did you see it in person before you bought it?

Something similar happened to me with a Tales From The Crypt...bought it an auction. It looked liked it was in good condition, just the right flipper was weak. This thing was soo hacked up, I was almost sick to my stomach. Hopefully, you didn't lose your shirt on this deal. Best of luck getting it fixed up.

Wow.....chalk that up as a lesson learned. Sorry to hear. Cut your losses and pick up a nib IMVE. You'll have zero regrets!!!

That sucks dude I am so sorry! I only had one game shipped but it was from a fellow pinsider and I couldn't be happier.

rules to live by....never buy anything you can't see and play first. Only way not to get screwed.

Unfortunately that is what happens when the magnet core mushrooms and cuts into the wood. My Spider-Man has similar damage. You should pull the magnet cores periodically and sand the sides down in the future. Good thing is new playfields for IM will be available so you could purchase one and swap it in. If that were mine I would buy a new playfield, send it off to get a nice clear coat applied and swap it.

When it rains, it pours.

IMO, cut your losses. Get max settlement from STI, get a good quote and pocket the money. Do your best to get IM functioning correctly, clean it up, list it accurately and sell it on Ebay auction style.

Order IMVE for $4800 shipped or whatever you can get it for and call it a day. In the long run you will be much happier IMO.

That sucks man, hope everything turns out alright.

I always put a large circle of mylar over the magnets (and the wood around it)
you can't see it and its very good for your playfield...

why is absolut no space between the magnet and the Wood ?!?!

a bis sheet of mylar is the only Thing ehat makes sense or a complete airbrush pro Restauration

How much did you pay for that?

Was that the one that was flood damaged and picked up at Allentown???

Someone could scan their playfield and make a decal of that area. It would be the same size as the Mylar circle, just with the art included.

Mylar won't protect anything when the core mushrooms unfortunately, the only prevention is maintenance.

"restored" flood damaged pin. What? that sound like a problem right from the get go. I saw a IM on pinside not to long ago that said "Restored water damaged pin" I laughed out loud because unless it's a new cabinet and there is "NO" water damage to the play field it can't be "called restored". forget the water if there is any damage to the play field it can't be called restored IMO. Terms used by people in pinball is like sex without a rubber. It's a gamble! I have been burnt 3 times this way with HUO, Restored. Heck I bought a game for 9K once from a guy called "Restored' the new decals were peeling off, Someone tried to do a restore on it with spare part. Heck the post and lanes didn't even match. (Green lane top with Orange w/post) Either that or someone has really bad taste. There were wires under the cabinet that were added and went no where, Mods that were rigged in the machine.
I bought it after someone said, this guy has some of the nicest games out there. Way over paid! Come to find out this guy out sourced all his work and I think he has no clue that his tech is screwing him. So, if your picky as heck or OCD like me. Then look at the cabinet in person. I am think of flying out to look at games that are 5K or better. Heck a round trip ticket could save me hundreds and thousands of dollars. However "restored" flood damaged pin? I'll be staying home for that one.

You got burned three times buying water damaged games or for having sex without a rubber?

Yes TigarLaw that's it. Make sure next time I see you to slap you.

Get a white, yellow, red & black fine tip paint marker & some Mylar. Maybe put down a thin coat of cured clear on the area before the touch up. As previously mentioned sand down or replace the core too.

Also, that could have happened to any IM regardless of its history.

Get the cash from STI. Fill in the damage on the cab, touch it up the best you can with paint, tidy up the PF & just play the game man. You won't see the cab when it's next to other machines, you won't see the PF wear when all kinds of kick ass stuff is happening during play & you won't have to part with the insurance money.

I'm not saying I wouldn't be irritated btw.

If you are gonna burn that Iron Man, I'll come get it instead.

Sorry to hear your purchase went south,when you got it in your home. If it works well put that baby on route. I would play it.

Actually the shipping damage on this guy might help ya. I'm gonna guess about $1500 to purchase and change the cab with labor.

Touch up that magnet wear and sell the turd for $2500ish.

Throw in $700 and get a new one dropped off at your house.

Pro - You played the sh*t out of it which seams like most of the problems are cosmetic now. Just trying to give you somthing positive to think about.

I really feel for you. I did the same thing and bought my BOP and Batman DE sight unseen. Was my first pinball purchase and I WAY overpaid for what I got. Both play great but just have some cosmetic challenges. Still have fun with them at least and as long as I don't think about how much $$$ I spent I'm happy.

I'm sure you've got it all covered but if you need another set of hands let me know and I'll see if I can help you get that cleaned up. I'm pretty confident we can make a nice decal to cover that area so it wont stick out so bad. If you can't get new decals for the cab I'm pretty sure I can get some made as well. We'll just need some real good picks, I could stitch them together in PS, clean them up and then we can send them off to be printed.

Lastly, if you do decide to ditch the game, let me know. I'm never one to steer clear of a fixer upper as long as the price is right. Need a couple months to rebuild my pinball fund and would of course need the wife blessing first though

Did someone on Pinside sell you these games? I don't know about the damage around the magnet area, but it sounds like you were grossly oversold and the condition of the game doesn't match what was described. Hacks, parts missing, switch errors, on a "restored" game?

If this was sold here, please let us know who it was.

was it this one?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/wtt-iron-man-for-xmen-le-or-transformer-le

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/iron-man-restoration-has-begun

Also a good read.

This !

Buying sight unseen makes me nauseous...literally. I've been burned before as well and it sucks. I would do as others here advised. Get the most you can from the claim, fix up the game the best you can without dropping too much more into it, and then list it detailing the flaws. You will take a loss (consider it a the cost of an education) but, once you have that IMVE in your home, you'll quickly get over it. Looking at your current game is going to be a constant reminder that you took it in the rear pipe.

did it once, got screwed on description but price was appropriate for condition. thought i had a steal, got what i paid for.

Scan would be awesome. If you don't get one, I'll take my SLR to our buddy's house, that has a real nice version of this game, next time I head that way and take some good picks of that area. His machine is real nice. Scan would help a lot more as sizing would be correct but worst case I'm pretty confident I can get it done just with some good picks.

The wood shouldn't be that tight around the magnet hole, that's what she said.

It might be more water damaged than you think!

yes, the wood is fully engorged.

sorry, btw75. that really sucks, i feel for ya!

How does the monger's cover fit? Should be recessed in that grove that is cut out. How about the monger magnet? It's possible the wood swole (is that even a word?) up a bit. From the pick it does look like just the magnet mushroom though. I'm guessing the monger magnet looks about the same. Will be a PITA but you may want to remove both of those magnet cores and clean them up before the same happens in front of the monger.

Been thinking a little bit and another option would be to get this game playing solid and then work a deal with a local restaurant or store and put it on route. I'd kind of like to have it in my game room myself but if you have the time and desire you may be able to cut some of your losses by letting it earn some money on route. It's not a nice enough game at this point to worry about the cosmetic damage a route game gets and I've heard these hold up well. You're like me and like to tinker on these things (thus why I show interest in it) but I also think you like to work on the older titles more.

Think it's sit down time to think about what you want out of the game and then proceed from there so you don't waste money fixing up/restoring something you may never be happy with. We'll get that PF looking nice again though.

Snicker snicker...

No, I'm sorry, I adamantly disagree with you. Sure, as a buyer you can do things to help the seller. But when you advertise a game as "restored" and it's not perfect, let alone, hacks, broken switches and parts missing, you were just flat out lied to.

Also, throwing someone under the bus implies you are doing so to "get ahead" or for reasons to benefit yourself. Letting people know who bad sellers are is the opposite of that.

There is just too much of this crap on Pinside IMO, I'll drop it now. I think you got taken advantage of though. When I buy a game, I expect it to be as described. I do have a tolerance for things not being exactly correct, but this isn't that.

Even if the seller wasn't bad, as long as your review of the transaction was honest and factual, that could NEVER be a bad thing.

If the cabinet is acceptable, I'd buy a NOS playfield and swap it in. IM has to be one of the easiest games to swap. I know a guy who's selling a new playfield if you need one. I feel your pain about the IM remake timing, that had to be a kick in the gut.

That is the best idea I've heard in a long time. Pinside needs a seller feedback rating system.

Sure seems like it.

interested in knowing that myself.

What you guys miss is that at least the last time I was there, Pinballz already has an Iron Man in Austin. It's not like it's as hard to find a game to play there as it is elsewhere..

Not saying the area couldn't support another, but then again, with two Pinballz locations within like 25 miles of each other, who knows.....

get a quote for a new cab PLUS labour to swap everything, take the insurance payout, buy another game with the cash and stick this one between two other games. You don't play the cab.

I'll be making magnet decals soon that will cover that wear spot, but seal it for now so it doesn't get worse.

- B

That game would do just fine in a little one-off restaurant in one of the North Austin Suburbs - people wouldn't go there to play that particular machine (like they would a specific game at a place like Pinballz) - but people already there to eat with their family (and their kids) would run more than enough quarters through it.

But there is the potential for you to save another pinsider from going through the same problems as you. Isn't that worth it?