So I purchased a 1953 Gottlieb Grand Slam just a couple days ago that was located right near where I live. It had been picked up by a recycling company and they had it in their sort of antique/thrift shop. They were selling it for $800, but I offered $400. We eventually settled on $500 and I brought it home.
I will be honest and say I never had any intention of keeping this machine for my collection. I did like the design of the machine, and for a first woodrail I thought it was a good choice. My goal was to clean it up, getting it working well mechanically, enjoy it for a little while, and then sell it for potentially a little bit of profit.
So now I've been thinking about how much I should really invest into it, cash wise. I totally understand my labor will never be a factor, and I knew that going into it.
Here are the options I'm thinking of:
1. Clean up the playfield and wax, clean and/or replace the plastics, replace all the rubbers, replace the balls, and get it working smoothly. Sell the machine.
2. Do all of #1, purchase a new backglass from Shay's Arcade, and replace the bulbs with Comet LEDs in that old EM style brightness. Sell the machine.
3. Do #1 and #2, and work on restoring the major wear on the playfield. This would involve purchasing all of the paint and equipment to do so.
At the very least I'll be doing #1, since I want it to be cleaned up and looking nice. I just want to make sure I don't invest too heavily into this machine and hose myself, if I haven't done so already.
I'm looking forward to getting this old woodie up and running smoothly again! It actually already works, but some coils get stuck and it makes a loud buzzing after a game over.
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