Neo Geo Candy Cabs - Rarity?

[gargoyle7]

SO I troll youtube constantly for videos of current JPN arcades, such as Taito Game Center, etc, and in every retro section all you see is rows and rows of Blast City or Egrets, NEVER an original Neo candy, often machines are running Neo stuff but in an Egret or BC

So how rare ARE Neo Candys? Old schoolers will remember, late 90's a TON of them landed on the West Coast, I bought 2 and still have my beloved Neo 29 with Hitachi CRT, so did the US receive the bulk of the original Neo candy cabs? If so it makes the value rediculous. I paid 425 SHIPPED back then, and have seen examples sold recently for 3k-5k working.

Any body know the history of Neo candy manufacturing? Numbers? Years? Were they ONLY produced for Neo Geo Land in Osaka?

Lee (garg7)

 

[gargoyle7]

 

[HornheaDD]

Ive had my Neo25 for over 10 years, maybe 15? I cant remember. Edit: Just looked it up, I got it in 2009.

A buddy of mine has a Neo29, still has it as far as I know.

I dont know that they are any rarer than your average Astro/Blast, but I could be wrong.

 

[100proof]

There's probably more Neo 29s in California than there are in Japanese arcades at this point. It's like 95+% Astros/Blasts/E2s as far as candies go.

 

[Heinz]

Lets be fair here and say Astros/Blasts/E2's are vastly superior cabs to any Neo cab as far as operating an arcade goes.
Besides the only good Neo cabs are the MV-2U,4U etc.

Nothing beats the Egret 29 for style though

 

[GutsDozer]

I always wanted a Candy cab. Just the ability to throw almost any motherboard in there and play is always been attractive to me. I think in the US they're pretty common on the west coast and even the Midwest. Definitely never seen one down here in the south.

 

[Neo Alec]

I always wanted a Candy cab. Just the ability to throw almost any motherboard in there and play is always been attractive to me.

Don't forget dialing in the fussy old CRT controls every time you change the board. And don't forget vertical games...

 

[gargoyle7]

Lets be fair here and say Astros/Blasts/E2's are vastly superior cabs to any Neo cab as far as operating an arcade goes.
Besides the only good Neo cabs are the MV-2U,4U etc.

Nothing beats the Egret 29 for style though

Oh totally, never argued that, I can remember Blast Citys and Egrets for $600, kicking myself for not grabbing one

 

[HornheaDD]

Don't forget dialing in the fussy old CRT controls every time you change the board. And don't forget vertical games...

Yknow, this bugs me about that too, honestly.

If they could get that Unico monitor down proper and I can find out if it fits either 1/1 or with very minor modification to the cab, I'd swap out the CRT with one in a heartbeat. Its never leaving my place so what do I care if some purist craps his pants about it.

 

[wyo]

Why not sell your Neo candy and get an LCD cab instead of ruining it? Just a thought.

 

[HornheaDD]

Why not sell your Neo candy and get an LCD cab instead of ruining it? Just a thought.

Because it's mine and as I said:

"Its never leaving my place so what do I care if some purist craps his pants about it."

 

[city41]

I'd be surprised if anyone can truly state their rarity. I've noticed importers rarely have Neo cabs but usually have ample Sega cabs. Like Ground Zero:

GNDZERO 2024 Container Offerings and Stock

docs.google.com

He lists one Neo 29 and about six Sega cabs

 

[wyo]

Because it's mine and as I said:

"Its never leaving my place so what do I care if some purist craps his pants about it."

Well consider my pants crapped, sir!

-1 neo-geo.com social credit!

 

[Neo Alec]

Yknow, this bugs me about that too, honestly.

If they could get that Unico monitor down proper and I can find out if it fits either 1/1 or with very minor modification to the cab, I'd swap out the CRT with one in a heartbeat. Its never leaving my place so what do I care if some purist craps his pants about it.

Wrong message. I'm just warning that cab ownership isn't for everyone. There are drawbacks you don't consider before you own one.

Definitely do not go ruining some nice classic machines with gross LCD conversions. Just buy a nice TV and an upscaler if you want that.

 

[GutsDozer]

Wrong message. I'm just warning that cab ownership isn't for everyone. There are drawbacks you don't consider before you own one.

Definitely do not go ruining some nice classic machines with gross LCD conversions. Just buy a nice TV and an upscaler if you want that.

It's definitely not for everyone. I have a Big Red. I like the tinkering with it. It's part of the fun for me. Part of the hobby is dealing with things that aren't meant for average consumers. Not to mention it's all over 20 years old now. If you want to just play classic games there is easier ways like you said.

 

[gargoyle7]

bit shocked so many people anti cab, for me my RGB monitor is the deepest color and texture for Neo I've ever seen, its the native environment the games/hardware were designed for. But home carts are worth more, so they look better?

 

[Heinz]

bit shocked so many people anti cab, for me my RGB monitor is the deepest color and texture for Neo I've ever seen, its the native environment the games/hardware were designed for. But home carts are worth more, so they look better?

 

[StaticX]

There's probably more Neo 29s in California than there are in Japanese arcades at this point. It's like 95+% Astros/Blasts/E2s as far as candies go.

I’d have to agree with this.
Since the early 2000s, I would usually see them for sale out here (so cal).
I have 3 now, but have owned 6 at some points since 2002.
I used to work for Konami and would never see them on work trips back to Japan.
Always Sega and taito cabs.

 

[roker]

Neo cabs might be a little rarer, but I feel the prices aren't that much higher than the usual Astros, Blasts, etc. and sometimes they're exactly the same. I feel like with the effort I put to find candy cabs I could have had either a Neo cab or Sega cab easily compared to something like an Egret II.