, the $200 is used towards the purchase of the game(s).
I'm also finding that you have a certain time limit to remove the machine(s) that you won from the showroom...some say by the end of the day, others say with 2 hours of your winning the auction.
They also recommend bringing an extension cord if the auction is held in a warehouse or in some place with only a few outlets. If you see a game you want and there's an outlet on the other side of the warehouse, no one is going to move it for you, so they recommend a 100' extension cord...and a flashlight to check the insides for loose stuff and whatnot, like tholly said.
I was thinking $800 was way too much for a SI: Deluxe. He's also got a Galaga for $800, too. I've got tomorrow off and thought I'd go back to the dealer to see what kind of deal he can shake for me. This guy is mad-busy and can probably afford to sell things a little higher.
Thanks everyone. You've all been a big help. I'll see what I find tomorrow.
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