(Topic ID: 313654)

1953 Gottlieb Grand Slam - Point of diminishing return?

By HydrogenHuman

1 year ago



Topic Stats

  • 5 posts
  • 4 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 1 year ago by poppapin
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

You

Linked Games

Topic Gallery

View topic image gallery

20220415_153847 (resized).jpg
20220415_153842 (resized).jpg
20220415_153829 (resized).jpg
20220415_153719 (resized).jpg
20220415_153740 (resized).jpg
20220415_153707 (resized).jpg
20220415_153702 (resized).jpg
20220415_153654 (resized).jpg
20220415_153649 (resized).jpg
20220415_153646 (resized).jpg
20220415_153633 (resized).jpg
20220415_153628 (resized).jpg
20220415_153614 (resized).jpg
20220415_153624 (resized).jpg
20220415_153606 (resized).jpg
20220415_153609 (resized).jpg

You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider HydrogenHuman.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.

#1 1 year ago

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.

20220415_153551 (resized).jpg20220415_153551 (resized).jpg20220415_153555 (resized).jpg20220415_153555 (resized).jpg20220415_153559 (resized).jpg20220415_153559 (resized).jpg20220415_153602 (resized).jpg20220415_153602 (resized).jpg20220415_153606 (resized).jpg20220415_153606 (resized).jpg20220415_153609 (resized).jpg20220415_153609 (resized).jpg20220415_153614 (resized).jpg20220415_153614 (resized).jpg20220415_153624 (resized).jpg20220415_153624 (resized).jpg20220415_153628 (resized).jpg20220415_153628 (resized).jpg20220415_153633 (resized).jpg20220415_153633 (resized).jpg20220415_153646 (resized).jpg20220415_153646 (resized).jpg20220415_153649 (resized).jpg20220415_153649 (resized).jpg20220415_153654 (resized).jpg20220415_153654 (resized).jpg20220415_153702 (resized).jpg20220415_153702 (resized).jpg20220415_153707 (resized).jpg20220415_153707 (resized).jpg20220415_153719 (resized).jpg20220415_153719 (resized).jpg20220415_153740 (resized).jpg20220415_153740 (resized).jpg20220415_153829 (resized).jpg20220415_153829 (resized).jpg20220415_153842 (resized).jpg20220415_153842 (resized).jpg20220415_153847 (resized).jpg20220415_153847 (resized).jpg

#3 1 year ago
Quoted from YeOldPinPlayer:

You're already at market price after you consider the cost of the parts you'll be adding. There is almost no profit left.
I'd put in the bulbs, replace any missing pieces, and clean it up as best you can, then wax. Play for a bit then sell.

So Grand Slam isn't all that desirable? But I guess I should have realized that desirability does not equal value when it comes to woodrails and EMs. Still, if I can break even then I'm okay with that.

You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider HydrogenHuman.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.

Reply

Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

Donate to Pinside

Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!


This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/1953-gottlieb-grand-slam-point-of-diminishing-return?tu=HydrogenHuman and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.