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What can you tell me about this metal DDR pads by Cobalt Flux?

D

Downhome

Member
So today I walk into the Goodwill store down the road from work, and what do I see priced at just $5 each but four metal DDR pads by Cobalt Flux:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trqn67m9TUA

photoczv.jpg


I almost bought them, but I know next to nothing about these things. For one I have no way to know if they work properly at all, and if I were to eventually sell them I imagine they would be a nightmare to ship. Can any of you guys fill me in on these, what systems these would work for, and all of that? Would you buy them if you found them somewhere so cheap?

EDIT:

Alright guys, you talked me into it. After my last post I took off before they were to close at 9pm and bought all of them for $20 total. I have no clue what I'll do with them, but what the heck. I know that if I didn't go ahead and buy them I'd regret it in a big time way. Here are some pics of my adventure...

photo1ze.jpg


photo2bj.jpg


photo3dh.jpg
 
S

Spokeys

Member
I can tell you that back in the days when I played DDR Max, these were the most expensive Pads you could buy and I'm pretty sure the highest quality around also for home pads. They ranged from 500-1000 dollars each on their website back around 2003 when I really got into DDR.

If you have the space, go for it. Although I'm not sure who would want to buy a premium Dance Pad designed for PS2 and PC nowadays.

EDIT: Checking websites these things have went down in price quite a bit. 280.00 dollars each for one of these now at http://ddrstation.com/cofldapl.html

I don't know if you could gain much from selling them via shipping. Your best bet is trying to locally it seems.
 
A

Aeonin

Member
I'd buy them all. They are the utmost best quality DDR pads you can get your hands on. I used them for a couple years on the PC with custom songs and all that jazz. I bought mine for about 180 bucks, sold it around the same price I believe.
 
B

BigFwoosh

Member
Dude, I am so jealous of you. Those things still cost like $300 if you buy them new. Been wanting one for ages.

Edit: And to answer your question, they're probably still the best metal pads out there aside from having an actual arcade machine.
 
D

Downhome

Member
What about the pain of shipping them if I did sell them? Or how I don't even know for sure if they work or not.

There is wear on them obviously, but they don't look bad IMO. I was just more shocked than anything to see them.
 
C

Charoncaori

Member
Holy shit I would have bought those on the spot and carried them home on my back.

In all seriousness, I hear they are quite fixable and are still worth quite a bit of money. You might have trouble making sure they work and finding someone in the area who would buy them though.

They would work for anything if they have their control boxes. These look like they are missing theirs so that would be an additional cost. This would be a great project for a bemani fan.

You don't happen to live anywhere near nyc or nj, do you? My boyfriend has one of these and I would love another to play together with him...

Edit 3: If you were to buy them you could always post on a bemani forum to find someone to buy them from you, tested or not...
 
D

Downhome

Member
Alright guys, you talked me into it. After my last post I took off before they were to close at 9pm and bought all of them. I have no clue what I'll do with them, but what the heck. I know that if I didn't go ahead and buy them I'd regret it in a big time way. Here are some pics of my adventure...

photo1ze.jpg


photo2bj.jpg


photo3dh.jpg
 
D

Downhome

Member
Oh, and this doesn't even come close to this, but they also had a few of those XRocker chairs or whatever they are called. I think those were like $25 though.

I once found a brand new Mario 64 at this same store. Crazy. I wonder why people would just donate that sort of stuff.
 
P

Psychotext

Member
So jealous. When I was into DDR I paid a fortune to have a high end metal pad shipped to the UK. One of the sensors didn't work properly, and they would only take the whole thing back rather than just replace the sensor.

That was the last time I ever played DDR, or ever will.
 
L

legbone

Member
holy shit. that's one of the greatest video game finds i have ever seen. when i used to play ddr all the time i really wanted one. glad i didn't get one since i never play anymore but those are amazing. even if they don't all work you can probably build at least one or two working ones with four of them. shit, what happened? did some ddr fan die and his family just give his shit to the goodwill. it makes you wonder.
 
U

ultron87

Member
It is a good thing I didn't have a big source of money back in my DDR days. Otherwise I would probably own two pads like that.

I am quite jealous even though I only ever play occasionally at arcades these days.
 
P

Plasmid

Member
Buy all of them you can, if anything you can sell them on ebay for a lot of profit.

They are also some of the best pads you can buy if memory serves right.
 
D

Downhome

Member
Yeah, I wonder why in the world they would have one of these since it it such an obscure item, much less four. Especially if they all work just fine, why would anyone own four of them in the first place?
 
S

Str0ngStyle

Member
I just saw your edit. If you didn't buy them I would demand you post the address of this goodwill store.

I must concur with the overwhelming response in the thread. I would absolutely buy them on the spot if I saw them
 
D

Downhome

Member
Charoncaori said:
You don't happen to live anywhere near nyc or nj, do you? My boyfriend has one of these and I would love another to play together with him...
Click to expand...

Nope, I live out in the middle of nowhere in SC. Even more odd that I found these here.

Edit 3: If you were to buy them you could always post on a bemani forum to find someone to buy them from you, tested or not...
Click to expand...

Would you have any advice on which forum or place online to start with?

Anyway, thanks for all of the tips guys. I should have just bought them when I first saw them earlier today. I have no idea what I was thinking by originally passing them up for just $5 each. They're worth that just to get and set aside in my storage building in case they eventually become more of a collector's item or something.
 
K

KingOfReading

Banned
If you're a DDR player they we're at one point the best $300 you could spend on a pad. I bought one from them 8 or so years ago...and it helped me lose 75lbs. So in my opinion, money WELL spent! Plus they have amazing customer service.
 
B

betweenthewheels

Member
Holy shit, amazing find.

I wonder how they ended up there? I mean, the owner must have known of their value.

Anyway, I gotta start heading to goodwill
 
T

tokkun

Member
I was never much of a fan of the CF pads. The surfaces are completely flat, so it's easy to lose track of your position on the pad. You also should probably wear shoes with them to prevent slipping, and I don't think playing DDR with shoes on is too good for your feet.
 
L

Lambtron

Unconfirmed Member
tokkun said:
I was never much of a fan of the CF pads. The surfaces are completely flat, so it's easy to lose track of your position on the pad. You also should probably wear shoes with them to prevent slipping, and I don't think playing DDR with shoes on is too good for your feet.
Click to expand...
They actually sell a kit to put on the corner & center brackets to raise them to arcade height. :)

I bought one of these on Craigslist in town here for $100 a couple weeks back, and it's a really nice pad. It's solid (I'm fat, and it supports me fine), accurate, and very nice looking. I have a hard floor and had to buy a non-slip mat so it didn't slide all over.

OP: I don't see the control boxes in the photos, but these have a box that hooks to the 15 pin port that runs into the PS2 (or Xbox or Gamecube or whatever). If you don't have that someone would need to buy one of those to make these work. And honestly, if you're looking to sell, please PM me. I'm working on getting back into DDR and using it as part of my workout routine. I'd LOVE a doubles setup, and if you'd be willing to ship, I'd like to work something out with you to buy one of your pads.
 
P

Plasmid

Member
Downhome said:
What would be the easiest way to test them to at least see if they receive power?
Click to expand...

Are there any usb connectors with the pad? Some people used them for stepmania machines, you could easily find out if it worked using stepmania or a mapping software for a gamepad controller.

e:

they don't light up.
 
C

Charoncaori

Member
Downhome said:
They're worth that just to get and set aside in my storage building in case they eventually become more of a collector's item or something.
Click to expand...

I'm so fucking jealous right now.

I don't think they'll be collector's items, ddr collectors seem to mainly care about arcade machines or making/customizing their own pads. But they're still worth a significant amount of money. Grats on such a great find.
 
D

Downhome

Member
Can you buy a USB adapter that will go onto the short cord coming out of the pads? Doing that to my laptop seems like the easiest way. If I get bored I may take a video of my haul over the weekend just to have something to stick on YouTube.
 
D

Downhome

Member
I was looking them over this morning and one of them has what looks to be a movers tag on the back of it. I'm thinking these were likely left behind during a move, either on purpose or accident. I bet someone died though and the people left behind just donated them. Either way, I'll never know for sure.
 
D

Downhome

Member
Alright, the other day I did a quick "video". All I did though was take the pictures from my iPhone, stick them in iMovie, and do a very quick audio track over it, but it's something I guess. I really didn't want to have to pull them out of storage just to do a proper video. I still haven't been able to test them yet either.

I'd still like to know the best forum to post about these to fans or people that would be interested. I've looked, but have no clue which one to start at.

Anyway, that's pretty much it now. Thanks again for all the tips and advice.
 
D

Downhome

Member
I still haven't been able to sign up at that site, how odd. If anyone has a way they can help me test these, likely using a PC, I'm still very much open to that.
 
G

glaringradio

Member
Best site to post about these on would most likely be bemanistyle.com

They will all lose their shit over this, either that or go over to flashflashrevolution.com for equal amounts of shit-losing.

Awesome find.
 
R

RoboShmup

Banned
Good lord you are one lucky individual. I got mine for $300 a very long time ago, and it still works like new. It looks like yours is missing the control box that usually comes with the Cobalt Flux. If that's the case you might need to hunt one down. The control box I have is only for PS2 (I think their newer control boxes worked for xbox and PC too), but you can buy a PS2 to USB adapter to remedy that. Latency can be an issue with certain adapters though, and I don't remember which one I have.

DDRFreak is dead unfortunately. Forums are completely locked down.

I think http://www.bemanistyle.com/ is still up and running, you could get all the info you need there most likely. There's http://zenius-i-vanisher.com/v5.2/index.php too.
 
L

Lambtron

Unconfirmed Member
Downhome said:
I still haven't been able to sign up at that site, how odd. If anyone has a way they can help me test these, likely using a PC, I'm still very much open to that.
Click to expand...

I believe DDR Freak has been taken down. They are leaving stuff up for reference but the forums are effectively dead. Bemanistyle still has a somewhat active DDR forum, you can perhaps try there?

It appears that Cobalt Flux is shut down for good, which sucks a lot. If you want to test the pads, you'd either need to find someone with a control box to lend you, build one, or buy a BlueShark (another heavy duty DDR pad, the company who makes them no longer sells the pads, but still sells control boxes for $25) control box and hope they have the same pinout.

The actual pad itself is very heavy duty so my guess is that the sensors are still working. Most issues with them would be with the control box. So if you can get a hold of a control box that you know works, you should be in good shape.

PM me if you'd like, I am willing to help as best I can. :)
 
Susurrus

Susurrus

Member
Downhome said:
EDIT:

Alright guys, you talked me into it. After my last post I took off before they were to close at 9pm and bought all of them for $20 total. I have no clue what I'll do with them, but what the heck. I know that if I didn't go ahead and buy them I'd regret it in a big time way. Here are some pics of my adventure...
Click to expand...

Good decision. I have the first model I think (the ones in those pics are the 2nd model I believe). Fantastic pads. I even used a PS2 -> USB adapter to get them to work with Stepmania back in the day, and later for my BC PS3. (Never did try it w/ a PS3 version though, as I'm back to living in a dorm on the 3rd floor and those are in storage so can't play).
 
D

Downhome

Member
Wow, that really sucks about DDR Freak. I feel like a moron for trying to sign up for it over and over again now, lol.
 
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