Pinball machines

[Jonathan]

(A thread to chat about pinball machines. Any pins, not just the BTTF unit).

I know a bunch of you have some pinball machines at home. Another great hobby, like our cars, and one you can look at as an investment that you can enjoy along the way too.

I've never owned one before myself, but would like to in the near future. I've enjoyed playing them for as long as I can remember.

Back in the day, the local arcade/poolhall had a rotation of many of the Williams units (late 80s, early 90s). Funhouse, Diner, Party Zone and Highspeed 2 The Getaway to think of a few.

If I were to get one, and only one (for now!), I would love for it to be Highspeed 2 The Getaway by Williams. I see a couple for sale every so often, on eBay in the US and once in a while, somewhere in Canada too.

Anyone know what might be a reasonable price for one of these? Condition of course weighing in on the value, just like our cars. I'll leave shipping costs out of it for the time being assuming it is local enough to go pick up in person.

[Nicholas R]

(A thread to chat about pinball machines. Any pins, not just the BTTF unit).

I know a bunch of you have some pinball machines at home. Another great hobby, like our cars, and one you can look at as an investment that you can enjoy along the way too.

I've never owned one before myself, but would like to in the near future. I've enjoyed playing them for as long as I can remember.

Back in the day, the local arcade/poolhall had a rotation of many of the Williams units (late 80s, early 90s). Funhouse, Diner, Party Zone and Highspeed 2 The Getaway to think of a few.

If I were to get one, and only one (for now!), I would love for it to be Highspeed 2 The Getaway by Williams. I see a couple for sale every so often, on eBay in the US and once in a while, somewhere in Canada too.

Anyone know what might be a reasonable price for one of these? Condition of course weighing in on the value, just like our cars. I'll leave shipping costs out of it for the time being assuming it is local enough to go pick up in person.

The market is constantly changing for these (mostly going up) so it's difficult to say for sure. Still, a HSII in okay condition is usually around a $1,800-$2200 game (though people are constantly trying to get more). They can be more or less depending on condition but in a private sale, this is probably where you'll land.

I had a High Speed II from 2009-2015. Definitely one of my favorite games, especially because of the strong car theme. The idea of working your way through the game by increasing your RPMs enough to shift gears to eventually redline 5th gear is such a cool idea. Plus the supercharger on the playfield is a very cool feature. I picked the game up in 2009 for $900 from a private seller that was moving, didn't want the game, and couldn't keep it working right. The market was down at the time but even then that was a heck of a deal. I fixed all of the issues (bad diodes, a couple transistors, a few capacitors and bridge rectifiers), updated the ROMs, replaced all the rubber, added full superbright LEDs, cleaned it up and had it working great. The playfield was super clean on it which was the biggest draw. I even added a key switch to replace the start button. The only issue it had was that the red in the side art was faded. Otherwise it was a beauty. In 2015 I was looking for a change and negotiated a sale for $2,250 (he talked me down from $2500) to a guy that paid to ship it about 1,500 miles away. I still feel as though it was a fair price for how nice the machine was. Some day if I end up with more room and more cash, I may circle back and try to find another one of these.

Here's a video and album of my old machine from when I was selling it if you're curious what a $2250 machine (in 2015) looks like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9bOd_KV208
http://s565.photobucket.com/user/Nic...e%20for%20sale

Hope this helps and best of luck finding your machine!

[David T]

There are pinball shows that you can go to where you can play all of the pins, and people buy and sell them and parts. The particular one isn't all that popular so depending on condition, can go for less than $1500 (in decent, working condition). Expect the case to be beat up and some parts on the playfield to be missing or broken. Look on line for where the shows are, you can often find one in most big cities at least once a year. If possible you want to pick it up yourself. Shipping is expensive and you really should inspect it yourself before you buy it. A lot of parts can still be bought for many of the games if necessary. Expect to replace all of the playfield rubber and a lot of bulbs but that is not expensive. There are forums for all of the games too so look them up.

[Jonathan]

Hope this helps and best of luck finding your machine!

Yes! Immensely helpful, thanks!

I knew you had mentioned before having a number of different pins over the years and I value your insight. Thanks for sharing.

Glad to be able to have your for sale comparison and put it up against others out there. 2015 vs present day, but still helpful.

There are two on eBay for about $3,800 and yet three others on an owners forum that are around $2,300. Makes me think there are more than a couple of comparisons to shopping for pinball machines as there are to old cars like DeLoreans. Namely that eBay is and can be inflated in starting price. And that when you get a description like yours had and from someone you know a little from forums, it goes a long way further than some random for sale ad on eBay.

Agreed on what David also mentioned about research, playing them, reading forums and finding out common issues. Just like buying one of our cars. And don't rush into it until you're ready. The patience thing. $2k is a lot different than $20k, but still the same philosophy.

Glad to have your photos to compare as well. Will continue learning and see what I find. Especially if there are comparable problems like a rotten frame on a D and what one of those deal breaker concerns might be on a pinball machine. Little issues or upgrades might be expected if they sat uncared for, but avoid the "barn find with the mouse piss all through it" sort of thing.

[Gfrank]

Sure Is amazing the amount of parts out there you can get. I gather one main thing to look at when buying is the condition of the play field.
I can't say I know to much about them how ever I am starting to learn, I've got a BTTF machine

[David T]

Sure Is amazing the amount of parts out there you can get. I gather one main thing to look at when buying is the condition of the play field.
I can't say I know to much about them how ever I am starting to learn, I've got a BTTF machine

When judging condition of a pin you look at the overall appearance, the condition of the outside of the case, missing, broken, non-original parts, and such. BUT you also examine the insides and if you see things all hacked up, wires cut, things changed or missing under the playfield or in the backbox, that can be more important than how the playfield looks. Other things to look for include if the "mechs" are still there, if all of the functions work, if the displays are all working, if any of the boards or plugs are burnt. Look at the hardware, are all the legs correct, are the bolts for the legs correct. If it is a "Re-Import" has the voltage and wiring been set up correctly or is it all hacked up? A large majority of old pins were exported overseas. When they come back they are called "Re-Imports" and they are generally in rough condition. Parts were unavailable so they got all hacked up to keep them going. The other problem is the plastic gets brittle with age so they are very prone to breakage as they get older. Some pins have known specific weaknesses like a plug that burns up or a power supply that melts or displays that age and fail. Best to learn all of this if you are interested in a specific pin. The good news is that there is a lot of commonality among pins of a specific manufacturer. The boards are interchangable. What makes them specific for a machine is the EPROMS, in the solid state machines. If you expect play the machine a lot try not to pick an electro-mechanical machine. With all of the relays and switches it is hard to keep them working. One bad connection and nothing works.

[driveintim]

I agree wit David T. I have been collecting pinball machines for years. A few things to add.
Price high or low is not always an indicator of condition, look the machine over hard, find out as much about the history as you can.
Also if you get interested in a specific game try and find one you can play for a while to see if you like the way it plays. Some games are tons of fun, some just look good and play horrible.

[acaciolo]

make sure you check out pinside. it is a great source of info and classifieds. I got almost all of my machines there.

tony c

[Jonathan]

Yea, take it for a test drive, right? Good call. Like start it up and see what happens when it sits there idling. Do the cooling fans come on, so to speak?

Years ago, there was a Toronto area auction place called Star Burst Amusements and it was an auction house for arcade games and pinball machines. I think the way they had it organized was that on the day of the auction, the place opened and you could play any game you were interested in. You brought your own extension cord and I think you had to deposit like $200 towards an auction purchase (just to keep the riff raff out). It isn't there anymore, but that'd be an ideal way to test out games.

Agreed on plays well versus looks good. I mentioned Highspeed 2 because it was one I played for hours as a teenager. I would likely keep my eyes open for ones I did play when younger, but I also have enjoyed machines I had never heard of nor played until recently.

More recently being the PlayStation game Pinball Arcade, which has recreated many of those machines with painstaking accuracy. I have played a few on the PS4 that I never played when younger and really enjoyed them. Ironically, the flipper physics for Highspeed 2 are not great and not as enjoyable as the real version, not by a long shot unfortunately. I would still for certain want to play a machine first I was considering, HS2 along with any others. Make sure it's fun to play if it's new to me, but also check the condition by playing it, like the test drive analogy.

I have found a couple places in the area that have pins, the movie theatres have one or two among their games in the lobby area and there is a bar downtown here in Guelph that has about 10 machines, all of varying vintage. I saw they had a Mortal Kombat stand-up cabinet the last time I was in there. I used to pull up a stool as a kid and play these machines with a can of pop beside me, now the machines have drinkholders for your beer attached to the sides of the cabinet. Giddyup!

[David T]

While you can play a pin as a simulation on a computer it is not even close to the experience of an actual machine. There are sites where you can learn the best strategies to earn points, how best to play, etc. Other sites can show you what breaks and how to fix them. Buying ones you played when you were young is not a very good idea, you will quickly tire of the game. Go for the more modern and popular ones, they will have the most appreciation value when you go to sell it or trade it in. Among the more popular are Monopoly, Playboy, Harley, and Adams Family. Of course they will cost more but they are worth more when you go to sell. Others like HS2 are not worth all that much because it is not as popular.