The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => General Discussion => General Pinball Discussion => Topic started by: Strangeways on September 05, 2014, 08:19:08 PM
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As many may know, I find some amusing claims by sellers these days, and my one of my "all time favorites" WAS ;
"It is from a private collection in Germany"
The story behind this was that 6 years ago, I bought half a container of standard supplier container pins and the other half was out of a Collection = Half the games were in excellent condition and each machine was justifiably described as ""It is from a private collection in Germany". Anyway, a few members here bought some of those games. Most people know I have hand picked some very nice games from overseas over the years. I was amused to hear some sellers describing their machines "It is from a private collection in Germany". I guess they are trying to imply that ALL games from Germany are from "private collections" ?
Around 2 months ago, one of these "It is from a private collection in Germany", arrived in my workshop still smelling of blown electronics. Now anyone that can read English can clearly identify that "1 quarter 1 credit" would pretty much signify that the game at one point in time, was operated in the USA. The unsuspecting buyer was told TWICE - "It is from a private collection in Germany"..
The power cable was clearly USA - but because Bunnings sell these STUPID power adapters that accept USA power plugs, it made a lot of noise when plugged in (remember, Germany Power is 220-230V).. Clearly, it was not from "a private collection in Germany". It was a filthy game from the USA. Clearly, any pinball person would see the coin entrance plate " 1 quarter 1 play".
This week had me in stitches. For your viewing pleasure, I have some photos ;
(http://australianpinballrestorations.com.au/pictures/misc/Museum%20002.JPG)
(http://australianpinballrestorations.com.au/pictures/misc/Museum%20004.JPG)
(http://australianpinballrestorations.com.au/pictures/misc/Museum%20007.JPG)
According to a seller, these plaques are "proof" that these games are "from a Museum in Germany" ! I kid you not. These pictured plaques are off my games, but they are EXACTLY the same as the "from a Museum in Germany" plaques. They are the "asset plaques" from a Operator / Vendor in Germany. Like a "compliance" plate on a car.
I went to view the buyer's game that were "from a Museum in Germany", and they looked like parts games. BUT he was duped into thinking they were "from a Museum in Germany".
It just cracks me up these days. But i DO feel for the honest guys looking to LEARN and OWN pinballs that fall for these tactics. I did tell the new owner that I CAN restore his machines to "Museum" quality %.% if he wants me to. The first of many in already in the workshop.
I think "from a Museum in Germany" tops "from a private collection in Germany", but I'm not sure it gets close to the "Rag in one hand, and Nifti in the other" for some seller's "reconditioning" work @@^
One of these days,, I'll write a book..
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I know nothing!
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It is the one of the worst things about this hobby. I don't know of too many, if any, guys that weren't burnt on an early purchase from some of the scum that sell container trash.
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There are sharks in every industry unfortunately. I'm sure you guys have seen your fair share of horror stories!
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"This is the Lost in Space that was given to Gary Oldman as a thank you."
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It is the one of the worst things about this hobby. I don't know of too many, if any, guys that weren't burnt on an early purchase from some of the scum that sell container trash.
It is an annoying problem. These projects are sold at premium prices to newbies that want to get into the hobby. They don't even know they have been burnt until they look for someone to help them repair the games. Conveniently, the sellers "don't have the time" to "do them up". So these games are basically used as "bait" for unsuspecting buyers. I've had to work an extra day a week to keep up with games like these. More than happy to work on any game, but it is the "selling methods" that create the extra work as burnt customers are never repeat customers.
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......and it's 100% working, except for the..... :lol :lol
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......and it's 100% working, except for the..... :lol :lol
................fuse
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......and it's 100% working, except for the..... :lol :lol
................fuse
The old " lights up but doesn't play.. would be a simple fix like a fuse"
or my favourite..
" we haven't had time to plug the machine in to test but looks complete and should work"
LOL!!!
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My favourite line is “the machine played the last time we had it on some months ago”.
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That's it Nino. Nothing wrong with selling the container machines. It is the way the machines are described and the lies that are told that still really bugs me.
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......and it's 100% working, except for the..... :lol :lol
................fuse
or the classic "everything is working perfectly except one switch" - then it turns out to be a CPU board problem that the seller knew about it. What was worst is that this really happened once and the seller sold it to a friend.
Most of these games don't have fuse problems. Every fuse is a 20 Amp fuse. Probably explains the various explosions near the flippers !*!