Will arcade collecting die out?

[ZuPoint]

I love my cab and play most days.
I've got my 4 year old nephew into gaming ( metal slug ) and he loves it.
My questions are because most arcade fans where kids when they first played them and now collect, will this be lost on the next generation and will demand die out?
Who's the youngest owner of a cab on here?
How many kids/teens today see defender etc as a classic?

What do you think?

 

[ltearle]

I'm 22 and have 6 cabs. I dont have the memories most of the collectors have of playing these games in the arcades.

I started out collecting game consoles, games and it seemed like natural progression to get an arcade machine.

I like the history of the machines, and how iconic they have become. I think that will encourage collecting in the future.

ltearle2014-05-13 11:42:00

 

[RygarR]

Not many.

Here's my grim prediction for the future.

In 10-15 years, many - but not all - of us will get over our mid-life crises and move our cab collections on.

In 30-40 years, most of the remaining collectors will pop their clogs. Some will have kids who hang on to cabs for sentimental reasons - 'that was dad's favourite game' - but not because the game itself is particularly special to them. Most of these cabs will subsequently be banished to damp and dingy sheds / garages by unsympathetic partners / spouses.

In 50-60 years, most of the remaining cabs which have been languishing unloved in kids / grandkids garages will be skipped.

The good news - a few cabs will survive for ever, but with all electronic circuitry fooked by the inevitable solar flares

 

[jengineer]

yes the price could drop as years go on, not sure really?

I do know that a Star wars pinball machine is worth a few grand, mainly because most people that want to collect them are now in there 40's and seem to have the money

whereas an Elvis pinball is worth £1000 ? because most people who are elvis fanatics are now in there 70's+ and are not interested in buying this type of item etc

 

[Purity]

yes the price could drop as years go on, not sure really?

I do know that a Star wars pinball machine is worth a few grand, mainly because most people that want to collect them are now in there 40's and seem to have the money

whereas an Elvis pinball is worth £1000 ? because most people who are elvis fanatics are now in there 70's+ and are not interested in buying this type of item etc

A DE Star Wars pin worth a few grand? I think that's way off the mark. It's worth around £1000

 

[guddler]

Yeah, it is way off the mark. I'm actually quite impressed with the thought that mine could be worth a grand

I do have a LOT of cast signatures on mine though, together with the provenance to show where they were collected etc. I've never been sure whether that adds value or not. To a purist pinball collector it would probably be seen as devaluing the machine. To a Star Wars collector however it should do the opposite. Especially as the signee's gradually shuffle off this earth (sadly, a few have already done so).

Regarding the whole collecting future. I honestly don't know, but I don't think they'll be around forever, the woodwork and the electronics just isn't going to take it. Electronics not in their original form at least and no matter how smart stuff like FPGAs are, in my opinion replacing the original boards with modern equivalents is simply not the same. And clearly the monitor parts will become unobtanium. Probably before too long really.

I think that those that do survive will end up worth a lot of money however. Just look at the pinball scene.

 

[Morty]

I think RygarR's comments are spot on, many of these cabs will end up in landfill, however if you analyse things too much life will not be much fun.. so does it really matter? I'll be in the ground.. and so will my cabs

All we can hope is enough of the really classics are kept by museums and put on display and a few die hards recognise how amazing these things are and carry on collecting/playing them decades on from now

The fact that people who never played the cabs in the arcades in the 1970's / 1980's still get into this hobby gives us some hope for the future

I always assumed that having played modern consoles know one would want to play "the old stuff" but my son for one loves playing them so the old dedicated cabs still have some magic to them

 

[Dex-Jay]

You missed out my option..

- Last Will and Testament -

To be buried with all of his sh1t!

Better be a big Cemetery to fit all in my machines and a Dalek!! Or you could go the James Doohan route and get sent into space!

Collecting Arcade machines, yes it will die out. If you didn't play and experience them back in the day, there's just not the same connection many of us in our 40's and 50's will have. To a teenager video games are something you do on a phone or a home games console.

 

[chubsta]

i am not sure it will totally die out - look at the number of very vintage cars - 1920s etc- that you see at car rallys etc, no one driving or collecting them remembers them from the first time around but they someone feel a connection to them, hopefully it will be the same with arcade machines, they are a very important part of leisure history and deserve to be preserved...

 

[phillv85]

I'm 28 and have 4 cabs. I got into it through console gaming and have no real connection to arcades back in the day. I think it's more likely the hardware will die before the collectors do. We're already in a situation where some parts are now impossible to replace.

 

[Jase]

deleted double post
Jase2014-05-13 13:42:12

 

[Jase]

i am not sure it will totally die out - look at the number of very vintage cars - 1920s etc- that you see at car rallys etc, no one driving or collecting them remembers them from the first time around but they someone feel a connection to them, hopefully it will be the same with arcade machines, they are a very important part of leisure history and deserve to be preserved...

This ^^^

There will always be geeky types who dig the old old stuff for their quirkiness and history.

As a whole though, I agree as a hobby it will die a death with us of a certain age, and remain a mere curiosity of historical sub-culture.

 

[ZuPoint]

I'm 22 and have 6 cabs. I dont have the memories most of the collectors have of playing these games in the arcades.

I started out collecting game consoles, games and it seemed like natural progression to get an arcade machine.

I like the history of the machines, and how iconic they have become. I think that will encourage collecting in the future.

There's hope yet

 

[RygarR]

most people who are elvis fanatics are now in there 70's+ and are not interested in buying this type of item etc.

^^^This.

Some prices are bound to go up or at least stay high. I can imagine miraculously 'undead' crts going for megabucks in 20 years time. But the size of the buying market is only going one way, and that's disappearing down the plughole.

If you're 70-80 with joint problems and thinking about downsizing or moving to sheltered accommodation, pins and cabs probably won't feature highly on your list of priorities...

 

[jengineer]

yes Star wars pin way off the mark, I was thinking about a Star wars video, but you get my drift

 

[Dazzzzz]

i would imagine their will still be demand for a few years yet and the prices will naturally go up as different parts etc. become more rare, then i can see the demand dropping sharply as one of the main things about collecting is that you tend to collect what you wanted when you were younger.

Eventually we will get to the point where people no longer care about the classics because the younger generations now didnt grow up with them and will want to remember their own gaming memories and include their own consoles etc. they will most likely be thinking of the WiiU or XboxOne as a retro console that was so cool when they were younger and will collect them, then the same again for the next generation

You will always find people who will want to collect the true classics even if they didnt grow up with them but those people are few and far between and will get rarer over the years as collecting these sorts of machines will get harder and harder

just my 2p

 

[stryker]

Money is a strange thing.... essentially we're paying mega ££s for certain cabs and PCBs which in all essence are "worth-less". I do suspect with many collectors they are buying sentimental memories, I know I am, which is why I work very hard to keep it under control.

 

[PaulSwan]

Re: Elvis - the problem is that he's not an enduring franchise. Star Wars still is and is worth a lot of money in terms of brand.

Re: Arcade collecting - like any defining moment in history that guided a future it's significance won't be realized until much later. Arcades formed the first direct interaction between the common man and technology. Look how far we've come from that origin with no end in sight...

PaulSwan2014-05-13 16:39:43

 

[cools]

Yes.

 

[tb lilley]

Be interesting to see how this all pans out over the coming years. Agree with this being a nostalgia driven hobby. Also interesting comment about people perhaps being more inclined to collect this sort of stuff now in their 40s now that they have the money - that’s certainly my experience.