Madoc's Arcade - Auction Pics

Last updated: November 4, 2000 3:00PM EST - Auction pics added

Indy Auction (Nov. 4, 2000) Pics

DISCLAIMER:

Just to let everyone know - I am in no way associated with US Amusements' auctions, nor are the games pictured in the Auction pages of my site mine, except as noted ("MINE! MINE! MINE!, for example"). I occasionally sell my own games there, or buy new games for my collection, but that's the extent of it. I would have thought that was perfectly clear, but apparently there's a number of folks out there who think otherwise.

There's about a megabyte of pictures on this page, so please be patient while they load.

I took the following pictures at one of the USAmusements auctions held in Indianapolis, IN at the State Fairgrounds. This was a most excellent auction, I must say. There were far more classic games here than expected, and since the turnout was low (this was not a well-publicized auction perhaps?) there were some definite bargains to be had. There were several Froggers, Asteroids, Space Invaders, and Centipede games, and if you wanted one in good working condition you didn't have to pay very much for it. The Ms. Pac mania we've seen at previous auctions seemed to have abated somewhat, you could actually get one for $500 :) The same went for Galaga - with the exception of the first one, all went for <$500. I grabbed 2, a mini and a full size. There were quite a few newer, violent games for auction there, presumably due to the Indianapolis ordinance restricting access to violent games by minors. This didn't keep the kiddies away, and had I not run out of film I'd have a great shot of a couple of future marksmen firing away.

There were some pretty awful conversions there (no pics, sorry). The worst by far was the Tempest cab that had been painted red, with a Venture marquee and Rastan instruction cards on the monitor. God only knows what game was really in it - I was too afraid to plug it in to find out. There was a Tron converted to something, probably a Mario Bros.. Gyruss converted to Gals Panic II.. that sort of thing.

The auctioneers were the "usual suspects" from prior performances. I saw a couple cases of game sabatoge ("Well, it worked last night!") and a couple of games were re-auctioned immediately after the "SOLD"
announcement went out.

One thing I thought was unusual - there were a number of large "Block Party" cabs there, one was even a Ms. Pac (no sign of the Missile Command or Galaga the Indianapolis Block Party has). I haven't heard about any Block Party locations going out of business, so perhaps they're finally getting around to rotating in some new games.
Unfortunately, they also brought all 3 of their air hockey tables, so they'd BETTER have replaced those with brand new ones, or I'll never get my girlfriend to go back there with me. Anyone know what the story of
those cabs is?

I left the auction around 5:20PM, and they were only half-way through the second row of games. Apparently they picked up the speed after I left, because they were done not too long after that. I don't have the
full results, but here's what I DO have:

Descriptions are above, the pics they're referring to are beneath. Here's "Cocktail Row", in the order they were auctioned: Astro Fighter - $80, Centipede (scrolling monitor) - $275, Moon Base - $50, Space Invaders - $150, Phoenix - $65, Centipede - $400, Trivia Wiz - $60, Super Pac - $395, EXTREMELY filthy Asteroids - $35, Crown's Golf - $150, Asteroids - $300, Space Invaders - $160, Ms. Pac w/screwed up monitor - $55, TETRIS - $365, Bump 'n' Jump - $250, Targ - $35, Thief (dead) - $25, Asteroids - $200, Galaxian - $200, Scramble - $350, Frogger - $300, Frogger (no monitor) - $90

Row One:
Klax mini - $35, Ms. Pac - $525?!?, Centipede - $350, bad trackball, Frogger - $215, Block Out - $60, Ball Park (not working) - $35, Donkey Kong Jr. - $200, Robotron (dead CP) - $525

Dig Dug - $325, Galaga - $700, Moon Patrol - $160, Bump 'n' Jump (bad monitor)- $90, Galaga mini - $450 (mine! all mine!), Donkey Kong Jr. - $145, Neo Geo 1-slot - $190, Asteroids - $350, Ms. Pac mini - $500

Turbo mini - $80, Ms. Pac mini - $400, Turbo (used a lacquered 9-ball for a gear shift) - $110, Donkey Kong 3 - $135, Jungle King - $195, Centipede (trackball slow on one axis) - $395, Neo Geo mini - $625, Mario Bros. (bad monitor) - $50, Ms. Pac - $575

Frogger - $250, Mappy - $175, Birdie King - $35, Donkey Kong (screwy monitor) - $350, Super Mario Bros. (dead) - $50, Jr. Pac - $400, Asteroids - $350

Dig Dug (monitor problems) - $250, 1943 - $125, Millipede - $310, Kick Man - $260, Galaga (no sound) - $475, Qbert (dead) - $500, Lady Bug - $100

Lord of Gun - $230, Dig Dug (monitor a little screwy) - $160, Mario Bros. - $190?, Space Invaders - $160, Pole Position - $215, Ms. Pac - $575, Capcom Bowling - $160

Demon World - $180, Pac Man - $400, NBA Jam Tournament - $175?, Spy Hunter - $300, Ms. Pac - $600, Hang-On - $100, Galaga (plays blind, screwy monitor) - $475 (mine, all mine!), Donkey Kong - $425 (no pic avail.), Gals Panic II (in a Gyruss cab, with orig. sideart, no pic avail.) - $135

Second Row:
Jurassic Park went for $1625. Some games were shuffled around between my pictures being taken and the auction of the 2nd row of games. Added to the middle someplace was Off Road 3-player - $350, and Tekken - $275.

In a blind taste test, 4 out of 5 squirrels preferred the cold, refreshing taste of BUDWEISER. Sorry, no Tapper games at this auction.

More games got moved around.. see that Silent Scope 2 down on the far right? It went for $4750. Ouch.

Golden Tee 2K - $1600, Wrestlefest 4-player - $145, Operation Thunderbolt - $105, Space Gun - $225

Somewhere between the time I took this pic of the end of the 2nd row and the beginning of the 2nd row being auctioned, these games were moved to Row 3, and these games were in their place: Gauntlet Legends - $1150, Golden Tee 3D Golf - $525, Neo Geo - $275, Terminator 2: Judgement Day - $350

Third Row:

Some of the mysterious Block Party cabs.. note the 27" Ms. Pac 5th from the left.

Back to Madoc's Place - Auction Pictures and Results

Back to Madoc's Place - Classic Arcade

Sacagawea Errors Playmaille.com About the Author