My game room in Boise, Idaho.
There's a running gag in the arcade collector community about starting in the hobby: "One is enough. OK, maybe two. Certainly not three... but I can rearrange some furniture..."
When I was growing up, the notion of owning an arcade game in my house was an impossible fantasy. And until a few years ago, I didn't know arcade game collecting was such a serious "thing".
In 2013 after I received my tax refund, I decided to pull the trigger on a dream I've had for 20 years: owning a real Street Fighter II arcade machine. I bought it on eBay and shipped it from Philadelphia to Boise, where we lived at the time. I knew nothing about the arcade market and significantly overpaid. But it was "just one and only one" and in good condition, so I wasn't concerned with price.
It arrived a little banged up, but nothing touch-up paint couldn't fix. But there was one big problem -- the monitor kept cutting off/on with this alarming electrical "pop" noise. I was disappointed and panicked. I had no idea how to fix it or who I could find to fix it. I spent several days on the Internet searching for a solution before stumbling upon the world's largest arcade collecting forum. I signed up with the sole intention of fixing my monitor, but quickly became immersed in the intricacies of arcade collecting, restoration, and modification. Opening an arcade became the new impossible fantasy.
RESTORATION NOTES
- Cabinet Type: Dynamo HS-9
- New Seimitsu sticks
- New bright red t-molding
- Rebuilt monitor chassis
- Freshly powder coated coin door
- Upgraded stereo speakers (but never got the PCB to output stereo quite right)
- Casters
