How hard is it to find a TSPP?!

Not so hard that you should have dealt with this guy who is a known clown. There's gonna be lots of people piling on you for this one. Sorry it happened but I can't fathom why you allowed yourself to get taken like this. There's tons of TSPPs around.

Thanks for letting us know though this should help others in the future.

He has a long history of scumbaggery. Should be lots of good stuff on RGP about him.

It's probably best to sell machines out of your own inventory and not to drop ship anyway. I have never purchased a pin that was as advertised. never.

In no way should people be pilling on him for purchasing the machine. Yea the guy is a known scammer but he has worked with him in the past and it all worked out. I see no reason why anyone should get on the OPs case when all he did was purchase a game. If you need a nice TSPP, I have a few available that I wasn't planning on selling. The offer is to the OP only though.

He's from NJ.....Cmon man!

Look up another goof Barry from NJ....he sells similar crap!

If you can't see it in person then don't buy it!

By using an IES, the whole scam could have been avoided:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-to-not-get-ripped-off-in-pinball-vids-guide

Gotta see it in person, gotta play it in person. This is the first commandment of pin buying.

Really?

Most experienced pin buyers have had games shipped before. If I had to "see it in person" id have missed out on some good games.

Hope this all works out for the OP GL. Anyway you can post pics of what he claimed and what you received? Just want to see them.

Nah, I get more games shipped than in person. Works out just fine 9 out of 10 times.

Yes that whole see it and play it before you buy it is not realistic for everyone.

Um...we're not ALL douchebags in NJ. I'm an honest seller and buyer and the last thing I would ever think to do is screw somebody.

Sorry didn't want to make it seem like everyone in the state is a dirtball but for those of us on the East Coast in the know.....most of the dirtball sellers are in the NYC, NJ area. Pinsiders here are usually cool......regardless of state their in. It's the vendors and guys who've been doing vending routes for 30+ years who try to screw collectors like us is what I meant. They are complete scum! They tout their machines as "MINT" and when ya get there to check it out it looks anything but "MINT". Then when ya question it they freak out and pull a Jerry Springer on ya!

He bought a Funhouse from me years ago..... made up excuses not to prepay and not to pick it up. We met in RI (was supposed to get it in NH) and he made up excuses to not have the cash when he arrived (2 weeks he had to get it)...wanted to Paypal. I told him no unless he covered the Paypal fees. Made a stink but told him take it or leave it. He paid, we loaded up FH and off he went. Next week, he had it for sale with photoshopped pictures. Was clearly mine as some of the playfield wear was still there, but the major stuff was all taken out...game looked 100X better than I had advertised it as. Someone got scammed. Year later he wanted to buy an Addams from me but I didn't want to sell it to him.

It is always a risk but I am actually someone that The Pinball Company purchased a game from (Monopoly) and had it dropped shipped to their end customer. Brooke and Nic were great to deal with and I am assuming that there were no issues with my machine as their customer nor Brooke/Nic had any complaints. I also purchased a POTC from a guy in Boston sight unseen and once again I had no issues with the transaction and the machine was actually better than advertised.

Ironically for me, I have had better luck in buying machines sight unseen then I have had in traveling to pick a machine up directly from someone!

What a scumbag.

this really isn't necessary... nor is it true...

Same here. World Cup Soccer. Easiest sale I have ever had.

Agreed. No good comes from having folk like him in the community, but at least we can warn others away from him and other D-bag scum.

as a seller, I'm sure it goes very well.

clear shipping problem...you know how those shipping guys always play about a thousand games missing the start button with their sandpaper hands. What a total dick. Why lie with shit like this it never works out to lie about a game when it's cosmetics. Hope you get your money back.

Brooke and Nic at The Pinball Company are straight shooters, I'd not hesitate to buy from them anytime.

It's your duty to restore the good New Jersey name by burning Gary Valentine's house down.

Anyone know Diane Sauer from shootagainpinball.com in New Jersey?

Speaking of NJBarry. Has anyone else seen his pinball resurrection center? Just two kids painting, swapping, tweaking and photo shopping.
What do they say about sausage making and politics? Add his shop to that quotation...

Oy....don't bash all of us NJ folk

I had a terrible experience a few years ago with this guy. He sold me a "MINT" WH20, when it arrived in Seattle it was a complete dumpster fire of worn out garbage and cobbled together parts from other machines (system 11 even). I eventually got my money back via PayPal dispute.

Buyer beware.

indeed some like gecko are kool and i know few others. But that sucks dude if you can try to fight it. I know i would try

Why take the risk for that 1 time out of 10 when you could make it 0 out of 10?

Oh God...she's from NEW JERSEY!!!!!!

Don't do the deal man. Don't do it!!!

Naw...Diane has been around forever and is a good dealer. This Jersey hate is stupid I've done a million deals with NJers and they've been fine.

He wasn't talking about you and me, Ted. We wear Hawaiian shirts and belong on an island somewhere. We're not true New Jerseyans.

and he's from NY! even worse!

Wow... a lot of NJ hate going around.

Valentine is a total POS. I got two machines from him (same time, combo deal) and he totally misrepresented the condition of both machines, used pictures of other machines to hide the true condition of the machines I received. They were total routed out pieces of crap with terrible wear, broken ramps, screwed cabinets. Shipping was included in the deal. He was three weeks late shipping them, and then sent them COD! When I refused the shipment, he finally did pay the shipping. When I called him out on lying about their condition after we unpacked them, he said he would refund some of my money...right, never happened. This guy is a total rip-off artist. He is " Valentine painting" so we know where he is. What goes around, comes around, and he will gets his due.

Brooke?

False. Plenty of high integrity people selling pinball machines remotely. If I believed in your first commandment, my collection would be a lot smaller. The first commandment is don't deal with known scammers...particularly those you know about!

I think the difference here is that when you (a pinball collector) purchase a game sight unseen (which I do a lot as well) expect to have things to work on when it arrives. But a customer getting one should expect it to work perfectly without quality issues. Obviously, pinball machines do not travel well so those things always need to be worked out. you guys know this

I don't think that's the First Commandment at all, because it doesn't address unknown scammers.

Best plan is always deal with known respected individuals.

Sure, however finding the respected individuals is obviously subjective. I've personally had great luck...even when a machine was slightly misrepresented, sellers have been easy to work with on fixing the issue (or compensating me for the misrepresentation). Let's face it, "The Pinball Company" does this for a living, so it's clear they were impatient (and decided to lower their standards for who to deal with).

Maybe a better First Commandment is to be patient, or else you are likely make potentially costly mistakes.

Gary?!?...Gary?!?Gary where u?!?

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he has been at it for years and he will continue to pull the same BS on folks for as long as he can. only thing we can do is educate people about him. he sold me a turd. went to pick it up. was already wrapped and outside in the cold. the jerk didn't even help me load it. counted $, put in his pocket, and went inside. got home and the game was a turd. my fault but the first thing i did was go on rgp and warn people. i have warned people here too. just wish there was a way to give folks outside this pinball community we have here and on rgp a heads up. i honestly hope he never makes another penny on selling pins.

Ba ba booey!!

So you have his home address?