Donkey Kong Forum

General Donkey Kong Discussion => General Donkey Kong Discussion => Topic started by: jdgilliam1 on April 25, 2013, 08:28:03 pm

Title: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: jdgilliam1 on April 25, 2013, 08:28:03 pm
For those who have a DK machine... I was just wondering where you got it and how much you paid.
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: xelnia on April 25, 2013, 08:49:35 pm
I'm interested in this as well. And if anyone knows where I can find a DK cab in Hawaii, I'd like to know!
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: ChrisP on April 25, 2013, 09:00:04 pm
I ended up buying two (and keeping one).

The first one was a no-brainer. It was monitorless with a trashed cabinet, but they pretty much gave it away for $75 (you read that right). That was December, 2011.

$75 is a mega-deal for the PCB alone, but along with that I got the control panel, all the art (in good shape), coin door, mechs, everything. Just a really messed up cabinet. I bought a monitor from someone nearby for $150 and was up and running.

In April 2012, I spotted a local Donkey Kong Junior for $350 in a fully-restored DK cabinet (that was still blue). Also impossible to pass up.

So I bought that, put my DK PCB and art into it, and dumped the janky cabinet.

Now along with my complete DK, I have a Junior PCB, a spare monitor and power supply, and assorted bits and pieces, all for about $600. I made out pretty good.
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: jdgilliam1 on April 25, 2013, 09:03:07 pm
I got mine off ebay for $500 from a guy in Georgia. After I had it for about a month the monitor went out, and ended up having to find someone to fix it... $$$ (needed a new chassis). I also found a old DK cab that had been converted into a DKJR for $150 on craigslist. It didn't have a monitor, but did have a working power supply and working DKJR board. Now.. Im looking in to getting a new fully restored DK cab from TNT amusements. I really like what I've seen from them!
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: ChrisP on April 25, 2013, 09:11:53 pm
I want to hear Daniel Dock's story, post-haste.

He and Kaayla seem to be breeding them in there...
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: Scoundrl on April 25, 2013, 09:28:18 pm
I have a Red DK (yes a real one) I paid $600 for. It has DK DKJR and DK3 boardsets in it that we swap at the edge connector. I had a blue DK i bought with monitor problems for $150 off craigslist. I have a DK Jr that is undergoing sex change right now to become a Pauline edition $300 for that one. I also have a VS that I am making into a Mr and Mrs with dk on one side and Pauline on the other. I dont have much cash into this one YET but in the end it'l be around 600 total.
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: hchien on April 25, 2013, 09:53:25 pm
$400 off craigslist in NJ.  Needed a cap kit but was otherwise completely functional.
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: marinomitch13 on April 25, 2013, 09:58:36 pm
$300 in Minneapolis (10 minutes away) off of Ebay. Picked it up at a storage place. My friend, one of Rusty Quarters Arcade's owners did a quick cap kit for me and I also had to buy 1 new eprom from Mike's Arcade for like $12. BOOM, baby!
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: mikegmi2 on April 26, 2013, 05:32:01 am
$400, metro Detroit craigslist.  Had an odd ROM problem that caused the second to the left ladder on the second girder of the PF stage to be shifted right...under the oil can.  Fireballs could go up and down the ladder but Mario couldn't. Didn't seem fair...so I replaced the CPU ROMs (a few of them were not original, they had yellow stickers on them with the ROM letter/number written on them by hand) with originals for $50 (seemed like a high price, but can you really haggle with someone over 30 year old original computer parts with original stickers...hey buddy i'll give you $20...I can get those at 7-11 across the street...not so much).  Replaced the ROMs and killed 2 birds with 1 stone...had original roms with proper stickers...and it fixed the weird ladder issue.

$450 total.
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: hooch66 on April 26, 2013, 05:52:39 am
Mine is a Donkey Kong Junior. I picked it up on craigslist for $350. The best thing that could be said about it was that it was working. It was in pretty bad shape cosmetically. Lucky there is such a thing as KLOV for parts and just for help in figuring out how to do things.

I picked up a Donkey Kong PCB on KLOV for $100 shipped, and of course bought the D2K chip too.

Things I've done to fix it up:


This is a "before" pic. I'll have to find an "after" one.
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: NesSumSimpson on April 26, 2013, 06:47:25 am
Nice deals!  When I was looking I could never find anything under a 1000. I ended up building my own from scratch and still paid more than most here.
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: Simpsons99 on April 26, 2013, 08:28:28 am
I did a trade for my DK Machine..  I traded away my Pool Sharks Pinball Machine for it.
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: Scoundrl on April 26, 2013, 08:57:52 am
(a few of them were not original, they had yellow stickers on them with the ROM letter/number written on them by hand)

Were those two ROMS at 5a and 5e? If so you may have the 'HARD' roms that nintendo released. I have a set and they are as you say, hand written on them.

Put them in and give it a shot!

-Ken
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: hchien on April 26, 2013, 09:53:22 am
originals for $50

Mike where were you able to find original ROMs?  I have a 2nd DK PCB that had corrupt ROMs.  Only a few are corrupt (I think they are in bank 5 as well).  Right now I have unoriginal (Mike's arcade) ROMs in there.  It's working, but obviously not good for submissions.  Would be nice to have 2 fully working original PCBs.
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: TheSunshineFund on April 26, 2013, 09:56:36 am
I got mine from DJDNS on KLOV, $400 working 100% and near mint, all original.  So nice it was borrowed from me for KO1.  Pic attached was prior to KO1 so it was cleaned up, touched up and Kong Off'd a bit after this pic but this was what it looked like when I picked it up.  It also has a KO1 marquee now.
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: LMDAVE on April 26, 2013, 10:16:26 am
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Donkey-Kong-Arcade-Game-Nintendo-Copyright-1981-Low-Serial-No-02665-5-7-Tall-/230969870552?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35c6e088d8#ht_441wt_1402 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Donkey-Kong-Arcade-Game-Nintendo-Copyright-1981-Low-Serial-No-02665-5-7-Tall-/230969870552?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35c6e088d8#ht_441wt_1402)

Here's a pretty vintage DK machine. One of the original Blue's, probably with Japan board set in it. No "TM" on the Donkey Kong name indicating very old. Of course in bad shape, but interesting to look at the pictures for history purposes.
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: mikegmi2 on April 26, 2013, 11:56:31 am
originals for $50

Mike where were you able to find original ROMs?  I have a 2nd DK PCB that had corrupt ROMs.  Only a few are corrupt (I think they are in bank 5 as well).  Right now I have unoriginal (Mike's arcade) ROMs in there.  It's working, but obviously not good for submissions.  Would be nice to have 2 fully working original PCBs.

I got them from Eldorado Games.

sales@eldoradogames.com

They were pretty friendly, responded to my emails, and supposedly gave me a deal.  The guy said they normally charge $25 per ROM, but sold me 4 for my CPU board for $50.

As for submissions, since the special DK recording rules have gone away, is it still necessary to have original ROMs in your machine?
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: muffinchips on April 26, 2013, 12:17:45 pm
Wow you guys are getting it good, cheapest I've found in the UK is well over a 1000 pounds so at least 1500 dollars. I understand that it was more popular over there and that why they are cheaper.

If I saw one for $600 like some of you have I would rip the persons arm off  ;D
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: NesSumSimpson on April 26, 2013, 01:29:35 pm
Wow you guys are getting it good, cheapest I've found in the UK is well over a 1000 pounds so at least 1500 dollars. I understand that it was more popular over there and that why they are cheaper.

If I saw one for $600 like some of you have I would rip the persons arm off  ;D

It might also have to do with when they bought them, it seems impossible to get it at those prices these days or maybe I'm just not looking in the right places.
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: craighiphopfish on April 26, 2013, 07:58:05 pm
I paid $500 for my DK in Colorado.  However, Donkey Kong machines are getting pricey out here in Denver.  I did manage to get a Mario Bros for an okay price (with a Vs Nintedo cab thrown in for good measure).
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: Simpsons99 on April 26, 2013, 08:06:00 pm
Craig 

Thats becouse the 1up is buying them all up .
I paid $500 for my DK in Colorado.  However, Donkey Kong machines are getting pricey out here in Denver.  I did manage to get a Mario Bros for an okay price (with a Vs Nintedo cab thrown in for good measure).
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: ChrisP on April 26, 2013, 10:23:28 pm
I got mine from DJDNS on KLOV, $400 working 100% and near mint, all original.

How the f did you get such a beautiful machine for $400 from a KLOVer of all people??
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: muffinchips on April 27, 2013, 02:21:14 am
Wow you guys are getting it good, cheapest I've found in the UK is well over a 1000 pounds so at least 1500 dollars. I understand that it was more popular over there and that why they are cheaper.

If I saw one for $600 like some of you have I would rip the persons arm off  ;D

It might also have to do with when they bought them, it seems impossible to get it at those prices these days or maybe I'm just not looking in the right places.

Yeah, fair point, I'm sure the prices have risen in the past few years and I've only been looking at the prices in the last few months
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: craighiphopfish on April 27, 2013, 06:47:52 am
That's true Brian!  Good thing I don't have anymore room in my basement!
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: SQUIIDUX on April 27, 2013, 02:12:35 pm
550$ off craigslist in san diego, all original and working. i like it for its unique dents and wear as i can imagine the people who played it for me. moved it to Maryland recently and thank god nothing happened to it with the damn military movers!
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: Bliss1083 on May 01, 2013, 11:18:29 pm
I was very patient for mine. I got a fully functional new cap kit donkey kong arcade machine for 250 bucks back in Jan of 2011 I think. I bought it off a guy named Jon Ritter off of craigslist. No lie his name was actually Jon Ritter. Lol. I remember going over and he let me play it to make sure it worked and I was at 200k on my first man I believe and he was in the other room and heard me doing the donkey kong rivet taunt. I was just trying it out and usually don't taught at that score but anyways he comes running in thinking I was messing up his donkey kong arcade machine when he heard the constant points being scored. He was impressed and had other people calling about the machine saying they were more worthy of it then me and he was like bs this guys Badass. I felt good that day. Haha. I got up with all my men still intact and was about to just say I'll take it but he wanted me to finish my game and I believe I got around 450k which at that time was decent for me. I think your first arcade find is probably most peoples most memorable.
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: SQUIIDUX on May 02, 2013, 04:43:48 am
mine with a couple of my knuckle-heads ::)
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: joshvox on May 09, 2013, 09:31:45 am
I got mine locally in Mississippi for $500. Got it home and found that it has a monitor issue that means I will have to get the chassis repaired eventually, but nothing urgent (though I am nervous about having to take it apart for the repair). Of course I played it at the guy's house for like an hour and it showed no sign of the issue--but something could have gotten knocked loose on the way home I suppose. The rest of the cab works great and is in good condition, with a few bumps and bruises, and the coin box and front lock is missing. Despite the monitor issue, I was happy to get it for the price I did because Mississippi is an arcade wasteland. There is nothing around me within several hours drive. Now I can play whenever I want. Well worth $500 to me.
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: dd0ck on May 09, 2013, 01:33:07 pm
I want to hear Daniel Dock's story, post-haste.

He and Kaayla seem to be breeding them in there...

I keep an eye on craigslist or whatever and when they come up, I try and pick em up.  Since I'm in no rush I've gotten them all for cheap.  The most I paid was $450 a DDK...
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: ChrisP on May 09, 2013, 04:05:07 pm
Was that from a guy in Santa Cruz by any chance?

He was trying to unload stuff and he seemed like a nice guy so I hope he was successful.
Title: Re: Your Donkey Kong Arcade...
Post by: dd0ck on May 10, 2013, 10:43:49 am
I want to hear Daniel Dock's story, post-haste.

He and Kaayla seem to be breeding them in there...

I keep an eye on craigslist or whatever and when they come up, I try and pick em up.  Since I'm in no rush I've gotten them all for cheap.  The most I paid was $450 a DDK...

Don't get them wet, and never let them eat after midnight! (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20623100/Three%20DKs.JPG)