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Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

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Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#111

Post by markstos »

Reubachi wrote: post #88
markstos wrote: post #43

As someone who just bought 900 Pokémon cards at an unadvertised estate sale at a roadside Michigan blueberry stand, I can relate. We had just stopped by for blueberries. I happen to see a couple unlabeled sheets of paper tacked up in a corner with grainy scans of cards. I asked the old farmer if she has some for sale and she pulls out this massive binder of cards with many first edition and holo cards in very good co…

I hope you offered the proper/perceived value for them, and not the "cardboard" price

I'd say it was a fair price. I have work to do to reach ROI, but after some hours of spreadsheet building, I project a reasonable upside on the investment.

Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#112

Post by User23 »

mustacheemperor wrote: post #68
gabereiser wrote: post #17

Dude just happens to find a fully working and in great condition arcade cabinet deluxe from 1983 in 2023? Jesus! What a find! I’m a huge fan of old arcade games and even built a few mame cabinets myself - this is extraordinary. There aren’t very many of those games left let alone working in great condition. Many have lost their CGA monitors or fried their boards.

Per the placard over the Tron pinball machine at the Pacific Pinball Museum, the licensed arcade games made more money than the original Tron movie! These cabinets are so rare, I have to wonder how it wound up on the curb. I'd imagine there's no way it's a happy story, unfortunately. Someone apparently felt that was worthless.

Divorce is my first guess.

Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#113

Post by justin66 »

robinduckett wrote: post #108
justin66 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Per the placard over the Tron pinball machine at the Pacific Pinball Museum, the licensed arcade games made more money than the original Tron movie! That might be due to movie accounting. There are times the producers of the movie have an incentive to make sure a movie has little or no profit, even if it does okay at the box office. For example when someone other than the producers will contractually get a percenta…

"Always ask for a piece of the gross. Not the net. The net is fantasy." — Freakazoid!

The producers of The Fellowship of the Ring were so anxious about the production, having sunk so much into it even before filming, that they offered Sean Connery the part of Gandalf. They offered him a percentage of the gross. Reportedly, he wasn't familiar with Tolkien and didn't care for the script (what the fuck is a hobbit?), and of course everything worked out fine for everyone concerned. Ian McKellen was great, and worked cheaper than Connery. Connery retired to a Carribean paradise with a good golf course.

I calculated it out once, and if he'd taken the deal they were offering, Connery would have - based on what the movie grossed - made a decent slice of a billion dollars.

Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#114

Post by User23 »

projektfu wrote: post #107
Reubachi wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope you offered the proper/perceived value for them, and not the "cardboard" price

I don't know, if someone wants to dump a whole lot on you, you should just take their asking price. They're not asking you to do a valuation. They won't feel the "loss". However, if you go through and tell them what every card is "worth", and buy a couple that you can afford, they will then feel bad if they ever part with them for less than their notional value.

My conscience wouldn't let me do that. Don't get me wrong I'd be willing to accept a steep discount for the hassle of potentially grading and listing every card, the time it takes to sell, and the expectation that some won't move in a timely fashion, but I'm not gonna give someone $20 for $10,000 worth of merchandise just because they're ignorant.

Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#116

Post by philistine »

justin66 wrote: post #113
robinduckett wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Always ask for a piece of the gross. Not the net. The net is fantasy." — Freakazoid!

The producers of The Fellowship of the Ring were so anxious about the production, having sunk so much into it even before filming, that they offered Sean Connery the part of Gandalf. They offered him a percentage of the gross. Reportedly, he wasn't familiar with Tolkien and didn't care for the script (what the fuck is a hobbit?), and of course everything worked out fine for everyone concerned. Ian McKellen was great,…

Sean never managed to figure out which projects to join. Of course, being fucking Sean Connery, every script with a semblance of an older, wise but cranky man were sent to him. But he never got it right. He turned down Morpheus in The Matrix. He turned down Die Hard 3. He turned down Jurassic Park.

He really needed someone savvy to guide him, which he never got. At least he made The Rock .

Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#117

Post by post_break »

This just feels fishy to me. It’s too much of a coincidence for that cabinet, in that condition, to be found in this way. It very well might have been such a crazy event, but without the backstory of who owned it and how it was acquired I’ll be skeptical. I’m not saying this was done as a stunt, just that for me it doesn’t pass the sniff test.

Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#119

Post by projektfu »

User23 wrote: post #114
projektfu wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know, if someone wants to dump a whole lot on you, you should just take their asking price. They're not asking you to do a valuation. They won't feel the "loss". However, if you go through and tell them what every card is "worth", and buy a couple that you can afford, they will then feel bad if they ever part with them for less than their notional value.

My conscience wouldn't let me do that. Don't get me wrong I'd be willing to accept a steep discount for the hassle of potentially grading and listing every card, the time it takes to sell, and the expectation that some won't move in a timely fashion, but I'm not gonna give someone $20 for $10,000 worth of merchandise just because they're ignorant.

What if you say, "you know, these cards can be worth a lot sometimes, is that going to bother you?".

I mean, part of it is that you should also remain ignorant. If you see an expensive card on the first page, yeah, morally you're in a spot if you act like you didn't. But if you just assume that a collector has something of value, but you don't really go through it other than to make sure that it's actually all the same stuff, I think the terms are fine. Just so long as you're actually spinning the wheel as well.

I'm reminded, though, of High Fidelity. There's a part of the book (maybe a deleted scene on the DVD as well) where Rob goes to buy a collection and he's seeing all these great items, first editions in pristine condition. The seller is a woman who is going through a divorce and doesn't need the money but her husband does, and he asked her to sell them for him, and she's trying to dump them for very low price to be mean.

Rob can't bring himself to buy them, even though he wants some for his collection. So I get where you're coming from. I don't make as much money as I could because I don't fleece people, either. But there's times when people are asking for your expertise and times when they just want to move on, and everyone should be happy in the end.

Re: Environmental Discs of Tron Roadside Pickup

#120

Post by User23 »

projektfu wrote: post #119
User23 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My conscience wouldn't let me do that. Don't get me wrong I'd be willing to accept a steep discount for the hassle of potentially grading and listing every card, the time it takes to sell, and the expectation that some won't move in a timely fashion, but I'm not gonna give someone $20 for $10,000 worth of merchandise just because they're ignorant.

What if you say, "you know, these cards can be worth a lot sometimes, is that going to bother you?". I mean, part of it is that you should also remain ignorant. If you see an expensive card on the first page, yeah, morally you're in a spot if you act like you didn't. But if you just assume that a collector has something of value, but you don't really go through it other than to make sure that it's actually all the sa…

Yeah that’s fair. If the seller is knowingly and intentionally selling below market value it’s moral to buy just as it’s moral to accept a gift (in most cases).
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