Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Arcade Project 06: Accessorize

Accessory Decisions

Popcorn gives us a few options.  Chances are I am going to own an air-popper for my personal use, but having popcorn is not "enough".  We're talking about experiences here.  Also, have you ever smelled popcorn from an air popper?  Not much smell(or taste) to the stuff when you prepare it that way.  At a movie theater they have the large heated bowl with a stirring mechanism so you can add butter or oil of your choice.  I know how to operate them because of past-work experiences, so I want something that works like that.  BUT.  AGAIN.  Experiences, not full on replication.  I do not want to have to deal with giant garbage bags of popcorn that is uneaten.  So a 2-4 oz bowl is good enough for me.  I also do not want one of those wheel and crate looking things.  Those are nice if you want the movie lobby experience from the 50's, that's not our goal.  A nice desktop popcorn machine, hand made in the USA for about $130 will do it.

Wow, Sticker Machines are freakin' expensive.  I guess they are some real money makers?  Anyway, it looks like getting one from the same vendor as my gumball machines is going to be the least expensive.  Fun Fact: a 2 column sticker machine costs almost the same as 4 gumball machines with a stand.  My nephews all love temporary tattoos and I like prism/metallic stickers, so there we go... $280 bucks.  I'm not getting this one made for free use though, I plan on having good stickers, and I knew my nephews would run the machine dry of tattoos on the first day if they weren't limited.  


The Jukeboxes of my past were either the Waffle House standards or the super flashy, mirror finish, spinning CD jukeboxes of the 1990's.  They were huge, and frankly they could now all fit on my phone with very little effort or expense.  But we're not about practicality here, we're about experiences.  Thing is, I don't have many strong jukebox experiences, just like I don't care for pool.  So while fans of arcades from the 80's will hate my kind of arcade room, I'm ok with it.  Most "desktop" jukeboxes want to emulate the Happy Days lookin' jukeboxes of the 50's and 60's.  These things are expensive, and they are expenses I'm not going to incur.  Sorry Jukebox fans, no Jukebox in my arcade.

Upholstered booth seating is actually pretty affordable compared to trying to get nice non-restaurant style seating for a room.  For under $300 you can typically get 2 tone, foam and SPRING cushioned custom covered booth seats.  The room is so small, I see no reason to get 2 of them, one booth and a table will work fine.  I put springs in all caps because those are the higher quality ones.  There are some people out there that sell non-spring ones for a mark up because they use "space foam" and stuff like that, but don't let that fool you, that is the lower end stuff at a reputable maker.  If you can get a good deal on the color and covering you want, and get spring seating for under $300, then you should.  I'm looking to get a wood grain top laminate with red trim and chrome accents, done long enough for booth use, custom created to my order for $132 with free shipping.  You can save money buying used, but why not try and get exactly what you want made when its not a huge mark up?

 $140 extra bucks for a double set of  matching ottoman style stools rounds out the seating.  These are also storage, and easily moved around.  You can put them on the other side of the booth table for additional seating, but they also serve dual purpose as usage in a sit down arcade set up.  When not in use, they can tuck under the booth table so they are out of the way.  They will be useful for holding extra gaming controllers and for hiding some wires that are only occasionally used.


Last but not least, any Arcade needs a score board.  They can be used for high scores, yes, but they can also be used for setting up tournaments, or schedules or a number of things(maybe what needs to be restocked in the food area).  So I looked at GOOD dry erase boards and came across a porcelain based, magnetic dry erase board that was 3 foot by 6 foot.  I can live with that, and the porcelain means that it will less likely look like shit after years of use.  It is $130.


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