deadendthrills
Active member
I wanted to put a more positive spin on a thread I made earlier about making buyers better informed, and thought that maybe a kind of buyers' FAQ might help. FAQs tend to be quite regulatory in nature, especially in marketplace forums, but I think something informative has the potential to benefit everyone. No one wants to discover this stuff the hard way after a sale, but it happens. And the fact is that you only tend to look for information when you need it (i.e. when it's too late).
The buyer's 101 then. Shoot me down in flames if you will. If this seems like a good idea then by all means suggest new stuff, as my experience is pretty much limited to candy cabs.
BEFORE YOU BUY...
1) Arcade monitors are imperfect. They are electromagnetic devices in which scores of ageing parts do their best to converge upon the image we all desire: a stable, uniform test pattern with accurate colours, straight lines, and simply put the image the game creators intended. Common signs of age - and they're all old - include colour separation in the corners, inconsistent or soft focus, a dim picture, imperfect/poor geometry, jittering, or mechanical issues with the control board or chassis that affect screen calibration. Some of these can be fixed, others not, but you should always assume the latter.
2) Perhaps the most common issue is screen burn. Arcade monitors are workhorses that have spent decades on the job, with repetitive elements like graphics and text becoming permanent features of the screen due to phosphor wear. Again, assume it. If it's going to bother you, ask. Consider the game/s you expect to play on a cab or monitor. The brighter the tones and simpler the graphics - think The Simpsons by Konami, or a white Naomi splash screen - the worse it will look.
3) Screens get scratched, but not all scratches are equal. Scratches are very tough to photograph and actually better described in text, because while they all look atrocious when photographed using a flash, their depth and texture can heavily influence how they look during play, while ambient room lighting affects how they look in general. Many scratches can be fixed using a mix of progressively finer sanding and buffing using cerium oxide - but it's an arduous, exhausting process. Scratches you can't feel with your fingernail can generally be buffed out, while anything slightly deeper will need sanding. Anything greater than 0.5mm in depth should probably be left alone to avoid compromising the implosion protection of the screen.
4) Old and dried-out solder points do not enjoy transit. A cab could be working at the point of posting/sale but mysteriously stop when switched on in its new home. This doesn't mean it was improperly sold, nor is it particularly unusual. This should always be factored into any purchasing decision, and unfortunately there's no guarantee of a positive outcome. There are, however, several forums full of people who'll help you find out.
5) 'Untested' can mean many things. The decline of arcade systems means that some components simply can't be married to the required working parts to ensure that they work. Sometimes people wanting a quick sale might simply choose not to have a part tested, passing most of the responsibility onto the buyer and (hopefully) reflecting that in the price. Regrettably, 'untested' as also become a dirty word thanks to its popularity with unscrupulous sellers looking to shift damaged junk at premium prices. Good or bad, assume nothing. Unless you're on eBay and ready to test its arbitration policies, there is no guarantee that anything untested will work; chances are that, globally speaking, most of it does not.
6) Wherever possible, collect. This stuff is fragile. Any time you don't know what's happening to it between the seller's house and yours, what's happening could be someone playing football with it or, more likely, just not appreciating that if you slide a CRT screen across the floor of a van, you'll just as likely break the neck as scratch the hell out of it. There are reputable specialist couriers, whom I should probably list in some future version of this post, who know how this all works and (presumably, I dunno) take some measure of liability. Rest assured, Shiply will not, however many good people use it. Packing of items mustn't just be rigorous but also appropriate to the item and its weaknesses. (I should probably flesh this out with examples.)
7) Ask the seller, but (more) importantly yourself. There are no absolutes in a hobby where everything is some kind of knackered. One man's 'terrible condition' is another man's 'years of character', and you won't necessarily know which is which by interrogating a seller. But you do know yourself, so ask: am I going to end up refurbishing this thing? Will I accept what the gods of monitors give me, or embark on a quest of chassis tweaks and tube swaps? Do I want this to be last time I'll spend money on this cab or the first? Because it is almost never the former. Every arcade machine is a potential money pit and probably best thought of like owning a car. If you want a one-and-done then Arcade1Up will see you now. The time to realise that you do is absolutely not after you've finished (or even started) a sale.
8) It's been repeated and bears repeating: assume not. I've described this hobby to many people over the last year or so: as a journey of inches, a crucible of patience, AN EXERCISE IN PAIN. It giveth, but it loves to taketh away. There are sales and occasions where it just all goes wrong, and no one is to blame. So please don't look for someone. Sometimes you just have to gamble, and should expect to be disappointed. The more you know and read, the sooner you'll know when that is.
--
I'm going to leave it there for now just to gauge whether this has any worth. If it does then I'll add to it and include names and numbers of important people. It needs have a function for buyers - to actually help people - rather than be some wishy-washy tech FAQ, so if you think it's failed in that regard then let it sink.
The buyer's 101 then. Shoot me down in flames if you will. If this seems like a good idea then by all means suggest new stuff, as my experience is pretty much limited to candy cabs.
BEFORE YOU BUY...
1) Arcade monitors are imperfect. They are electromagnetic devices in which scores of ageing parts do their best to converge upon the image we all desire: a stable, uniform test pattern with accurate colours, straight lines, and simply put the image the game creators intended. Common signs of age - and they're all old - include colour separation in the corners, inconsistent or soft focus, a dim picture, imperfect/poor geometry, jittering, or mechanical issues with the control board or chassis that affect screen calibration. Some of these can be fixed, others not, but you should always assume the latter.
2) Perhaps the most common issue is screen burn. Arcade monitors are workhorses that have spent decades on the job, with repetitive elements like graphics and text becoming permanent features of the screen due to phosphor wear. Again, assume it. If it's going to bother you, ask. Consider the game/s you expect to play on a cab or monitor. The brighter the tones and simpler the graphics - think The Simpsons by Konami, or a white Naomi splash screen - the worse it will look.
3) Screens get scratched, but not all scratches are equal. Scratches are very tough to photograph and actually better described in text, because while they all look atrocious when photographed using a flash, their depth and texture can heavily influence how they look during play, while ambient room lighting affects how they look in general. Many scratches can be fixed using a mix of progressively finer sanding and buffing using cerium oxide - but it's an arduous, exhausting process. Scratches you can't feel with your fingernail can generally be buffed out, while anything slightly deeper will need sanding. Anything greater than 0.5mm in depth should probably be left alone to avoid compromising the implosion protection of the screen.
4) Old and dried-out solder points do not enjoy transit. A cab could be working at the point of posting/sale but mysteriously stop when switched on in its new home. This doesn't mean it was improperly sold, nor is it particularly unusual. This should always be factored into any purchasing decision, and unfortunately there's no guarantee of a positive outcome. There are, however, several forums full of people who'll help you find out.
5) 'Untested' can mean many things. The decline of arcade systems means that some components simply can't be married to the required working parts to ensure that they work. Sometimes people wanting a quick sale might simply choose not to have a part tested, passing most of the responsibility onto the buyer and (hopefully) reflecting that in the price. Regrettably, 'untested' as also become a dirty word thanks to its popularity with unscrupulous sellers looking to shift damaged junk at premium prices. Good or bad, assume nothing. Unless you're on eBay and ready to test its arbitration policies, there is no guarantee that anything untested will work; chances are that, globally speaking, most of it does not.
6) Wherever possible, collect. This stuff is fragile. Any time you don't know what's happening to it between the seller's house and yours, what's happening could be someone playing football with it or, more likely, just not appreciating that if you slide a CRT screen across the floor of a van, you'll just as likely break the neck as scratch the hell out of it. There are reputable specialist couriers, whom I should probably list in some future version of this post, who know how this all works and (presumably, I dunno) take some measure of liability. Rest assured, Shiply will not, however many good people use it. Packing of items mustn't just be rigorous but also appropriate to the item and its weaknesses. (I should probably flesh this out with examples.)
7) Ask the seller, but (more) importantly yourself. There are no absolutes in a hobby where everything is some kind of knackered. One man's 'terrible condition' is another man's 'years of character', and you won't necessarily know which is which by interrogating a seller. But you do know yourself, so ask: am I going to end up refurbishing this thing? Will I accept what the gods of monitors give me, or embark on a quest of chassis tweaks and tube swaps? Do I want this to be last time I'll spend money on this cab or the first? Because it is almost never the former. Every arcade machine is a potential money pit and probably best thought of like owning a car. If you want a one-and-done then Arcade1Up will see you now. The time to realise that you do is absolutely not after you've finished (or even started) a sale.
8) It's been repeated and bears repeating: assume not. I've described this hobby to many people over the last year or so: as a journey of inches, a crucible of patience, AN EXERCISE IN PAIN. It giveth, but it loves to taketh away. There are sales and occasions where it just all goes wrong, and no one is to blame. So please don't look for someone. Sometimes you just have to gamble, and should expect to be disappointed. The more you know and read, the sooner you'll know when that is.
--
I'm going to leave it there for now just to gauge whether this has any worth. If it does then I'll add to it and include names and numbers of important people. It needs have a function for buyers - to actually help people - rather than be some wishy-washy tech FAQ, so if you think it's failed in that regard then let it sink.
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