I was first to ask and call him when it was listed. I just talked with him tonight again, and asked for first option on it and told him I will buy it. He said he would, and is calling me back tomorrow morning.

Someone had placed a low bid before I could ''buy it now'' he thought the listing was still for $12,000 buy it now, (he is new to selling on ebay, but not buying)
So I had to explain to him how it wasn't anymore a buy it now auction. He said he is calling me tomorrow morning with first option/confirmation when he sorts out the e-bay thing.

I could use the luck, so thank you.
Will do. I will keep you in mind.
Like many, I have seen that game in pictures and always thought it was really cool/unobtanium.
Hoping all goes well...

l did jump on it, early. The guy said i'm first in line for it at 12K- read above for his mix up. If he decides not to honor that, l can move on, and life goes on.
Saying ''your money is on it as well''
relax, and lets give the seller the benefit of the doubt. lf he decides not to, then fair game.

There was a whole thread about this sort of thing recently...honoring vs spiking price

lt will be good faith, luck and his word if it does go through. Stranger things have happened. lf not, it wasn't meant to be and more power to the next if it falls through.

l too, was hoping to bring it to shows, and let pinballers local and far play it. it's just too cool.

folks, it wasnt a question of beating around the bush on the buy it now price. lt was, that he listed it for low starting bid with a buy it now. Within seconds, a ''dink'' bid was placed for the opener, eliminating the buy it now. The seller thought the buy it now was still on all day, he said that was the first item he ever sold on ebay=noob seller.
With that said, l was first to call and l told him i'd take it. Called him twice actually. He was confused about the listing, and why the buy it now wasnt available, and decided to look into that further before commiting to anything else.
He told me he has 600 pins, one of the first 14 bbb, and that WAS his Kingpin. He has many other rare games, they are all for sale (they are going to be auction housed)

So, in short, l gave it a shot, didn't work out so far. Oh well. The stories he told me about the King Kong were more than worth the time.
l'm excited about aquiring Metallica pro nib, so all is good

He told me he needed to sell them all, it was time to move on, that he'd been doing this for a long time.
Sounds like an impressive collection. I wish him luck.

Data East put together 9 proto King Kongs. Each one is a little different, but mostly the same. They kept trying to aquire the license for it, but couldn't finalize it. They then aquired Back to the future, which is why half the playfield (middle to left side) is much like Back to the Future.