Otchu,

welcome to the sickness.

Before you buy, open up the coin door and use the buttons inside the door to navigate into the service menus. You can test all the coils, switches and lamps individually to see that they are all working. Make sure you have a good look at the DMD as well to make sure all the pixels are working.

As for transport, yes, you'll want to fold the head down. To do so on an LAH, you'll need the big hex wrench that should be with the game. Before moving, make sure to slide the glass off and remove all 6 balls. Once that's done, there's a latch at the back that holds the head to body. Undo that latch with the hex wrench, and then fold the head to the body (be sure to pad with cardboard or a towel). Once the head is folded, secure it to the body with a ratchet strap or some industrial plastic wrap. Prop the back up and unbolt the rear legs. Set it on its butt, then unbolt the front legs. Then you'll be good to move the pin around with a dolly.

Good luck!

Later,
EV

Great first pin, but beware. Even though seller says fully working, there could still be 10 things wrong with it and $500 or more needed to get it all fixed.

But that game is great bang/buck pin.

Looks like this.

s-l300 (resized).jpg

even if one lamp or switch aint working stuff like that can be easily fixed! Maybe walk away if it does not boot...

You should jump into the LAH owners thread and ask your question. Nobody better than those who have gone through the experience of buying theirs, and who know the pin and what to look for specifically.

You only need a 5/16" hex socket to do the job. Harbor freight sells a set for like $14:

https://www.harborfreight.com/7-pc-38-in-drive-sae-long-reach-ball-head-hex-socket-set-67885.html

Marco has the actual latch key for $8 plus shipping:
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/777-0001-00

Just be aware that this machine was made around 1993, so it is not new. Data East machines in this timeframe have a power supply that have issues sometimes with the capacitors on the power supply board. There are replacements/upgrades available. That is an expense you will likely incur at some point if this fix has not already been accomplished. Symptoms might be problems with sound or errors during startup, so watch for that when you boot up the machine.

May also be head bolts behind the speakers too.

http://www.purcellvillepinball.com/TakeDownAPinball.html

I got my first pin last year, and a LAH I just finished shopping out yesterday. You will need a large allen wrench to fold the head down (5/16" I believe) and an adjustable wrench to remove the legs.

LAH was relatively easy to shop out and fix up. At $1500 if it turns on and plays, get it. That's a good deal.

If some lights don't work, the bulbs can be changed out to new bulbs cheaply, or LEDs for relatively cheap. If rows of lights or sections of the game don't light up, that can likely be fixed with some very light soldering and easy troubleshooting.

If rubbers are rotten or falling off, they can be replaced easily. If plastics are broken, they can be replaced. The main "unobtanium" part is the ramp, and there happens to be one for sale on pinside now for about $60 IIRC.

The most likely to be messed up parts are going to be the magnets and the crane.

When you are inspecting the machine, open the coin door and slide the large lever at the top to the left to release the lockdown bar. This is the black bar that holds the glass on at the bottom of the machine. Gently slide the glass off and lean the glass against something solid, and don't put the bottom on bare concrete. once the glass is removed, close the coin door and start a game. Once the ball shoots out, knock down all of the crane targets. This should cause the crane to move from it's default left position to right. Throw a ball up immediately to the right of the ramp, and the ball should pop into the back right corner, and then load on the crane. If it doesn't stay on the crane, no biggie, this is common, and the machine will virtually lock the ball and move back to the left, if it doesn't move back over it's fixable, but I've never personally dealt with it.

Start a multiball to check the magnets. There are 3 magnets under the center of the playfield. Hit the captive balls about 5 times each (I think) to light multiball, which is achieved by hitting the far left scoop. The magnets should activate and if you hold some balls over Arnie, they should move around a bit.

The most likely thing to be a royal pain to adjust is the diverter. It can be done, but is finicky. This is the piece of metal at the top of the ramp. Roll a ball up the ramp. Roll another ball up. The ball should go in a different direction each time. If it is not moving, but you feel the motor struggling, see if it is held up on the plastic. If you even feel the motor trying to move, it is fixable.

If the sound is not working, there is a volume nob on top of the transformer just to the right of where the coinbox is elevated off of the base of the game.

You will also want to throw a ball around the various parts of the machine with the glass off to see what does and does not work.

Machines are usually really dirty when you get them, there are great threads on this forum about cleaning them up, but choose a random face on the playfield when you are inspecting and rub it with your thumb for a second. I'm guessing it will look much better afterwards, and give you an idea of what it will look like when it's all cleaned up.

If the game is playable, at $1500 you are good. Most of that machine can be replaced, the playfield can't. At $1500, as long as you are good with it the next guy will be to. If I can, I'll try and make a quick video of mine for you tonight.

Good luck and have fun!

And the fuse holders.

A quick idea. Look the game over. If hard to clean areas are clean, the game has been maintained. If board repairs look like the person had the right tools and parts, they likely did a good job.

And most important. Don't get hung up on having to haul that first game home no matter what. Don't be afraid to walk away.

Your fun in the hobby depends on your decisions.

LTG : )

This is a very exciting moment, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

The hex wrench is usually left with the machine...but if its not there, this is my favorite type:
https://www.amazon.com/Eklind-51620-Standard-Cushion-T-Handle/dp/B000189QPQ/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_469_t_2

Make sure to get the manual and any spare parts that are available, even if they are old and replaced because they were worn out.
If there are any defects at all, a manual will be a must to be able to get the correct parts and make repairs.

I'd get thre Saturday if you can; $1500 DMDs don;t seem to sit around too long.
OKus it gives the person more time to do a google search, which leads them to Pinside, which leads them to 10,000 people saying LAH is a 3K game

Welcome to Pinside. Be sure to post pictures when you get your game home.

Definitely a good price on the game, especially if working 100%. I would look at the area in front the center scoop on the playfield on the "ticket", there's often wear from the ball kicking out thousands of times. Not a deal-breaker at $1500 by any means though. I would prepare to sink at least a couple hundred into upgrades/repairs/shopping out the game with rubbers, new balls (6!), and a good cleaning etc. There's also an upgraded game ROM made by pinsider caker137 that adds some new rules and upgrades that would definitely be worth looking into if you get the game. The Last Action Hero club is definitely a good thread to familiarize yourself with. You could do a LOT worse for your first pin at $1500. This game can fetch between $2,000-$3,500 depending on condition usually. Magnet problems are also common on this game, so see if you can test them by getting the game into multiball or through the magnet test (put the game in magnet test and grab a ball and see if the magnets move it around). Pretty sweet game with multiple 6-ball multiballs and lots of modes and a couple wizard modes. Good luck!

In my experience when the seller says “full working” it means the exact opposite.

Either way $1,500 for LAH is a great deal. It’s a prefect first game.

Congrats to you...I remember getting my first pin. I insisted I wasn't into pinball and that my buddy wasted money getting me a game I wasn't going to want... ... ...

Also, Last Action Hero is a really cool game, so have a blast, and start thinking about what your next pin will be.

Was this not your first pinball 4 years ago...???............Joey

FD7B31B4-5A47-4DF9-A730-87633CC54D60 (resized).png

Lol, Joey the Pinside gumshoe!

Lethal Weapon is a fun game.

Lah is one of data east better games with alot going on but at the end of the day you will realize why it is only a 1500 game. I would just play it and have fun with it and try not to put any money in it.

I assume this will be the first one he is buying., not owning, hence the title of the thread. EDIT: ?

If it boots up just get it. $1500 is a very good price for that game. No need to check to see if every single thing is working properly at time of pickup.

Made you a real low quality video showing off mine, how to lower the backbox, and what I think you should look for... complete with upside down video half way through!

Suspence is killing me

honeymoon period gotta give him a few days now

Awesome!

If it boots up you did great! Fix some of the little things and you are golden!

Also shout out to sataneatscheese for the video. That is some awesome Pinside helpfulness.

Nice!

Be careful when you put the game in the magnet test, the manual says to not use that for more than a few seconds, some people read the manual too late and fry the magnet board. Makes not much sense to me that a manufacture puts in a test that can destroy a board in 10 seconds, but it is in there.

If you need the actual plastic piece that goes up and down it's here https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/545-5048-01

If you need the switch it activates it's here
https://www.marcospecialties.com/control/keywordsearch?SEARCH_STRING=180+5092+01

A comprehensive list of everything MARCOs sells related to LAH is here https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/228?sortOrder=SortProductPrice:DEFAULT_PRICE&view=card&VIEW_SIZE=12.

I'd also recommend looking at Pinball Life and a few others. Try to order all from the same place to save on shipping.

Marcos should have everything you are looking for. I'd recommend waiting a few days and putting in an order all at once to get what you need.

https://www.pinballlife.com/sternsegadata-east-white-drop-target.html
Perhaps this is the same thing at a little better price from Pinball Life.

Dont buy kits most are terrible.
Use warm or cool for the GI (probably warm on this game) and make a list of the insert colors and bulb type and order what you need.
Will need non ghosting for the inserts.

Oh and I'd order from comet. Best LEDs and best prices. For the white gi orderd the 100 packs as they are a great deal.

I've had great experience with cointaker. Order single bulbs to color match the inserts and warm white for general illumination like mitch said. Dont forget behind the back glass, you might want some color there too, but usually its warm white.

I also ordered a handfull extra of different bulb styles, flashers, rgb ect. Something to play around with to find what you like best. But dont go crazy with color or the led police will criticize you.

The video of my pin showed LED lighting done cheaply. I used the clearance LEDs from Pinball Life for all of the inserts. It's $17 for a bag of 100 now https://www.pinballlife.com/clearance-items.html. I snagged them from clearance on pinball life. I would highly recommend the frosted lenses, and expect 1/4 of them to not work out of the bay (but they are cheap clearance ones...). I would not cheap out of the GI lighting (the lights that stick out above the playfield). For these I used 2 SMD frosted white LEDs. https://www.cometpinball.com/product-p/2smd-ct-ft.htm Between the two you could fully LED your machine for about $50 plus shipping.

If you are not trying to cheap out COMET all the way.

General illumination.

Pretty much anything above the playfeild that's on all the time. Like the lights under plastics, lane guide, spotlights and behind the translight.

I love Comet and usually do warm white in the GI and backbox but I just like the way that looks; it's all personal preference. You could order a few of each and try them and see what you like. While I'm not personally a fan of color GI, it's your game and you only live once so I say you do what you like! It's always easy to change bulbs later on.

One more thing. If you are changing out the GI in the playfield you are going to have to do pretty much an entire top side teardown. I'd recommend that if you are doing an LED job that you replace the rubbers at the same time... you'll save hours by combining the job... also a very good time to clean/wax.

Where are the pics dammit!

Gilligan's Island