How to find the best reproduction Arcade Artwork
These days arcade printers are popping up like weeds in the middle of a June garden. Like weeds, you should exterminate them cause they will cause you grief and lower the overall value of your product.
Here is a quick look on eBay for some Donkey Kong Jr side art. Pretty simple yes? No! Every single DK Jr side art for sale above is incorrect. It's like that old magazine in the Dr's office Highlight's that you'd circle what was wrong in the side by side pictures.
What's wrong? Well for starters, the birds wings should be purple not yellow, the border is wrong, the colors are completely off (why is Junior orange?)
The real question is; Why would you spend hundreds of dollars and hundreds of hours restoring a classic cab only to cheap out on the art? You can get the real deal, fully color corrected reproduction for a few more dollars.
Here is a picture taken from Jenn M on Facebook that shows NOS art, can you spot the differences? Keep in mind this art has pre-mask on top of it so, the colors appear a little different but you get the picture.
NOS - short for New Old Stock The term refers to merchandise being offered for sale which was manufactured long ago but that has never been used. Such merchandise may not be produced anymore, and the new old stock may represent the only current market source of a particular item. (1)
NOS art is really not any good for the regular buyer. For instance this art was made in 1982 making it 35 years old. The adhesive on the back of it is most likely no longer sticky. You're better off buying reproduced arcade side art from an online vendor like Escape Pod.
Which is the correct Donkey Kong Side Art? Only one of the 4 above images was color matched to the original game. Spend a moment looking at ebay arcade art vs Escape Pod art. Printing isn't easy. Let me rephrase that, Printing is easy but printing correct art very difficult. Look at the greens..... Look at the pinks (see how washed out some are?) Look at the browns (which DK looks best)
Ebay is great for buying old shoes or a fishing reel but when it comes to buying arcade art, there is one choice only; Escape Pod Online. Hands down the best arcade art printer in the world. Great customer service, great 3M vinyl products, and just fantastic reproductions of America's favorite arcade games.
This is your Winner!
(1) Wikipedia