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Arcade Pickers - Episode 3: Double Gorf’d

RetroRalph·video·22m 49s·analyzed·Apr 24, 2021
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.030

TL;DR

Ralph and Corey visit massive Arizona arcade collection, negotiate purchases of rare cabinets including GORFs and classic games.

Summary

Retro Ralph and Corey Massal visit Derek Large's extensive arcade collection in Arizona, discovering rare and valuable cabinets including an original Computer Space ($2,000, valued at $12,000+), three GORFs, an original Back to the Future pinball ($200), a Popeye-to-Goonies conversion ($700), Captain America and the Avengers ($800), and numerous other classic arcade games. The episode showcases Derek's decades of collecting and arcade repair expertise while documenting the competitive dynamic between Ralph and Corey as they attempt to acquire pieces for their own collections.

Key Claims

  • Derek Large has been collecting arcade games since the late 1980s and owns 70-80 games total

    high confidence · Derek's direct statement: 'I've been doing this since probably the late 80s. That's when I bought my first game, and I'm up to about 70, 80 games now.'

  • Derek purchased 40-42 arcade games in a single lot from California in a Shane Black trailer

    high confidence · Derek: 'This Shane Black trailer right here, I filled it up in California. How many are we talking? It's about 40... 42, actually.'

  • Computer Space is worth approximately $12,000 based on eBay sales of the blue variant

    high confidence · Derek: 'I've seen one sell on eBay for $12,000, a blue one. And this is a little harder to get color.'

  • Derek owns three GORF arcade cabinets

    high confidence · Derek: 'I have three of them. I have three of them.'

  • Derek owns approximately 400-500 arcade PCBs that he has repaired

    high confidence · Derek: 'I don't know how many I've repaired, but I probably own about four or five hundred.'

  • Original Back to the Future pinball machines typically sell for thousands of dollars

    medium confidence · Ralph: 'These are really expensive when I see them. I mean, they usually go for thousands of dollars.'

  • Domino Man arcade game last sold at Captain's for $3,500

    medium confidence · Derek: 'Last one of these I've seen sell at Captain's for like $3,500.'

Notable Quotes

  • “I've been doing this since probably the late 80s. That's when I bought my first game, and I'm up to about 70, 80 games now.”

    Derek Large@ 1:48 — Establishes Derek's credentials as a serious, long-term arcade collector and technician

  • “I filled it up in California... It's about 40... 42, actually.”

    Derek Large@ 2:38 — Demonstrates Derek's impressive bulk acquisition strategy early in his collecting career

  • “I bought this Back to the Future pinball original for $200... she had it out back by her pool, and the sun kind of burned the sides up on it.”

    Derek Large@ 8:30 — Highlights extreme undervaluation and outdoor usage of expensive arcade equipment in civilian hands

  • “I was gorfin' around long before you got here... I think he must have said he didn't care about anything in the cabinet.”

    Ralph@ 7:36 — Ralph expresses frustration at being outmaneuvered by Corey on GORF acquisition

  • “Just know, Corey, I'm getting you back for the GORF thing, and I don't have to dress as a superhero to do it.”

    Ralph@ 22:02 — Establishes playful competitive tension between hosts that drives the show's dynamic

  • “I just like to find games those grandkids don't like. That's all.”

    Corey@ 15:28 — Shows Corey's persistent acquisition strategy despite Derek protecting family favorites

Entities

Derek LargepersonRetro RalphpersonCorey MassalpersonComputer SpacegameGORFgameBack to the FuturegameGoonies (Popeye conversion)gameCaptain America and the AvengersgameDomino Mangame

Signals

  • ?

    event_signal: Arcade Pickers Episode 3 documents significant Arizona arcade collector with 70-80 games and 400-500 PCBs; demonstrates regional collector hubs and acquisition network activity

    high · Derek Large's collection scope and networking with local collectors ('local collector guy' referenced multiple times as source)

  • $

    market_signal: San Jose area identified as having high concentration of arcade cabinets, suggesting geographic clustering of collector communities and market activity

    medium · Ralph: 'it's the second time being in San Jose, and it's crazy the concentration of just arcade cabinets in San Jose'

  • $

    market_signal: Domino Man arcade game valued at $3,500 based on Captain's Cove sales data; rare cabinet commands premium pricing

    medium · Derek: 'Last one of these I've seen sell at Captain's for like $3,500.'

  • $

    market_signal: Popeye-to-Goonies conversion cabinet valued at $700 in secondary market; original thrift store acquisition for $139 represents significant arbitrage opportunity

    high · Acquired from Phoenix thrift store for $139, negotiated sale to Ralph for $700

  • $

    market_signal: Back to the Future pinball typically commands thousands of dollars; Derek's $200 acquisition from pawn shop represents extreme undervaluation

    high · Ralph: 'These are really expensive when I see them. I mean, they usually go for thousands of dollars.' Derek paid $200.

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.068

0:00
Where the hell is he at? Mike's stuff? How long has he been here? Ralph! Hey Cory. What are you doing? I'm not ready yet.
0:51
Arcade Pickers! Yeah baby! Are you rea- Are you serious right now? Yeah. This is awesome. We have to get the intro going. Okay, alright.
1:16
I'm Retro Ralph. And I'm Corey Massal. And we're the Arcade Pickers. Hey Derek, how's it going? Good.
1:44
Hi, my name is Derek Large. This is my arcade. I've been doing this since probably the late 80s. That's when I bought my first game, and I'm up to about 70, 80 games now. I've been collecting and repairing them forever. I owned a pawn shop for many years and had the opportunity to buy quite a few of them that needed repairs and Just been fixing them ever since I'm very excited to see Ralph and Corey. Ralph, his intro was kind of crazy Oh, I mean, I just breathed in a bunch of that stuff. It's not good
2:15
Oh my gosh, look at this. Wow. Yeah, the rumor on the street was that you have a lot of stuff It sure looks like that. Yeah, I think you have a few things in here. What is all this stuff? Where'd you get it from? Years of collecting. That's where I got it at. Years of collecting. So Flynn was talking about how your first ever purchase was actually not one game or two games. You literally bought a whole lot of games. Yeah. This black trailer right here, I filled it up in California. How many are we talking? It's about 40. I don't even have 40. I don't even have 40 total. You are 40. 42, actually.

“We double-GORFed it! Whatever that means.”

Ralph@ 22:20 — Establishes the episode title and catchphrase, showing both hosts acquired GORF cabinets

Roadrunner
game
Cruising Exoticagame
Dragon's Lairgame
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doomgame
Congo Bongogame
Arcade Pickersevent
San Jose, Californialocation
Arizonalocation
Bally Midwaycompany
Data Eastcompany
Ataricompany
$

market_signal: Computer Space arcade original valued at $12,000+ based on eBay sales; Derek acquired for $2,000 suggesting significant market appreciation and collector demand for earliest arcade machines

high · Derek: 'I've seen one sell on eBay for $12,000, a blue one.' Purchased for $2,000 by Derek from local collector.

  • $

    market_signal: GORF cabinets show varying pricing: $50 for non-working stand-up, $450 for working cocktail version; suggests condition and functionality drive significant price variance

    high · Corey: $50 for stand-up GORF ('wasn't working'). Ralph: $450 for cocktail GORF. Derek mentions GORF 'usually goes for a lot.'

  • ?

    product_concern: Original Back to the Future pinball exposed to outdoor elements (pool area, sun damage) yet remained functional; raises questions about durability vs. collector expectations

    medium · Derek: 'she had it out back by her pool, and the sun kind of burned the sides up on it' but 'was fully functional for $200'

    • 2:51
    All right. So, Derek, you going to give us the rock star treatment? Of course. Dude, this is a lot to take in. There's literally stuff everywhere. Yeah. There's a Bags Target Toss Pro. I've never even played that. Yeah, this is like virtual cornhole.
    3:13
    I've never even played that. I like real cornhole, though, so I'm okay. This is not a game I'd be interested in. You would like cornhole. Oh, gosh. Okay. Anyways, let's keep going. Congo Bongo yeah cool I don't like that it sounds like a Gloria Estefan song well you know I'm the Sega fanboy so I don't even care what it is if it says Sega on it time out we got an Indiana Jones in the temple of dude I know dude do you think do you think that he would sell that I don't know I'm thinking I'm thinking that it's gonna go for some serious that's a really fun game because I played that emulated and obviously I didn't have the real cabinet but it's yeah that's too rich for our blood dude right behind you there's actually like a pretty much almost pristine dragon yeah i know like almost looks really good right like it's like the one it's like the one but not except but not but this one is like i know we're not worthy this is the crazy thing is is that
    4:03
    he that's gonna go for too much but hey but you know what this is now see this is making you sad but what's making me sad is the fact there's a gorf right here and i passed up at david's place of basically a cabaret gorf i could have had a cabaret gorf now he might do you think he'll saw that probably yeah but gorf goes for a lot usually well he has several gorfs i see another one right behind it oh really you think he has more than one yeah dude the first i'll be honest ever made i'll be honest this was definitely in existence before both of you and i were actually born like there's no way we were on planet earth when this came out computer space is a space combat arcade game developed in 1971 it was created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was the first arcade video game, as well as the first coin-operated, commercially available arcade game. The game is enclosed in this really cool custom fiberglass cabinet, which Bushnell designed himself.
    5:01
    I've seen this one time, and you know where I saw it? At E3, they had a game museum section, and that was there. I've never seen one other than that. So I'm assuming that's worth a lot of money. It looks like it came out of Star Trek, but Derek, enlighten us. Does it work? What the heck is this? It does not work right now. I'm working on getting it repaired. I have the monitor working. I'm working on sourcing parts for the boards. I'd imagine the boards are going to be harder to find parts for. Yeah, it's hard to get stuff. You know, 71 technology. Where'd you get it from? Another local collector.
    5:32
    Corey I thought can we call the 1 local collector and find that guy I don like that guy I feel like that code for somebody that I know that you guys don It someone that we will never know The resource The collector resource What did you pay for this thing? I paid $2,000 for it. Of course. And it's worth?
    5:53
    I haven't seen any local sell. I've seen one sell on eBay for $12,000, a blue one. And this is a little harder to get color. Okay, and then it's hard to not notice. We talked about, we saw you have a Gorf and a Dragonzer. I love GORF, but I feel like I'll never own one. Okay, so what's the deal with the GORF? Today's your lucky day. I have three of them. Really? So, all working? I have not gone through this one yet. We just barely unloaded it out of the trailer. Don't know anything about it yet. If it works, I want it.
    6:27
    Hold on a minute. Yeah. I already had my eye on the GORF. What do you mean? I already had my eye on the GORF. Oh my gosh, you're always competing with me. No. How much do you want for the Gorf? Do you want to buy it as is, or do you want me to try to get it going? No, I would say... As is, where is, where it stands. I don't really care about the stuff inside. I don't really care about the screen, or the game board, or any of the stuff, or even the joystick. I just like the cabinet. Would you sell me the cabinet? Yeah, the cabinet needs some work. I could use the other parts on another game I'm restoring, so that would work out good for me. How much do you want for the cabinet? it? You can make me an offer on it. All right. How about 50 bucks? The only thing I want is the cabinet and the marquee. Yeah, I could do that. 50 bucks. What? What? What the hell just happened? I was gorfin' around long before you got here.
    7:32
    The gorf, he knows I want gorf, and he literally just bought a gorf for 50 bucks, and I think he pretty much said he didn't care about anything in the cabin. Are you serious right now? It's gorf!
    7:45
    Sorry, Ralph. I got you slippin'. All right, so Derek, we're inside, and we just spent a lot of time outside. There's a lot of awesome stuff, but of course we usually do arcade games on this show. That's what we focus on I'm a super back to the future fan and There's got to be a story behind this these are really expensive when I see them I mean there they usually go for thousands of dollars. So what's the story on this? Did you buy it new? Did you buy it used? I picked it up used I back when I owned a pawn shop I bought it from a lady that bought it new for $200. I bought it for $200 from her You bought this back to the future pinball original for $200 Yes.
    8:25
    What? This is an original Back to the Future for $200. I mean, I can see on the side that it's worn and everything, but it was fully functional for $200 when you picked it up? Yes, she had it out back by her pool, and the sun kind of burned the sides up on it, but she had it covered with a beach towel most of the time. That's crazy. So was she actually, did she use it outside? It was used outside. Oh, my gosh. Can you imagine that? So someone put the pinball machine outside as like that's where they're going to use it. So she had an outside game. I know. What timeline is she in? She's crazy.
    8:57
    She's insane. All right. Well, this is really awesome. Obviously, I'm not even going to ask you what you'd want for it because it's going to be way more than I could pay. But that's an awesome thing in your collection. This is getting heavy. Oh, jeez. All right.
    9:16
    All right, Derek. So what's this thing? It looks like I'm confused. He was like, I see Goonies, but I see Donkey Kong, Mario Brothers. It looks like an original, like a Popeye or something. What the heck is this thing? It's an original Popeye that somebody converted to a Goonies. It's a versus Goonies. Did you just say Popeye and Goonies in the same sentence? Yes. I love Goonies, and I love Popeye. So where in the heck did you get this thing? This one came out of a thrift store. Out of a thrift store? Wait a minute. I'm like the thrift store king. Which thrift store? It was in Phoenix. Somebody called me and told me about it being there, and I ran over there and picked it up.
    9:55
    $139. Jeez. Stop it. This is the coolest game ever. Do you remember playing this on Nintendo? So wonder what's crazy, wonder where I played it. I played it on my Commodore 64. This is a PlayChoice10 game, right? Is it Goonies 2? Yeah, it is on PlayChoice. It is. So this is not only a really cool cabinet, but a really cool game. Where you at, one-eyed Willie? $8.50. $8.50? Yes. Just kidding. I'm no mathematician, but I think he means $850. How do you feel about $500?
    10:34
    I don't feel good about that. You feel the Fratelli breathing down your neck? Deal of the day, $700.
    10:42
    $700? Hey, Mikey. Got to go to the bathroom? I'll take it. Oh. I didn't see that coming. Goonies, time to do the truffle shuffle.
    10:58
    On your left. Nice. Captain America in the Avengers. Woo. Yeah, this is nice, dude. This is bad. David wanted $1,000 for this thing. And I don't know what Derek wants for it, but I really want one of these. This is awesome. Yeah, but is this a you want it because you want it in your collection? or you want it because... It a stupid game Oh Okay The game is It basically a beat It not a turtles it not a final fight it not a punishment it it more of a mediocre beat i give you that it's a seg a nostalgia sega genesis one is the same as the arcade which is weird to say but i feel like with the artwork and with the marquee yeah so ralph if you were going to pick Clint Barton, Hawkeye, Steve Rogers, Captain America, Tony Stark, the Iron Man, or Vision, who would you pick? Tony Stark. Tony Stark? Why? Because he's awesome. Because he's awesome? Yeah. He's a super soldier? I don't know. I would, but I knew that you'd pick him, so. Okay.
    12:03
    Okay. Here's the deal. So, Corey wants Captain America and the Avengers. I want Captain America and the Avengers. I'm a little bit bitter about the whole GORF thing, but I'm getting them back right now. I'm going to go in, top dollar. I'm getting this cabinet.
    12:17
    All right, Derek, Captain America and the Avengers. I got to have it. How much? A thousand dollars. Hold it. What the hell is this? Just don't. I'm with the Avengers. It's me, Steve Rogers. I'll give you 800 bucks.
    12:31
    Deal. Seriously? Thank you so much. Son, just don't. Sorry son, it's America's business. The last time I was in Germany and I saw a man standing above everyone else and it ended up not working out well for him. I got this. Why are you doing this for America? this happening in 1991 Captain America and the Avengers was released by data East in this four-player side-scrolling beat-em-up you can take on bad guys like Ultron crossbones and juggernaut with cap Iron Man Hawkeye or vision also features cameos from Namor the Submariner Quicksilver and the Wasp
    13:41
    I swear I've seen that before. We have a Cruising Exotica. You remember when I was at Flynn's and I bought the California Speed? This one's complete though. It looks like it's in good shape. So is this for sale? No, my grandkids would kill me. They want to play it? Do they play it when they come over? They play it all the time. This is probably the most played game here. Oh my gosh, I believe you, that's really cool. The driving games I've learned are super cool. There's a Roadrunner arcade game.
    14:20
    Where the heck did you get a Roadrunner arcade game? Local collector. I bought out his collection. I've got to meet this local collector guy. I know, can we get a phone number for the local collector guy?
    14:33
    Did you just stumble upon this? Kind of, yes. I was picking up another game. So you weren't going for this game? No. And it was just there. It was there. You know what's so cool about that? Did you get to peek around back? The cabinet shape is really neat. Like, if you look around back, it has, like, this notch at the top. The cabinet's just super cool, too. Like, so not only is the game neat, but the cabinet's cool. System one. I mean, it's cool. Like, you've got the Wile E. Coyote on here. It's an Atari game. I've never seen this emulated on MAME or on anything. It might be, but I've never seen it. Yeah, I've never searched it out. I challenge all of you out there to find a Roadrunner game, if you can find one. because I've never seen it. Is it for sale? Stay in my collection. My grandkids like playing this. Wait, your grandkids like it? My grandkids like it. All right, all right, all right. Your grandkids like it. We'll let it go.
    15:27
    All right, no problem. I just got to find games those grandkids don't like. That's all. No problem. Should be easy.
    15:38
    In 1985, Atari released Roadrunner, the arcade game based on everyone's favorite speedster bird and coyote duo. The premise of the game was simple, eat birdseed and avoid Wile E. Coyote while dodging oncoming traffic at the same time. It was also Atari's last game released ever on the 2600. Okay, so clearly Derek has cabinets that are frickin' unique and really cool. So the Roadrunner was neat, but what the heck is Domino Man? Never heard of this game before. It's Bally Midway. The character kind of resembles a character from Timber. But what is this? This is, I think it was number three in their series they had. And it was Timber, Tapper, and Domino Man. What a unique game. I mean, it's got, and it came like this with the dominoes on the front and everything? Just like this. And what's the objective of this game? To try to set up the dominoes and I'm knocking them over. That's it. Yep. So you're not destroying anything like you are in like timber where you're knocking trees down. This year, just trying to set up dominoes. Just trying to set up dominoes. Try to get them up before the clocks and the bees and stuff knock them over. All right. I have to know because I'm thinking there can't be that many of these out there. So this is probably one of yours that you want to hold on to, right? Yeah, I'll probably hold on to it. What do you think it's worth, though? Last one of these I've seen sell at Captain's for like $3,500. Whoa. Okay Next place next please alright Derek we gotta move on but that really cool Domino Man was produced by Bally Midway in 1983 you control Domino Man a character who looks a lot like the main characters in Tapper and Timber in an attempt to ensure the game appealed to all audiences Midway included an obscure dip switch setting that allowed the arcade operator to choose between a light-skinned version of Domino Man and a dark-skinned version
    17:31
    Okay, so I was fishing around back here, and I found a gorf. Not a stand-up, full-size gorf, but a cocktail gorf. So, Derek, what do you think? What would you do on this gorf, the one in the corner here? I gotta leave here with a gorf.
    17:50
    Um, 500 bucks. Hmm. Well, Corey got one for 50, but it wasn't working. Yes, I'm pretty sure that one worked. Okay, would you do... Would you do $350?
    18:06
    I'll do $450. Would you do $400? $450 is a good deal for it. The board test is worth that. Alright, I'll do $450.
    18:21
    You almost ruined my chances, Corey, but I got a GORF. Derek, I just wanted to come in here for a second, just because I know I'm not really looking for any game boards right now, but this is really cool. So is this just do you fix them for my repair? Yeah, how many of these things you think I'm these PCBs think you've repaired um, I Don't know how I'm repaired, but I probably own about four or five hundred. Yeah Wow I'm I'm I was there I was going there and I was collecting for a while and I kind of just stopped because it started taking up closet space and All those and stuff that the wife wasn't too excited about but I think this is really neat So you have it hooked up where you've got your test bench you have it duplicated out to two different Yeah, I've run through a super gun. Cool. Yeah, this is really neat. So you'll do just all your board repairs in here? Yeah, I do a lot of repairs. Pretty neat stuff. Repair just about everything. You guys probably don't realize this, it's the second time being in Mesa, and it's crazy the concentration of just arcade cabinets in Mesa. So it's like we haven't really gone too far, and we found so many great finds. Dirk's got some marquees up here. Let me see what we got. We got a, whatever the hell that is. There you go. See what else we got up here. We got a random bezel up here. I don't think we need that. My favorite part about doing this is the marquees. My least favorite part of doing this is the marquees. You got a cabinet for that or just a marquee? It says Star Master. Is that for sale? It sounds sentimental to you. I'm gonna pass on that. How about, are there any Sinistar cabinets for sale? We got a Popeye bezel. Put that in the maybe pile. I don't know what the... I'm, like, really struggling with this. We got a double dragon. Hey, Corey. Yo. Would you say you found the honey hole of marquees? I found the honey hole of marquees. Notice I'm not crashing them down and breaking them. I could Vanna showcase that for you.
    20:20
    Yes. Can we please put all the marquees back now? We'll put the marquees back when I'm damn well ready.
    20:28
    We'll be right back. I made a few dollars. I think we did good. So I feel like we got a lot of really good stuff. I mean, I know I got Ralph's Gorp, and I got Ralph's Captain America and the Avengers, and I got the Goonies. So I feel like we made out really good. Derek had some really good deals and I feel like he made out really good too. I'm really happy and pleased that we got to come here today.
    21:39
    Well, we made it out in one piece. I just can't believe how much stuff Derek has. There's games in the garage, there's games in the trailer, and then we walk into the house and there's awesome classics sitting there right in his living room. Who knew we were going to end up finding all these crazy places to check out arcades in Arizona? After visiting Derek's, who knows what's around the next corner. Thanks again, Derek. We had an awesome time today. Just know, Corey, I'm getting you back for the GORF thing, and I don't have to dress as a superhero to do it. Dude, it was a pretty good day. Good day, man. Derek has a lot of good stuff. He really did. He has, like, high-quality stuff, though. That's what's so cool about it. I feel good about it, man. I'm sorry again about the GORF. I mean, I guess I got a GORF, too, so it's all good. We double-GORFed it! whatever that means all right dude let's get out of here let's get some food i'm hungry man i know i have to all right let's do this captain america came after you man let's chase down black panther before