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The joysticks can be replaced easily, but taking them apart for a good cleaning will likely give you good results if you don't feel like spending the money.
Agreed. Throwing out perfectly fine sticks is just wasteful.

I haven't bought new sticks since I don't know when. You get a ton more mileage out of sticks by just looking after them. Cleaning, greasing, and sometimes I might swap in a new pivot cylinder (90 cents on Focus Attack).

As for snap in versus screw in, unless you're changing buttons often, snap in is the way to go. I can never get the screws tight enough that they don't get loose after a while. Sure, you could glue them like they do in Japan, but then it kind of defeats the purpose.
 
The Blastcity(s) stickers look good and seems original, no need to replace them unless you are going to get the Blastcity(s) professionally repainted.. if the Blastcity is your first cab then do the minimal as possible because your preference might change and might want to sell them to get something else in the future. I would just clean the joysticks and buttons first and go from there..but save the originals if you decide to get new joys and buttons.. when it is time to sell put the old one back.

“I am looking for advice on hooking up the XBOX 360 and wondered if anyone had a hookup on Pad hack to jamma” I would just look for two ps360 since those are reported to have the lowest lag and get wiring from focus attack.. use the 360 vga cables and connect it directly to the blast vga monitor, the audio goes to the audio of the blast easy.. For pad hacks, @Lemony Vengeance might be able to help you.

Depends on what you want to play but I would also put GroovyMame aside from the 360 on those guys..vertical and horizontal..

My preference is 15khz monitors cabs for 15khz games..for the 360/dreamCast Blastcity are good...but my understand is that NNC are better due to the monitor but the NNC is the ugly duckling of the cab lines.

Personally I would have grabbed the Astros instead of the blast but that is because I generally play 15khz stuff.
 
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if the Blastcity is your first cab then do the minimal as possible because your performance might change and might want to sell them to get something else in the future. I would just clean the joysticks and buttons first and go from there..

Personally I would have grabbed the Astros instead of the blast but that is because I generally play 15khz stuff.
Well I would say its too late for that advice at this point even though that is great advice.

I am going to get them professionally repainted and powder coated and have ordered these so far for Blast:

Control Panel Overlays, Screw Sets, Side Graphics, Ball Tops, Buttons, Yen Coin covers.











And for the x2 Aero Cities:

Side graphics, Control Panel Surround Overlays, Stickers warning sets, 2 players control decks, 2 player wire harnesses,








I am not too sure about the color mismatch on the violet tops and buttons so I ordered one set to see how I like it.

I am still looking for 100 yen stickers for the Blast also I need to know where I can order new stock green and pink buttons for Blast.
 
There are two different CP surrounds for the Aero, so hold off on ordering the art for it until you know which ones you'll end up with.
 
There are two different CP surrounds for the Aero, so hold off on ordering the art for it until you know which ones you'll end up with.
The 2p panel I bought has the 1p and 2p start built into the inset control panel not the surround. The graphics I bought have the 1p and 2p on the surround and not the inset panel.

I did cancel my order but I may be overlooking a sweet feature of wrong graphics purchase.

Can I place another 24mm Button in the surround graphics for actual 1p, 2P and use the inset 1p, 2p buttons as button 4 for 4 button games?

If so I think I think I would like to re-order the "mistake"

Or are you saying the 2 different surrounding housings will not "fit" 2 different graphics?

I like the thought of hacking the 4th button better. I have a step drill bit in mind..

 
Or are you saying the 2 different surrounding housings will not "fit" 2 different graphics?
Correct. There's a plastic housing, and a metal housing, and they're different pretty much entirely.
 
Just to add on to the comment by @rewrite, there are two different models of the metal surround. One has the mounting bolts tac welded and the other uses carriage bolts. Those will use the same art, but you will need to cut holes for the bolts to slide through.

There is also the river service panel too. Those don't use the og art at all.

Also, if you're going to play neo on the machine, you're not going to get a configuration you're happy with using the stock 3 button panel. River Service sells after market 4 button panels or you can try to hunt down the panels from the various Neo Candy models as those will fit the Aero.
 
When you all say KC do you mean kou_cheu on ebay? If so, is $1050 for a Blast City considered a good find? Seems so overpriced to me..
 
? If so, is $1050 for a Blast City considered a good find? Seems so overpriced to me..
Everything is more expensive on eBay, because there are fees to be covered. So no, it's not a good find, but it's about typical given that. Deal off eBay and get it cheaper if you want it. $800-900 seems pretty typical these days, but frankly prices are going to just keep climbing because the easy supply of candies is drying up.

So deal hunt away, just keep that in mind.
 
I've not purchase stuff from ebay for agessss... during my retro DOS PC adventure, I was surprise to find out that ebay "now" charges taxes.. I received separate bills, one from the seller for the item and shipping and another from ebay for taxes.. I was like what the FFFFFFF.... on top of the $1050 you will pay your state taxes..The seller gets the finger as well,, with all fees from ebay and PayPal you are looking at %20 loss..
 
I just bought the 2P control panel new on this forum for $150.

A user made a comment that it comes with the "extra wires & Kick Harness for 6 buttons"




I ordered the 6 buttons for one of the Blast that has 4 buttons wired into it.

Do you think the 4 button Blastwill have the necessary wire and kicks to run all 6 buttons or what will I need exactly to run all 6 buttons?
 
I just bought the 2P control panel new on this forum for $150.

A user made a comment that it comes with the "extra wires & Kick Harness for 6 buttons"




I ordered the 6 buttons for one of the Blast that has 4 buttons wired into it.

Do you think the 4 button Blastwill have the necessary wire and kicks to run all 6 buttons or what will I need exactly to run all 6 buttons?
That looks like it wires directly into the arcade PCB, bypassing the 10 pin amp connector that is used for kicks. While that will work, it'll look messy
 
I just bought the 2P control panel new on this forum for $150.

A user made a comment that it comes with the "extra wires & Kick Harness for 6 buttons"


20190625-000046.jpg


I ordered the 6 buttons for one of the Blast that has 4 buttons wired into it.

Do you think the 4 button Blastwill have the necessary wire and kicks to run all 6 buttons or what will I need exactly to run all 6 buttons?
That looks like it wires directly into the arcade PCB, bypassing the 10 pin amp connector that is used for kicks. While that will work, it'll look messy
I bought 2 Blast city cabs. I am confident that the panel above will have the correct hookups and kicks. My question was will I need more kick harnesses or wires for the 3 button model I will be receiving.

I would like to know if I need to order them separately.

signal-2019-10-25-120359.jpg
 
I bought 2 Blast city cabs. I am confident that the panel above will have the correct hookups and kicks. My question was will I need more kick harnesses or wires for the 3 button model I will be receiving.
I would like to know if I need to order them separately.

Unless the 10 pin amp connector is behind your finger in the pic, it's not the correct way to wire kicks for Blast Cities. Yes, it'll work...but the proper way to do it is to wire your kicks to the 10 pin amp connector, which then routes to the IO board. From the IO board you'll use the CN8 connector to CPS2 or CPS1 kick harness. Pic below is what comes out the IO board into your arcade pcb.

Kick-harness-CPS2-auxiliary-cable-Sega-Blast-City.jpg


If you need cables, @Lemony Vengeance makes them at reasonable prices

To answer your question, you won't know for sure if you'll need extra harnesses unless you can see or know what's under the control panel. Maybe you'll get lucky and a harness will already be there, but I doubt it.
 
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I was surprise to find out that ebay "now" charges taxes..
This happened I think about 8 months or over a year ago. You can thank Amazon and wal-mart lobbyist for that. Also it used to be the sellers responsibility to collect taxes if they sold above some value a year. The argument was people where collecting taxes from the buyers and not paying the sales tax they collected.

ebay started automatic tax charges to avoid market liability claims form its competitors and hoping to hold off any more future oversight or regulation if they "failed to act". If you read their investor reports it 80 pages of fear of oversight from US and EU courts.

with all fees from ebay and PayPal you are looking at %20 loss..
anecdotally, I found my cost on fees and shipping to be around %14-16. As apposed %11-%15 from around three/four years ago. That has a lot to do with the weight of items. Semantics, really. Depending on shipping weight, associated selling cost, frequency of sales, it can be around %20.

As well, the USPS has raised the price on first class and started charging for parcel dimensions on standard shipping(Jan 2019).

Seems so overpriced to me..
Cost and sale price are not representative of an items intrinsic worth. A total sale price is market value.
Sale price - fees - shipping = worth

$1050 - $150(ebay fee) - $30.75 (paypal fee) = $914.25

$800-900 seems pretty typical these days
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Higher associated sale cost can inform market participants to charge a higher sale price. Increases in taxes, sale cost, or duties do not add intrinsic value to an item. They add more cost.

An item is not worth more becasue it cost more to sell. It's important to separate the intrinsic from the artificial when assessing worth vs, value vs, price.

Due to the size and weight of Cabs, the market price *tends* to represent a more realistic supply/demand curve equilibrium.

Where items like, pcbs, parts, other collectibles, comics, toys, cards, console games, etc. , are much easier to influence a markets perception of intrinsic value due to the ease of exchange. Ebay is a platform to influence and much as a exchange.


I'm of the opinion that high ebay associated cost is beneficial to the long term of collectible 2ed markets. I see a single corporate entity Being the single industry standard for market value assessment as high systemic volatility for secondary collectible markets. What happen when for what ever reason, ebay is no longer the defacto price guide?

Ebay helped brake up regional price squeezing and help normalize collectible 2ed markets when it started. Now the market is different. I think there is greater overall benefit from a more decentralized collectible(happy fun time stuff) exchange.
 
I got a couple 3 button 2P Aero CP from Yaton that are quite are dingy and soggy.

My plan is to clean them up, grease them, Restore the plastic finish, And stretch the springs to add the tension back.

Here a couple pictures of what to expect when you order these "New" Joysticks. As you can see the Ball tops are scratched and plant matter is trapped under the laminate and the upper edge is ripped.

Any advice for restoring the ball tops and laminate edge would be appreciated.





First I disassembled "snap in" buttons by squeezing the sides and pushing out from the bottom.



Next I took 2 nails and popped out the top shell from the side holster.



Then comes popping open the sping ball switch mechanism. I used 2 sharp flat knives.




Looks like Tokyo Mcpoophands played this cab.




After unassembling 16 button mechanisms I sorted them into metal and plastic piles



All plastic parts went into my Dawn Ball jar for a hot water and soap soak. The best of life comes from Ball jars ;). I let them soak for 30 minutes and then scrubbed them inside and out with a toothbrush. The poophands are gone!.



Next I blew out the moisture from the inside of each button and placed them on a towel on top of my stove vent. for drying. Ill come back in 2 hours to move onto the greasing/finishing stage.

 
Those buttons can be notoriously difficult to clean, especially 30+ years of finger grime and dead skin. I soaked some buttons to the point where the color started to pale and still couldn't get them clean. The springs were all yucky too.
 
Lets move onto some joysticks while the buttons are drying.

First we take the 4 screws off the top plate and set them aside.

Then flip it over and take the OUTER 4 screws but leave the ones in the green bracket.



Remove the steel plate and set aside

Remove the cotter pin from the base of the joystick. i used a firm grip with a pair of pliers but it was difficult. I would like to know a better way. Be careful as the plastic cylinders and spring can shoot out of your hands.



Now we have access to the rocker and the bowl. Set the rocker and blue base aside in the plastic pile.




Look at this "brand new" joystick.



I remove the switches and try the next step which is removing the spring plate.

You can remove the switch covers with either your fingers or 2 pairs of pliers. There is no adhesive.



After removing the cover. Remove the bottom long piece first and then the upper left contact.



I carefully removed the rest of the mechanism to access the spring plate.



The spring plate is located on the bottom of the mechanism and is bowl shapes with a T groove on the left hand side.

You can see the spring plate in this next pic



Bend the bowl into less of a bowl and with a lot of patience, piece it back together.

The difference is night and day as it pushes the switch really hard against the housing making it feel brand new.

If the switch didn't feel soggy, I skipped this step and just bent back slightly the long bottom plate so it would push against the base of the joystick cylinder.

I bent 5 out the 16 spring plates inside the switches total.

Separate your metal from your plastic and repeat the cleaning procedure on the plastic pieces before moving on to the next step:



Greasing and Finishing the Buttons and Joysticks.
 
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