(Topic ID: 221932)

Best deal ya ever got for a pin or arcade machine?

By Dantesmark

5 years ago


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  • 61 posts
  • 43 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 5 years ago by dung
  • Topic is favorited by 2 Pinsiders

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    There are 61 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 2.
    #1 5 years ago

    Ive got a few...

    -10 years ago bought a punch-out for $50 sittin in a guys shed. Great shape/working.

    - friend at work told me his church had a space invaders for free. Again excellent shape/working order... unfortunately i had to lug it down two flights of stairs, but hey its free!

    - bought a great shape/working mk2 for a hundred bucks.

    - about a year ago, saw an add in Nashville about 3 hours away. A guy that owns a putt putt course was liquidating his arcade inventory. He sold me a big buck hunter pro shooting game and a game of thrones pro for $2800! Amazingly GOT was in near mint condition, and the buck only had a few dings. Couldnt believe i was first to call and work out a deal that had me picking it up only a few hours later.
    After about a month i traded GOT for an acdc vault b/c i love that pin. But i will never get rid of buck! Not b/c its a great game, but b/c that thing was the heaviest Sum bitch i ever dragged down into my basement! Lol

    -tomorrow im picking up a 2006 golden tee fore complete from a guy for free... which is what made me bring this topic up. There are still deals to be found if you keep an eye out!

    So to sum it all up i added the following games to my collection for $3k.
    -punch-out
    -space invaders
    -mk2
    -big buck hunter pro
    -golden tee complete
    -acdc pro vault

    Lets here your stories!!

    #2 5 years ago
    Quoted from Dantesmark:

    But i will never get rid of buck! Not b/c its a great game, but b/c that thing was the heaviest Sum bitch i ever dragged down into my basement! Lol
    -

    Agreed. Moved my buck to the basement once. Never again. Selling the house right now and buck is staying with it.

    #3 5 years ago

    Wouldn't you rather hear about the ones we over paid for?

    #4 5 years ago

    Lol sure!

    #5 5 years ago

    $5,800 Hobbit SG edition pretty much new out of box. Local craigslist sale. Made a friend at the same time.

    #6 5 years ago

    Wow. Hope you still have it. Heard the new code rocks!

    #7 5 years ago

    Addams family for $1500 here! Wife sold ex husband's prized game out of spite

    #8 5 years ago

    Daaaaamn

    12
    #9 5 years ago

    A buddy from work texted me and told me he had a friend with a Monopoly game he wanted to get rid of. I said no problem, what does he want for it? He said the guy wants no part of moving it and if you are willing to take it from the second floor and not damage his freshly painted walls it is yours. I said, ummm yea, I'll take it.

    Guy was less than 10 miles from my house so went there as fast as I could. Enter his house and head for the room. Straight run of stairs but 180 degree turn at the top, narrow hallway with a couple of curves. See it in the room with the head down... looks pretty good. Figure that I need to remove the head and pull the playfeild. Lift the head, the game looks real good, I mean reeeeeal good. Ask the guy how long he had it. He said his parents bought it for him new. He actually recently threw away the box. Gulp...

    Start looking for issues, none to be found but he said a "flipper" was not working. I pull it apart and get it loaded up. We start talking after it is in the truck. He tried to sell it for $200 - $300, no takers. He then offered it for free, I was the third person that was asked... We talked about Craigslist but he did not want to deal with the freaks. I open my wallet and say at least let me buy you dinner, he said "no, I'm just glad it's gone". I eventually convince him to take $50 (all I had in my wallet).

    Get it home, put it back together and really start looking at it. It is basically perfect. The game has the original batteries (zip-tie still in place) and the middle one just started to leak, the spring on the negative side has slight corrosion where it is touching the battery, about 3/4 of the spring is still bright and shiny. Game is still holding its setting so I pull the audits. Number of games, 80. No joke, 80. I clean of the dust and start really looking at the game, yea, I absolutely believe 80, this thing is stunning and he kept it in a dark room because it has zero fade. It turns out the bad "flipper" was a eject saucer that was not working, the plunger was just stuck to the rubber snubber from lack of play.

    #10 5 years ago
    Quoted from Dantesmark:

    Wow. Hope you still have it. Heard the new code rocks!

    I do, but Im slacking. Its on a fash drive, just need to update. Looking forward to it.

    Quoted from o-din:

    Wouldn't you rather hear about the ones we over paid for?

    Ughh... too many to list... Its shameful.

    #11 5 years ago

    Pardon the pun but you hit “free parking” with that Monopoly deal!

    #12 5 years ago

    $800 for a Twilight Zone 12 years ago, saw it in the Sunday paper of all things. Ad Said “first to show gets it”. I saw it at 7am, 15 minutes away. I was loading it in my car when guy #2 showed up. Just had 1 switch error, lovely shape.

    #14 5 years ago

    $350 for a CFTBL. But add $5K for Hep restore in Black Nickel.

    #15 5 years ago

    Went to an arcade closing auction with an ex friend who has more money than brains. He dropped 24K on a bunch of way overpriced arcade games and 2 pins. He didn't have room to store everything so asked me to store the Galaga and Donkey Kong. A couple years later he seemed to forget I had them even though he was in my gameroom multiple times. Then he screwed me on a business partnership and so we haven't spoken in years. 2 free arcade games now.

    #16 5 years ago

    Classic Stern Seawitch for $100 last year. Not working, in average shape. Went thru it, rebuild boards, re-pinned connectors, replaced rubbers, replaced speaker, rebuilt all mechs. Plays fast & fun. Great game!

    The background sound did not work when done, so I pulled the sound board again & looked it over more closely - found one end of a resistor that looked like it had never been soldered in from day one. Fixed that & the sound was 100%

    #17 5 years ago

    Got a fully working yet dirty Aztec for $250 at auction.

    #18 5 years ago
    Quoted from Okarcades:

    Addams family for $1500 here! Wife sold ex husband's prized game out of spite

    I would be on the 5 o clock news if my ex pulled something like that!

    #19 5 years ago

    Free Stern Cheetah
    $200 Star Gazer
    $500 Whitewater

    #20 5 years ago

    Used to go to commercial arcade auctions with my dad back in the 90s as a kid. I would buy an arcade machine and sell it in the paper every month. I think I remember buying a "Rampage" upright arcade machine for $50 and selling it for around $300. You could make bank just transporting the stuff and selling it in the local papers. At the time the EM pins were around $50 if you could get that, and most SS pins went for 500-1500 used. The most expensive machine I ever saw sold at auction was a brand new South Park pinball machine... for about $3,000. At the time a Twilight Zone, Star Trek TNG, or Adam's Family went for $500 to $1000. People would literally abandon older machines at the auction house that didn't sell. My how times have changed.

    #21 5 years ago

    Not an amazing deal like some of you guys but definitely a good deal. I picked up a Tee'd Off in pretty good shape and 100% working last week for $725.I also got a Tempest,operation wolf and a candy crane for free but it came from a family memher so that's a little different.

    #22 5 years ago

    Found a Pinbot on Facebook marketplace for $150 earlier this year, I was the first person to message the guy after it was posted for 15 minutes. It was sitting in a barn imamaculate baywatch style for 6 years. I put about $1500 into it and it's one of my favorite pins.

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    #23 5 years ago

    2013 got a TSPP with less then 400 plays for $3500

    #24 5 years ago

    Metallica Premium brand new in box. Bought 1 ticket for $40 to a charity auction and won!!!

    but that led to me buying 4 more NIB Sterns over the last year and a half... so not sure if that was such a great deal... LOL

    #25 5 years ago

    Free galaxian arcade, guy just wanted it out of his basement.

    #26 5 years ago

    MY first DMD was star wars DE. My college had it when I went there and it was commonly broken. My sister in law is 5 years younger. Couple years after I graduated she was there and said it was still there. I called and they wanted it gone. $200 and a few hour trip snagged it. About $150 in repairs and parts.

    Few years ago got a TSPP listed on CL even for $2500. NIB condition some rich guy's basement who never played it he said. Had to take it up 2.5 flights of stairs on deck then back down 1 flight of stairs with 2 90s in it, but worth it! Guy lived on a super steep hill.

    #27 5 years ago

    I'm still waiting for it

    If I had to say, my best deal was getting a ST:TNG for $2900 in 2013, but it was in rough shape, so far from a great deal.

    #28 5 years ago

    Any time I see a great deal on craigslist, it's sold by the time I see it, even if it's only been listed for 1 hr. in most cases, the same pin is re-listed within a week for 3x the price by one of the 3-4 people on the local CL who have all the overpriced pins for sale that stay on there for months.

    Best deal I got was last year I got an x-files in very nice condition for $1600. Spent a couple hundred dollars on some custom mods and traded it for a Getaway, which I then traded (+$300) for a HUO T3 that is essentially mint.... so with some work, about $2100 for a mint T3.

    Worst deal.... was my LAH that I paid $500 for about 7 years ago. $3500 in repairs later (don't ask) it's one of my favorite games and never leaving my small collection.

    #29 5 years ago

    3k for tales of the Arabian nights in 2008.

    #30 5 years ago

    A coworker found out I liked pinball. She told me that a pinball machine came with the house but they didn't want it. She couldn't remember what it was but it was mine if I came and picked it up for her. I was fully expecting it to be an EM. To my surprise it was a functioning High Speed. It has its issues, but it was free. No complaints. I doubt I'll get that lucky again.

    #31 5 years ago

    $900 Fish Tales. It had some wear at the fish inserts but the cabinet was in great shape with no fade.
    A coworker bought a house and the seller asked him if he wanted to buy it. Luckily he remembered I had some pins and hooked me up

    Also a very nice $1500 getaway. It seems like a steal now, but that was just under the going price 5 years ago.

    #32 5 years ago

    900 fishtales is a steal

    #33 5 years ago

    25$... boards have been sent out so I don't know the grand total yet. Hopefully cheap! Love this game.
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    It cleaned up ok.. might do side art eventually

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    #34 5 years ago

    A neighbor was moving out of state back in 2011 and I was able to get their ST:TNG from them for $1200. Funny thing is I never even knew they had it until they were moving. It was in amazing shape too. Should’ve never sold it.

    #35 5 years ago

    $600 Big Guns. Worked great. Just needed to be shopped...and it wasnt an "I NEED A SHOP NOW" shop either.

    Oh, also this. FREE. Turned out great. Shout out to ricksgames

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    #36 5 years ago

    Bought a POTC about two years ago for under 2k. South park for 1k.

    #37 5 years ago

    I once saw an Imamaculate Baywatch for sale for the bargain price of $3299. Just needed some minor board work, had some cracked plastics and some legs put on it.

    Even had the same batteries in it for 12 years!

    #38 5 years ago

    Well, i got a Big Indian for free, since the previous owner have taken it apart to "fix it" but know nothing about EM's, i'll have yet to pick it up though, no space atm.

    #39 5 years ago

    A free Firepower about ten years ago I had a friend ask me if I wanted a pinball machine.
    His uncle had bought a lot of video arcades and the Firepower came with it. He did not want
    it and asked my friend if he wanted it. I told his yes and forgot all about it. About a month later
    he stops by after work with a pretty decent shape Firepower in the back of his truck.

    #40 5 years ago

    I've gotten pretty lucky with most of my collection. This year I've gotten a Taxi in a trade for a High Speed that I got for a Silver Strike Bowling arcade - total cost $300.

    I picked up a Mousin' Around off Facebook for $550 this year and just got a Frontier off Facebook for $500.

    A good year for deals so far.

    #41 5 years ago

    Got a Flight 2000 and Flash Gordon in a bundle deal for 400 bucks 2 years ago. Both were complete but had Playfield wear. They are in the process of being restored. I also got a Aliens Extermination deluxe for 350 last year, that was a pretty sweet pickup.

    #42 5 years ago

    2012 picked up a JP pin 800 bucks, perfect condition. Sold it for 2500 a year later... just because... it was 800 bucks!

    #43 5 years ago

    Almost 4got... around valentines i was in a local pawnshop. On my way out i noticed a 2006 megatouch force. Always loved those at bars. Took it up to the counter to turn it on and nothing happens. The price on it was $500 marked down to $300. I asked clerk if he had the keys to get into it and look around but they couldnt find them. So i asked what was the best price for this non working unit? He said best i can do is $100. I said it doesnt turn on, and i dont even have a key to work on it... best i can do is $50. To my surprise his mgr. accepted!
    Later that day i ordered a key on ebay and a couple days later it arrived. I opened her up, cleaned it, tightened all the connectors, plugged it in and voila... it worked flawlessly! Not bad for a $50 gamble.
    I have since upgraded it to 2011 software.

    Wife loved “her” Valentines gift! Lol

    #44 5 years ago

    $1400 for a Baywatch

    #45 5 years ago

    Ive kinda grouped them.

    a dozen or so flipperless, Airway, Skipper, Skyride, Baffle Ball, Jigger, Big Bank Nite. All American football, Pearl Harbor....
    All were $50- $150 in the late 70s, early 80s.

    Then it would be Star Trek, Paragon, Fishtales, Mousin Around, Banzai Run, and many more, all were $500-$1000 Super Auctions Mostly....some $100

    Totan, TZ, and others were the expensive stuff, at $1500-$2K

    #46 5 years ago

    Time machine any1?

    #47 5 years ago

    Free! $600 and $900. Just for fun guess the game that goes with the price. Demolition Man, Funhouse, Getaway HS2.

    #48 5 years ago

    I got a real nice Whirlwind for $250 a couple years ago.

    #49 5 years ago

    Won a Meteor in a raffle. I think I paid $25 for 5 tickets. Also scored a Space Invaders Trimline (cabaret) non-working for $99. Brought it home, managed to open the backdoor, and found that it was just the interlock switch. It was not fully engaged...

    I found a really nice Pengo for $175. The control panel didn’t work. Found out the harness was not seated correctly.

    #50 5 years ago

    Fun free, getaway 600, demo 900.
    Right?

    There are 61 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 2.

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