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WTB Candy Cab in New England

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ShiftingBlank

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Maine
Hey all,

I'm itching to get my first candy cab, but it's slim pickings here in Maine. I'd prefer an Astro or Blast City, but I'll consider any machine that's wired for JAMMA. I'm willing to drive to Massachusetts or possibly even farther if need be.

I know it's a long shot, but you can't blame a guy for trying...
 
You'll occasionally see them pop up in MA. Vast majority of my cabs I had to have shipped in from elsewhere though.
 
Yea what T said... The cabs are available, but you'll likely need to ship one.
 
I'll definitely go that route if I have to. I've already reached out to Ken at the Game Room, and he's got some Blast Cities, but it's gonna be a two-month wait. If I can find something local that I can actually see in person and doesn't cost $500 to ship, that would be great.
 
Just be aware of what you are getting yourself into man, Blast City came out in 1996... that monitor is likely approaching almost 30 years old.
You aren't buying a toy, your investing in a "project" that will require work to maintain.

Ever pulled/replaced a chassis/neck board, or placed convergence strips around the tube of an active/live monitor before?
I don't personally recommend either, but this is exactly the kind of work that will be required to maintain it.
I'm not even talking yoke/ring adjustments and tube swaps... Something thats also becoming increasingly necessary with the aging of these tubes.
 
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Indeed. I don't know what your experience with arcade machines is but it's important to understand that NO CRT based cab is going to be just buying and using... these are used machined, often abused machines, and even the really great ones aren't perfect and will require maintenance, particularly surrounding the CRT.

Personally I think it's well worth the effort but just be warned that after spending $XXXX on a cab you'll likely be spending $XXX or more on parts and many hours working on it.
 
But you do get to play games on it sometimes, right? 😁

I don’t have any experience doing that kind of work, but it sounds interesting. I guess the tinkering aspect of the hobby is part of what appeals to me about it. I know I could just get a Rec Room Masters cabinet or a Chewlix or something, but it just wouldn’t feel like an authentic experience to me without the CRT.

Thanks for the well-intentioned and very sensible words of caution, but I’m dead set on this. Now I just need to find the damn thing.
 
Welcome to the New England advice thread! I shipped two blasts from KC on this forum (and a Vewlix). Also got an egret from a group buy. All four needed deep cleaning. The egret needed a full cab restore. The blasts needed a lot of cleaning and some tech work. I liken it to buying an old car, except there are no mechanics near you. you will need to turn a wrench at some point. A few folks will do things for you like recap a crt chassis, but you’d have to remove and box it... which involves discharging the tube.

but anyway if you’re in for the maintenance then yes we do play games around here too. We play awesome og arcade games, convert cheaper games into more expensive or unobtainable ones, make multi-kits for real hardware (like a mvs flash cart or cps2 multi cart) and all kids of other cool shit.

there are a lot of threads about the restoration or maintenance to get you a virtual taste.

but if you want to buy one I’m sure KC has some he’d ship. You’ll get whatever he’s got, and it will need work, and will have some burn on the tube... and there’s a bit of a language barrier. But you’d end up with a cab anyway! https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/k-c-game-sale.10993/ he’s the only one who consistently imports candy cabs to the usa
 
Thanks for the tip. KC doesn’t seem to have any JAMMA cabs at the moment from what I can tell. I went back and forth with him a few times about a New Net City. He said it had “light burn.” I didn’t like the sound of that, so I asked him to describe the burn-in, and he responded “light burn.” Since I’m nervous about burn-in and JAMMA adapters for JVS cabs seem hard to come by (I’m mostly interested in JAMMA games), I decided to drop it.

I get the feeling the quality control at The Game Room is a little better, but I could be wrong. Does anyone have experience with them? They don’t seem to have a presence on this forum.

Either way, I’m worried I’m gonna spend 2K on a cabinet and end up with a monitor with unfixable problems. That’s why I started this thread. Who knows? Maybe someone within 200 miles of me might be selling a decent cabinet. If it doesn’t pan out, I’ll bite the bullet and order one.
 
Ground zero on Facebook gets containers on the East coast. I believe he is out of Maryland.
 
ShiftingBlank said:
But you do get to play games on it sometimes, right? 😁

I don’t have any experience doing that kind of work, but it sounds interesting. I guess the tinkering aspect of the hobby is part of what appeals to me about it. I know I could just get a Rec Room Masters cabinet or a Chewlix or something, but it just wouldn’t feel like an authentic experience to me without the CRT.

Thanks for the well-intentioned and very sensible words of caution, but I’m dead set on this. Now I just need to find the damn thing.
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I like your spirit. The best part is the glow of the CRT! Sometimes the tinkering can be super rewarding, and sometimes it's a pain. But the reward is great, learning new stuff is great, and playing the games is also great. Be careful though, one cab quickly turns onto 2 cabs...and that quickly goes to 4 cabs......
 
ShiftingBlank said:
I get the feeling the quality control at The Game Room is a little better, but I could be wrong. Does anyone have experience with them? They don’t seem to have a presence on this forum.
Click to expand...

Ken and The Game Room is two hours away from me. He does a decent first pass at cleaning up his cabs and he's honest about the condition of what he'll send you. You'll receive a cabinet that powers on with working controls, audio and display. Don't expect any haggling, discounts, deals, or special treatment though - whatever he says the price is, THAT is the price. Several colleagues in my area have purchased cabs from him and I haven't heard any complaints. I don't know for certain, but I suspect he buys batches of cabs from KC in LA, cleans and services them, then sells them at a markup.

I think any CRT cab you buy from Ken or KC is going to have at least some light burn - it's almost impossible to avoid with any cab that's seen business use. Typically "light burn" means you won't notice it while a game is running unless the screen is white. "Heavy burn" means you'll probably notice it all the time. Heavy burn is also noticeable when the cab is off and you're just looking at the screen.

CRT candy cab supply is dwindling so be prepared to either accept what you can find condition-wise and tune it up, or wait for something pristine to come up for sale and pay a premium for it.
 
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At least get 2, one vertical one horizontal. Shipping/freight cost is basically the same.

(Oh and one modern/lcd for newer stuff, vewlix recommended. And one gun cab. Oh and a driving cab. Maybe a cocktail. Ok so 6. )
 
ShootTheCore said:
I don't know for certain, but I suspect he buys batches of cabs from KC in LA, cleans and services them, then sells them at a markup.
Click to expand...
That actually sounds pretty good to me. My goal for my first cab is to get one I can play and enjoy while gradually upgrading/restoring it over time.
 
ItsBobDudes said:
Ground zero on Facebook gets containers on the East coast. I believe he is out of Maryland.
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Thanks man, I'll check that out. Would freight for Maryland to Maine be that much cheaper than Utah to Maine? It's too far to drive.
 
Ken actually has a really nice-looking Candy 29 Type II with a rebuilt monitor on eBay, but it's almost four grand... I could get two Blast Cities for that. I'd be crazy to spend that much on an arcade cabinet... right? :unsure:
 
Well I got three cabs, plus freight, for not much more than that. I did have to put in work and money for restoration. Rebuilt monitor just means new capacitors, not no-burn. But if you don’t want to put in work then you pay for that premium. It’s your personal call.

I had to buy new control panels, maybe you’d save on that. I like 2 levers 12 buttons (so 6 buttons each) and that one is Neo Geo 4 button layout. But if that’s cool for you, you’d skip that cost. But I’d recommend replacing the buttons and joysticks regardless.
 
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