Need Help Purchasing a Donkey Kong Cabinet

[Shamo]

Hello,

I am going to be purchasing my first upright Cabinet in less than a week and there are some questions I would like to have answered before going into this.

1) How can I tell if its an original and not a Radarscope or some conversion. Is the TK serial number enough to confirm?

2) How can I tell if this is the Wooden or Particle board Model? Im guessing by looking at the back of the cab.

3) What other things should I look out for to make sure I am getting a dedicated cabinet?

4) Is $400 a good for a working cabinet in this condition?

[John's Arcade]

Hello,

I am going to be purchasing my first upright Cabinet in less than a week and there are some questions I would like to have answered before going into this.

1) How can I tell if its an original and not a Radarscope or some conversion. Is the TK serial number enough to confirm?

2) How can I tell if this is the Wooden or Particle board Model? Im guessing by looking at the back of the cab.

3) What other things should I look out for to make sure I am getting a dedicated cabinet?

4) Is $400 a good for a working cabinet in this condition?

I replied to you already about this but I'll do it again here.

The cabinet is blue, so it's not a Radarscope.

Particle cabs are thicker and you can see the particle board from inside the cabinet looking in it from the back.

The t-molding is wrong on the cabinet. It should be white. The lock bar is a bummer. I'd want to be around $200 for that game. You can pay a little more if you want and it probably will restore nicely but you'll dump a few hundred into it.

The extra bolt holes tell me it was converted to a horizontal game at some point. Maybe a Nintendo Vs or Popeye. Not a huge but it's something you'll have to address or you can cover the extra holes with side art.

[HobbyDude]

Hey John,

$200 for that? I was thinking $400 was cheap! Its hard to find a DK cab for less than $1,000 on eBay or any used arcade game reseller. What do you think about all these games going for $1,000 or more? If I had to buy all your games on eBay or used arcade game resellers, I would estimate paying between $10-15,000.

-HobbyDude

[John's Arcade]

Hey John,

$200 for that? I was thinking $400 was cheap! Its hard to find a DK cab for less than $1,000 on eBay or any used arcade game reseller. What do you think about all these games going for $1,000 or more? If I had to buy all your games on eBay or used arcade game resellers, I would estimate paying between $10-15,000.

-HobbyDude

That's why I have only bought one game on ebay!

Your best bet is to buy from other collectors. Which means you need to meet some local to you. I also suggest joining KLOV.COM and post in the WANTED TO BUY forums and keep an eye on the FOR SALE forums.

$400 for a DK is cheap these days but that one looks a little beat to me.

[HobbyDude]

That's good to know. It's tempting to buy on eBay for instant gratification, but I don't want to be feeling like I got ripped off every time I play it. That would definitely be a joy kill for me. I'm sure eBay helps for certain games. So I won't rule it out.

[All Meshed Up]

I'm not going to claim to be an expert, but I've learned quite a bit about cabinets lately - at least enough to be saddened by the state of this one. That thing is pretty well beat and clearly not owned by someone who gave a damn about it.
The molding was replaced with the wrong stuff (should be white and flat). The buttons are all wrong, but the joystick is the right color at least - might actually be original. The lock bar is… just wrong. Whoever put that on there should be ashamed. And as blkdog7 said, it doesn't appear to be an original cabinet. I'd ever go so far as to say that that monitor might not be original. Maybe it's just the photo, but that looks much too bright and clear for it's supposed age.
Still, while $400 is a bit steep, I'd probably go for it. At least to have a cabinet I could have fun with and learn how to restore without worrying too much about ruining it. It depends how much money, and time, you're willing to put in to it. There's certainly enough there to make a beautiful restore and once you give it a good cleaning, put the right molding on it, and patch the holes, you'd be surprised how well it will look.

But again, I'm brand new to this whole thing and everything I say is taken from a shallow pool of knowledge.