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12 - Antique Shoppe - www.antiqueshoppefl.com
KAYE’S COLLECTOR CORNER
By Mike Kaye
ARCADE FUN FOR ALL THE
PINBALL WIZARDS
In the mid-1980s my oldest
brother would take me to a place
called “Big Foots” which was a
local video game arcade. He’d take
out $5.00 and that would get us 20
tokens; good for 20 games. Sunday
was double token day and $5.00
would get us 40 tokens. Games
would last several minutes each
and, if you were good, you could
potentially play 10-15 minutes
on one token. Nowadays games
are $1.00 or more each and last
sometimes seconds. Where did the
day of the arcade go?
Anyone who grew up pre-90s can
relate to the idea of an “arcade”.
The place to hang out and get your
game on. A dark room with neon
lights and plenty of bleeps and
video noise. Then the change machine, spilling out
tokens like a slot machine, as kids would scoop up
the coins and run to their favorite game.
I was a big fan of just about anything with a
joystick, trackball or steering wheel. One of my
favorites was Spy Hunter®, a game that required
the player to grab a steering wheel with buttons
to control a smoke screen and oil slick, and a gas
pedal to step on while standing. Another unique
game was called Paperboy® where the player
would hold bicycle handlebars on the machine and
deliver papers on a video monitor simulating a
person riding a bicycle. Other memorable games are
Excite Bike®, Joust®, Pacman®, Burger Time®,
Dig Dug®, Sprint®, Centipede®, Galaga®, Food
Fight® and countless others. Other non-video game
favorites were Claw machines where you could try
to grab a prize with the “claw” or other games of
skill like skeeball, where you would win tickets to
redeem prizes. Prizes were usually flimsy plastic
items that could be found in a gumball machine, but
might cost you $20 in tokens to win.
At some point in the 90s these video games began
to fade out with the onset of home video game
consoles like Sega Genesis® and Sony Playstation®.
Also, the fact that adults mastered a lot of the arcade
games meaning less quarters going into the machines.
As arcades become a thing of the past you can’t help
but wonder where all those bulky machines went and
whether they are worth anything.
I began my research on arcade machines and
realized that value is based mostly on the game
popularity and not the age of the machine. Then
the rarity and condition are taken into account. The
highest value I found was a newer Walking Dead dual player game
which sold for $13,000+, a 80s shooting game called Operation Wolf
by Taito sold for close to $3,800, 1980 Tempest by Atari is worth
$3,000 but I kept wondering about the machines I remember? That’s
when I came across Galaga® for $2,900, Q-Bert for $2,400, Mario
Bros® and Pacman® each selling for just under $2,000, Burger Time®
for $1,400, Donkey Kong®, Joust® and Defender® each $1,500,
Outrun® and Millipede® worth $750 each and then some multi game
machines.
Standing in front of a pinball machine as a kid was like holding onto
a machine from the future. I gladly sank my quarters into a vast variety
of pinball machines over the years. The excitement of inserting the
coin, then waiting for the metal balls to pop out onto a track, where
a pull knob with spring awaits. Blinking lights, ramps, colorful art,
and drop down targets, come into play as you desperately activate the
flippers to keep the balls in play to score the highest amount of points.
Score high enough and you might win a free game.
In the past, pinball machines were illegal because they were a form
of gambling. Players could cash out these “free games” for money. As
a result, Pinball was banned from the 1940s until 1976 when a court
decided it was a game of skill, not chance.
The big manufacturers of pinball machines were Williams, Gottlieb
and Bally. The newest manufacturer is Stern.
Some recent sales for vintage Williams machines include: Gorgar
$723, ’63 Sweethearts $556, ’79 Flash $1,400, Pinbot $3,800, ’87
Space Station $4,000, Funhouse and Taxi selling for $5,500+ and Star
Trek® at $6,300. Gottlieb pinball machine sales
include: ’75 Pin Up $290, ’72 Pop A Card $450,
Sweethearts and Hollywood Heat Premier $550-
$565 and my personal favorite the Haunted House
for $2,000. Bally created the popular Twilight
Zone® game with asking prices just under $10,000
and Creature from the Black Lagoon $7,450.
Another company, Data East was responsible for
creating the Rocky & Bullwinkle® machine $6,000,
Back to the Future® $7,000 and Star Wars® $8,000.
One machine I remember seeing in the arcades was
a combination game called Baby Pacman Pinball
which played the traditional Pacman on the top with
a half-sized pinball machine attached. Very neat
machine you don’t see very often.
A rare type of pinball machine is the cocktail
pinball which is an actual sit-down pinball machine.
I almost bought one on several different occasions,
but it never panned out.
The consistently highest selling machines are the
newer Stern machines which offer sharp graphics,
crisp digital displays and popular titles like KISS®
$10,000, Playboy® $5,500,
Deadpool and Batman at
$8,000 ea.
If you’re thinking of
collecting any type of arcade
machine, the memories
TOP: Moon Patrol-The might be outweighed by the
standup, full size arcade game facts. These machines are
in mint condition is worth bulky, require a lot of space,
approximately $750-$1,000. are heavy to lug around
CENTER: - The 80s classic and are difficult to repair as
Donkey Kong- A working professional repairmen are
standup arcade in mint short-handed and difficult to
condition can fetch $2,300
according to a recent eBay sale. find.
BOTTOM: The arcade game
Kick Man was created by If you have stuff to sell, I’m all ears! Contact
Midway. In working condition CollectorK Today! Text 561-628-4369 or
email kpeople@hotmail.com.
can sell for $500-$1,000.