Restoration questions

I picked up my first MVS cabinet over the weekend and I'm really looking forward to restoring it. It's a 2 slot cabinet that has been converted to hold a 4 slot board. This is my first attempt at restoring anything so I'm definitely new and quite possibly an idiot when it comes to this. So if I sound confused, it's probably because I am.

I have quite a few questions about how to go about this.

-The Marquee light is no longer working. Are there lots of known issues with the marquee? The person who had the cab before us had replaced the fluorescent tube with a blacklight. We bought a new fluorescent tube (no black light for us please) but it still isn't working. Any ideas?

-The coin slot lights don't work either. Are there special lights we need to order online or will something from Home Depot work? We bought a similar looking light at Home Depot already but it still isn't working.

-Is the price list for MVS games accurate? Quite a few of the games listed seem really low both compared to ebay and the marketplace here on the forums. I've got a local guy offering to sell me MVS games but he did the whole "Make me an offer" thing and I don't want to way way underoffer (but I also don't want to spend a mint on games when I don't have to).

-My cabinet doesn't have plexiglass over the control panel. Do I have to have the plexiglass made myself or is there a place online that I can simply order it from?

-My machine has working coin mechs but is missing the coin box. Is there anywhere online that sells one?

I really appreciate any help you guys can give me. I'm really new at this stuff so again, if I sound like an idiot, it's probably because I am one right now

Is it a dedicated Neo-Geo cabinet, or a conversion?

The first thing you should do is get yourself a manual, the link above will help if it's a dedicated cab (and if it's not, get the manual that matches the board inside).

For the marquee light, first thing to check is whether the connections are all good. If everything looks okay, try replacing the fluorescent starter (the small cylinder on the fixture, you can get replacements for a couple bucks).

Coin box will depend on what cabinet it is. Keep an eye on ebay and forums, a replacement box shouldn't be too hard to find.

MVS price list seems to be fairly accurate, although prices have been fluctuating kinda wildly lately. If you are patient, you can get some really good prices on carts, especially the more common ones.

Welcome to the restoration hobby!

Here are a few good forums to dig into for arcade restoration info... should be hours worth of relevant reading for ya. :]

CoinOpSpace
BYOAC
KLOV

For the plexi, you will probably have to simply go buy a sheet of it at home depot and cut it yourself. There are /SO/ many odd little variations on control panels that finding the one that fits yours can be a nightmare or trial and error.

As for the coin slot lamps, check this:

http://www.therealbobroberts.net/lamphelp.html

Common problem is that you'll buy the 12v one and need the 5/6v ones.

Bob is also /incredible/ for parts and what not. I cannot recommend him highly enough. I don't recall, but he may have a coin box that will work. You can also check out http://www.happcontrols.com/ , but they have a $25 order minimum (and they aren't my favorite to deal with directly). If nothing else, you might be able to find a part number from them so you know what to look for.

For the marquee driph is right. Frankly, go buy a new starter anyway (should be about 2 bucks). There's no easy way to tell if they've gone bad (not generally anyway) and quite often, that's the problem. A new starter, and a new bulb eliminates two possible problems REALLY easily. Make sure you take the original with you so you make sure you get the right one.

On MVS prices, I use the list here as a rough guide. Anything that strays too wildly above or below that I take pause at. I've had pretty good luck here in the sales forum though, since people who sell here will get lambasted pretty quick for being shady. Also remember that things like just the cart vs a partial kit vs a full kit will skew the price quite a bit. Lastly consider that it's a market on a collectible item that's no longer made. What person A and person B will pay for the EXACT same item all depends on how badly they want that /specific/ item.

The MVS price guide is mostly accurate, but some games are a bit off (Pulstar and Blazing Star come to mind...they're listed quite a bit lower than what they sell for these days). I own 30+ MVS, and paid within the price guide ranges for almost all of them. Keep in mind, that guide is for loose carts only, not full kits, which usually sell for way more.

Thanks for the help guys. I'll definitely look into the stuff you guys have given me. Looks like my cabinet is the MVS 2-25.

I know how off price guides can be (I have a rather extensive console game collection) but since I'm so new I don't want to make the same newbie mistakes on price that I did with some of my console games

Again, thanks for the help you've already given me

Good luck with the restore! Be sure to post pictures and info of the progress.

I've been sick so I haven't been able to do very much work on the cabinet but thanks to the advice in this thread I was able to get the coin return lights working as well as the marquee lights! Thanks guys!