Advice for buying/repairing Pac-Man machine?

[MF_Luder]

Hey guys. I've been in the market the past few months for an original Pac-Man cabinet. Yesterday I went to look at one, which had a manufacture date of Jan. 1981. Externally it has some minor cosmetic issues, but nothing awful. The worst part is that the wood on the back is cracked in half, so it comes off in two pieces, but at least that is just the backside. It also was very dusty inside, and will need a good cleaning. As far as the joystick and play, it seemed to work fine.

The major issue that came up is that the game wigged out when I was playing it, and several of the error screens popped up. The owners (they were a nice couple with kids and seemed trustworthy) told me that that issue hadn't happened in months. They said they got the game from a friend 6 months ago because it was doing that, but the guy discovered that it was just a loose chip on the board, and he wiggles the chip a bit and the issue went away for months. He said that they moved it around to take pictures for me, and that that must have jostled the chip again. He pushed the chip around to clear the error and it didn't happen again while I was there.

So... I'm wondering a few things. First, for a original Pac-man cab in good cosmetic condition and good working order, what's the going rate? I've seen it leaning towards $800 nowadays, since they are getting increasingly harder to find (for some reason). Is that about right? And, in fact, this couple is offering theirs for $800. That's too high, due to the cosmetic and board issues, but I'm wondering if it's even worth making a lower offer or if I should just pass? These don't show up often in my area, so I feel tempted to offer something, maybe $400-$500? If the board does go bad, how easy are they to find and replace? And what's the cost for that? Thanks in advance if anyone has info.

[celerystalker]

Pac-Man is one of the most popular and common arcade games in existence. Working PCBs fluctuate in price, but they're all over ebay and other places like quarterarcade.com. A loose chip could easily be the problem there, and it's typically a matter of re-flowing the solder if that's the case, and/or replacing the socket if it's a socketed chip.

The more expensive things are the things you're not thinking about. If the art isn't satisfactory to you, replacing it even with repro art will cost money. If the monitor is bad, it'll likely cost more than a Pac-Man board. Splitting wood, especially from water damage, is bad news.

In the St Louis area, a decent Pac pops up on craigslist a few times a year for aroind $500, while a lot of people ask for $1000 and let it rot for months. From what you're describing, I wouldn't want to pay more than $400, and then only if it's a personal favorite with a great monitor. If you have any pics, it can help determine condition/value better, as the damage may be less severe than I'm imagining. There are good deals to be had on common games like this. Is it an original raster CRT? Is the control panel and overlay correct? Is the side art clean? The marquee and bezel? The pcb is likely an easy fix, but those other questions are where your money is going. The controls, wiring, power supply, board, and monitor are about $200 in parts at retail. The rest of your money is paying for the cabinet structure and appearance.