Let's talk about your NEO GEO collecting + PRICE GUIDES

[mjmjr25]

NAC - new astro city, those are all claimed - $650
VC - Versus City - $650
NVC - New Versus City - $650

The versus and new versus are those linked dual monitor cabs, can play only one game, but on 2 screens. It's a group buy in Baltimore, i've got a shipper arranged, but it isn't cheap :/

[ChrisHaha2049]

I have Ninja Master's on CD... Count me as one of its biggest fans. Solid fighter.

I was a total Neo Geo / SNK fanboy through the 90s. Nevertheless, the AES was too expensive. So I jumped on the CD system. Got my 1st one in early 1996, and played it to death...literally, as I had to get a 2nd one a few years later after that 1st one stopped working... They're both US versions and CIB, although one's box is a little thrashed.

I have 37 Neo CD games. All legit and complete, but nothing extraordinary...other than most being US versions...maybe. I also got a couple of those 'model 2' joysticks, that are shaped like kidney beans... Not as nice as the original block controllers, but they're not bad.

In 2008, I finally got myself a (Japanese) AES for a reasonable price; because it just seemed appropriate to own. And I have only 8 cheap (under $100) carts to go with.

I still think myself a fan, but enthusiasm has gone down a lot over the years. I still love my Neo stuff, but I've no thoughts about adding to any of it. And to be honest, I've no desire to get into MVS either (or CMVS). But any of this could change someday...and I still enjoy reading about others' Neo related thoughts, collections, and stuff.

[SpoonyBard]

For some reason I want to keep my AES collection US only, so to fight off the urge of buying the cheaper Japanese games, I went ahead and bought an MVS. Which has sat on my bench for the last two weeks waiting for all the parts for my supergun to come in.

Put the supergun together last night only to find that the Down and B buttons weren't working for player 1. Which made it next to impossible to play Metal Slug 2. Hopefully it can be fixed by tonight, because i've got Metal Slug X, King Of Fighters '99 and Fatal Fury coming in today.

Also.

Didn't know you had the Neo Candy as well as an Egret II, yr doing quite alright!

Incredibly jealous of that. Such a nice looking cab, and the rotating monitor is a huge plus.

[mjmjr25]

Don't be scared off by the rotating of monitors - I know the EII has a super handy dandy rotate mech, but an Astro or New Astro can be changed in about 5 minutes after the first time you do it, super easy. The longest part is unscrewing and rotating the 9 screws on the bezel to rotate that.

[SpoonyBard]

Isn't it typically a two person job though? I'm pretty green when it comes to the actual cabinets. I've only ever seen one candy in person.

[mjmjr25]

Isn't it typically a two person job though? I'm pretty green when it comes to the actual cabinets. I've only ever seen one candy in person.

Umm, a second person can help, sure, but really can just make it bit more awkward w/2 people trying to turn a heavy object mid-air in unison. They weigh about 75lbs or so and it feels a bit odd, becuase you grab the front frame and then you have all this weight on the backend, but once you do it once, it feels pretty natural.

Undo 3 screw-bolts in the CP enclosure (30 seconds)
Remove the hood (undo one stereo plug) (1 minute)
Undo 4 nuts on the frame (30 seconds)
Pull out the monitor by the steel frame, turn 90, and set it back on the bolts, retighten the nuts (30 seconds)
Unscrew 9 screws on your bezel, turn 90, screw the 9 screws back in (1 minute)
Put the hood on (plug in the stereo plug) (1 minute)
Tighten the 3 screw-bolts in the CP enclosure (30 seconds)
Done - 5 minutes

If you have worn or stripped screws, just replace 'em and then there's no reason can't rotate back and forth in 5 minutes.

[dunpeal2064]

If you happen to be a weakling like me, instead of a muscle man like Mike, you can always roll the cab onto its back. I found it much easier to lift the monitor out and rotate it this way, since you can get a better angle.

[SpoonyBard]

Good to know. Lifting the monitor would be no problem for me, but if it were a two person deal I think i'd have a hard time convincing anyone to help me out.

[ApolloBoy]

I've got bradtemple87's old AES, which I bought/traded from him last year and have since modded with S-video and a power LED. More recently I also replaced the original DIN jack with the same type used by the model 1 Genesis so that I can use my Genesis/SMS RGB SCART cable with it. I plan to do a Unibios install as well (which I've done on other people's AESes) but I haven't been into the Neo Geo stuff much so it's been on the backburner. In terms of games, I only have 7 AES games, almost all of which I'm borrowing from kool_kitty89 (who doesn't own an AES and happened to find them for dirt cheap at Goodwill).

I'd like to pick up more games, but a good chunk of AES games that I'd want to play are too expensive and so I'm thinking of getting an MVS converter and picking up the MVS equivalents of the games I want. Of course I could pick up a consolized MVS and avoid the converter route altogether, but I really like the looks and convenience of the AES so that's what I'll stick with.

[mjmjr25]

Does anyone with a converter actually like it?

I tell the same story ad nauseum to people who say they will get a converter - but i've never heard of anyone who currently owns a converter and considers it better than a CMVS.

My story and only experience w/a converter - I had a phantom 2 converter, so compatible w/all but 3 games I believe. The pin connection was incredibly tight, to the point you felt like you would damage the converter and cart each time you install a new game - and we're talking rugged MVS games here, it is that tight.

As for aesthetics, having a massive MVS cart sit on top of a good sized converter and setting in a relatively slim system just looks atrocious to me.