10/21/2025
This page has been getting some attention lately. It could be bots, or maybe people on certain pages I follow look at my personal page, and they wind up here. Some frequently asked questions...
Q: When did you start?
A: September 2002, when I bought my first game, the same Ms. Pac-Man I played at Gas Stop in Mason City when I was a kid.
Q: where do you find these games?
A: Auctions, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and sometimes word of mouth.
Q: Cool! Can I come by and see it/play some games?
A: you *can*, but I'd rather have them be seen when they're working correctly and look good. Sometimes this task can be never ending.
Q: You should open an arcade! It would be really popular and Mason City could use one!
A: Arcades, by themselves, have not been profitable since 1983. The only arcades with games like mine that are successful have something else to offer, like a bar or an amusement park. This is why Aladdin's Castle no longer exists.
Q: I want to buy a game.
A: occasionally I'll have a game for sale, and I'll post it here first before the general public. You can also find games the same way I do in the places mentioned above.
Q: I want to sell you a game.
A: there are a few games on my most wanted list, but I already have most of them. If I'm going to buy a game that isn't on that list, 1. I can resell it for profit, 2. It has parts that can help fix one of my current games or add value to one, or 3. It's cheap.
Q: Do you have Pac-Man?
A: this actually is my most frequently asked question. Yes, I have a Pacman cocktail (which I will sell for $1300), that Ms. Pac-Man mentioned above, that I installed an aftermarket enhancement kit on, and a Jr. Pac-Man and Super Pac-man in the same cabinet. So yeah, I have four Pacmans. I'd love to have a Pacmania, but that game is quite expensive when it does come up for sale.
Q: Are they all working? How do you get them to work?
A: The keeper games I have in the basement are all working currently but a few need some TLC to get them right...like Bubble Bobble needs a new control panel, the 60 in 1 needs the control panel rewired and a new 4 way joystick installed, Ms. Pacman has an aftermarket kit that I don't think works right, and Earthshaker has an issue where a flipper is too strong and flings the ball places it's not supposed to be. I fix them with parts from many sources, like Arcadeshop and Mike's Arcade, and online forums (which have existed since the 1990s) and YouTube videos. The machines aren't too complicated, but they are over 40 years old.
