I don't know how you expect them to make do with only two Rescue 911s!!!

In all seriousness, if one thing the past year has taught me is a what a pain in the ass maintaining a huge collection of pinball machines seems to be. After losing the PAPA collection this one going tits up would be a huge stake through the heart of the hobby...hope they can find a way out of what looks like a big mess currently.

Yeah, I was being a drama queen...but it would still be bad.

Tons of people are getting exposed to these games in the large locations and deciding they want in. That would definitely affect some of that.

And then...the bubble would burst?!?!

So two months left for a so far unknown angel investor, sponsor, or benefactor to swoop in with millions of dollars and save the show?

Ok who’s gonna step up here?

Well that escalated quickly

Correct, the clock is ticking, as they have less than two months now according to them to come up with a solution.

Selling 2200 games is gonna take way more than two months, unless they give them away. It seems like PAPA took over six months to liquidate their (much smaller) collection.

Seems like they've painted themselves into a bit of a corner.

The owner has already asked the general public (you!) for help, and made clear the help he needs, so nothing is stopping you from doing what he's asked to help save the collection within a month. The simple and easy ways you can help are:

Well there ya go! Make it happen. Don't take too long though please time is short.

That arcade could be open 24/7/365 and it a noticeable dent in the money weed is gonna bring in.

It's kind of a silly game of gotcha you are playing.

Nobody claimed they couldn't personally afford anything, or claimed to be driving a '77 Chevy Nova. Not sure what you are trying to prove here.

What kind of car they have or how much money they have isn't really relevant.

You own a Lambo?!?!

Therefore you are personally obligated to financially support the move and maintenance of the Museum of Pinball collection for perpetuity!

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 6 figure car with a bumper sticker on it before!!

No shooter lane cliffys for this guy I bet !!

He found a picture of one of the owners sitting in somebody else's Lamborgini.

Someone call the feds!!!!

I can answer one question: You pay immediately. Auctioneers are not patient folks.

It's quite possible they'll require your payment info before you can bid on the auction.
You know, like when you bid on a 3.5 star hotel on Priceline.

Auctions stink. You end up tacking on 20-25 percent in taxes and fees - and no matter how good you are at math, your brain still has trouble comprehending the hammer price.

The main advantage here are some rare games (though who knows if all that stuff is gonna be for sale) and of course one-stop shopping if you are looking to seriously beef up your collection.

I'll be watching out of curiosity for sure but I'm staying out of the fray on this one!

I’m just glad this auction is finally happening so randos will stop texting me about it.

My big takeaway on this:

PAPA fucked up pretty badly not handling it this way. Probably left tens of thousands of dollars on the table. Probably more.

Scorpion just sold for $4,000.

Papa sold theirs for $900. I almost bought it.

I’m mostly curious to see if this runs out of gas.

It’s obviously not pinball people bidding these games up. It’s crazy civilians who don’t realize what “market prices” are and also can’t comprehend the huge difference between hammer price and actual price.

I wonder if this continues through the weekend. It could be the whales get satiated day 1 on $4000 comets and scorpions and $3000 Roached EM projects.

Could the pinball auction bubble burst?!

So $7000 after fees?

No. Not good.

I like how you shoot the ball in the guys nuts and he screams OWWWWWW!

Killer game! I’ll bid $4000.

Terrible game. $1500 or less.

Auctions are amazing in that no matter the knowledge, the human brain simply cannot comprehend tacking On 25 percent to a hammer price.

It’s an amazing case of human psychology study.

Guys I’ll sell you [whatever game just sold for a crazy price at banning auction] for the low price of [ten percent less than crazy auction price]!

Any takers?!?!?

Hmm. It’s almost as if the people bidding aren’t “pinball people” and are instead civilians.

Is there a scheduled day/time for pickup or did you haul it hone today? Congrats! Awesome game.

They do not let you bid on these auctions without already having your credit card info and signature.

The lucky buyers were charged as soon as they won their prize.

We’ve been told buyers have 5 days to pick up the game or have someone do it for them.

Read the post above yours

I will disagree with this line of thinking.

Never donate your possessions or time and expect anything back. That’s what “donating” or “volunteering” means. If you aren’t “getting” enough out of the simple act of volunteering or donating, do not do it; you’ll only be setting yourself up for bitterness or resentment later on.

What do you want weeks to do? Start mailing out checks? That’s not how it works. I would assume the “volunteers” got something for their money; private time on that collection, or other warm feelies for helping share this collection with the world. Any post-auction grousing (and I haven’t heard any yet from any of them) would be extremely petty.

That seems insane to me, and unlike any other auction I’ve participated in.

If ANY auction is set up for hundreds of people to have buyer’s remorse and Change their mind it’s this one.

No.

Participating in a go fund me is an idiot tax. You pay some moocher in a go fund me, you do not deserve your money back regardless of circumstances.

Go fund me remorse is almost as bad as begging strangers for money.

It still boggles my mind that they are sending out invoices instead of charging credit cards.

Is that really confirmed?!?! Maybe it’s just for “friends of the museum?”

If that’s really true, there’s gonna be tens of thousands of dollars of bid welchers on this as people sober up / tell their wives. I seriously
Cannot comprehend them running the auction this way.

Ha true. But they still change their minds.

Auctions do NOT want people to have the option to change their minds. Why take the risk with the “honor system?” Trust me, the auction business is not built on trust.

Seems bizarre to me. Just wanted to get a few more folks to confirm that’s indeed how it’s operating. Maybe I’ll bid some games up in a couple weeks and not pay, just to watch heads explode at a $20,000 Rescue 911.

Now’s not the time for second guessing.

Dudes gonna enjoy that game. He better !!!!

Hahaha yes...I don't believe there will be any follow up press on this.

I also suspect auction part 2 doesn't attract as much attention, although strangely enough the CNN story seems to have a new life. I've been sent messages / linked to the FB story on it about 5 times this past week.

I predict the magic girl will be a flop.

I think the word is out on this by now. Who wants that heap of shit?

This is a strange take.

Pinball "techs" are almost universally underpaid and underappreciated. I hear of people going on service calls on non-working Flash games for 50 bucks an hour and I can't believe people subject themselves to that kind of exploitation.

I won't accept jobs anymore unless it's clear the potential client is willing to pay at least a couple hundred per visit regardless of how long it takes, and that a proper service call (or series of calls) will potentially total several times that amount.

Don't like it? Spend 20+ years learning how to work on pinball machines and acquiring the skills and tools necessary for this extremely specialized line of work and do it yourself.

I can tell you've never attempted a pinball service call.

Also, note to Pinside: You can no longer complain about anything pinball related, as pinball problems are all first world problems.

Pinside: Ok, here's about 4 posts a week.

Enlighten me: when did I use the word "slavery?"

Very nice try on the "when did you stop beating your wife?" gambit. Please find someone dumber to try to use it on.

I also don't care about "perceived wealth." If you are dumb enough to pay several times market rate on a game that needs work, you can expect to pay a tech fairly to bail you out. Not sure why someone in the pinball hobby would disagree with that.

Because it's about half the fair rate.

I have no idea what you do for a living, but cut your earnings in half and then explain to me why that level of pay would be unfair. It's kind of like that.

Because they are idiots who underestimate their own self-worth.

Shame on them!

(though to be fair, please send any competent pinball techs who are willing to work for $50 an hour my way, I definitely have a ton of work for them!)

I have a friend who has ONE game. A Sonic Butterfly. And he wants to sell it.

Naturally, he thinks the best way to do it now is "via auction."

To the moon!!!

I find this escalation in watch chatter troubling!!!

What is happening to our precious auction thread?!?!?

Sorry Bob, if you truly love a thread you must set it free.

This is a tech fee thread now!!!!

And it’s an important discussion. People need to be ready when these auctions patsies start desperately calling us up to get their auction mistake disasters running for them.

And I think we’ll be ready. The answer is anywhere from $100 (our diagnostic fee) to $8k (the cost of a new pinball machine).

Cunningham is delivering these games to people?

That should take…years?

I just get nervous about these one-man pinball shipping operations, especially ones who take on this volume of work. We've seen it go south many, many times in this hobby. Anybody remember Randy Buffalo?

Bob has a good rep so that's good. Hopefully things go smoothly.

No "they are all fleeing CA" run of posts is complete without "poop on the sidewalk!"

So...you know....POOP ON THE SIDEWALK!!!!

Bob ain't gonna like all this hummingbird talk!!!

Rightfully so?!

Who forced him to buy it?

Was the auction a cause or a symptom?

I’m leaning way toward symptom. Auction is a distant memory but higher prices aren’t.

Banning auction got a ton of free national press, including a prominent story in the New York Times. I think NPR did a story...it was seriously all over the place. I can't tell you how many family members sent me various links to the story.

That’s the real reason it blew up like it did. Tons of folks who had never thought about owning a game before saw these stories and got caught up in the excitement.

We probably won't see anything like that again.