Arcade - Cabinet
I searched the local Craigslist ads for arcade cabinets and found quite a few for sale. I sent a few feeler emails but ultimately felt that I would need to see and measure some cabinets before I made any decisions. I knew I needed a cabinet with a fairly large control field to accommodate fighting games but not so big and wrapped around like a Gauntlet, TMNT or Simpsons. After looking for a bit, it seemed like a good candidate would be an older Golden Tee.
I soon found an ad, not for a Golden Tee, but for a Surf Planet. What caught my eye was not just this cabinet, but the several other cabinets in the background of the photo. I contacted the seller about the ad, explained my goals and asked what else they might have for sale. The owner responded that he had that one as well as several others and we arranged for me to go to his home and take a look.
When I arrived I was a bit taken aback by the number of pieces he had. His large two car garage was filled with many upright cabinets. There was scarcely room to squeeze around the edges to where the Surf Planet was on the far side. He had a number of various parts scattered about including logic boards, marquees, control panels and display bezels. The cabinet itself turned out to be a converted Mortal Kombat II cabinet that someone had repainted. This certainly piqued my interest as a fighting cabinet seemed just about perfect. The wood was in good shape with a few scuffs and dings here and there, but there didn't appear to be any water damage or structural issues at all. The control panel itself would need to be replaced as Surf Planet is a single analog joystick control that had been cut into the center of the original MKII wood/metal one. That was fine as I knew I wanted to build a custom panel anyway and Mortal Kombat would not be the theme. He had been asking $350 for it and we settled on $150 without the display or board. A couple days later, the cabinet was home in my garage.
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