A question about arcade marquees

[chrisballer]

I was not sure If I should put this here or in the what is it worth thread. Close to me there are some marquees for sale. I am just wondering if it would be worth picking up. I know most marquees are worth about the same, but I was wondering if there are any more uncommon ones in this lot which would make it worth grabbing them.

Final Fight, Aeroboto, Karate Blazers, Renegade, CAL.50, King & Balloon, Pit Fighter, Cycle Shooting, Mat Mania, Time Soldiers, Karate Master, Gladiator, Pioneer & Balloon, Tag Team, Space Position, Terranean, MetroCross, Konami Super Basketball (Glass), Cheyenne, Twin Eagle, Samurai Showdown, Super Cobra, Rough Ranger, Jail Break, P.O.W, and Kick man.

Thanks in advance

[backstage_hobbies]

Can't attest to value myself, but I've got Time Soldiers and Final Fight and I'm picking up extras for my cabs, "just in case", when I can. If you do pick it up, I'd probably be interested in getting those off you if you'd want to part with them.

[weirdguy]

I think the general rule of thumb is if it's a glass marquee, it's worth it to pick it up.

[boatofcar]

I think the general rule of thumb is if it's a glass marquee, it's worth it to pick it up.

Provided the paint isn't too worn, this is my rule too.

[InsaneDavid]

The big thing to remember about marquees is that there are two condition types due to age - wall art and backlightable. If they have scratches and missing artwork that is visible when backlit, but look fine when not illuminated, those can be used for wall art and are worth far less than a good condition marquee that can be used on a cabinet.

From your list I'd say the Rock-Ola and Exidy marquees are the ones that jump out at me as nice to have. Namely Pioneer Balloon and Cheyenne. Pioneer Balloon is a pretty awesome older game, gets heavy rotation on the MAME cabinet. The rest seem like a decent assortment if anything. Granted, after the arcade show next weekend I'd be happy to see anything other than a pile of NOS 1943 marquees... I mean, EVERYONE had like 15 they were selling.

[kedawa]

Having a Pit Fighter marquee would be totally studly.

[RetroGaming Roundup]

Should you find any that are wall worthy but not game worth due to scratches, flaking etc. you can spray the back with Krylon triple thick and that will preserve its present condition. That method also works well on pinball backglasses.

[goatdan]

Should you find any that are wall worthy but not game worth due to scratches, flaking etc. you can spray the back with Krylon triple thick and that will preserve its present condition. That method also works well on pinball backglasses.

Does this work on plastic marquees?

Also, if you do this, make sure you don't have the game in a marquee where the temperature changes a lot. Triple thick shrinks at a different rate than the backglass does, and I have a friend who basically took off an entire backglass full of paint by triple thicking it and then leaving it in the garage to dry. When it heated up about 30 degrees during the day, the triple thick pulled a ton of the paint right off.