From: Samuel Jacobson - view profile
Date: Mon, Dec 3 2001 3:20 pm
Email: (Samuel Jacobson)
Groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting

Dear All,

On Saturday I had a chance to attend my first auction, which was
held in Orlando Florida (please see below for list of sold arcades and
final prices). I had hopes of purchasing my first of two video games
that I wish to collect. I was fortunate to win an original upright
Pac-Man (please see details below), of which I have already asked and
received some tech help on the newsgroup (thanks all!!!). Now on to my
last game search quest, TRON!
I took the time to ask questions to this newsgroup, as well as read as
much as I could, on what to bring and expect from an auction (thanks
again all!!!). And, to say the least, the information I got, as well
as pondering what I was getting myself into, was invaluable.

I got to the auction site a little later than I wished, but still
had time to explore the floor and try out the games I wanted. And,
thankfully, the auction started late, which helped lower the stress
level a bit. Since I was only after two games I knew that I would have
to be lucky to find one, let alone win. Although I was saddened not to
find a TRON, there was a Pac Man, thus I set my sites there. The games
were packed in close to each other, as such I could only see that
there was at least some side art, but I could not discern the
condition. Nevertheless the front of the game had a never clean and
nice control panel and overlay (the CPO is approximately 90-95% intact
as there are very few scratches on the metal (and no apparent rust),
as well as the graphics are all intact and nice and only the edges of
the CPO are missing any pieces). Also, the marquee is in excellent
condition, the monitor has good to very good color and is clear/crisp,
but the glass bezel graphics needs to be replaced (if you have one I
am interested and have posted a message to this effect on the
newsgroup). Finally the game play seemed good and the sound was nice
and clear. The only concern I had here was that there was some
occasional flickering of the monitor as I played, but I felt this
might have been due to so many games being plugged in and out (I had a
100' extension cord with several plugs on it). Thankfully I have not
seen this occur since I got the game home, thus my conclusion seems to
have been correct.

I must admit that I was nervous when the bidding got to the Pac Man
as this was the only one and it had received some interest during the
preview period. Even though the game seemed to be in good to very good
shape I had set a limit of $400 for the piece, which I admit is a
little low. And, sure enough, I got into a minor bidding war with
another auctionee, and when the bid made it to $500 I was not going to
bid any more. Thankfully this bid was good enough to win!!! :-) I
must say that I was very impressed with both the behavior and good
cheer of the people bidding, but also with the kindness of the
SuperAuctions staff (I have no affiliation with SuperAuctions
whatsoever). Not only was there no registration fee, but the
auctioneer was immensely kind! Specifically on several occasions an
auctionee made an error in bid, including deciding right after winning
an auction that they did not want the game. But the auctioneer forgave
the errors, and even allowed those that decided right after they won
that they did not want the game to retract that bid/auction and
re-auction the item! I was so impressed and happy with the goodwill
that was shown to the auctionees (thankfully I had a clear idea of
what I was after and how much I wanted to spend so I made no errors,
thus did not need to ask for or be given any auction bidding
forgiveness).

Once the auction for me was over I then followed the auctioneer
around and wrote down the prices of the games sold (please see below
after my story). Since this was my first auction it was a bit
overwhelming trying to keep up, hear correctly, and write everything
down. Thus I did the best I can, and asked when I could to check on
items I thought I may have made an error, but please understand that I
may have gotten some names/prices wrong.

After the video arcades were done I then packed- up my game with
U-Haul pads and shrink wrap, and then went to get my reserved truck.
However after I returned to the site I was ended up also loading the
games of two other people who did not have transports. This, in itself
was fine, up until the point that I realized one of the games was a
full-sized sit down AfterBurner!!! I thought it was the upright that
was auctioned. Oh my!!! It took some explaining, but the new owner
(From here on out lets call him Mr. B) of the AfterBurner finally
understood that that one game, and most likely it alone, could fit
into the 14' U-Haul with the help of the forklift there was no way to
get it out. So I ended up transporting Mr. B's 2 upright games, one
claw game (redeemable machine), Mr. A's Moon Patrol, and my Pac Man.

The trip to unload Mr. A's Moon Patrol went fine, but the story of
Mr. B then got even more interesting. Mr. B's home turned out to be an
apartment and, even more, he wanted to get the machines (which may
have included the AfterBurner, I am not sure) into his one car garage,
which already has items in it (including a pin-ball machine and a
motorcycle). Then, I had to remind him to call his friends for help
(which he originally said he had), which in turn turned out to be one
person who he had to wake up. This friend apparently did not know why
he was coming over as, once he saw what was in the truck, was clearly
not happy. Next, while we were moving the games, Mr. B's wife comes
out to see what is happening. Congruent with Mr. B's friend, the
wife's reaction was one of complete surprise and shock about what he
had done. And, of course, keep in mind that the AfterBurner was not
there. Even so once she knew of the AfterBurner, including its immense
size and weight, it appeared that her shock and stress had well before
turned into distress thus she was not overly made outwardly. Mr. B.
had told me that he saw the auction in the newspaper, as such my guess
is that he went there without telling anyone and with no plan... So we
finished up moving his games, I tied down my Pac Man, suggested that
he buy his wife some flowers (thankfully my wife knew what I was
doing, and even came with me to the auction. I am blessed to have a
wife that will allow me to have 2 games in our home. Goodness bless
her!), and departed for my home ~1 hour away.

After returning home I then had to deal with my Pac Man. Needless to
say by the time I got home I was tired after the all day auction and
its stresses (such as fighting for a chance to load games through the
only warehouse door), plus moving 4 games. I knew before I went to the
auction that uprights are heavy, but until I put my Pac Man onto the
U-Haul truck dolly I had no idea! I had previously promised a friend
that I would call when I got back as he had offered to help me move my
machine to my home (which is up a flight of stairs that has two turns,
of which one is quite tight). I did not think that two people could do
it, but he wanted to try and I really did not want to leave it in the
U-Haul overnight. I did try to call another person for help, but was
unsuccessful. So we gave it a shot. Although it almost did not work,
he and I wrestled it up the stairs and into the apartment. And, now,
two days later I am still sore and tired! But it is over!

Now I have already began to fix up the immediate needs, as well as
learn my way around the PCB board and settings, as well as CP and
marquee work. Still so much to learn, including how to keep myself
alive around the monitor. I am thinking of taking Mr. Fromm's class as
a supplement to my electronics’ courses. Does anyone have any
experience with his course?

Even though this was very long I thought everyone might like to hear
the stories from my first experience. Now on to the games auctioned
and their prices. Please keep in mind that this was my first attempt
to keep up with the auctioneer and large group, as well as hear the
names and prices of the games correctly. Thus I cannot vouch that I
got everything correct, even though I tried my best as well as asked
people around me as I could and when needed. I am sorry for any
errors.

The games and prices were:

Galaga $450
Galaga $850
Ms. PacMan $425
Ms. PacMan $600
Donkey Kong Jr. $250
PacMan $500
Ms. PacMan $425
Golden Tee '99 $325
Millipede $275
Area Site 4 $550
Judge Dredd $200
Tekken $275
Virtual Fighter $325
Street Fighter II $225
Gloc $75
DigDug $250 (had logic board problems if I understood correctly)
Delux Asteroids $300
Pit Fighter $150
Zero Wing $150
Hydra $100
Narc $125
Nintendo Combo (had Captain Sky Hawk and Dr. Mario) $500
Crazy Ball $275
Simpsons $425
Virtual Fighter Remix $300
Golden Tee '97 $450
Golden Tee 3D $400
Ultimate 3 Mortal Combat $275
Mortal Kombat II $375
Golden Tee Fore! $1750 Wow!!!
Golden Tee '97 $275
Golden Tee 2K $950
Super Battle F1 $175
Golden Tee 2K $1000
Golden Tee 2K $650
Double Axle $250
Captain America $200
Super Hang On $250
AfterBurner $150
Ms Pac-Man $250
Donkey Kong 3 $200
Arakanoid $250
NBA Jam $325
Golden Tee '97 $500
Missle Command $450
SunStriders $300
Golden Tee 3D $325
Altered Beasts $100
Street Fighter II (Champion Edition) $275
Super Monaco GP $125
Super Monaco GP $125
Pole Position $125
Golden Tee Golf $100
QBert $150
Millipede $250
Mortal Kombat $250
Gyruss $175
Magic Sword $100
Pac Mania $450
Power Drift $175
Quarterback $200
Mortal Kombat II $175
Pole Position $30 non-working
Neo Geo (not known if games were in piece) $150
Gravitar $200
Ms. Pac-Man (poor marquee in piece) $275
Ms. Pac-Man (not known what was inside) $175
Space Invaders $10 non-working
Donkey Kong 3 $225
Ms. Pac-Man $825
Cobra Command $50
Konami's Open Golf Championship $50
Bowling $10 non-working
Teemo Knights $100
Contra $10 non-working
Cabinet only $10
Qbert $125 non-working
Galaga cocktail $450
Galaga cocktail $725
Ms. Pac-Man cocktail $625
Ms. Pac-Man cocktail $525 bad ROM
Asteroids Delux cocktail $375
Ms. Pac-Man cocktail $200 note detailed well
Arakanoid cocktail $70 broken glass
Nintendo cocktail (had Vs. Super Mario Brother and Top Gun) $150
Super Pac-man cocktail $375
Trivia $100 was dirty and unknown if working
Golden Tee 2K $625
Area Site 4 $375
Mania Challenge $20
Mario Brothers $225
Frogger $55 no CP and monitor
Centipede $275 Monitor was not working fully
Bottom of the 9th $50
Off Road $150
Hard Drive $100
Defender $200
SilverBall $750
XMen $175
DigDug $325
Track and Field $225 Two of the buttons did not seem to work. Also
music
play seemed off
Moon Patrol $350
T2 $275
Primal Rage $225
Joust $725
Revolution X (Double Gun) $525
AfterBurner (sit down piece) $600 I think this was the price

Well that is all. I know this has been long, but I hope you enjoyed
it!

Always,

Sam