"Serving pinballs to the web since 2001!"My BACKGROUND story.
Written by MIKEmachine, published July 17th, 2008. Read 60 times. 2 comment(s).
Well here it is, abit about me.
I am 36 years old and a "MILLWRIGHT" and "Electronic Technician"(however a little RUSTY in the ELEC's area). I began studying electronics in 1991 and graduated as a TECHNICIAN in 1995. In Sept. 1999 I began a MILLWRIGHT apprenticeship and in June of 2003 I became a "INTERPROVINCIAL(RED seal) - Licensed MILLWRIGHT".
In my teens I worked for an Electronics chain selling TV's, Stereos etc. during my BREAKS or ANY sparetime I could be found at the MALL arcade(aka WIZARDs CASTLE) this is where I played my FAVOURITE arcade game of ALL TIME, "PINBOT". Looking back, I'm certain I poured a small fortune into every PINBOT machine I found. However I loved the game and had awsome fun with it.
About a week ago now, my family and I were at a "small-amusement park" at Sauble Beach,Ont,CAN. We ventured into the arcade, and BAM!!! there it was "PINBOT". My attention was taken to it immediatley. Throwing some quarters into it, away I went. I felt like a KID again for a moment anyway. The machine was not working really well and showed some signs of abuse, when a BALL was shot into either of the EYESOCKETS the machine would(and still does for now) TILT. I thought to myself, "I could fix this old girl up real good". I noticed a buisness card and notice on the machine stating that the ROUTE was FORSALE. We recorded the phone number, wondering if the owner would be willing to sell me this PINBOT. Talking to my wife afterwards about what we had found, she suggested I call the #'s. That night I decided, "What the heck" and I called the #. I asked the owner "Bruce" if he would be willing to sell me the PINBOT machine. He asked me what I thought it was worth and I suggested $500, he said that he could make that with the machine over the summer and said that he couldn't let it go for less than 7 or 800. Our conversation ended there.
Talking to my wife she said, "are U nuts, you've been thinking about this game for about 20 years and know that a MINT condition one will cost upwards of 2000 if I can find it and be able to get it to our house. This one is 40 minutes away, call the guy back and offer him 700 for it NOW. If you leave it in that arcade all summer it could be totally buggered".
So I called Bruce back and offered him 700 for it now(LAST Wed.), he accepted my offer and was able to deliver it to me TODAY(Wed. July 16th 2008).
At 11:30 AM this morning (Wed.July 16 2008) for 700 CAN dollars, I became a PINBOT owner, which is still rather unbelievable to me. Talking to Bruce for a moment after him and his brother brought the machine into my house. I asked him, "what are you selling that route for"? "$80000 he answered and it can earn you around $3000 / week."
HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM !!!
I WONDER !!!
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This story was written by MIKEmachine, a Member since July 2008 with 410 Pinside Karma points.
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robin commented on July 18, 2008 10:02:12
$80,000? So what kind of machines are there in the route? And how many of them? Congrats with the Pinbot. And great story on how you got it! Is she doing any better now, no more tilting problems?
MIKEmachine commented on July 19, 2008 16:37:28
I don't know how many machines are in the route and I assume there is a variety of mainly VIDEO GAMES and a few PINBALLS(not many). I didn't inquire about the details of the route. Yes the machine still tilts when LOCKING EYEBALLS, I have aggresively started research into MY PINBOT. I have printed from the NET the "Williams-PINBOT Instruction manual" it is a fairley clean copy. I have also printed off numerous WILLIAMS Pinball System troubleshooting guides and researched various places to find parts. There are a couple of other PHANTOM switch issues besides this one, so I will further investigate the SWITCH MATRIX and inspect the WIRING for frays and shorts. Hopefully it is not a CPU issue but I may order replacement boards for it while they can still be acquired. I also need to either replace or rebuild the VISOR front switch back plate assy. The LOCK EYE BALLS problem is the only fault the machine has that is really harbouring its gameplay. Overall its in pretty good shape for a 22 yearold machine.