August 15, 2009 Dallas SuperAuction

[The-Bavis]

I hope you were interested in Multi-Cades because that was what the bulk of the working upright offerings were at this weekend’s SuperAuction in Dallas . The amount of overall items up for bids at the Mesquite Rodeo Exhibition Hall was on the slimmer side as bidders tried their best to find more than a few things of interest to be won. There were about 15 Multi-Cades up for grabs, several looking quite nice with quality cabinet work and art while others were not so well maintained. Most of these were generic 48-in-1 cabinets, with a few being placed in cabinets still displaying their original decorations. One miniature Ms. Pac-Man was fully refurbished at first glance and crammed with a 48-in-1 board. Looking closer, all of the art had been replaced with inkjet created printouts that gave it a funny corrugated look. Odd for something that someone spent so much time on.

Outside of the Multi-Cades, there were a few notable uprights for sale. Asteroids and Tempest cabinets with beautiful monitors were in the first row of machines. Several decent Ms. Pac-Mans were sold, including a nice cabaret with wood grain sides. Other notables were a Punch-Out!! in fairly good condition and Galaga and Joust cocktails. As far as machines in the less operable condition, there seemed to be fewer of note. A nice Dig Dug cabinet that didn’t appear to want to start was getting a lot of attention from staff and auction goers. Multiple Neo Geos and others rounded out the uprights to have some decent options available, but overall it was a somewhat disappointing stock.

I can’t speak to the pinball quality or redemptions and slots. I left soon after the working uprights were completed. I kept track of a few prices since I considered bidding on them to various degrees. One bidder who purchased a lot of games at non-discount prices seemed to be stocking up a business and that seemed to drive a few prices higher than they might have gone otherwise.

Overall, it was a middling experience for the uprights, but there are only two months until the next one. Hopefully the Multi-Cade pipeline has been flushed at this point and we will see more dedicated classics up for grabs on October 3rd.

Here are the prices I scrawled down (accuracy not guaranteed):

*Ms. Pac-Man $320 - Pretty good shape; nice monitor; normal paint wear
*Punch-Out!! $450 - Really nice as far as we could see
*Ms. Pac-Man $450 - Nice shape
*Pac-Man $435 - Nice
*Ms. Pac-Man $400 - Cabaret; Some hole drilled in side, overall in great shape
*Ms. Pac/Galaga $1300 - First game sold; Really pretty beat up considering the age
*Moon Patrol $250 - Pretty nice; Significant burn-in, but not terrible
*Galaga Cocktail $500? - This was in great shape; I'm not sure of the price, I was frustrated at this point
*Joust Cocktail $600 - Really very nice, only noticeable problem was burn-in
*DK3 Multi-Cade $400 - Cabinet looked well taken care of and like a quality conversion
*Ms-Pac Cabaret Multi $760 - This is the one with the inkjet stuff all over it


Anyone else go to the auction? Please add your thoughts!

[udisi]

The person who was buying a bunch at higher prices could have been buying his own machines back. I've been to the superauctions when they come around here, and mot of the good machines are owned buy 1 or 2 people, and they'll shill bid their own machines up, and it doesn't bring what they want, they just buy it back.

Pretty weak imo. if you wanted a certain price, start it there is what I say, and stay out of the bidding. In my experience, you really won't get a good deal on a good machine at these. the stuff that is beat up, or in the wrong cab, or pieced together, may sell cheap, but any of the good condition stuff, or nicer cabs, or pinballs, won't go for a good price.

I even had this happen to me personally on a pinball machine. It's was down to me and one other guy. I pretty much had it around $750. It played well, but could use a cleaning and overhaul. probably a $1300-$1600 machine if it were perfect. I went back and forth a bit with the other guy till about $1100, and then quit. Find out later the guy going against me owned the machine, and he offered it to me for $1200 after the auction. thanks, but no thanks.

I saw this happen on all kinds of pins and cabs at the auction, I saw another buyer go up against an owner all the way from 1K, all the way to 3k. Without the shill, the buyer would have had it at 1k. seriously, I won't even bother with another of these superauctions. Even, if you beat the other bidders, you gotta deal with the owners of the machines shilling the shit out of their stuff. Shame too, cause I saw a minty, perfect tapper cab, but it wasn't gonna sell from the start for less than $1500, but you gott wait 2 hours to find that out until the owner of the machine shills the shit out of it.

[The-Bavis]

That can happen, and maybe it did here. I got a pretty good feeling that she wasn't doing that but was there and spending someone else's money on things. This was just a vibe, though.

[Flack]

I know people who went and they had similar opinions -- too many Multicades, too many inexperienced buyers driving prices up.

[jb143]

The person who was buying a bunch at higher prices could have been buying his own machines back. I've been to the superauctions when they come around here, and mot of the good machines are owned buy 1 or 2 people, and they'll shill bid their own machines up, and it doesn't bring what they want, they just buy it back.

Pretty weak imo. if you wanted a certain price, start it there is what I say, and stay out of the bidding. In my experience, you really won't get a good deal on a good machine at these. the stuff that is beat up, or in the wrong cab, or pieced together, may sell cheap, but any of the good condition stuff, or nicer cabs, or pinballs, won't go for a good price.

I noticed that too when I went last year. There was one guy that was bidding on almost everything it seemed untill they got to a certain point. You could tell he was a real professional too and It almost seemed like the auctioneers knew to look for him because you could barely tell he was even bidding(just a very very slight quick nod of the head). So...are the auctioneers in on it too?

I was going for a beatten up cabinet though and got a really good deal.

[Flack]

So...are the auctioneers in on it too?

Absolutely.

[portnoyd]

Gotta be careful and observe first.

[udisi]

I'm sure the auctioneers on in on it. They get a %15-20 buyer's premium on top of the selling price.

The bigger question is are the owners charged that premium on things they win back? I couldn't tell ya, but they seem to be "buddy, buddy" with each other.

Oh and yeah, the beat up cabs, and the games that are just slapped in a cab(not original) usually go decently cheap. Then again, they usually need work, or aren't desirable enough to command any type of real money. Most of those are just slapped together from arcade pieces. " This Mortal Kombat board works, and I have this spray-painted cab over here that has a semi- decent monitor....slap...slap...in the auction you go."