Importing Cabs

[playoldgames]

With my search for a Pac-Man so far proving fruitless (and yes, I know, be patient as they tend to show up in bunches!), it got me thinking about something I've seen a couple of other people mention before - Importing.

I presume this refers to getting a cab packed and palleted in the US and shipped to the UK - but I know nothing about the logistics or costs involved with such an operation. Is it best to wait for a group buy to pop up so everyone shares a shipping container, or can it be done independently? Should I start getting back street surgeons to price up my organs now? What about power conversion and that sort of thing?

It's more idle curiosity at the moment, as I know there are Pac-Mans (Pac-Men?) out there in the UK that people will want to part with eventually, but it's nice to know just what options are available and viable.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Purity]

There is a 4th container in progress on Dragons Lair Fans, and I'm fairly sure a Pacman was for sale.

Signup and check it out.

Be mindful that the whole buying and shipping process can become quite expensive, so take this into consideration before committing yourself

 

[bonehead]

I looked at importing a missile command upright earlier this year from the USA. Just the delivery from the states was around £600 without import duty and the measly cost of £165 for the cab in the first place.

I would wait for one to come up in the uk.

Just my 2pw.

 

[playoldgames]

Hmm... couldn't hurt to see what the container over at DragonsLairFans is all about. But at the moment I'm inclined to hang on for one in the UK - especially if it means I don't have to fork a load of cash over to HMRC.

 

[Equites]

Hmm... couldn't hurt to see what the container over at DragonsLairFans is all about. But at the moment I'm inclined to hang on for one in the UK - especially if it means I don't have to fork a load of cash over to HMRC.

You will be waiting for some time, they very rarely pop up. One sold on ebay recently for around £400, it was an absolute bargain.

 

[playoldgames]

You will be waiting for some time, they very rarely pop up. One sold on ebay recently for around £400, it was an absolute bargain.

I saw that one and ummed and aahed on it, but messaged the chap about what the screen was displaying (as he advertised it as powering up but displaying garbage), but he then admitted it wasn't displaying anything anymore, but he hadn't updated the auction as he thought it was more or less the same thing. So I thought that was a bit iffy, and it would take a bit too much fixing up for the price.

I'm sort of kicking myself and wondering if I should have gone for it... but I do think I'd be kicking myself more and a bit heartbroken if it did turn out to be a lemon.

 

[Equites]

You will be waiting for some time, they very rarely pop up. One sold on ebay recently for around £400, it was an absolute bargain.

I saw that one and ummed and aahed on it, but messaged the chap about what the screen was displaying (as he advertised it as powering up but displaying garbage), but he then admitted it wasn't displaying anything anymore, but he hadn't updated the auction as he thought it was more or less the same thing. So I thought that was a bit iffy, and it would take a bit too much fixing up for the price.

I'm sort of kicking myself and wondering if I should have gone for it... but I do think I'd be kicking myself more and a bit heartbroken if it did turn out to be a lemon.

Should have gone for it, I bet it was an easy fix, not much in them that go wrong.

 

[trm]

If you're just starting out with VACing then you can really will help yourself by accepting this stuff breaks, quite often a lot but fortunately is almost always repairable.

Very little of what you'll see is so rare that you're looking at the last example of it, so monitors can be fixed or replaced if physically broken, PCBs can always be repaired by yourself or someone, and cosmetic work is not a problem.

Once you get used to that you'll see things in a different light. I started this back in 2007 and I'd only used a soldering iron to make headphone cables. Now, I've lost count of how many PCBs I've repaired, a couple of weeks ago I was making my own code ROMs to help fix a dodgy board: if you want to learn anything about the hobby there are people here who can help you as much as you need!

cheers

tim

 

[playoldgames]

Thanks very much folks - I'm slowly but surely finding my feet, and have done a few wiring repairs and bits of soldering and so on in my cab. Not quite there with the PCB and ROM repairs yet (didn't want to chance my arm on an original BB board!), but I will get there. And I know Pac-Man is one of the most documented games out there, so maybe I should have been a bit braver about it. Lesson learned

 

[IndyJones]

A very interesting question, one I've often wondered about myself, seeing so many great games over there that never show up for sale in the uk is fantastic

Check out a new post by a new member called Vectorman regarding some prices for shipping 1 or 2 cabs from Usa to the Uk, it is something he has done before, as Alpha 1 rightly pointed out I think there is enough interest for a Ukvac container load tbh, I'd certainly put my name down, might be worth thinking about in the new year