What are the rarest cabs?

[Chopper79]

I still think a Pole Position cab still working after being left on for a couple of hours is right up there!

Don't talk to me about pole position! The pain of looking at a working cab, you can't play!

Mate have you still not got it sorted
You think it’s def the board now ?
No chance of getting a scrap board for parts ,as that isn’t one of the ‘normal issues with the boards ‘

Its got to be the namco 53xx custom. They are impossible to find. I've emailed a few companies in the states, doing repro one's, but no one interested in helping. Trouble with scrap board is, no guarantee that the one on there will be working.

The only other option is to find, a steering pcb from a super sprint, as I've seen other people use them.

 

[JonathanClayton]

Rarity is an odd one to try and classify really as I think desirability has a big part to play. I'm sure there are some cabs that there are very few of, but if no-one likes/wants them, does it disappear?

I'm sure manufacturer has it's own claim to 'rare' cabs. A Nintendo fanatic (like me!) would say:

Upright Space Launcher (only evidence (CP and Bezel) of one...)
Cocktail Space Launcher (only one we know of)
Upright Monkey Magic (only one know of)
Upright Sheriff (2 or 3 known)

As above, I'm sure there are the equivalents in Atari, Centuri, SEGA, Taito etc.

I'm with others, I think a UK Collectors database would be a great idea. You'd have to give the option to allow people to list an owned cab, but anonymously/private. That way we could keep a count of one's in hands, without people having to list their collections online.JonathanClayton2019-08-10 16:58:06

 

[Bensonrad]

Gauntlet 2 player

 

[chubsta]

i’m pretty certain i saw a working cocktail space launcher a couple of years back - was i a guys garage and spotted a cab under a sheet, asked him about it and he said he didn’t know if it worked but he switched it in and it did. all i can recall is going home and looking the game up and seeing it was a very early nintendo one and looking at pictures now i’m am certain it was this game.

doubt it will ever see the light of day as they guy was happy to just let it sit there, it was in great condition though.

 

[John Bennett]

Ridge Racer Full Scale and 3-screen

Neither are even dumped.

 

[big10p]

Galaxian 3 - more a room than a cab, though. Also, eDOT?

 

[John Bennett]

Yeah, the full-fat 28 player Galaxian 3 is long gone

At least the Project Dragoon ‘mini’ version exists and is dumped.

There’s the sequel/conversion ‘Attack of the Zolgear’ too.John Bennett2019-08-10 20:24:47

 

[John Bennett]

Ah, Galaxy Force 1.

They were pretty-much all converted to GF2.

Suppose it’s a rare/undumped ROM set, rather than a cab.

 

[ataridude74]

Almost everything Bronze Age is rare, not just the pong clones, fairly much everything. It is not always desirable though, many JAMMA collectors don't care at all for B&W discrete logic games.

 

[TDE_Rich]

I would kill (nothing bigger than a large cat) for a Sega Missile Command.

 

[strykr]

Ill throw in sega hot rod 2 player only ever seen 2.

 

[Titchgamer]

I dont have a massive or valuable collection so I dont mind people knowing what I have.

But I can understand people who have expensive large collections being reclusive about it.

But the thing is I think these things should be played, No matter what cab it was or the value of it if its not being played then its basically a waste of space imo (different if it doesn't work and you intend on repairing it obviously).

But in regards to rarity I think everything is getting rarer.
More cabs are dieing and scrapped or being converted, more are being hoarded away never to see the light of day again.

Thank god for the MAME project really else many games would be lost forever!

What is crazy to think is in years to come I suspect more of the modern games (from like now) WILL be totally extinct as the industry becomes more and more online and digital only.

 

[Pinge]

I find most dedicated cabinets more or less rare here in northern Europe.

For example a common game on a worldwide scale like Donkey Kong I think there are less than 10 here in Sweden. And Pacman even more.

Of my games I would say that the PC10 Countertop,R-Type and Mappy are the rarest on a domestic scale atleast.

 

[big10p]

I think it's a shame that cabs get hoarded away and not touched for years, when they could be in the hands of other collectors that would love to own them, and get them up to scratch and actually played. Hoarded cabs are no better off (nor is the hobby) than when they were 'found' in an old ops lock-up, or something. Just my opinion - people can do whatever they like with their own property, of course.

 

[ocb]

Mt Atari Tournament Table is rare - only 8 registered on VAPs, Atarimania has one - and Andy Wellburn has a board apparently.

My pinball mate found 2 others just before the holidays - a guy he's been dealing with for years in southern Belgium was having a final final clearout, he didn't think anyone would be interested in them!

They're now stashed in my mate's already full up garage Will get them up and running and out into the community soon hopefully. One has a slightly broken perspex top - custom made for the game - so we will probably just leave it like that.

As for some sort of DB, it would definitely have to be Europe-wide - games pass back and forth. As was mentioned on FB about the Atari Firefox - there's one kicking around in Belgium.

Maybe if there was some sort of sponsorship for registering a game on the database, e.g free/reduced entry to events/arcadeclub etc?

 

[patloz]

" Rarer" the game the more a pain in the arse it is .

No one knows how to fix them, no one has any bits for them and often its "rare" today as it was rubbish when it was launched so nobody bought it or if they did it was converted with an official kit.

I had a lovely original condition Taito Interceptor , KLOV has no record of anyone owning one , doesn't even have any images of the cab.

This doesn't make it ultra desirable to the vast majority of the community though or even worth as much as a boring candy cab.

( Unless you are Alpha 1 )

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8195

I make a conscious decision to buy cabs I know I can at least hope to get bits for as well as knowing some one who can fix it when it inevitably breaks down.

 

[Pinge]

I buy games I like to play.
And not to surprisingly most of them are mainstream games.
Still very hard to find them here, and expensive aswell.

Rarest game I ever had must have been the Sega Hockey TV that I sold to Alpha1, I have no interest in a game only cause its rare.

Regarding Firefox, I know of one stashed away by a non collector here in Sweden, he asked for about equal to 1300£ for it so I bought his Donkey Kong for the same amount instead

 

[DanP]

I don't agree with this. In my experience, collectors storage (either storage units or stored at home) are almost always so much better than ops/ex ops barns, sheds, etc where they were originally found. Every one of these type of places I've seen have been only marginally better than outside. Invariably they have been filthy, damp or downright wet and either infested with insects, mice/rats or worse either at the time or at some time in the past. Most collectors who buy and store cabs don't do it because they like 'hoarding', it's very expensive to store a large number of big, heavy, fridge sided cabs. They do it because they don't have space at that point in time to have them in a game room location.

I think it's a shame that cabs get hoarded away and not touched for years, when they could be in the hands of other collectors that would love to own them, and get them up to scratch and actually played. Hoarded cabs are no better off (nor is the hobby) than when they were 'found' in an old ops lock-up, or something. Just my opinion - people can do whatever they like with their own property, of course.

 

[Chopper79]

I think it's a shame that cabs get hoarded away and not touched for years, when they could be in the hands of other collectors that would love to own them, and get them up to scratch and actually played. Hoarded cabs are no better off (nor is the hobby) than when they were 'found' in an old ops lock-up, or something. Just my opinion - people can do whatever they like with their own property, of course.

100% agree.

 

[iamjimmi]

Does anyone in the UK have a Sega Time Traveler??