Price Check - STTNG

[Pinballesquire]

Anyone know what one of these is worth? Condition overall good - some wear, no mods.

Thanks!

[necroscope]

Recent prices on ebay and other forums would suggest between $2500 at the low end and $3500 at the high end.

[Pinballesquire]

Thanks necroscope!

[ajlaird]

Sounds about right - usually Strangeways has a good handle on the market and he is restoring one at the moment so I am surprised he hasn't chipped in yet!

[Strangeways]

Sounds about right - usually Strangeways has a good handle on the market and he is restoring one at the moment so I am surprised he hasn't chipped in yet!

Thanks Andrew. ST TNG is a hard one - Most machines I've seen or worked on have had issues. When buying this game, you have to play the machine to ascertain that the game works properly. It is a VERY well designed game, and is more complicated than most games of this era. I've seen very poor examples sold for $2800. That's the cheapest I've seen. Then you have the typical dealer example which hovers around the $5000 mark, with only limited work done to them.

A restored ST TNG would fetch $4000 - $5000 depending on the level of the work done and if there are mods or not (these can be expensive). I can't see a perfectly restored game (ramps, plastics etc etc) going for more than $5000, but I've seen absolute dogs sold for $4500.

With this title, there are always an abundance of this title available, you just have to sort through the quality and think about mods etc that you want. I strongly suggest a buyer plays the game, as it can be played with important features not working properly.

[necroscope]

Sounds about right - usually Strangeways has a good handle on the market and he is restoring one at the moment so I am surprised he hasn't chipped in yet!

Thanks Andrew. ST TNG is a hard one - Most machines I've seen or worked on have had issues. When buying this game, you have to play the machine to ascertain that the game works properly. It is a VERY well designed game, and is more complicated than most games of this era. I've seen very poor examples sold for $2800. That's the cheapest I've seen. Then you have the typical dealer example which hovers around the $5000 mark, with only limited work done to them.

A restored ST TNG would fetch $4000 - $5000 depending on the level of the work done and if there are mods or not (these can be expensive). I can't see a perfectly restored game (ramps, plastics etc etc) going for more than $5000, but I've seen absolute dogs sold for $4500.

With this title, there are always an abundance of this title available, you just have to sort through the quality and think about mods etc that you want. I strongly suggest a buyer plays the game, as it can be played with important features not working properly.

Nino is right to buy one fully restored like ninos or to buy off of marc-c it will cost you big money and from what i understand of the machine having the cannons fully rebuilt and the game working a 100% is well worth paying over the odds for,but at the end of the day no matter how good the game is if you ever want to re-sell it privatley the most you will get for it for a quick sale is $3500 if you ask anymore than that it would probably sit there on ebay or wherever for 6months and never sell.

[Pinballesquire]

Cheers for the good info, It would be great to find a restored one with NOS clear coated playfield, full toy-set mods, LEDs, mirror blades, new cab decals etc etc but I might be waiting for a while.

Not sure if the one I'm looking at is working 100%, what typically fails & what should I look for on inspect?

[ajlaird]

Cheers for the good info, It would be great to find a restored one with NOS clear coated playfield, full toy-set mods, LEDs, mirror blades, new cab decals etc etc but I might be waiting for a while.

Not sure if the one I'm looking at is working 100%, what typically fails & what should I look for on inspect?

Definitely need to check that the cannons are working properly as this is a well-known point of failure.

[necroscope]

Here is an auction with fully rebuilt cannons,should be a good gauge of the current pricing if it goes the distance and is not sold beforehand looks in pretty good nick too. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150823184097

[ktm450]

Not sure if the one I'm looking at is working 100%, what typically fails & what should I look for on inspect?

Playfield wear around the large teal inserts and neutral zone hole.  Almost every game I have seen has broken ramps, broken plastics are not so bad as you can buy the set or almost all of them singularly.  GI plugs fried, all the playfield GI comes from 2 wires unless they have been replaced they are usually fried (no big drama to fix)
Play a few games and make sure it is working properly, STTNG has heaps of optos and you will notice if things aren't quite right as the game will not be able to find a ball or it will always play 2 balls etc.  That being said it is usually an easy fix anyway and a good starting point for negotiations.
Good luck.

[Strangeways]

Mandatory rule with this title is to familiarize yourself with the ruleset and play the game you wish to purchase. As Matt said, there are a lot of optos and the game gets "confused" when things are not right. Watch out for broken ramps and protectors installed over broken ramps. This is a shortcut taken by many, so if there's one shortcut, there will be more. Check the diverter subway ramp. No use in cleaning the playfield if this ramp is not 100% clean and working. The teal inserts are usually a problem, these need to be checked and I think from a cosmetic point of view, if these are no good, the game looks bad. Lockdown bar - Watch out for bad welds or rivets. The lock down bars are not replaceable - so keep that in mind. This is not a deal breaker, but it should be highlighted by the seller.

[Pinballesquire]

Here is an auction with fully rebuilt cannons,should be a good gauge of the current pricing if it goes the distance and is not sold beforehand looks in pretty good nick too. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150823184097

Mmm yeah interesting to see what it goes for. 5500$ buy out seems a bit rich.

I'm going to have to start learning these pinball terms.. What does GI stand for? And what are optos?

[Strangeways]

Here is an auction with fully rebuilt cannons,should be a good gauge of the current pricing if it goes the distance and is not sold beforehand looks in pretty good nick too. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150823184097

Mmm yeah interesting to see what it goes for. 5500$ buy out seems a bit rich.

I'm going to have to start learning these pinball terms.. What does GI stand for? And what are optos?

No ST TNG is worth that kind of money unless it has full mods and the restoration is thorough. "Shopped out" pins from any dealer is a mixed bag as it is a term that can mean a quick scrub with "Nifti in one hand and rag in the other" to a decent job. $5500 is collector's quality - Full LEDS, all new PinballInc ramps, new legs, siderails, decals and 100 hours work at least.

GI = General Illumination. All the playfield lights that are not computer controlled as part of the game. Playfield and backbox has these.

OPTO - Optic sensor. One is a sender and the other a receiver. An optical beam is send from the sender and if that beam is interrupted by the ball and not recieved by the reciever, it sends a message to the switch matrix logic that a ball has passed through it. It is simple a switch.

[ddstoys]

All good advice not a bad game if everything is sorted but a bloody nightmare to get sorted.  Many optos and moving parts one fails the game turns to shit...


  Please do your homework before handing over any cash!!!!
       

[necroscope]

Here is an auction with fully rebuilt cannons,should be a good gauge of the current pricing if it goes the distance and is not sold beforehand looks in pretty good nick too. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150823184097

8 hours to go and it is sitting at $3550 Notice the 0 bidder has been driving the price up on the auction.