The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => General Discussion => Your Collection => Topic started by: swinks on May 24, 2011, 10:39:08 PM
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I thought I would start a new thread of something that I find interesting and hopefully others can share there story - for a laugh, for a lesson for others and just a good read. I wouldn't say my first pinball purchase is anything worthy of a laugh, but then you might, as I was green as, very naive and totally rushed into it, but hey 1 year and a bit on and 3 more purchases and I am finally starting to learn what to do and consider.
My first purchase was a 1976 Gottlieb Surf Champ EM.
My wife told me to go get a pinball for my 40th and I had a month to go before it was going to come around. So with that said I wanted a surf themed pinball (because I love the beach), not much choice out there so I focused on just two - Surfer or Surf Champ. I checked out Aus including alot of the local dealers and shocked of the prices of pinballs - didn't help that these dealers charge top dollar. Within 2 weeks I found 2 surf champs going on Ebay in the States selling for under $1000. I made a few calls and discovered no one really wanted to commit to freight quotes here in Aus etc (this is where I should have listened to the silent message - don't do it). A third Surf Champ came up in Chicago and I emailed the guy and he said he had a great contact for exporting and the price all up would be around the $1250 for crate and freight. I thought a little over $2200 altogether was awesome - SUCKER. I bit the bullet and won it 2 days before my birthday and was happy for a few days then the ebay guy went silent for a week, his freight contact went silent and I wasn't game to tell my wife that I just threw $1000 away.
I then found a crating expert in Chicago who was really helpful though had me wrapped around his finger. I wanted a quote which he gave, but without approval he decided to pick up the pinball and start crating before I knew it. But within 2 weeks he had it ready to travel by rail to LA to a ship. His charge to pickup, crate and freight to Sydney was $1200 so I was feeling very much relieved. That is 6 weeks later it hit the docks and then the Customs had a field day with me charging me another $1000 for god knows what, with 1 particular thing - $200 gambling tax as it was a coin operated machine WTF. It didn't matter that it was 34 years old and needed a service etc. Then another freight truck to Newcastle as I wasn't allowed to go to the depot to pickup. I must say the guy in Chicago did a awesome job to crating - it took me over an hour to have the sides off it and nothing broken.
All up 3 months, $3500 for a pinball that isn't worth that much and didn't work after the trip half way around the world. So it is going to be restored and just be a keeper. I got some sympathy from my wife so she said go get another pinball locally but make sure it works - CFTBL was up next and still runs and having fun with it.
So that's my experience - I wouldn't buy and ship myself - very expensive. If any one is considering you can PM me for some costs so you can learn from my experience.
Cheers, hope some others share there stories.
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A great read. In the end u got there, and thats what matters. Also good u had a wife who worked with you, thats very important. The lesson here is to visit customs house, seek advice from a freight broker and dont rely on anyone from the USA. Without the correct paperwork, in hand, before the item arrives, you are screwed. If u had of had the right paperwork, things would have been totally different, but no one said lessons come cheap. You persisted and won in the end. ^^^
My first pinball was ordered for my 10 year old daughter. It was a fully refurbished/restored Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I paid $2400 3 yrs ago and purchased from Kenny Priest in Logan, QLD. The machine has been faultless from day one, and i love the simplicity of the game and the playfield and cabinet colours. Its a 1991 model Data East ofcourse, and the best fun is the audio. NINJA NINJA. Anyone who has played it will know what i mean. Whilst this is the first pinball i purchased and ordered, a Star Trek Next Generation actually turned up to the house first, because it was shopped and ready to go. I paid $3500 for the Next Gen. So, although Turtles was the first game ordered technically, Star Trek arrived on Xmas day for me in 2009. Turtles came a week or so later.
Since then, alot more machines have made their way into my house. The simplicity of Turtles, the depth of Next Gen made me addicted.
I have purchased machines from every seller out there, and have no horror stories. But I have done my homework bigtime so i didnt get screwed.
I think buying the first two machines from professionals like Kenny Priest QLD and Jason from Ozpinball QLD did alot to calm my nerves on this great hobby. Aussie Pinball forum has also been a wealth of knowledge and have made alot of great mates. ^^^ ^^^
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Great story swinks (well not the $ side of it) but a valuable lesson for other members on the pitfalls of importing single games.
My first pin story is nothing like that for interest. I was playing around with pinmame ten years ago, and one day it occurred to me how much I had loved pinball back in the day, and in particular Time Warp which two mates and I would skip uni to play.
The internet was nothing like the resource it is today, so it took a year to find one - and I kid you not - within two weeks I had five to choose from from five different states!
The easiest to check out was one in Brisbane at a dealer near where my brother was living. He called me from the venue with a thumps up on its cosmetic condition, and played it for an hour with no issues. Shipped it was $1900 to my door, so while at the top end for pricing then, not too bad as it turned up and was (and is) in really nice condition.
.. .. .. then it started breeding.. .. .. :D
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Here's my adventure - not overly adventurous apart from forking out the cash for a substantial purpose.
Started looking for an Eight Ball Deluxe and ended up at a well known Melbourne northern suburbs institution that also sells bikes. The price quoted for a tired looking machine sounded a little excessive. Spoke to a couple of other dealers as well just to get an idea of prices.
Anyway later that year after some more internet research I joined AA and happened to find out about a container that was arriving soon in the western suburbs. Went and had a good look and decided to buy a pin or two while I waited for an EBD to land - had a few choices and nearly ended up with a Cue Ball Wizard but finally ended up with a Dirty Harry and a Mousin' Around! - both good buys for the money. And was able to pay them off over time which was a great service. I decided to purchase two at once as that way if one was down for repairs I could still play the other. Pretty good move as every now and then there will be a little problem on a machine that needs fixing. I was confident in being able to fix things as I have a background in hobby electronics, and computers.
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my first pin was bought from an old mate who let me pay it off.
my second pin was bought from mark.c via an ebay auction, all went well.
my third pin was where I found about shill bidding on ebay. it was bought from a guy who joined this forum after the sale to defend his honour regarding the ebay sale and the condition of the pin.
Ebay had agreed with me and said that the bidding on the auction was very suspicious and if i did not pay for the item any negitive feed back would be removed from my ebay account.
the machine came with a piece of glass that was cut crooked at one end and was just normal glass, not tuffend. All i can say is that the guy is the biggest !!@
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About 10 years ago we visited my wifes family in Townsville, it was her uncles 60th birthday, he and one of his mates operated a few pins on site around the area and he had a Rollergames in the bottom section of his queenslander home, I had never really considered having a machine in my home, but I told my wife we had to get one.
When we got back I was looking through the local saturday paper classified ads and found a Gottlieb Dragon for sale for $900. I went around to check it out, it was in decent condition and all worked, so I haggled with him a bit, but he wasn't too keen to go any lower as he had had a few calls from other interested people. Picked it up, stripped it down, cleaned up and restored had it for about 6 months or so, a little slow for my tastes sold it and doubled my money and put that towards my second pin, High speed 2: The Getaway.
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We know you like your Getaway, great stories guys keep them coming.
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Thanks for the story. I was going to import but am totally not going to now.....
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Great story swinks, I had also been scanning ebay in the US, ill try looking closer to home from now on! *)*
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I looked hard and long in Brisbane for the right pin before making my first purchase.
I checked out all the local dealers and was going to buy a top end machine from the pinball warehouse until I found out that the work done does not match the prices asked for a shopped machine, imo these prices are majorly inflated. Plus the fact I was shooed off the premisies when my pin arrived for shopping without me inspecting put the wind up me big time.
I also looked at the pinball shed, prices are better but after a mate of mine bought a getaway off them that was supposedly shopped out, well it was anything but shopped and needed major work.
My first pin was a wh20 bought from Bumper and I was confident all would well, it arrived fine but was not the condition stated by the seller. I have since sold it and bought a much beter example for a much beter price.
I then bought a pin from a fringe dealer( ap memeber) in melb that was an absolute shiter.
My overall experince with dealers is very bittersweet and I would rather buy from another collector than a dealer chasin quick $$$. I don't trust dealers.
I have also bought a couple of pins off ozpinball and they have been good but a little over-priced, also had a mate buy a pin off him that turned out to be a real over-priced turd. Buyer beware I guess.
My 2 cents.
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excellent info on the Brisbane dealers mate, I went to pinball warehouse yesterday and was about to pay a visit to the pinball shed, looks like ill have to work hard at getting my 20 posts up so I can see the trade section here ^&^
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For all the horror stories I am sure that there are have been many happy buyers as well but the dealers have done their dash with me, I can't shake the dodgy used car feeling that comes with the speil they dish out...ie..youll never find a better one than this, your gonna love this one etc etc. It's always best to view and play a pin in person to gauge it's true worth.Best of luck in your search mate, hope you find what you are looking for. What are you chasing?
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Thats funny I've heard nothing but GOOD stories about the pinball shed I've bought varoius bits and Tony has always been very willing to help ^^^ probally abit harsh naming him on a forum over a single dealing my 2c
Peter
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I disagree with you becuase of mine and many others experience but as I also stated, heaps of others may be happy with them and other dealers.
I wouldn 't touch em with a barge pole and if that saves soemone else from being ripped off I don't see that as harsh I see that as helping.
I have no problems with naming any person or comapny I feel are not doing exactly what they say they are going to do.
As always do your research, shop around for the best deal and get what you want not what someone says you want.
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Past experiences both good and bad are appreciated, at least it gives a bit of a heads up on things to look out for.
Im thinking my first one should be a bit of a trip down memory lane and therefore should be either an eight ball deluxe, a Gorgar or a Joker Poker, but then again If I have trouble finding those machines Im sure if a fair deal on another machine came my way id snap it up in the meantime.
Also as I trawl through pictures of old machines long lost brain cells start to click into gear of times gone by and could affect my way of thinking aswell @.@
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I have bought from EVERY QLD dealer. Things have changed for the worse from a few years ago.
Most of the machines now are real shitters, at huge prices with lousy work done on them. A few of the Qld dealers now have ego's the size of a bus with quite a few loyal followers who fight over the contents of the arriving containers like seagulls do over chips down at the beach. %.% %.% %.% These C grade machines are tarted up for profit only, with mostly bodgy work done, then sold off to the unsuspecting general public. A shame really.
Trust me, Melbourne is still far better to buy any pinball from, not withstanding some people dont like some of the dealers down there as well. Melbourne is still the place to buy ya first or 10th pinball from. ^^^
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Any links to Melbourne dealers sites Cave?
cheers!
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mark c is www.pinballspareparts.com.au
the other guys shld be able to throw in the website for
Bumper Action
Rob from Bikecity
and Oscar who also has containers. I am rushing out the door n i am late so i will get the other adresses tonight if someone hasnt done it. ^^^
just look around the three or 4 melb dealers, u will find a good deal 4 sure. so many pins to chose from.
brett
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I have purchased 3 container pins. The important thing with any pinball machine is to check it out, play it as much as you can within reason, and make sure the price is right.
Dealers have to make money, pay staff, probably pay rent as well, so the price has to be higher than some looking to cover the cost for their container to arrive in Australia. Sometimes dealers will let machines go cheap just to keep the cash-flow going, or just to move some on untouched, but for better quality machines you will be paying good money.
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Well I decided I wanted to buy my first pinball back in 2001. I called up a local area op in the hope he'd have a TZ.
The op didn't have a TZ so I decided to buy an IJ which cost $1500. Back then there was very little info on how to restore/shop
a pinball but I find a txt shop out guide online someone wrote & managed to restore the IJ.
Will never forget the day when the op pulled up in the driveway with Indy sitting in the back of his ute.
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IJ was my first purchase as well, I picked it up about 7 years ago at the (infamous) Perth pinball auction. I remember the look on the delivery guys face when he looked at the 20 stairs we had to carry it up at home. Lucky I was trained in CPR *%*
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IJ was my first pin too. :) Still have it but will be selling it soon.
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I bought my 1st pin early last year. My kids are mad Mario Bros fans and I wanted a Mario pin but the large blue ones were not really around at the time in great condition. I ended up buying the small yellow Mushroom World pin. It was in not bad condition and I had it serviced etc but it was just such a boring pin to play with such a tiny playfield. For my 2nd pin, I was then referred by a forum member to a guy who was selling a Super Mario Bros pin in superb condition. After inspecting it I bought it on the spot. I have done quite allot of work on it (Leds, Cliffy posts and protectors, fully cleaned upside and underside etc ). Then I sold the yellow Mushroom World for a fantastic price. In June this year I purchased the 1st of 2 x Bally Space Invaders Machines after not seeing one in over 20 years. It was a favourite from when I was a kid at school. I am cleaning both up now and almost finished semi restoring these. In early January, I should be taking delivery of my fully restored T2 that Tim is doing for me from Pinball Tales (Hot Rodded Pins). The progress thus far is just out of this world!!. I just cannot believe that this pin is / was 20 years old. Again the T2 is a machine I have not played in 20 years when I was a kid. I have not had any bad experiences at all and have had a tonne of assistance from this site and members from this site. Its a fantastic resource.
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My first pinball was bought via an ebay auction without any inspection or even knowing anything about the game. All i went by was the sellers
feedback. All worked out good in the end and i've since bought pins from dealers and private forum members. ( and as it turns out sold a pin on
ebay to a guy who is a member on this forum, didn't know that at the time ).
I've bought from Mark C, Pinball Shed, Gameworx and privately off forum members. All have been a positive experience.
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It was August 1995 and I had finally taken the biggest plunge of my life , i had just bought my humble abode and invited many guests to come and break in my man cave .
As luck would have it it coincided with finding a real EM gem . I was travelling around a fairly new Perth suburb ( I was a sparky then ) when a glimpse of a fairly familiar shape caught my eye and instantly drew me to her . She was unloved and laying under a dirty stained sheet in the corner of a carport screaming to be fondled . Well I knocked and knocked and no one was home , undeterred I left my number in the letterbox hoping that the abusive owner might want to part ways . A few days had passed and no avail ! It was getting closer to my home open and I new I needed a toy or gimmick to get things swinging and was not confident of getting her . Then it rang , I picked it up and a bloke said $150 bucks mate if ya keen . Hell yeah and I was around that night . A bit of rubbing and cleaning is all it need to get her going , it is a 1971 - EM 2001 Gottlieb BEWDY !
Well a few years have passed now and I hope to restore her soon and get her as close to new as I can go . Have nought a few more pinnies since then when the $$$ permits but looking forward to playing her again with 2 inch flippers and 20 , yes 20 drop targets and a so called futuristic theme , look it up some time as it will give you a chuckle .
boy did I draw that out ha ha
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:D Great read.
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1st pin was back in about '92. Used to play plenty of pinball in my favourite pub in south London. Im sitting there talking crap with this guy and off the top of my head say " id love to own a pinball".
His reply was.." ive got one in the shed.. it doesnt work, but its yours if you want it.. just come and pick it up and you can have it for free".
Within an hour i had me and a mate with a van at this guys shed...loaded up the pinny... carried it up 3 flights of stairs to my 1 bed flat and plugged her in... fuse blew.
20 mins later i had fixed my first EM game and we were flipping.
As soon as the guy heard i had it running he demanded 100 quid off me... told him to piss off.. it was free.
I ended up importing the machine after i emigrated and had it for a few years.. was an immaculate machine. Eventually sold it off which was hard and cannot for the life of me remember what i bought in its place... been too many machines since then.
Machine can be seen here..
http://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?any=travel+time&search=Search+Database&searchtype=quick#2637
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I'll start with my first exposure to a pin in a home instead of an arcade because that was where the seed was sown.
I friend of mine used to do auto-body work and he took a pin in on trade for labor from his boss. It was an EM with some kind of card theme but I don't remember which one it was. I'm pretty sure it was a Gottlieb. I am a machinist and he needed a post. This was about '94 so internet parts sources didn't exist. So I turned a match for him on the lathe - an easy project. I guess that's all it needed because we played tons of games on it for several weeks afterward. Anyways, I always thought it would be cool to have a pin at home after that.
So a decade or so later I was driving home from a visit to see Mom the day before trash pickup and a guy had a pin and old vid out at the curb. I got out and looked at it and it was all there even though it was dirty and didn't work. It was a Game Plan "Sharpshooter" which was a game I remembered playing back when they were new. I figured I could give a stab at making it work or just haul it out to my curb if I failed. So I get home and immediately find that Clay's repair guides (R.I.P.) showed detailed methods of fixing them and there was even a Game Plan pinball site of its own. The interwebs is handy after all ! Then I found some parts sources and started making lists of what I needed. Long story short, it was up and running after a while despite myself. That pin is now at a cousin's house and still being enjoyed.
This is it (my actual machine - not lifted from the web)
(http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff201/rgpimage/WP/SS.gif)
See more here: (http://home.roadrunner.com/~vinchenzo/SSr.htm)
p.s. By the way, I left the vid there that day. It was more "gone", I had no clue how to start figuring it out, and I enjoy pins more anyway.
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Great stories *%*
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I purchased my first machine from a melbourne container importer only a matter of weeks ago, over the phone, site unseen and with no clue as to what to expect condition wise for my money (pretty smart hey!). Like Swinks it was an early 40th present from my wife. Anyway i was on ebay saw the DE Starwars that my mates and I use to give a caning to back in the early 90's and sentimentality got the better of me and I had to have it. Although it's had acouple of problems, I have no regrets, I've got the game I loved, the problems can be fixed and more importantly my wife loves it too! She's even said it looks alittle lonely and we need acouple more.
My future pinball plans involve getting this one working properly, then get it back to new or better condition and in the mean time play some more machines and take my time purchasing my next one.
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I purchased my first machine from a melbourne container importer only a matter of weeks ago, over the phone, site unseen and with no clue as to what to expect condition wise for my money (pretty smart hey!). Like Swinks it was an early 40th present from my wife. Anyway i was on ebay saw the DE Starwars that my mates and I use to give a caning to back in the early 90's and sentimentality got the better of me and I had to have it. Although it's had acouple of problems, I have no regrets, I've got the game I loved, the problems can be fixed and more importantly my wife loves it too! She's even said it looks alittle lonely and we need acouple more.
My future pinball plans involve getting this one working properly, then get it back to new or better condition and in the mean time play some more machines and take my time purchasing my next one.
Nice one. Welcome to the hooby/addiction ^^^
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I purchased my first machine from a melbourne container importer only a matter of weeks ago, over the phone, site unseen and with no clue as to what to expect condition wise for my money (pretty smart hey!). Like Swinks it was an early 40th present from my wife. Anyway i was on ebay saw the DE Starwars that my mates and I use to give a caning to back in the early 90's and sentimentality got the better of me and I had to have it. Although it's had acouple of problems, I have no regrets, I've got the game I loved, the problems can be fixed and more importantly my wife loves it too! She's even said it looks alittle lonely and we need acouple more.
My future pinball plans involve getting this one working properly, then get it back to new or better condition and in the mean time play some more machines and take my time purchasing my next one.
That's awesome crash, thanks for sharing, great to have a wife that encourages you to get more.
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Great start there, can't believe your wife told you to buy some more!
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Always nice that the wife approves, they are big items that take up a lot of room in a home *%*
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Lots of horror stories here....still looking for my first but a bit worried about getting ripped off now
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Lots of horror stories here....still looking for my first but a bit worried about getting ripped off now
You are doing the right thing! By looking around and being a member of a site as good as this, it will provide you with invaluable information and awareness as well as an opportunity to purchase off the many good dealers and private sellers we have on this site. The trick is don't be rushed and take all the time you need to give due consideration to a very important purchase!
Good luck with it!
Jeff
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Lots of horror stories here....still looking for my first but a bit worried about getting ripped off now
Ask plenty of questions and don't get pressured into buying a game from an dealer under impulse. Same advise applies to a car - shop around and then ask questions when you are informed. After 20 posts, you will be able to view the trading section. There are always machines for sale in that section.
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Yes, very happy the wife is happy.
Also lots of good advice, don't rush in and ask lots of questions. Perhaps a new buyers guide thread should be started. What questions to ask, what to look for. That type of thing.
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Lots of horror stories here....still looking for my first but a bit worried about getting ripped off now
Ask plenty of questions and don't get pressured into buying a game from an dealer under impulse. Same advise applies to a car - shop around and then ask questions when you are informed. After 20 posts, you will be able to view the trading section. There are always machines for sale in that section.
cool better get the post count up then!
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Yes, very happy the wife is happy.
Also lots of good advice, don't rush in and ask lots of questions. Perhaps a new buyers guide thread should be started. What questions to ask, what to look for. That type of thing.
Good idea ^^^ maybe a sticky thread in the for sale section
Maybe this could be added to the new FAQ section, otherwise there is a suggestion section where you can request this type of thread.
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Yes I agree the sales and service area would be the best place to start a thread. With all the problems I've had and still having with my first machine I think it's a must so that others inexperianced and new to the hobby arn't taken advantage of by unscrupulous sellers especially since there seems to be so many genuine hobbiests and businesses associated with the AP forum selling pinnies with an open book attitude to the condition of the machines and keeping prices realistic.
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hi folks first post here and my collection started 7yrs ago with one pin Terminator 2......And still is haha. I was pondering on getting a pin for ages but like most peeps didn't know enough about prices and parts. I took a gamble on ebay (never should really but what the heck) on a T2 that was in Germany (i'm UK). All in it was £825, it was £100 crated so good value. It turned up 5 days later at my door, not bad condition for its age, bulbs out, bits of plastic trim missing here there, but I wanted it badly so overlooked the problems. What I never counted on was the constant work and replacing parts that this machine had lol. After 4yrs of owner ship I sold it to my m8 for £400. His missus used it as a laundry horse for her DAMP washing grrrrrr. Anyway 2 months ago he announced his missus was expecting and needed shut of it and gave me first refusal....Naturally the temptation was there and so rightly handed over the princely sum of....£160. Ok so I have now replaced all bulbs with LEDS (ghosting problem prevalent but not too bad), needs the gun stripping and cleaning cause its slow, DMD occassionaly flickers but works 99% of the time, replaced only 3 switches and just sorted the kickback cause it was crap lol. Rebuilt both flippers and cleaned the playfield with novus. All in all it isnt collectors quality by any means but it has sentimental value to me and so will be keeping it :) Just need to find a MM or HS2 for under £2000 and i'm set for life haha
edit...heres a link of it now with the other half playing it. As you can see the gun is very slow so a strip down is needed me thinks
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%)% to AP
Great story, funny that you now have it back.
Good luck with finding your next machine, are projects pins easy to find over there?
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Thanks for the warm welcome. In a word no, not alot of pinball machines come up for sale in the UK, either collectors have them all, or the local yobs at Blackpool and the like wreck them all lol. Parts are only available from a few sources here, namely pinballheaven in Southport (where I got the majority of my bits). I'm envious that the amount of machines in Australia and the USA to buy is ALOT more than here, so not much choice really. And another thing is even if I did find one, 99% wouldnt ship internationally and then your looking at a minimum of £600 on top to ship :(
But it won't deter me lol
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Can you hire a van and shoot the tunnel and get a couple that way in France, holland or germany or do question at the border what you are bringing back etc?
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I wouldn't like to say if it would be that economical nowadays. The average new pinball say Tron is about £4500 here, dunno what the prices are like in france. Ebay ones are rare and local to me about 6 miles away someone is trying to sell a T2 for £2000 lol, not even shopped, greed pays a large part in this hobby now:(
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I wouldn't like to say if it would be that economical nowadays. The average new pinball say Tron is about £4500 here, dunno what the prices are like in france. Ebay ones are rare and local to me about 6 miles away someone is trying to sell a T2 for £2000 lol, not even shopped, greed pays a large part in this hobby now:(
That sucks for you guys.
Feel free to post an introduction thread here: http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?board=2.0 (http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?board=2.0)
I'm sure you'll get a warm welcome, it is great to have more international members, and a lot of guys will miss this thread.
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Some great stories here and a few free lessons to avoid learning the hard way!
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Re: The adventure of your first pinball purchase.
I bought my first machine, black rose in December of 2006 at age 16. I had always been fascinated with pinball machines as a small child and considered having one in your own home, the penultimate expression of luxury! So in 2004 my family went for a trip to the gold coast. In the downstairs area where the pool was, there was a little arcade. Ventured inside and among the arcade machines were two pinballs, Indy and teed off. Yet again I was drawn to them and by the end of the trip I'd put at least 30 bucks of my dads coins evenly into each of the machines cashboxes.
On my way home I was getting excited at the prospect of looking up prices of pinball machines and hunting for my first one! At the time I was very fortunate to have a very high paying job so I had thousands saved up even by that age. Jumped on the net and like any noob, strolled off to bumper action and made some inquiries. Leaving the place depressed thinking that all machines cost over 3 grand..(teed off was quoted at 3.4! And Indy was 6.5k) I was disllusioned.
However I started looking at the private markets, mainly in the ol trading post..and began catching buses, trams and trains all across Melbourne in search of my first machine (being 16 at the time I didn't have a licence) I even caught the bus to Lara, Victoria! to view a gottlieb sure shot EM. As Christmas was coming soon, I was planning on securing my first machine to coincide with Christmas to soften the blow I would receive when my dad would open the roller door one day and see a pinball casually residing in his garage. %$%
December 21, 2006 I set off at 9am to catch the bus to broadmeadows, where I would travel 20 mins by train to eltham. Got off the train and walked 15 mins to this old mans house. He was an ex jukebox operator and he had three pins..attack from mars, getaway 2 and a dr who. I was interested in the attack from mars but he wanted a heap for it..I couldn't understand why at the time..but I can now! We started looking at the getaway..it was very tired and needed a bit of work. Being a complete noob I was after something that was decent right from go. Strongly considered it, he wanted 2k. Told him id think about it and walked off back to the eltham train station. I set off for mulgrave which is the other side of Melbourne about 1.5 hrs in the train, to see a black rose and a no fear. I needed the seller to pick me up from the station as it was too long of a walk to his place we arrived at his house and instantly fell in love with the black rose. I got it for 2.3k in average to poor asthetic condition. Asked him if he could deliver it and he dropped it off the next day using his station wagon that had its rear door tied down as it barely fit the machine in there.
Told nobody to use the garage until christmas as I had a surprise to show them. Being Christmas my parents weren't too hard on me since then I have adjusted that garage to accommodate 9 more machines. My grandma hasn't been spared either, I crammed 3 more into her garage for good measure, making a total of 12
12 Is just the beginning though ^&^
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Wow! Great story, thanks for sharing ^^^
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agree great story, and your doing well with 12 machines at a young age ^^^
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That is amazing - you certainly showed plenty of dedication to find that first pinball machine!
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Good story
BR was my first purchase as well $#$
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What a great story 4_amusement_only, thanks for sharing! #*#
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Love it, catching trains and buses around to find your first game, wonder what the bus driver would have thought if you were waiting at the bus stop with a pinball beside you :lol