Pinball Demand 60s, 70s & 80s Pinballs

[ajlaird]

Probably not, by the sound of it - maybe $800 - $1000??

[63wizz]

I am only after project or as is pins these days as i like to do the work myself,
weather it costs more or not to restore doesnt matter.

if you are bringing in a Bally Strikes and Spares contact me 

cheers Ian

[Strangeways]

I would luv to see 70's and 80's machines imported. For example can an importer offer a project Meteor for 500, are you making enough to make it worthwhile?

Define "Project"...

Scenario #1

Backglass is peeling, 3 plastics are broken and there is significant wear around the bonus area. MPU is corroded and the displays are present, but all have faults. It is a project machine.

Scenario #2

Mint backglass, all plastics intact and the playfield is filthy, but has no visible wear. All the boards including the displays are missing.It is a project machine.

Scenario #3

Average playfield, backglass and plastics. No legs. Missing front door. All board present, but does not boot. It is a project machine.

Which game is worth $500 - $1000 ?

How badly do you want a Meteor - is it you "Holy Grail" Pinball ?


Each machine must be taken on its own merits. Meteor is a sought after machine and only recently has earned respect amongst collectors. CPR are making plastics, and Gavin (Retropin) is offerring Playfield and backglass restoration services. You can repair (Owen - Pinball-Fixer) or replace the boards in the machine (Altek)..

It is a difficult task to value a project machine..

[Extra Ball]

Fair enough....and we all have different levels of ability to restore a machine. So a 500 buck meteor project for me would need to be complete, and needing general stuff like pf cleaning, rubbers, coil sleeves etc. I cant touch boards or repaint. The delivery cost is a big part of the decision also.

Hey I am happy as long as they are being imported and sum1 is restoring them. Eventually I maybe lucky enough to buy one with the work allready done. Would love to own a machine the quality of a Nino resto oneday.

[markc]

very interesting thread and posts

well i guess this is my 2 cents

from a dealer  who has brought over 200 60 /70  and somes 80s  pins in this county in the last 18 months  and well over 300 dmds
I see these at the right price worth looking at , the problem is you need to take gamble and hope you can mix and match them  and find a couple off
good top end ones  like Kiss  playboy  Rocky and rolling stones     all these you will get top dollar for  but have to hold them till the right customer comes along.
as for 500 ones  yes I sold 55 like this in over a week , no legs no glass  no lock bars  no leg bolts . they looked complete  and i am sure a few here got some
as for later ones like 70 and 80s  these also sold from 500 but NONE  had boards  or legs ect ect  for 500.  i would think complete ones  unchecked would have to be double that  for the better titles   bar say kiss playboy RS and rocky  these all would way more.   and yes i did let a few go to auction and sell for less

give you a example  of a royal flush  Andrew did    one of my techs  with over 25 years  of rebuilding pins and learning on these.
the brought one off me  as is    spent over $500 on parts    made a stencil for it   re painted it   looked a million dollars   so its owed him  around $1200.00 ish     but wait  how many hours did it take him   and what price to you put on your time  from a dealer I have been charging $55.00 per hour in store.,
well  it took him just on 50 hours to do all the work and have it looking like new .    A dealer  just cant spend that much on one of these and then sell it for a profit.   these are way better for the home handyman   or  we could just cut corners and not do all the work , as others have done.  this is also something i WONT do , i would and will rather sell them off as is.

Nino how many hours did you spend on my RS ??  or my rocky  ?? or Creechs  Sinbad ?  or Gregs  Jet Star ?? now how many dmd can you do in  the same time ?


so the quess the question is   am I bringing more  in  well the answer will be YES    once i locate another good batch  that also contains  some top end ones  and at a good price  i will buy them.   they again will be mostly sold off the same as the last ones. 

as it happens  I am looking  at some

[The pinballist formally known as Dean Morgan]

so the quess the question is   am I bringing more  in  well the answer will be YES    once i locate another good batch  that also contains  some top end ones  and at a good price  i will buy them.   they again will be mostly sold off the same as the last ones. 

as it happens  I am looking  at some

  #.#Cant wait hope there is some good SYS 1 titles in there, and great to see you bringing in some of these older Pins Mark 

[Retropin]

Good on ya Mark.

You have to be applauded for doing this. I know the $$$ profit isnt what it would be if they were all DMD's. But the demand is there for these older titles.
personally, i dont make the same profit out of every bit of neon i make, but there are the good jobs and the ones that arent going to get you that cruise holiday. They do however keep the industry ticking over, plus the cash flow.
being in business, im sure you will agree isnt about making top profit on everything, its about keeping stuff going out the door and staying as busy as possible.

Then of course there is the side business - the spares etc...it all creates interest and keeps customers "in the loop".

DMD's dont interest me that much bar a few titles, so YOU bringing in older titles keeps my hobby alive and the whole industry ticking over - good on ya mate

[Creech]

Thanks for the info Mark. I too look forward to the next batch of golden oldies you bring in. Will it contain that KISS, Embryon, HH or Meteor I'm keen on adding to the collection? Who knows???

[Ford Fairlane]

Yeah well done Mark. Dealers usually wont take the gamble and that results in the old pins dieing off... not cool. I understand the fact that you need to make a buck to stay in business but we also need to recognise that these pins would end up in landfill if you didnt bring them in. Nice one Mark!!!

My only issue with you is that you arent in Sydney  . I really need to get down there for a meet and greet and hopefully see what my next addition to my pinnie collection will be be.

[Retropin]

I am just about to talk to Mark about setting up a Childs amusements here in brisbane. I will of course be running it - all pins will be fully working and fully tested at my home before going on the shop floor. Yep - im that dedicated that im willing to bring my work home with me.

Anyone wishing to test the pins can come round to my house... entry would be a 6 pack of james squire Golden Ale

[Strangeways]

very interesting thread and posts

well i guess this is my 2 cents

from a dealer  who has brought over 200 60 /70  and somes 80s  pins in this county in the last 18 months  and well over 300 dmds
I see these at the right price worth looking at , the problem is you need to take gamble and hope you can mix and match them  and find a couple off
good top end ones  like Kiss  playboy  Rocky and rolling stones     all these you will get top dollar for  but have to hold them till the right customer comes along.
as for 500 ones  yes I sold 55 like this in over a week , no legs no glass  no lock bars  no leg bolts . they looked complete  and i am sure a few here got some
as for later ones like 70 and 80s  these also sold from 500 but NONE  had boards  or legs ect ect  for 500.  i would think complete ones  unchecked would have to be double that  for the better titles   bar say kiss playboy RS and rocky  these all would way more.   and yes i did let a few go to auction and sell for less

give you a example  of a royal flush  Andrew did    one of my techs  with over 25 years  of rebuilding pins and learning on these.
the brought one off me  as is    spent over $500 on parts    made a stencil for it   re painted it   looked a million dollars   so its owed him  around $1200.00 ish     but wait  how many hours did it take him   and what price to you put on your time  from a dealer I have been charging $55.00 per hour in store.,
well  it took him just on 50 hours to do all the work and have it looking like new .    A dealer  just cant spend that much on one of these and then sell it for a profit.   these are way better for the home handyman   or  we could just cut corners and not do all the work , as others have done.  this is also something i WONT do , i would and will rather sell them off as is.

Nino how many hours did you spend on my RS ??  or my rocky  ?? or Creechs  Sinbad ?  or Gregs  Jet Star ?? now how many dmd can you do in  the same time ?


so the quess the question is   am I bringing more  in  well the answer will be YES    once i locate another good batch  that also contains  some top end ones  and at a good price  i will buy them.   they again will be mostly sold off the same as the last ones. 

as it happens  I am looking  at some

It is refreshing to hear honesty at this level, and encouraging that the machines are finding homes at prices the market accepts.


How many hours did I spend on the machines ? It depends on how much time you allocate as WORK, and how much time your spend because you lose yourself in the passion of the restore. Too hard to tell. As an indicative figure, Rolling Stones was around 65 hours, Rocky was around 55 hours, Sinbad was around 70 hours, Strikes and Spares was 55 hours, Flash 50 hours... Star Jet could be anything ! - Jacks Open was 100+ hours... But they are seriously "ball park" - like "turning off the meter" and just ENJOYING the task.

Reconditioning (my standards) a DMD is around 30 - 35 hours, but an acceptable standard would be 25 hours. There's also a learning curve for me as I'm not an "expert" by any means on a DMD - But a Pinball is a Pinball..

I'm keen on "stockpiling" projects, as I want a spread of machines over time...So the more that come in, the happier I am..

[markc]

just one quick reply before i go watch a movie and have a drink as its 1.21 am and i have to get up  in a few hours lol

thanks for the kind words   guys ..

CA  in Brisbane   well there is a chance ...  after my vist    but be more likely GC   and be a few years off yet LOL

Nino   as for a DMD   we have to do them in alot less than  that   but some like TZ  always take much longer

I am happy to show anyone around my factory  talk to them re importing and what we are looking at



mark

[pinballnz]

Hi guys
From my experience if you want old games look at bringing them in your self, risky yes, expensive maybe not. I used a guy based in Los Angeles who bought in my GMC from the US. He was happy to add to one of the many containers with US cars being shipped to NZ. With the transport end sorted I just need to source the games and get them to Los Angeles - this became the pricey aspect of the operation. I couldn't find the games I wanted closer to where I wanted them to be. They always seemed to be on the East Coast and too expensive to ship. So I settled for mid America and closer. My centaur came from new orleans , Devils Dare from Missouri and Surf Champ from Illinois. Just missed out on a Star Race. They were a one off opportunity and the US/NZ dollar exchange rate wasn't too bad.
All the games were in good cond , the Surf champ wasnt as good as I had expected but for a $165US game plus shipping it's still ok. I have since discovered there is another Surf Champ in NZ so there are 2 in NZ. The others are the only ones here so I am happy. All are going except for Devils Dare ( no room at present )
Luckily my collection is almost complete and I now may have the opportunity to get some games from the UK but that will be another story.