Thursday, October 2, 2008

Why Restore?

Ever since I got into this hobby I have been building my arcade machines from scratch. There are a few reasons why I am choosing to restore this one:
  1. Cost: $36 for the cabinet is WAY cheaper than I could have built it using 3 sheets of plywood or MDF. I am estimating that this entire project will cost somewhere between $300 and $400 depending on how much the monitor ends up costing.
  2. Ease: All that I'll really have to do to get this thing back in shape is sand it down, fill any holes or dents and paint it. Not having to construct the cabinet will take months off of the completion time since I move pretty slow with these things.
  3. The "community": For some reason, other people really like it when an old cabinet is "saved" - I don't fully understand it but I guess it is a little piece of history and since no one is manufacturing these things anymore and the arcade era is either dead or on its last legs it will be nice to have a piece of it in my house.
If this one goes well enough I might try restoring another one on my "dream list" fairly quickly.