Head down, legs off, all your tools.

There's no dumb questions on Pinside. As an absolute minimum you must remove the balls. Loose steel balls crashing around inside can easily smash vital plastics. Also, if it has a coin tray, take that out as well as any other loose items someone may have stored behind the main door. You can then open the backbox door which will usually need a key. This may well have two bolts that stop the top box from folding down to rest against the bottom playfield cabinet. Remove these and gently lower the back box down onto the cabinet and use a blanket or something else soft between them so you don't dent the side rails. Remove the legs. Tip it back so it is resting on its broad end and then if you have a sack barrow, use this with a piece of cardboard on to move it about.

Best of luck and enjoy your new hobby.

Fold the head down (I'd put a towel under it so that it doesn't dent the side rails if you hit any bumps) and bring a ratchet/socket set (most leg bolts are 5/8). If there's a chance of rain, I'd so bring a tarp. If you're going in a pickup truck, I'd also bring a strap or two (along with cardboard to rest against the straps).

Oh, and a hand truck.

Have fun!

Just take an adjustable spanner and you're good to go.

This isn't a bad example to follow:

Leg bolts are almost all 5/8" socket.

Maverick is DataEast/Sega, so the head has a twist lock that uses a hex wrench from the back

Unload all balls
Unlock the head and lay it down on the cabinet with some padding between it and the head
Strap the head down to the cabinet so it doesn't move. No wires need to be unplugged or (heaven forbid, cut)
Unbolt the rear legs and gently lower the back of the cabinet and then stand it on it's butt end
Take off the front legs
Strap it to a dolly to move it around, DON'T even let just the weight keep it in place

RussM

A Maverick will have the 5/16" allen key backbox latch. Hopefully the owner has the key, if not you will need one to lower the backbox. Oh, and for keeping the head fixed down while moving the pin, I like using plastic stretch wrap to wrap the machine, less prone to slipping/damage than a strap imo.

Go here and download a PDF of the game manual

http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1561

Read it, especially the first sections which show how to set the game up (do the reverse to pack it up), and how to raise and lower the playfield correctly.

Also has all of the settings info, etc, etc.

Check the area in the backbox where the AA batteries go.

Very often the batteries leak and have bad corrosion problems

RussM

Gonna have to drill those locks. Start with the coin door. Hopefully the back box key is hangin in there .

A standard 5/16 should do just fine.

Yeah, without a key, drilling is your only option as far as getting the balls out of there.

The factory hex wrench looks like this:

https://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=590

The key to open the backbox (not necessary to unlock and drop the head on this game) is very often hanging on a wire hook on the inside of the coin door.

The coin door locks are usually cheap and weak; the easiest way to get them open is to run a sharp drill bit right into the center until the hasp drops off from the back.

The coin door lock probably looks like this: https://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=20

RM

This is typical. I’ve sometimes seen odd size leg bolts though. I typically make sure to have a 5/8, 9/16 and 1/2 inch open end set and a flat + phillips screwdriver with me just because you never know.

Oh yeah a hex wrench as well. Doesn’t have to be pinball specific but does need to be long enough to go deep and give you good leverage... but this is only for newer games.

If the key to the backbox is completely missing, take out the two bolts holding the lock in; they are usually torx security heads

https://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=2368

The torx heads are usually the "star with center nipple" type

RM

A corroded MPU board can be 100-150 to repair professionally and 300 to replace completely

Plus shipping

RM

+1. If the owner doesn't have the key you will need to drill the locks. Start with the coin door lock and pray that the key for the backbox is hanging inside the coin door or somewhere else inside. If you need to drill the backbox lock to get to the screws to fold the backhoe down, that lock is close to the top of the translite - a tough angle

You can see where the batteries go - upper left of the CPU board

http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:DE-0262-2-CPU.JPG

RM

Harbor Freight sells the Torx Security set you need to remove the lockplate in the backbox if you decide to do that instead of drilling the backbox lock. Good luck...have fun...and welcome to the madness.

Yes, Maverick is one of only 4 games that used the "double-size" DMD video display

Finding one is usually a 400.00 or more problem

Make sure the display looks good, nice and bright, no bad pixels, etc

A bad display on that game is a problem

RM

On another note if the display is bad, don't fret. The ColorDMD that everybody is getting won't work on the those huge DMD displays. They are putting them out soon though in that size with those games supported.

Yes, but again, ColorDMD is also 400.00

RM

I hope someone has a dolly or hand truck.

Be sure someone knows how to unload the balls.

Also I would pick up roll of shrink wrap to wrap head to body. Home depot. Lastly I would label the legs.
Good luck.

If the machine is not going to be upended onto its back and hand trucked, I wouldn't worry about getting inside it to remove the balls etc. until it was at my house. I would take the legs off and lower the backbox head. Data East so you need that allen key everyone is telling you about and a wrench for leg bolts. Then I would get it home and drill the lock etc. IMO if you and the other guy are not pin guys, I would not try to do all that stuff at his house. Best case scenario you take the balls out etc., but this is not the best case scenario.

Make sure it works and welcome to the club!

Not really.

There is a spring-loaded bar you move over and the lock-bar comes off

Then slide the glass out, which is tempered, so don't put it edge-down on anything hard like concrete or boom.

Carpet is OK

The balls are probably in the trough and I use my fingers or a magnetic tool to pull the balls out where they come out into the shooter lane

RM

I've been putting glasses on my basement concrete floor for years and have never had a problem

Enjoy and make sure to make room for pin #2

I can live without removing the balls frankly. I’ve had to move dozens of games or had them delivered to me with balls still inside and as far as I can tell it’s never resulted in damage. It’s a big pain in the ass to drill you just want to haul this game out. If front door key is missing I’ll just grin and bare it unless it’s HUO or something, and it usually
Ain’t.

The bare minimum here is you need the 5/16 Allen key so you can fold the head down and a socket set 5/8 for the leg bold. Bring one. You can never count on the seller to have any of this stuff.

Bring a pair of pliers or adjustable rent. You never know if this game will have the wrong size leg bolts.

You just want to get this game out.

So bare minimum here for a maverick-

5/16 backbox Allen key

Adjustable wrench

Strap or plastic wrap to secure head

Piece of cardboard to put between glass and head when you fold over and secure.

I have no doubt that is true, and the roughness of concrete can vary quite a lot.

I also saw a guy pull out his playfield glass and lean it against a wall with a concrete floor and it exploded immediately.

Happened 10 feet away from me.

On tempered glass the edges are the most vulnerable.

YMMV.

RussM

Sounds like a standup guy, and one of those more enjoyable transactions. I've met some great & interesting people buying and selling pins.
$150 is not unreasonable for LEDs, although the cheap ones tend to flicker or ghost. Some bulb sockets are a pain to get to. If you must, please stick to color matched inserts and white everywhere else. Colors in the backbox don't look good.
What a great day...and a great choice for your first pin!

I was at the PHOF one day playing Whitewater and my ball got stuck. Attendant came over and slid out the glass and started to set it down on the concrete floor. Attendant was super careful and slow about it and had it perfectly level to the floor. I started to put my hand up to say don’t do that!!! It literally exploded the second it touched the floor as I was opening my mouth. Glass EVERYWHERE. Whitewater was shut down now with glass all over the place under most every game in that aisle at the PHOF. So my point is you have been lucky. When they break it’s a true explosion and glass gets everywhere in your game. At least put a blanket or something soft down first.

Opinion

Be sure and review a few things before turning it back on:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/post-purchase-checklist

or much more comprehensive:

http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Post-Purchase_Checklist

Sorry it went that way. But the first rule of Pinball:

"The deal isn't done till the sellers house is receding in your rear-view mirror."

There will be other deals.

Welcome to pinball.

Truthfully fixing them is half the fun. Buy it broken if the deal is reasonable. Plenty of help on here to assist you.

I want to see a Maverick NIB