I have always had a soft spot for pinball. Earliest memory interacting with a machine was a a mini golf arcade in the early 90's. My limited disposable income was meager at age 8. So my ball times were just as limited. I had all of forgotten about pinball until a retro arcade opened about ten minutes away from my home last year. With a little more disposable income then I had all those years ago my skills started to get better. (I'm still no all star but I have a lot more fun) Being a Carpenter by trade gives me the opportunity to meet a large number of people each year. Quite recently a gentleman whose kitchen I was remodeling had a F-14 Tomcat buried in his garage next to a Dancing Dolls EM. Close to the end of the project I asked him If he was interested in selling the F-14. He immediately pulled it out from underneath piles of cloths and boxes. He tired firing it up and it sprung to life. He could not get the balls to feed to the shooter lane and it had a dead display. He started trying to diagnose what the issues where. This was hard for me to walk away from while I was trying to trim out his new kitchen. By the end of the day he was still messing with it so I asked again if he would sell it. He thought for a moment and then told me it would be a great project for him to bring back to life so he said he was going to be keeping it.
The next morning when I showed up for work he pulled me to the side and said "That machine has been sitting there for 8 years and I did nothing with it. If it stays here it will sit for 8 more. Take it home with you tonight" I was floored. I tried giving him a few hundred bucks but he wouldn't take anything for it. Super cool Dude.
After 3 days I had the game playing. Benefits of being mechanical. Now a new display and LEDS. The play field is rough, so there are plans for snazzing it up. I'm so consumed now.
The Game room remodel of my home has begun and needless to say more games will grace my space after the construction is finished. Thank you Pinside for being a great source of information and support.
Waderade812
Rockwall, TX
Jordan_H
Inactive member
5y 20,900 27 2
Wow what a deal! I’ve been thrilled by pinball for years now and finally have my first machine to call my own. It’s a Bally Vector, needs a lot of work but so fun to start building a game room. I’m a plumber and always see machines and live by the montra “it never hurts to ask” so far haven’t closed a deal with any owners. Most of the time it’s “a family heirloom”