How could you not take care of the corrosion and not have the lockdownbar receiver sandblasted in the first place before venturing into talks about collector items ? Playfield nice or not, a dirty receiver beginning to rust is the first thing to pop out when lifting the playfield... Your inlane balltrails on the P.F does not make this a mint machine either.. I cant see how you can reason the price to be over $3k at the very most.. Not to mention the scratches and marks on the apron that someone tried to conceal with a black marker..

How about false marketing aiming to convince some poor newbie that the offered item in it's current state, is prime belonging in the collectors club. It is even far away from being near mint. Deliberate or not due to inexperience is important. Price aside the seller can price as much as he wants, I don't care as long as the description corresponds to the actual condition. Corrosion and collector's item do not cope very well together as is the case here. Needless to say, It's an immediate no-entry to the club. Seller states in post 3 that the playefield is mint. It took me 2 seconds looking at the picture telling it's not. A mint playfield DOES NOT have wood chewed away on the edge from the outkicker to the shooterlane. The errosion is well in progress and no attempts are made to prevent further decay into the wood, either with protectors or refurbishment with putty, resin and an automotive protective coat (yes we are inspecting a supposedly MINT would-be-machine here). Buyer's responsibility to check things first by all means, however there are zillions of things in a pinball machine the untrained eye will miss and what to look out for at the short buyer-seller meeting. If I can help that newbie in his mission "especially specified in his/her search of buying a mint machine", by not overpaying $2.000 by blowing the cover "collector's item" then I'm happy. Used cars and pinball machines is murky waters overlittered with the seller's prime weapon - witheld information. Mint machines and collector's items should only deserve that description if they are. If pinball machines are described mint they should fall under extreme nitpicking. Should passengers with 3rd class tickets be admitted to ride in 1st class ?

They can go to hell. I hope their business burns down to the ground. These people are the reason this hobby has since long derailed. Ripping off 1st time buyers putting them later on, in the similar spot that this O.P currently finds himself to be in with his T2. It sucks... I can hear the conversation taking place when trying to justify the price. "There are only 10 machines left in the world", "You are paying a fair price for Cyclone, only $4300", "You will not find pinball machines anywhere else but here, See this company Williams bought back all the machines but a handfull when they closed down." It is just disgusting....Afterall it's a piece of wood with the cheapest components ever with crap quality...Cyclone for $4300 !!! How the hell does one reason the price to that level and sleep good at night...? There are others as well.. I puke when I see a well known dynamite guy on Youtube insisting his machines are the best in the world thus justifying substandard sys11 games for over $3K...

Does it sound like I support grossly overprized everyday machines being pushed on newcomers ?

There is no problem with that. The problem is when something is being covinced into being in mint condition and a collector's item when in fact it has corrosion and wear.