arcades
- Thread starter Sklig75
- Start date
You have made your interest known in the WANTED section which is a good start. Those requests have only been in place a few days last Tuesday/Wednesday & Friday and Monday this week? People don’t often respond that quick!
The main problem you will find is the games you list are the relatively more popular 80s games … they have become scarce by age and reliability, PLUS , many collectors will have these but unwilling to sell as they too may have waited a long time to find them (often less pristine than you request?) Then not all members on here regularly look at the for sale / wanted section as it’s only available to those ‘logged on’ not visible to casual viewers or temporary visitors.
However you might be lucky as folk who have collected for 30 years or more since these styles of cabs and game titles first came to public markets from trade only dealers and arcade/pub/leisure centre sites they occupied for the whole of the 80s while in big demand …. MIGHT BE considering reducing or clearing their collections due to personal health or lost interest?
Be patient is all you can hope - there are lots of retro arcade businesses setting up and buy these up quickly when they do come up and many of the collectors sell to people they already know or met over the years …. People have been asking me for alsorts of old bandits , jukeboxes , videos, fruits and novelty arcade stuff ever since I got into the amusement industry in 1977 nearly 50 years of requests
I can say many still remain disappointed as cherished items even 45rpm records and pcbs or spare parts all become rare and are either scrapped or hoarded by collectors already.
The ukvac Facebook page seems to offer a few more but open to a wider selection of sellers and buyers who may or may not be reliable knowledgable folk … just traders flipping for profit? You can’t tell just from an advert and fb has little protection , you hear tales of lost money and great deals both ways …… you are new on here and some sellers could play on that and hope you will not be experienced , in a hurry to buy?
You have another post asking for transport recommendations which most on here will already know and use … these movers know their job and can also advise on installation difficulties you may also encounter? As you realise the machines can be heavy and big getting through doorways or up steps… My advice try make a few contact friends nearby who may advise you on values and availability?
People who already collect or even have just one cab or home consoles but experienced in amusement electronics , as you could find the on going cost of maintaining machines which can and often do fail with age can make any investment a white elephant if you get stuck with something mis-described or soon faulty?
I hate to be a doom monger but have had several seaside arcades and filled many skips and had bonfires but on the front line these machines have been run at new or relatively little used or abused . LOOK ON HERE AT MACHINES BOUGHT IN NEED OF REPAIRS OR RESTORATION there’s loads about and sadly you are prime to be offered the odd one ! Just my honest thoughts , hate to see new collectors fall flat asking for perfect like new condition cabinets which by definition are 40 years old already …. Same advice goes to all readers in the same situation , not specific to you alone. !
The main problem you will find is the games you list are the relatively more popular 80s games … they have become scarce by age and reliability, PLUS , many collectors will have these but unwilling to sell as they too may have waited a long time to find them (often less pristine than you request?) Then not all members on here regularly look at the for sale / wanted section as it’s only available to those ‘logged on’ not visible to casual viewers or temporary visitors.
However you might be lucky as folk who have collected for 30 years or more since these styles of cabs and game titles first came to public markets from trade only dealers and arcade/pub/leisure centre sites they occupied for the whole of the 80s while in big demand …. MIGHT BE considering reducing or clearing their collections due to personal health or lost interest?
Be patient is all you can hope - there are lots of retro arcade businesses setting up and buy these up quickly when they do come up and many of the collectors sell to people they already know or met over the years …. People have been asking me for alsorts of old bandits , jukeboxes , videos, fruits and novelty arcade stuff ever since I got into the amusement industry in 1977 nearly 50 years of requests
I can say many still remain disappointed as cherished items even 45rpm records and pcbs or spare parts all become rare and are either scrapped or hoarded by collectors already.
The ukvac Facebook page seems to offer a few more but open to a wider selection of sellers and buyers who may or may not be reliable knowledgable folk … just traders flipping for profit? You can’t tell just from an advert and fb has little protection , you hear tales of lost money and great deals both ways …… you are new on here and some sellers could play on that and hope you will not be experienced , in a hurry to buy?
You have another post asking for transport recommendations which most on here will already know and use … these movers know their job and can also advise on installation difficulties you may also encounter? As you realise the machines can be heavy and big getting through doorways or up steps… My advice try make a few contact friends nearby who may advise you on values and availability?
People who already collect or even have just one cab or home consoles but experienced in amusement electronics , as you could find the on going cost of maintaining machines which can and often do fail with age can make any investment a white elephant if you get stuck with something mis-described or soon faulty?
I hate to be a doom monger but have had several seaside arcades and filled many skips and had bonfires but on the front line these machines have been run at new or relatively little used or abused . LOOK ON HERE AT MACHINES BOUGHT IN NEED OF REPAIRS OR RESTORATION there’s loads about and sadly you are prime to be offered the odd one ! Just my honest thoughts , hate to see new collectors fall flat asking for perfect like new condition cabinets which by definition are 40 years old already …. Same advice goes to all readers in the same situation , not specific to you alone. !
Last edited:
Del Griffith
Active member
Think it's just a case of biding your time on here until what you're after comes up for grabs. It can feel like nothing much crops up on here anymore. A lot sound like they use the vac fb page instead but no idea what gets listed on there. As far as this forum goes, In the past 12 - 24 months nearly every cab/pcb/part i dream about has popped up for sale, I just haven't had the cash/will at the time.
Stick with the hunt and eventually you'll be rewarded in the end
Stick with the hunt and eventually you'll be rewarded in the end