(Topic ID: 270028)

Bally PLAYBOY (fix before selling or sell as-is?)

By too-many-pins

3 years ago


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  • Latest reply 3 years ago by tp
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    Topic poll

    “Bally PLAYBOY (fix before selling or sell as-is?)”

    • Fix it then sell it 6 votes
      27%
    • Sell it cheaper as-is 14 votes
      64%
    • You should know better than to ask "stupid" questions here on Pinside! 2 votes
      9%

    (22 votes)

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    #1 3 years ago

    I have a Bally Playboy that needs MPU work (and GOD knows what else since MPU has battery damage). I would sell it as it sits for $1200 or would need $1650 (give or take a few dollars) if I get it working 100% and do a quick shop job on it. Backglass is super nice, cabinet & playfield are both better than average (in my eyes). Playfield has some wear down by the slingshots (maybe the size of a quarter or half dollar) but it otherwise pretty nice.

    I don't know which way this would sell quicker - what to you guys think?

    If anyone here is seriously interested in it let me know which way you would want to buy it and I'll get it listed here in the marketplace with some pictures. Typically these decisions are pretty easy for me but I don't know the value of this title well enough to make a call on this one!

    #2 3 years ago

    Depends on how much time you have. Sell it as is, is my vote.

    #3 3 years ago

    One thought I had is I can always list it "as-is" and if it doesn't sell then go ahead and get it up and running and relist it for more money. But if I put time & money into it I can't "undo" that once it is done. So maybe the "smart thing" is to just take some pictures and get it listed ASAP.

    #4 3 years ago

    Not getting a lot of help here yet. Only ten votes so far but so far it is looking like sell it as-is by a landslide. Anyone fairly local interested in it "as-is" I'll likely be posting it here on Pinside in the marketplace later today. If all goes as planned I might also list a couple other machines for local quick sale later today or tomorrow. I am trying to get the garage cleared out and selling a couple machines looks like the easiest way to do that.

    #5 3 years ago

    If you repair it to a working condition, then your potential buyers pool increases in size. Some folks just don't have the time to do the heavy lifting to get it functional. That said, don't spend alot of time shopping it, because you won't likely get any more money for that. My vote: make it functional first but limit your time to make it prettier...

    #6 3 years ago

    with so much that your trying to clear out, sell as is.
    let it be someone else's problem.

    #7 3 years ago

    I would sell as is. If I were buying a non-working pin of that vintage, I would put in new boards. Heck, even if the pin were working, I would consider the sales price to be "non-working". If the playfield were in excellent condition, I would consider that a plus; I have yet to see an original Bally Playboy with a good OEM playfield.

    Oh, I have this tit,el and I have a NOS playfield, NOS plastics, NOS backglass and all new boards. That's $1500 in new stuff right there. I guess if your assessment of the value is accurate, I have a $2500 pin on my hands. I bought originally for $200 in 1989, my first pin.

    #8 3 years ago
    Quoted from swampwiz:

    I would sell as is. If I were buying a non-working pin of that vintage, I would put in new boards. Heck, even if the pin were working, I would consider the sales price to be "non-working". If the playfield were in excellent condition, I would consider that a plus; I have yet to see an original Bally Playboy with a good OEM playfield.
    Oh, I have this tit,el and I have a NOS playfield, NOS plastics, NOS backglass and all new boards. That's $1500 in new stuff right there. I guess if your assessment of the value is accurate, I have a $2500 pin on my hands. I bought originally for $200 in 1989, my first pin.

    Honestly I think $2500 for a Bally Playboy with all NOS parts installed is too low to me a machine with all NOS parts on it is more like a $3000 to $3500 machine in today's market. Classic Bally & Stern machines have increased dramatically in price over the past 3 or 4 years and even though machines like Silverball Mania, Playboy, Dolly Parton, Future Spa, Mr & Mrs Pac-Man and a few others have not kept pace with some of the more popular titles all Classic Bally & Stern machines have climbed in value a good bit.

    My issue is I just don't know the current market on Playboy well enough to decide how best to sell this one. My plan at this point it to offer it as a project and see what happens. If I can't get it sold quickly then I'll go ahead and get it up and running and offer it for $400 or $500 more money. At that point if it doesn't sell in can just get moved into the collection for a few months (years). I just need to get three machines out of the garage sometime in June.

    I have already talked to Lloyd (coinopwarehouse) about them and considered selling them to him. But I would prefer selling them to someone who will enjoy them over selling them to a dealer who will just add a couple hundred to what they paid me and flip them. I understand Lloyd is in business and needs to make money but I also know it makes more sense to skip the middleman if I can find someone willing to pay close to what he will give me for them.

    #9 3 years ago

    Skip,
    I've sold several of that title in the last couple years. Without seeing the PF it's hard to gauge price. This was my last one, a previous buyer had me install a new CPR PF and a buddy redid the cabinet. I installed a new MPU and it sold fully working (before restoration) for $1400:

    https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/archive/91626

    I put a CPR PF in it and again the cabinet was restored, post 137:

    https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bally-playboy-pinball-club-all-owners-and-playboy-lovers-welcome/page/3#post-5605555

    IMO with almost 20K produced, unless the BG is mint and the PF is near mint, a non working PB is a $800 game at best. I won't even post what I paid for the last one but I had a lot of work getting it running. Factor in the lack of game specific parts (apron decals, crap pop bumper targets and pop bumper caps from Classic Arcades, and $950 CPR PF's) it's hardly worth dropping big money in restoring one when there are many out there already restored for less then putting the $$$ in one.

    Now if someone just wants a player condition game, that's different story. But I've bought them fully working for under 1K.

    Just my .02 cents.

    #10 3 years ago
    Quoted from tomdrum:

    Skip,
    I've sold several of that title in the last couple years. Without seeing the PF it's hard to gauge price. This was my last one, a previous buyer had me install a new CPR PF and a buddy redid the cabinet. I installed a new MPU and it sold fully working (before restoration) for $1400:
    https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/archive/91626
    I put a CPR PF in it and again the cabinet was restored, post 137:
    https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bally-playboy-pinball-club-all-owners-and-playboy-lovers-welcome/page/3#post-5605555
    IMO with almost 20K produced, unless the BG is mint and the PF is near mint, a non working PB is a $800 game at best. I won't even post what I paid for the last one but I had a lot of work getting it running. Factor in the lack of game specific parts (apron decals, crap pop bumper targets and pop bumper caps from Classic Arcades, and $950 CPR PF's) it's hardly worth dropping big money in restoring one when there are many out there already restored for less then putting the $$$ in one.
    Now if someone just wants a player condition game, that's different story. But I've bought them fully working for under 1K.
    Just my .02 cents.

    I guess I am into this "deeper" than I should be if it is only worth $800 (or less). I had a base cabinet with a decent playfield I didn't really want to part out so I paid $600 (plus travel cost) to buy another machine with a striped playfield so I could make one machine from the two. If all I can get out of this is like $800 (or less) I guess I should have just parted out what I had originally.

    With both Boston Pinball and Pinside having the average selling price at $1700 (or higher) I figured $1200 was a decent price for a machine that needed an MPU.

    #11 3 years ago
    Quoted from too-many-pins:

    With both Boston Pinball

    Correct me if I am wrong but Boston Pinball site hasn't been updated since 2018? If you look at the graph it doesn't go beyond 2018 unless I am reading it wrong.

    Quoted from too-many-pins:

    If all I can get out of this is like $800 (or less) I guess I should have just parted out what I had originally.

    NO OFFENSE meant t-m-p but in the time you have posted here you could've at least troubleshoot the machine to find out what issues it has so a buyer would have a bit of an idea as to what they're getting into, unless it's completely apart. If all it's needing is shop job and 50 or so in parts then 1200 isn't far fetched (imo).

    To others post about seeing pictures I have to agree. What you're calling wear by the slingshots might not be an ordeal to someone else. Throw an add up on Pinside or, at a minimum, some pictures up on here with the machine as is and see what happens.

    GLWS

    PS - parting out a game is never the right thing to do

    #12 3 years ago
    Quoted from meSz:

    Correct me if I am wrong but Boston Pinball site hasn't been updated since 2018? If you look at the graph it doesn't go beyond 2018 unless I am reading it wrong.

    NO OFFENSE meant t-m-p but in the time you have posted here you could've at least troubleshoot the machine to find out what issues it has so a buyer would have a bit of an idea as to what they're getting into, unless it's completely apart. If all it's needing is shop job and 50 or so in parts then 1200 isn't far fetched (imo).
    To others post about seeing pictures I have to agree. What you're calling wear by the slingshots might not be an ordeal to someone else. Throw an add up on Pinside or, at a minimum, some pictures up on here with the machine as is and see what happens.
    GLWS
    PS - parting out a game is never the right thing to do

    I had no plans to part this out once I found a head and backglass but I was "on the fence" when all I had was the body. Now I am concerned I might be into too deep to break even on it.

    As far as "working on it instead of posting about it" that is easy for someone who doesn't have stuff packed in like "sardines in a sardine can" but after selling several of my enclosed trailers and trying to get moved out of two mini storage units right now the garage is packed so full I couldn't even see the three machines I'll be selling when I posted this yesterday (or the night before). Yesterday I started moving stuff around and I was finally able to get the machine moved where I could take some pictures of it this morning. NEXT I'll do the listing with pictures like I said I was going to do.

    Unlike some people in the hobby I am extremely busy 15 to 18 hours a day seven days a week. Between trying to help people with parts, helping my sister & brother in law, helping my two adult kids and running a couple businesses I have very little time for pinball repairs (or time to play pinball) these days. I have been trying to get a Jungle Lord shopped out and added to our collection for over a year and can't find time to finish assembling that let alone work on stuff I am selling. My plans were to pay my buddy Jim (JT Amusements) to fix this if people thought it would sell better fixed. Not because I can't fix it just because I don't have time to fix it.

    Listing will be up in about 15 minutes. Around 12:30 EST -- then I need to hit the road to deliver some stuff I sold and pick up some stuff I bought. I'll likely be gone until around 8 or 9 PM then when I get home I get to start with my eBay parts business for another 6 or 8 hours until I get all that work done. What I love here on Pinside is how everyone thinks people are just sitting around looking for something to do.

    I have bad knees & bad feet and am in mid 60's. When I take a break from busting my ass I do a little posting here on Pinside.

    #13 3 years ago

    Listed for sale now in the Marketplace

    #14 3 years ago

    I sold this beater about six months ago for $2200 on the west coast (included the backglass). Worked great, but not very attractive. Just a data point.

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    #15 3 years ago

    Geeze, I’ve got one in about the same condition as yours except mine has a really nice unfaded cabinet & still think I probably could only get half of what you got out in CA!

    #16 3 years ago

    Holy crap! $2200? Wow

    #17 3 years ago
    Quoted from TZ:

    I sold this beater about six months ago for $2200 on the west coast (included the backglass). Worked great, but not very attractive. Just a data point.
    [quoted image][quoted image]

    I have been in the hobby about 12 years and this is one of the hardest pins I have found to value. With over 18,000 made they just don't seem to come up for sale often and when they do prices seem to be all over the place. The "better" Classic Bally machines have really gone up in price over the past few years but the "less popular" machines like Playboy - Mr & Mrs Pac-Man, Supersonic, etc. have not changed in value as much - etc

    Both Mr Pinball & Pinside have the "average" selling price at around $1800 and typically Playboy machines are either restored or pretty trashed. So I just can't get a solid read on this one.

    #18 3 years ago

    Tentatively Sold!

    #19 3 years ago
    Quoted from Pbpins:

    Geeze, I’ve got one in about the same condition as yours except mine has a really nice unfaded cabinet & still think I probably could only get half of what you got out in CA!

    See them all the time here on the east coast.

    #20 3 years ago
    Quoted from too-many-pins:

    With over 18,000 made they just don't seem to come up for sale often and when they do prices seem to be all over the place. .

    As someone who has bought two project PB's & restored a 3rd for another Pinsider.....& all I collect/restore are Early Bally SS & Stern SS, I'd have to disagree a bit on that one. If you asked me the title I see come up for sale the MOST of the early Solid State Bally's it's definitely Playboy. I was at Coin op warehouse multiple times in past few years & he usually has 2-3 of them (project machines) at any given time in the warehouse for sale... see them at Allentown & York every year for sale as projects. I need both hands to count the ones I've passed up in past couple of years in person alone, let alone all ones I've seen on craigslist, FB marketplace, Pinside etc. Our local Pinball/pool table store in town has had one in the display window for sale for years (overpriced, hence why no one has bought it).

    The one you listed in market looks to be a $1000-$1100 tops game IMO due to board condition/not working. PF is pretty decent for a PB, as they are usually all trashed, but I have seen better originals.

    I paid $600ish for current project one I have to restore, Mint BG, missing boards & displays, which I didn't care about because it's getting all new stuff there anyhow. I think I paid around $900-$1000 for my first one couple years ago, which was complete but not working.

    The ones I've looked at at Coin op warehouse were in the $800-$1200 range depending on condition.... all project machines/players quality.

    There was a real decent freshly repainted one in the vendor area at York 2 years ago for like $750? I debated bringing that home even though I did'nt need it.... There was also a similarly priced one at Allentown in vendor area last year. It was still there on Saturday morning when I was able to go.....

    To me, on the early Solid States (which is all I pay attention to), you see a ton of PB projects, Close Encounters of Third Kind, Night Rider & Flash.... Those seem to be IMO the 4 most common early Solid States I see for sale in past few years.

    The guy in Calif who got $2200 for that one should thank his lucky stars he found someone gullible enough to buy it at that price. That's an $800 machine in PA. Weird thing is, I usually see ads from all around the Country & think to myself all the "deals" are always in midwest or West Coast, prices are always higher on East Coast for same machines, so that $2200 sale is a HUGE outlier IMO.

    #21 3 years ago
    Quoted from WeatherbyMAG:

    As someone who has bought two project PB's & restored a 3rd for another Pinsider.....& all I collect/restore are Early Bally SS & Stern SS, I'd have to disagree a bit on that one. If you asked me the title I see come up for sale the MOST of the early Solid State Bally's it's definitely Playboy. I was at Coin op warehouse multiple times in past few years & he usually has 2-3 of them (project machines) at any given time in the warehouse for sale... see them at Allentown & York every year for sale as projects. I need both hands to count the ones I've passed up in past couple of years in person alone, let alone all ones I've seen on craigslist, FB marketplace, Pinside etc. Our local Pinball/pool table store in town has had one in the display window for sale for years (overpriced, hence why no one has bought it).
    The one you listed in market looks to be a $1000-$1100 tops game IMO due to board condition/not working. PF is pretty decent for a PB, as they are usually all trashed, but I have seen better originals.
    I paid $600ish for current project one I have to restore, Mint BG, missing boards & displays, which I didn't care about because it's getting all new stuff there anyhow. I think I paid around $900-$1000 for my first one couple years ago, which was complete but not working.
    The ones I've looked at at Coin op warehouse were in the $800-$1200 range depending on condition.... all project machines/players quality.
    There was a real decent freshly repainted one in the vendor area at York 2 years ago for like $750? I debated bringing that home even though I did'nt need it.... There was also a similarly priced one at Allentown in vendor area last year. It was still there on Saturday morning when I was able to go.....
    To me, on the early Solid States (which is all I pay attention to), you see a ton of PB projects, Close Encounters of Third Kind, Night Rider & Flash.... Those seem to be IMO the 4 most common early Solid States I see for sale in past few years.
    The guy in Calif who got $2200 for that one should thank his lucky stars he found someone gullible enough to buy it at that price. That's an $800 machine in PA. Weird thing is, I usually see ads from all around the Country & think to myself all the "deals" are always in midwest or West Coast, prices are always higher on East Coast for same machines, so that $2200 sale is a HUGE outlier IMO.

    As I said in my original post - I just don't know the market on this machine well enough to know exactly how to price it. Thankfully my "best guess" must have been close because it sold within 18 hours of me listing it. When selling machines I base my asking price on two main things: first and most importantly is what I have invested in it. And second what is "fair" to a buyer. I do the pinball stuff 100% as a hobby so I don't try to squeeze top dollar out of everything I sell - I try to find prices that work for everyone and sell stuff quickly.

    As far as seeing them up for sale - I have not followed the Bally Playboy enough to say for sure but from my experience for the number of them made you just don't see them listed for sale often. I am not saying they don't come up for sale I am just saying I have not seen them sold often enough to get a good gauge on price so that was the original reason for my post.

    Thanks to everyone for their input! Game sold so hopefully this post might help someone in the future. For now there is really nothing more to say other than thanks to all who replied. I am just glad that with a little effort I was able to save another machine. To me that is the main thing. I hate parting stuff out that can be saved.

    #22 3 years ago

    Now off to get my Strange Science & Torpedo Alley dug out so I can get those listed. I want to get everything pinball out of the garage this month so I can clean up and paint the garage this Summer. Wish me luck!

    #23 3 years ago

    By far one of the "prettiest" machines made in that era IMO. The Art & colors are only reason I own one, not an overly fun game to play, but just beautiful when restored. I've told this story numerous times, but anyone who is not a pinball collector/enthusiast who has seen my machines etc, they ALWAYS gravitated to the PB more than any other. It's just a very iconic machine of the era. It & Evel Knievel were always the two that people were interested in playing the most.

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    #24 3 years ago

    WeatherbyMAG is definitely a Bally SS guru. Very knowledgeable., lots of experience. Has helped me in the past.

    #25 3 years ago
    Quoted from WeatherbyMAG:

    By far one of the "prettiest" machines made in that era IMO. The Art & colors are only reason I own one, not an overly fun game to play, but just beautiful when restored. I've told this story numerous times, but anyone who is not a pinball collector/enthusiast who has seen my machines etc, they ALWAYS gravitated to the PB more than any other. It's just a very iconic machine of the era. It & Evel Knievel were always the two that people were interested in playing the most.
    [quoted image]

    I love the "Classic Bally" machines. My favorite is Nitro Groundshaker but I'll never have one in the collection. I love the backglass art but just don't like playing the game. I don't even think I have an issue playing it as much as I have an issue with the lack of good sound. If I am playing a drag racing machine I want to hear the rumble of some blown big block engines not beep - beep.

    Wish I had room to keep them all but sadly as with most people space & money regulates how many can stay.

    #26 3 years ago
    Quoted from too-many-pins:

    I love the "Classic Bally" machines. My favorite is Nitro Groundshaker but I'll never have one in the collection. I love the backglass art but just don't like playing the game. I don't even think I have an issue playing it as much as I have an issue with the lack of good sound. If I am playing a drag racing machine I want to hear the rumble of some blown big block engines not beep - beep.
    Wish I had room to keep them all but sadly as with most people space & money regulates how many can stay.

    One of my favorites as well...... agree on the sound board. This was one I sold last year after restoring, has a CPR PF in it. Original backglass was as nice as any NGS glass I have ever seen.

    3312429d924dfdcc240ed9ec9d3040e3d667cde6 (resized).jpg3312429d924dfdcc240ed9ec9d3040e3d667cde6 (resized).jpg
    #27 3 years ago
    Quoted from WeatherbyMAG:

    One of my favorites as well...... agree on the sound board. This was one I sold last year after restoring, has a CPR PF in it. Original backglass was as nice as any NGS glass I have ever seen. [quoted image]

    I finally totally gave up on Nitro after owning 5 or 6 of them. I kept a near mint original backglass to hang on the wall in the gameroom so I can at least enjoy that but I just could not waste the space in the gameroom on a full machine. It really doesn't play all that bad but the lack of good sound just kills it for me. In my eyes nothing compares to the art on Classic Bally & Stern pinball machines. As far as pinball art goes they are the only machines to own. Just wish some of them would be a little better to play! Nugent is another machine with great backglass art but after owning a couple of them the lack of music and just beep-beep killed the idea of keeping one.

    #28 3 years ago
    Quoted from WeatherbyMAG:

    The guy in Calif who got $2200 for that one should thank his lucky stars he found someone gullible enough to buy it at that price. That's an $800 machine in PA. Weird thing is, I usually see ads from all around the Country & think to myself all the "deals" are always in midwest or West Coast, prices are always higher on East Coast for same machines, so that $2200 sale is a HUGE outlier IMO.

    I concede that $2200 is probably an outlier on the high end, but not by a lot. Machines are expensive here, especially in SoCal. I actually disagree with the quoted text, and believe it's exactly the opposite (that is why, as he stated, its an $800 machine in PA). There are just way more machines in the midwest and on the east coast, plus the denser population helps with distance. Just look at the pin map.

    #29 3 years ago
    Quoted from WeatherbyMAG:

    I usually see ads from all around the Country & think to myself all the "deals" are always in midwest or West Coast, prices are always higher on East Coast for same machines,

    I use to think the same thing then I moved to the West Coast....found out real quick prices here are higher.

    2 weeks later
    #30 3 years ago

    How bout we just talk about covid.

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