We all do it, you know… eBay, Gumtree Facebook Marketplace, Shpock etc
Many of us arcade hobbyists search these websites obsessively as there is nothing more exciting than the thrill of finding a coin-op BARGAIN.
Unfortunately especially for us brits finding any decent games outside of the forum and dedicated Facebook groups is getting harder all of the time and finding a true bargain is a very rare occasion indeed. Especially true if it’s a sought after title.
As the wise old saying goes, if it’s too good to be true then it usually is.
The “bargains” that do pop up are mostly scammers looking to make a quick buck from a desperate hobbyist. Some of these scams are getting clever too by stealing our forum photos and descriptions but once we engage with these lowlifes it’s not long before it becomes obvious that they are not genuine sales. The tell tale signs which usually give these scams away are things like new profiles and they often want full payment or a sizeable deposit upfront by bank transfer. They also struggle to answer the simplest questions about the machine that they claim to be selling.
Now one of the problems with all of these scams flooding the market is that it can be easy to pass off a legitimate sale as a scam. I’ve seen it happen a few times now in fact just a few months ago someone in the community paid £2k for an Addams Family Pinball machine (worth around £7k) which everyone else presumed was a scam and ignored.
So you have to be vigilant but also act quickly when you spot something of interest especially at a great price. We in the community are all best of friends when playing and discussing these relics but when it comes to a bargain the daggers often come out.
It’s only a matter of time before someone else spots it and if it turns out to be a genuine deal you can often end up losing the machine to someone else or paying significantly more when a bidding war inevitably starts…
Thursday 12th October the evening before I’m due to go away for a week to Exmouth with the family. I’d just finished packing our bags and tidying up the house with my wife and was enjoying a brew on the sofa whilst scrolling Facebook Marketplace using the search term “arcade” a frequent habit which often catches my wife’s unimpressed gaze.
I’m seeing all of the usual suspects, fruit machines, pool tables, arcade1up’s and badly built MAME cabinets.
But then….
That looks an awful lot like an ORIGINAL Donkey Kong Junior...but £300!?
I immediately passed the advert off as a scam. But I took a closer look anyway y’know …just to be sure.
The first thing I noticed about the advert was that it was listed by a lady in I guess her mid 60’s. She had provided one photo and one video of the machine. There was a gentleman who I assumed was her husband in the video playing the game who I’d say was a similar age. They didn’t look like your typical gamers. However watching the video the gentleman could be seen confidently playing the first level and clearing the board.
Next my attention turned to the description “Original Donkey Kong Junior arcade machine. Full working order. Complete with lock key coin box & mechanism. Unit is extremely heavy will need to be transported upright”.
I took a closer look at the one photo provided. It looked like an original cabinet and not a reproduction and definitely running a CRT and it had an original Nintendo coin door. The cabinet was blue (DK Junior cabinets were from factory orange however it’s not uncommon for these Nintendo cabinets to be converted to other Nintendo titles) The Joystick didn’t look original and I suspected reproduction artwork on the CPO and side art.
Well it sounds good and looks good but I was still suspicious as these imported Nintendo cabinets don’t just pop up for sale every day, especially with this kind of price tag. I checked when the FB account had been created and the lady had been a Facebook member for more than 10 years…hmm.
Time to send a message and see what happens next. I requested some more photos of the machine not expecting a reply as it was late into the evening…but the lady responded just a few moments later “I can take some more, what other pictures do you want?”.
I asked if it was possible to see both sides, the back and inside the machine to which she responded “My husband said he can do that in the morning, it’s his machine”
I then asked where and when the machine was purchased. To which the lady replied “It was purchased from a dealer for £1200 3 years ago”.
This all started to seem plausible and if it was a genuine sale I needed to act FAST as the listing had only been live for a few hours so I had to get this deal done and the advert removed. I explained that I was due to go away for a week but I would like to purchase the machine therefore could she mark the item as SOLD (thus removing it from marketplace searches usually after just a few minutes)
She agreed and marked the item as sold, even sent me her husband’s phone number and did not mention payment.
The next day I drove my wife and kids to Exmouth for our break with the game still very much on my mind. Typically when we arrived at the holiday park there was barely any network coverage but later that day photos actually started to appear in my DM’s and a collection address. Still polite and still with no mention of payment. The photos were perfect with a totally original plywood Nintendo cabinet shown to me. Original boards, Sanyo monitor, and original PSU. Someone had also conveniently installed what looked like a 220vac internal transformer. The serial plate had the model stamped ‘TKG3-UP’ which suggested it started life as the original DK game (which explained why the cabinet was blue)
Obviously someone at some point decided to convert to DKJNR.
The next task was to get this machine picked up and paid for. It was all the way down south a long way from my home in Leicestershire and as much as I’d like to go and grab it quickly on my return I had a pretty full calendar waiting for me so I dropped Martin ‘The Deliveryman’ a message. Martin responded and an approximate collection date agreed.
I updated the seller and requested bank details. I was excited but still anxious wondering if the whole thing would turn out to be some elaborate scam. The seller came back to me with her bank details which were in her name. I quickly ran her sort code through Google to check if the code was linked to a local branch to her address. It was. I then ran her details through my banking app and they were a match! So I transferred the money and the lady confirmed receipt!
Ok relax. I tried to put it all to the back of my mind after all I was supposed to be on holiday.
…but holy crap! I think I might have just purchased a Donkey Kong Junior for three hundred quid!!
Whilst waiting for the machine to be collected on my return home I started to do some digging as she had mentioned purchasing from a “dealer”...not many of those about.
Lo and behold! I found the advert from a few years ago:
A couple of weeks later...
According to Martin who briefly spoke with the owner, he had spoken to Home Leisure Direct to see if they wanted to purchase the machine back but they weren't interested!
Well, one persons loss is another persons gain I guess!
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Instagram: @scotts_home_arcade
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Many of us arcade hobbyists search these websites obsessively as there is nothing more exciting than the thrill of finding a coin-op BARGAIN.
Unfortunately especially for us brits finding any decent games outside of the forum and dedicated Facebook groups is getting harder all of the time and finding a true bargain is a very rare occasion indeed. Especially true if it’s a sought after title.
As the wise old saying goes, if it’s too good to be true then it usually is.
The “bargains” that do pop up are mostly scammers looking to make a quick buck from a desperate hobbyist. Some of these scams are getting clever too by stealing our forum photos and descriptions but once we engage with these lowlifes it’s not long before it becomes obvious that they are not genuine sales. The tell tale signs which usually give these scams away are things like new profiles and they often want full payment or a sizeable deposit upfront by bank transfer. They also struggle to answer the simplest questions about the machine that they claim to be selling.
Now one of the problems with all of these scams flooding the market is that it can be easy to pass off a legitimate sale as a scam. I’ve seen it happen a few times now in fact just a few months ago someone in the community paid £2k for an Addams Family Pinball machine (worth around £7k) which everyone else presumed was a scam and ignored.
So you have to be vigilant but also act quickly when you spot something of interest especially at a great price. We in the community are all best of friends when playing and discussing these relics but when it comes to a bargain the daggers often come out.
It’s only a matter of time before someone else spots it and if it turns out to be a genuine deal you can often end up losing the machine to someone else or paying significantly more when a bidding war inevitably starts…
Thursday 12th October the evening before I’m due to go away for a week to Exmouth with the family. I’d just finished packing our bags and tidying up the house with my wife and was enjoying a brew on the sofa whilst scrolling Facebook Marketplace using the search term “arcade” a frequent habit which often catches my wife’s unimpressed gaze.
I’m seeing all of the usual suspects, fruit machines, pool tables, arcade1up’s and badly built MAME cabinets.
But then….
That looks an awful lot like an ORIGINAL Donkey Kong Junior...but £300!?
I immediately passed the advert off as a scam. But I took a closer look anyway y’know …just to be sure.
The first thing I noticed about the advert was that it was listed by a lady in I guess her mid 60’s. She had provided one photo and one video of the machine. There was a gentleman who I assumed was her husband in the video playing the game who I’d say was a similar age. They didn’t look like your typical gamers. However watching the video the gentleman could be seen confidently playing the first level and clearing the board.
Next my attention turned to the description “Original Donkey Kong Junior arcade machine. Full working order. Complete with lock key coin box & mechanism. Unit is extremely heavy will need to be transported upright”.
I took a closer look at the one photo provided. It looked like an original cabinet and not a reproduction and definitely running a CRT and it had an original Nintendo coin door. The cabinet was blue (DK Junior cabinets were from factory orange however it’s not uncommon for these Nintendo cabinets to be converted to other Nintendo titles) The Joystick didn’t look original and I suspected reproduction artwork on the CPO and side art.
Well it sounds good and looks good but I was still suspicious as these imported Nintendo cabinets don’t just pop up for sale every day, especially with this kind of price tag. I checked when the FB account had been created and the lady had been a Facebook member for more than 10 years…hmm.
Time to send a message and see what happens next. I requested some more photos of the machine not expecting a reply as it was late into the evening…but the lady responded just a few moments later “I can take some more, what other pictures do you want?”.
I asked if it was possible to see both sides, the back and inside the machine to which she responded “My husband said he can do that in the morning, it’s his machine”
I then asked where and when the machine was purchased. To which the lady replied “It was purchased from a dealer for £1200 3 years ago”.
This all started to seem plausible and if it was a genuine sale I needed to act FAST as the listing had only been live for a few hours so I had to get this deal done and the advert removed. I explained that I was due to go away for a week but I would like to purchase the machine therefore could she mark the item as SOLD (thus removing it from marketplace searches usually after just a few minutes)
She agreed and marked the item as sold, even sent me her husband’s phone number and did not mention payment.
The next day I drove my wife and kids to Exmouth for our break with the game still very much on my mind. Typically when we arrived at the holiday park there was barely any network coverage but later that day photos actually started to appear in my DM’s and a collection address. Still polite and still with no mention of payment. The photos were perfect with a totally original plywood Nintendo cabinet shown to me. Original boards, Sanyo monitor, and original PSU. Someone had also conveniently installed what looked like a 220vac internal transformer. The serial plate had the model stamped ‘TKG3-UP’ which suggested it started life as the original DK game (which explained why the cabinet was blue)
Obviously someone at some point decided to convert to DKJNR.
The next task was to get this machine picked up and paid for. It was all the way down south a long way from my home in Leicestershire and as much as I’d like to go and grab it quickly on my return I had a pretty full calendar waiting for me so I dropped Martin ‘The Deliveryman’ a message. Martin responded and an approximate collection date agreed.
I updated the seller and requested bank details. I was excited but still anxious wondering if the whole thing would turn out to be some elaborate scam. The seller came back to me with her bank details which were in her name. I quickly ran her sort code through Google to check if the code was linked to a local branch to her address. It was. I then ran her details through my banking app and they were a match! So I transferred the money and the lady confirmed receipt!
Ok relax. I tried to put it all to the back of my mind after all I was supposed to be on holiday.
…but holy crap! I think I might have just purchased a Donkey Kong Junior for three hundred quid!!
Whilst waiting for the machine to be collected on my return home I started to do some digging as she had mentioned purchasing from a “dealer”...not many of those about.
Lo and behold! I found the advert from a few years ago:
A couple of weeks later...
According to Martin who briefly spoke with the owner, he had spoken to Home Leisure Direct to see if they wanted to purchase the machine back but they weren't interested!
Well, one persons loss is another persons gain I guess!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Instagram: @scotts_home_arcade
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