Buying My Old Big Red Back 19 Years Later

zer010gic

Kabuki Klasher
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126
Ok a little bit of story/lore update/correction.

I was able to get a hold of the seller's son who let me know he didn't get it until 2007 which meant someone owned it between me and him. After a little more searching I turned up this thread. I have no memory of these interactions, lol.


So zer010gic (Corey) was who bought it from me through eBay but then he made it to the forum and then he sold it to drummerbooker14 (post #5) in August 2007. This did allow me to narrow down a couple changes though from zer010gic's post history. A few months after zer010gic sold the cab he stopped coming here.

First, about a month after I sold it, he posted that he was looking to touch up the bare wood putty I never got around to painting red from filling a few miscellaneous holes in the front and sides.


Also here after applying paint.


But maybe more interesting to me is that he notes he got Metal Slug 1, Metal Slug 4, Bust-a-Move, and Nam-1975 carts from me. Dang that's still a good lineup, 3 of those 4 are on my 'Definitely Want Again' list.

And then I apparently sold him a MOTW a short time later, probably for like $100. I had a habit of deleting things from sales posts once sold, bad for history, probably good for my current sanity.


So when he sold the cab, it went with KOF98 and SamSho, the new owner added Windjammers and Metal Slug X. And that was the 4 carts I got with it when I picked it up.

So then, here is a thread where zer010gic is asking about the Happ Supers the cab came with (which was my memory but I didn't have that confirmed anywhere). It also says he has some Competitions and an Ultimate. It seems like those might have come with the cab from me but I don't recall if those were the old joysticks in the cab when I got it or if I bought others for some reason at any point.


At any rate, he decides he wants to put Sanwa JLFs in but they don't mount directly


A couple months later he mounted them with octagonal gates and two custom adapters which didn't modify the control panel at all. Awesome stuff. Those are the sticks and adapter that are on the cab today. I might be looking to put some IL Eurosticks in, but will definitely hang on to the Sanwas and adapater plate.


I realize no one really cares about this stuff but me, but I'm putting it all in one place so I know where to go looking for the info later.
Wow what a blast from the past. Yeah I miss that cabinet. I sold it to get into high end HiFi. Yes I installed the Japanese Sanwa joy sticks and octagonal plates (I was really into fighters) which I imported from Japan. As for the adapters they where made by me and a buddy of mine at my fathers glass shop.
 

StevenK

ng.com SFII tournament winner 2002-2023
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It's slightly less heart warming when I tell you that I tracked him down to the far reaches of the Internet to tell him about it and direct him to this thread. :emb:
Lol
 

wyo

Ned's Ninja Academy Dropout
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hq720.jpg
 

Neo Alec

Onigami Isle Castaway
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Wow what a blast from the past. Yeah I miss that cabinet. I sold it to get into high end HiFi. Yes I installed the Japanese Sanwa joy sticks and octagonal plates (I was really into fighters) which I imported from Japan. As for the adapters they where made by me and a buddy of mine at my fathers glass shop.
I put Sanwa sticks in mine too. American ones don't feel righr to me. They make bat top adapters so they look more original.
 

BeefFieri

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This thread will be used to document as I go through the cab that I bought in December 2003, sold in December 2005, and have now bought again in November 2024. Yes, the exact same cab, not the same kind, the same one.

I'm still trying to dig up old posts I made about my old cab, lots of them are buried in wasabi's posts because of some shenanigans back in the day.

Purchased at the December 6th Arcade Game Sales auction at the Knoxville Expo Center for a bid of $240, after taxes and fees, total was about $290.



Sold in December 2005 through the forum to a user who never really posted before or after. I was asking $700, I don't remember but I think I took less than that but don't remember how much less.

I'll discuss everything I did to the cab while I had it those first two years later as I update where the cab stands now.

I have been looking for maybe a year to buy a Big Red again, preferably a 4 Slot (ver. 3). I very nearly bought one in Ohio, I was talking to the guy asking when I could come pick it up that weekend when he sold it to someone else. Anyway, fast forward to last week and I did my typical Facebook Marketplace check. Saw the listing and immediately recognized it as my old cab. Posted Wednesday, I saw it Thursday morning and messaged hoping I wasn't too late since decent cabs seem to get bought up reasonably quick. Told the seller my story, included a picture, and got the ok to pick it up the following Monday. This one was priced just about right in the middle of the market in my opinion at $1200 and knowing what I know about the condition, I think it was a solid deal with 4 carts included (SamSho, Slug X, KOF98, and Windjammers).

So let's start with, how did I immediately know it was my old cab? The main thing was a chipped corner on the memory card/headphone bezel. Sure it's possible another cab had that but the match was perfect. Combined with a few other things I'll cover later I was positive just from the photos.

Here is my cab in my dorm room in 2004-05 school year.

View attachment 79822

Here is the main photo from the Facebook Marketplace ad

View attachment 79823
I don't care what I have to do but we are jamming out with our clams out before I move away from Pissburgh!
 

BeefFieri

Flavortown Mod
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Good read. Thanks for posting this and keep it coming. This is (much) more entertaining than another middle-east war or how Trump is going to take muh freeduhms.

Hey Mike, shut the fuck up.
 

lithy

LoneSage: lithy is just some degenerate scumbag
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I don't care what I have to do but we are jamming out with our clams out before I move away from Pissburgh!

Let's get that syrup in us and get all antsy in our pantsies.

tenor.gif
 

Superfamifreak

Kula's Diamond
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This thread has me tempted to try and track down my old Electrocoin 4 slot I sold on here back in 06.
 

lithy

LoneSage: lithy is just some degenerate scumbag
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So I guess this is how things start to become a bit of a problem. But hear me out, I can justify this I promise...

I went ahead and bought a second cab today. Guy had a cab, he was close and it looked reasonably original (has the original joysticks!) and complete (EL marquee panels are the only major items missing) so I figured to get some spares it was worth the $250 he was asking.

PXL_20250105_213320151.jpg
(Has the glass, was just removed already so not in the photo)

Mainly it gives me a second monitor that I can work on, get cleaned up, refreshed, recapped, and it will be ready to go instead of needing down time with mine if it ever runs into trouble (knock on wood).

PXL_20250105_221122874.jpgPXL_20250105_221134010~2.jpg
(I didn't take photos of mine when I had it open, but it's definitely a Zenith monitor and WG 7000 series chassis, so pretty sure it's essentially identical)

The monitor currently has some issues which I will have to troubleshoot, but it turns on, once I adjusted the black level back, it had a semi functional picture until some colors dropped out. Still not sure yet if this is a monitor issue or a wiring issue, for a while moving the harness a bit got some color back.

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(Left side is as good as I had it looking for just a couple minutes, right is what it seems to have settled on)

It also had an early 4 slot with the JP1 power jumper wire and SW1 reset button which I did not know about until looking into it. Original factory bios, but someone has definitely replaced the battery (holding 1.7V right now). The boards look ok from the top but the bottom of the bottom board looks a little sketchy and it currently has some sort of watchdog error. I put the cart slot board on another bottom board I have that runs ok but with an audio issue and it seems fine, so I think the top board is good. I think between those, I should be able to get one functional board put together with a little effort.


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But the actual cab on this one is in a bit of a state. The entire right side is cracked and separating from the rest of the body. Both sides have been painted over black, the red vinyl on the coin door area is faded. To fix it would require completely pulling it apart and at that point it's a total restoration. Might be sacrilege but the plan might be to just get parts off of this, then probably convert it...into firewood.

However this is an early cab and it does have a few distinct differences that I'll document here for anyone else that likes this info.

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My cab has a build date of 5-19-91 and I think a serial number in the 10k range (my sticker is scratched up).
 

lithy

LoneSage: lithy is just some degenerate scumbag
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I also got an assortment of kit materials, 2 nice clean and bright generic mini marquees, a SamSho2 cart with an audio issue (see Tech Support if you want to help), and what I think was an outer case for Baseball Stars Pro kits? It seems like it would fit 5 kit boxes snugly, but does anyone have any info?

PXL_20250105_215410411.MP.jpg

Top Player's Golf dip sheet
Fatal Fury, two art flyers, dip sheet, kit box
World Heroes 2, two art flyers and dip sheet
Art of Fighting 2, two art flyers, dip sheet, and move sticker in baggie
Samurai Shodown, complete art set in baggie

Box with cart label and another sticker on two sides. Nothing else besides just some tape on the top or other two sides.

PXL_20250105_191435911~2.jpgPXL_20250105_191457026~2.jpg
 

lithy

LoneSage: lithy is just some degenerate scumbag
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Monitor progress on the parts cab.

After getting a working start button so I could use the test mode I set all the neck board RGB pots. With red all the way down, I got this.

PXL_20250108_021125718.jpg

With red all the way up, I got this.

PXL_20250108_021157521.jpg

I messed around the the connector on the chassis and at one point more colors dropped out, but played with the wires a little more and got this.

PXL_20250108_021334407.jpg

Looks like a good monitor, maybe some touchy wiring.

KOF98 for testing.

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PXL_20250108_021507248.jpgPXL_20250108_021429820.MP.jpg
 

Neo Alec

Onigami Isle Castaway
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But the actual cab on this one is in a bit of a state. The entire right side is cracked and separating from the rest of the body. Both sides have been painted over black, the red vinyl on the coin door area is faded. To fix it would require completely pulling it apart and at that point it's a total restoration. Might be sacrilege but the plan might be to just get parts off of this, then probably convert it...into firewood.
Nice pick up. It's not firewood. Someone will want it, and it's definitely restore-able.
 

lithy

LoneSage: lithy is just some degenerate scumbag
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Well I've decided to give this cab a new life. I have all the parts except a mini marquee holder. I'm going to buy a full resto art kit.

Going to start with some general cleaning.

Going to maybe have to ask if @Fygee can do a little comparison on a couple things for me.

The first odd thing is that the screws holding the memory card/headphone board down are the same as the LED Credit board screws. So they're short and don't come all the way through the panel, but they do thread in. It also makes them very silly to take out. I had to use a small Phillips bit and turn it with a tiny wrench. Once broken free they came out easily enough but they are threaded in.

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My other cab has a nut and star washer on the top and the bolt while it has a Phillips head on it, the thread size is not the same as the panel (if it's threaded, I can't really tell) so if you take the nut off it just falls out the bottom. Pic of other cab.

PXL_20250129_232640953.jpg

I also noticed it doesn't have the warning sticker. It could have fallen off, but it's also missing the warning sticker in the marquee area. I know that could have fallen off too, but wondering Fygee which memcard mounting hardware you had on your 6 slot cab had and if you had that control panel sticker or not (I know your marquee area is different). I'll probably get a reproduction anyway but just curious.

Memory card and headphones board removed and cleaned up.

PXL_20250129_220116905.MP.jpg
PXL_20250129_224119300.jpg

Then the Credit LEDs, nothing to say about them, they were much cleaner to start with. I did remove the white out that has a faint number stamped onto it, I don't believe it's original but if for some reason I find out something about it later it's just white out and red stamp ink and I have the number noted, could always recreate it if I felt the need.

PXL_20250129_233040211.jpgPXL_20250129_233053487.jpg
PXL_20250129_234327828.jpgPXL_20250130_001003748.jpg
 
Last edited:

Fygee

Bewbs! Z'OMG, Teh BEWBS!,
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I'll check on the memory card mount.

I can confirm the warning sticker wasn't on mine either.
 

lithy

LoneSage: lithy is just some degenerate scumbag
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Just wanted to add another difference as I spot them.

The early cab is missing a control panel angle brace that stiffens up the assembly. It likes to rub on either side because it is flexing unless you're making sure to open it with equal pressure on each side.

You can see it here in the right side. Early cab on top, new cab on bottom.

PXL_20250202_043302104.jpg
PXL_20250202_043313234.jpg
 

lithy

LoneSage: lithy is just some degenerate scumbag
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Who puts Sanwa stick in an US cabinet?

I respect the nice work he did to mount them without modifying anything, so no complaints from me, game how you want to game.

With that said, I did just get iL Eurosticks in the mail today, so I'll be working on mounting those sometime this week.
 
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