MAMEWorld Forums - EmuChat - Re: "Collectaholics" BBC programme featuring one guy's awesome UK arcade & Pinball collection.

> ..something like 300+ cabinets and pinball machines in total and was valued by the
> experts at something like $500,000, there is some very rare stuff featured, such as a
> full sit down Star Wars cabinet.

Some of the facts in the video are dubious:

"crazy kong which lead to donkey kong" (The bootlegger becomes the bootlegged?)

"it wasn't until 1972 when a table tennis game called pong was released that arcade games became fully electronic" (computer space wasn't fully electronic?)

They say that in London small retro arcades are starting to appear, but there are some that have had old games for years. With some of them downsizing or closing completely, there are less than there were a decade ago.

The "expert" valued it way too high. Even if you could find people who believe the "expert" and pay that, you could certainly build a collection like that for less (and I'm sure he did as he says he's spent tens of thousands in the video).

"As far as I am aware this is probably the largest working collection of classic video games in the uk".

"The entire collection goes towards 300 but there are projects in that with some of them that are just shells as well as ones with quite serious faults"

The biggest problem with that amount of machines is keeping them all working. Most people with large collections either never get that many working or give up after a couple of years.

Owning a Star Wars sit down is a double edged sword, the one that toured with the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_On_(exhibition) was upgraded to Windows 95 to make it reliable enough. £3000 maybe on a good day with someone who doesn't know what they are letting themselves on to.

The "experts" web site http://www.findarcademachines.com/atari-star-wars-cockpit-original-arcade-machine-p-1073.html free uk delivery and a bargain at £2995, down from £3995.... Maybe not thanks. You have to be careful if you do want to buy one, people did start making reproduction cabinets.

I don't see why the afterburner deluxe was so expensive either, most of them don't get repaired because nobody wants them.

It is a nice collection though and you can go visit http://www.arcade-club.com/

I hope it is successful, other similar projects in the UK have not had long term success.

http://www.ukvac.com/forum/show-off-your-collection-on-the-telly-box_topic342024.html

http://www.jammaplus.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=70146&title=bb2-collectaholics-300-arcades