What's new

Buying pinball machines (1 Viewer)

Shane Martin

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 26, 1999
Messages
6,017
The only problem I have is the older games(pre dot matrix screen wise) get a bit boring and not very playable after a while. Too each his own I guess.

You should easily be able to get a dot matrix(post 1991 or so) game but you will need to shop it. It just takes alot of time but not too much labor.
 

Wade

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Messages
147
Sam,

You may want to search for that machine on rec.games.pinball . I've been doing a lot of searching there.

I think I've made up my mind to go with the LOTR for now. I am already getting some quotes for the new machine. Maybe later I'll buy one that needs a little work but only after I read up on pinball restoration a bit. Another older machine I've added to the list is Silverball Mania. I remember playing this quite a bit when I was younger. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles the new machines have but it was fun to play. There's a nice one on Ebay right now but I can't bring myself to buy something that pricey from there.

Wade
 

Stefan A

Second Unit
Joined
May 27, 2001
Messages
397
My experience owning a pinball machine was good and bad. Mr. Pinball was a big part of my research. But I ended up buying my machine (The getaway II) locally. The person who owns the place where I bought it was helpful for the first 30 days, but after that it was hard to even get an e-mail response.

The thing is, you need to be willing to learn how to fix and adjust the machine. Things will break and things will wear out and it will affect the play. Unless you have someone who will help you whenever something goes wrong, be prepared to do a lot of learning about how to fix a machine. In other words, time and money.

With that said, I did enjoy owning it. It was nice to actually get really good at playing pinball. Once you understand the rules of the game, it is more than just luck.

Because the play really slowed down over time and little things were breaking, I sold it before it got worse. I sold it on Mr. Pinball. I got tons of inquiries and it was the easiest sale I have ever made.

Getting it up and down my townhouse steps was a real challenge, But it's do-able.

It would be nice to own one again. But I will have to be prepared for the time commitment. It can be a fun hobby and there is a huge following. My wife and I actually participated in "Pinburgh" one year. It was a blast.

Stefan
 

Sam Posten

Moderator
Premium
HW Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 30, 1997
Messages
33,674
Location
Aberdeen, MD & Navesink, NJ
Real Name
Sam Posten
I went to a pinball auction in Jersey this weekend, was a lot of fun. Bix mix of operators and homeowners, machines went for $400-$1200 or so. the funniest thing was a beat to @^@#^ Addams Family that went for the most dough. =)

If I had known before hand that it was cash only I might have bought a Judge Dredd that went for $850. They all looked like they had come off of a route and had a little clean up, but no major restorations.

I'll keep lookin =)

Sam
 

JohnS

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2001
Messages
4,957
Location
Las Vegas
Real Name
John Steffens
The Houston Area Arcade Group 2004 Pinball & Arcade Expo

70+ Pinball and Video games from the last 30 years! Pinball & arcade tournament for trophies & cash prizes. Ms Pacman Raffle, Twin Galaxies will be there recording High Scores. Buy, Sell & Trade!

Friday June 4th, 6pm until ?? — Saturday June 5th, 10am until ??
$12.00 per day, $20 for a weekend Pass
at the Holiday Inn Northwest - 713-939-9955
 

Shane Martin

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 26, 1999
Messages
6,017
Sam,
That machine will easily bring the operator $400 a week if not more. It's easily one of the most popular machines out there and they are pretty trouble free unlike some really finicky machines out there.

Judge Dredd? /groan
 

Wade

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Messages
147
I wish there were some pinball auctions here in the Phoenix area. I'd be there in a heartbeat. Most of the auctions I've seen listed have been in the Northeast, Midwest and Dallas area. Some in California. Phoenix must not be a big pinball town.

Wade
 

Shane Martin

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 26, 1999
Messages
6,017
Wade,
If you decide to get a LOTR, be ready to fix stuff. It's extremely finicky but easily one of the best pinballs I've ever played. I could have played my friends for 8 straight hours and never got sick of it. It is also very difficult too :)
 

Sam Posten

Moderator
Premium
HW Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 30, 1997
Messages
33,674
Location
Aberdeen, MD & Navesink, NJ
Real Name
Sam Posten


A good Addams family might, but not this one!

See a good writeup here:
http://www.gameroomclassifieds.com/c...e/auction.html

Reminds me of the definition of a boat: a hole in the water in which you pour money. Cept this was a hole in his garage filled with water =)

I did pick up a few manuals to read through at $10 a pop. Fun stuff =)

Sam
 

Wade

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Messages
147
Shane,

Did you notice the LOTR flippers getting weak after an extended play? I've read a lot of discussions on the pinball newsgroup regarding this very issue.

Wade
 

Shane Martin

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 26, 1999
Messages
6,017
Not at all. I did notice a few things though. If you buy it, I will let you know as my friend modified his a bit to improve the gameplay alot. The left ramp tends to dig into the playfield after a while so he installed a washer underneath the ramp and that took care of that issue. Also where the ball locks he modified that so the ball just sits there in the open. The ball lock is kinda odd. The Dragon can get stuck too but I haven't seen it break yet.
 

Jim_F

Screenwriter
Joined
May 15, 2000
Messages
1,077
Great. Another HTF thread stands to make me $1000-2000 lighter by the end of the week. :D
 

Jim_F

Screenwriter
Joined
May 15, 2000
Messages
1,077
So, what's the consensus on (High Speed II) The Getaway? I saw one today at a local shop and it was the best condition playfield I saw within my price range. It wasn't finished, but I saw some of the guy's work on other machines and it was pretty impressive.

I've never played one before today. The game seemed pretty fun in my quick trial. Way cool lighting. Most reviews I've found are positive.

He's not giving them away, but since restoration, delivery and setup are included in the price, I don't mind paying some extra to deal with a local shop where they can coach me through some basic repairs as they arise.
 

Shane Martin

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 26, 1999
Messages
6,017
While I wasn't too impressed with it(My friend had his for about 2 weeks..), it is a decent game to get your feet wet. If you buy it cheap enough, you could turn it over for a little profit when you decide to move up to a better machine.

If anything it will get your feet wet as far as repairs because IMHO they are all pretty easy to do once you figure it out. Once that is done you should look at machines that are not shopped and do the work yourself. You will save a ton of money and get great deals.
 

Jim_F

Screenwriter
Joined
May 15, 2000
Messages
1,077
I've had a chance to sleep on it, and I'm still undecided. The same dealer (best work I've seen locally so far) has an Elvira and the Party Monsters that looks to be in good shape for a lot less $. I grew up favoring the Bally nameplate and I prefer long, "slow" shots over short fast ones. I'm leaning a little toward EATPM at this moment. I was never a fan of the character, but the theme has enough silly fun to it to make it good for entertaining.

I've got one or 2 more shops to check out. Should be about ready to pull the trigger (or not) by tomorrow.

Thanks to everybody for the above links! Very helpful!
 

Chris Bardon

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2000
Messages
2,059
This thread actually got me searching out a couple of things, and I found some interesting stuff. I remember stumbling across PinMame a few years back, and not thinking too much of it. Sure, it could run the dot matrix displays, but that was about it. Well, some industrious people out there have taken to using a program called Visual Pinball to make very faithful recreations of many tables. Combine these with the ROM files from the actual cabinets, and you've got the next best thing to the real one. Basically, this is MAME for pinball, with a little extra engineering in the process. VPinball is a full editor though, so you can not only change the downloaded tables, but create your own from scratch if you'd like.

Either way, it's a great way to get some time on a machine that you're not sure about buying if you're looking to go that way, and it'll give you a chance to try machines that you may never get the chance to see again.
 

Jim_F

Screenwriter
Joined
May 15, 2000
Messages
1,077
Thanks to Chris for another good resource. I gave the guy a refundable/transferable deposit on my choice of Elvira or The Getaway when it's finished. I was mistaken about the relative prices, they're only $100 apart. After playing the emulator for a while, I'm already starting to get hooked on The Getaway. I've got 2 weeks to decide, but with all its bells and whistles, I think that's the one I'll be purchasing.
 

Wade

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Messages
147
Shane,

How much do you think a really nice Addams Family machine is worth? I have the chance to buy one locally, but the 3K price seems a little high. He does state OBO in the ad so there maybe some room to negotiate. The machine looks awesome in the pictures. And as far as I can tell it still has the factory installed mylar with the only playfield wear under the electric chair, which I believe is common. The cabinet, backglass and everything else looks great. Has topper and gold rom installed.

Wade
 

Wade

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Messages
147
Man! Machines sure do go fast. Ad posted last night, the machine was gone this morning. I didn't even have a chance to go look at it. From the pictures it looked like a very nice machine. Was probably bought sight unseen for full asking price.

Oh well, better luck next time I guess.

Wade
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Forum statistics

Threads
356,808
Messages
5,123,535
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top