I have been going through this thread for the last two days and loving it! Seeing all these amazing EM's restored to full glory is beautiful.
Wanted to share what I have since I hadn't seen it previously here, a Williams '74 Dealer's Choice (I believe someone showed the 2 player version High Ace which has a totally different color scheme). This is my first full size pin, the first one I bought is a Bally '77 home edition Fireball which is SS.
The backglass has some serious flaking (which drives me absolutely crazy) so I've been on the hunt for a replacement or repro translite. Other than that it plays great and the playfield is in fairly good shape. I am a newbie to rehab with pins so all I have done so far is replace bulbs, clean the cab up good and tweaked a few switches to improve play.
I bought this one because it was a good price for someone shopping on a budget (and it had pretty solid play reviews on the ipdb), but I've really grown to love it. I'll bet I've put 300 - 400 plays on it myself in the last two months.

I'm loving all the tips for shopping these machines you've all been handing out... keep them coming!

Also, I should have taken the glass off before I snapped these pics, but I didn't think about it last night.

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Holy deal! Who sells a pinball in any shape for $25?? (unless it is one collector hooking up another)

That's fantastic, playfield looks really nice!

Thanks guys... I'm checking all my CL and Ebay feeds daily, so you know it's all downhill from here

Absolutely, glad to have a group with a ton of experience to draw from! As I mentioned, I'm entering this obsession with a limited budget so I will definitely be weighing the pros and cons of available pins before I pull the trigger on the next one.
Thanks!

That is what I've been thinking, good to hear!

It's funny you should say that, because just in the 5 months I've been on the lookout I have seen a LOT of EM's roll through local Ebay listings and Craigslist. In fact there are 2 separate guys in the Cleveland area not far from me that shop and flip machines constantly and I have seen a lot of these 60's models in this thread come and go just in that relatively short period of time.

That sounds awesome. Garage sales are few and far between in the midwest winter, but you're getting me pumped for spring already!

Defintiely. I didn't have a chance last night, but I will. I can tell you that there is a small groove in the wood following the ball path along the top arch. Doesn't seem to affect play, but definitely something I would fix if possible.

So glad you asked me to take this pic. Although I have wiped the playfield down to remove dust when I've had it open, I have never scrubbed it because it was cleaned and waxed before I bought it (and it has only been 3 months). When I felt that ridge across the top before I took the pic, it just didn't feel like what it appeared to be. I grabbed a magic eraser and started scrubbing and what a appeared to be a thin but deep groove actually turned out to be mostly ground in dirt. As you can see in the pic there is a slight wear line, but nowhere near what it looked like before I scrubbed it.
Also as you can see, the playfield is not pristine. Although there are no wear marks, there are some tiny spots where that hot pink paint has flaked off. Looks like it should be easy to touch up in the future. Also under the lip of the arch the black paint is faded (I hesitate to say worn off as it doesn't seem like the ball could physically touch it). I assume this is something I could fix by masking off the surrounding area and re-spray?

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Yes. I was questioning the count myself so I checked it before and after I started a new game and it did advance.
Now you have me really curious about the previous circumstance of this machine. If I buy another one from the same guy, I'll make a point of asking how he got it.

I just saw this pop up on the Columbus Oh Craigslist this morning. I know there is a lot of love for Slick Chick in the EM world and this guy is restoring one that will be up for sale shortly. Don't know this guy, so no recommendation from me, but I thought some of you might be interested if you are in or around Ohio.

columbus.craigslist.org link

Carry on...

Yeah, I would guess if he is tying a lot of money up in it, he probably wants it back as soon as he is done.

I'm sure it will be too rich for my blood by the time it is done, and 70's era EM's are really more my area of interest (I was born in '70 so I don't remember seeing any of the 50's - 60's era machines out on location by the time I was old enough to play).