My wife would kill me for sure but I am still looking at the math for a 2400 mile round trip. It wouldn't be the craziest thing I have ever done and isn't likely even in the top ten craziest things I have ever considered! I need help!!!

A question for you guys that are fairly local. Are there enough "serious" buyers in the area to keep prices on most of these machines close to market value or do you see a good many of the more common (or more beat up) machines selling cheap? I know here in Central PA an auction that size would draw a big enough group of buyers that not much would sell cheap. What is your take on that area?

I am still considering a 2500 mile round trip but wouldn't want to make the drive to pay top dollar or come home 1/2 empty.

Also - one of my main interest these days is parts. Are there parts & parts machines being sold or is this auction mostly just the 160 fairly decent looking machines?

Since I NEVER part out anything that is worth trying to save I didn't see much for me as far as parts with machines that have been posted so far. Most look far too nice to do anything but restore them!

I agree 100%

Doing what you have done has greatly helped the auctioneer / the family of the seller / and the pinball community. GREAT WORK!

There were actually 3 auctions from the Sliverman Collection - the first two auctions things basically went for market value and those pins were mostly the "better" pins from the collection. Prices posted above were from one of the first two auction.

The CRAZY Silverman auction was the third one: close to 500 machines with 60 to 80% of them being in rough shape. Decent machines at that auction still brought decent money but the "junk" machines went very cheap. I don't remember exactly but I think over 100 machines sold for under $25 each and another 100+ sold for less the $50 each.

But you need to remember two things - first off there were 500 machines (not 160 like at this auction) and second that was the 3rd large pinball auction in just a few months here in Central PA. So most people wanting machines had plenty to chose from. Plus the auction with 475+ machines only had about 50 fairly nice to nice machines maybe another 50 to 100 were in decent condition and the rest were missing backglasses, had rough cabinets, bad playfields, etc.

Bottom line - I doubt this auction will be anything like the last Silverman auction. I expect there will be a few good deals but I think it is highly unlikely that there will be any (or many) "killer deals".

Another HUGE difference between this and the third Silverman auction is basically NONE of the machines at that last auction actually worked. It has been a few years but if my memory is correct maybe 20 or so working machines (if that).

If I was closer I would still love to attend but I just can't justify the drive. Good luck to all you guys that make the auction - it should be fun!

It sounds to me like he is trying to do his best to help as many remote bidders as possible when that isn't something he would typically be doing.

If I were making the trip I would be more concerned about the number of people that now know about the sale and that will be standing next to you bidding. A good thing for the sellers family & auctioneer but not so good for the buyers.

For anyone considering making the trip - I would not think twice about it if I was within a few hours driving distance. It should be fun regardless if you can buy anything or not. Rarely do you see over 100 machines for auction in one place! I expect it will be like any other "typical" auction with 25% of the stuff going well over what it should - 50% going at around average prices - and 25% being great deals. The question will be are any of the "great deals" machines you are interested in?

Wish I was closer!

Funny I was reading some of this stuff this morning and thinking the same thing. Sounds more like sour grapes than honest assessment to me. Personally I don't like some of what I am hearing about the way they attend to handle phone bids - etc. and I do think that is going to slow the auction down a good bit but since I will not be attending it really doesn't matter to me.

To me it sounds like the auctioneer is a great guy doing his best to get seller as much as possible and also work with out of state buyers the best way he knows how. Is it perfect - not by a long shot - but at least he is trying. My advice to people who can't make it that really want something would be to try to find someone heading to the auction that can bid for them. Not an easy task but there are a lot of great people here on Pinside so in my eyes that would be how I would approach things first.

Anyway - good luck to everyone that does attend. One thing I can say for sure is it will be an experience you will not soon forget. I know this from my experience with the Silverman collection final auction. That happened years ago and I still think about it often - what a rush to see that many machines being sold in one place on one day!

According to the "latest list" on the auctioneers web site there are 159 listed so if any went missing others were added. It is possible he decided not to list machines that were not complete or something on "final list" but it is highly unlikely "side deals" were made before the auction. Auctioneers typically wouldn't do that - they are smart enough to know if someone wants something that bad other people will likely want it just as bad or worse. And since they are paid based on selling price they want as much as possible out of each item.

Knowing from experience occasionally family will pull something from a auction they decided to keep for one reason or another but normally once a auctioneer list something for sale it is their at the sale.

Colson,

I agree 100% - auction has been well advertised both here & on RGP as well as being posted on Mr Pinball and Auction Zip, etc. I doubt if much will go cheap. As far as condition of machines listed most look to be "better than average" so again this will bring in bidders that might have otherwise passed on this auction. I think seller & auctioneer are going to do quite well but I don't expect it to be a buyers sale.

It would be great if someone could post prices realized. Perhaps OP could even get a sold for price list from the auctioneer once sale is over. I don't see why auctioneer would mind doing that for OP with all the help he has been to get word out about this auction. I know there are a lot of us that would love to know hammer price on these machines!

Typically auctioneers sell items in the order they are lined up. So if there is a row of machines they will likely start at one end and work to the other end. Then move over to the next row and do the same thing. I doubt they will be jumping all over - that would just get too crazy.

As far as length of sale when Morphy's sold over 500 lots (400+ machines plus some parts lots) the auction lasted less than 5 hours. They were selling at a pretty insane pace that day even with phone bids & everything else going on. The crazy thing is they provided free pizza and sale kept going even while people were grabbing some pizza.

Typically most auctioneers average about 45 to 60 lots per hour so if this is a "normal" sale the actual auction should last about 3 hours.

As with most of the stuff I post I am talking from personal experience. When I was dealing in antiques & collectibles I attended an average of about 30 auctions a week for over 10 years and I never remember any auctioneer selling less than about 40 lots per hour or more than about 75 lots per hour except for the Sliverman auction. The pace at that auction was totally insane but with around 500 lots to sell they had to keep things moving. Plus Morphy's is a "well organized machine" with lots of experience with phone bidding - etc. I would expect the pace of this auction to be in the 45 to 60 lots per hour range - perhaps towards the slower end since they are doing something new with phone bidding.

Thanks for all your hard work with this! Pinsiders owe you one for sure! It would be great if you can post prices. Thanks again!

I second the "glad I didn't waste my time and fuel" - that has got to be the worst way to have to buy and will also likely slow things down a bit. It will be interesting to hear from you guys that made the trip - keep us posted! If my memory is correct you are two hours behind us here on the east coast?

Sounds like some of the people bidding watch Pawn Stars or American Pickers and thought the prices on those shows were for real! I am glad I didn't go but I am happy for the seller. However I do feel kind of sorry for some of the buyers.

From prices listed above I didn't see any bargains and as stated it looks more like prices on finished machines not projects as far as pirces on most of them. With that said some of the machines did look pretty nice in some of the pictures.

Here is the MILLION DOLLAR question for anyone that drove over 2 hours to get to that auction: "Knowing what you know now would you do it again"?

I expect the answer from the majority of people who reply will be no. And if that is the case then seller did well and a lot of people wasted time and money attending.

In any event it will be great to see a full list of realized prices if that becomes possible.

Also sometimes sellers just don't want people in their space. For example if there are still machines, parts, etc to be sold in the future selling family might not have wanted that to be known? As OP posted it was likely because of best chance to get most money but there might also be other factors. It sounds like the auctioneer has been around for a while so I am sure he knows what he is doing. Someone new might do something silly but someone who has been around for years pretty much knows how not to make huge mistakes.

I am happy for the family but I kind of feel sorry for some of the people who drove several hundred miles expecting a deal. Years ago I learned auctions are a "crap shoot" and about one in twenty turns out bad for sellers and great for buyers. The hard thing is to know how to pick the ones to attend as a buyer.

Years ago when I was dealing in antiques & collectibles full time I would hit as many as 30 or 40 auctions a week. Typically I would only spend "big money" at an average of one sale every couple weeks. The rest of the time I just tried to cover my expenses and make a few dollars. Buying at auction is a science very few people have mastered. I made a full time living doing it for about 20 years and am still learning everyday. I had the feeling this was one to pass on and I am glad I didn't make the trip. But thinking about making the trip got me looking for other deals and I did land another deal from a guy retiring from doing repairs. So shortly I'll be picking up a trailer load of machines & parts thanks to this sale.

It would be interesting to know the "back story" on these machines. Was the owner just crazy into pins - did he have a big selection set up to play - etc. Since it was basically one of each title it doesn't seem like something an operator would have had so I keep thinking just a private collection. If it was just a "private collection" it seems kind of strange no one here knew him or has posted about him? Closet collector hording pins quietly for some reason? Better yet is how did he buy so many pins and not cross paths with someone here when buying? (No I remember that guy he bought a ___ ____ off me or anything like that).

Lots of questions that will likely go unanswered but it does make you wonder doesn't it?

One more "thought" about this auction. Was it a "test run" with better stuff being sold off later? I know sometimes families will give an auctioneer enough for one sale and "see how it goes" before doing a bigger or better sale with that auctioneer. I can't help thinking that might have been the case here because there were no parts or anything else just machines. 160 machines is basically the "perfect number" for one sale. Was it a case of "let me take the first 150 (or so) and prove to you I can make you good money on these" or was it a case of the guy just happened to have about the perfect number of machines for one auction?

I guess time will tell!

Or maybe parts and other odds & ends will get sold off when the rest of the contents of the building are sold? I just don't see how you can own 160 pins and not have other pinball related items to sell?

In any event watching this post has been fun!

I am not saying the "good stuff is yet to come" I am just saying there might be more coming. Maybe even the "bad stuff?" but it just seems odd - no parts - and about the "perfect" number of machines to auction in the first load?

Typically auctioneers try to keep auctions about 4 hours (or less) to get "best return" for their customers (sellers). 160 machines made for a good 4 hour auction! If a sale runs too long prices really drop off at the end. If an auction is too small (or short) it doesn't bring in a big enough crowd. So most auctioneers look for about a 3 to 4 hour sale with 150 to 200 bidders - the "perfect size sale & crowd".

If there are machines or parts remaining I doubt they would leave just a few behind. So it seems like one of two things might happen. Just junk remains & that will be sold with shelving & other stuff from the building or maybe a second auction similar to this last one but with "better" or "worse" machines.

As far as your comment "The good stuff is likely long gone ans if it is not, then I bet it will be before an actual auction happens again.." With what seller got out of this last load of machines I highly doubt they would sell better stuff off any way but with a second auction. Whey would they "wholesale" any additional machines with the prices this stuff sold for?

I don't really see any "conspiracy theories" just an auctioneer working to get the most money for his seller. There my or my not be more to come - but one thing for sure is he hit it out of the park on that first sale!

One additional thought about this sale or any Public Sale. A couple "trolls" keep trying to get their 2 cents in but the nice thing about a Public Auction is the buyer gets to decide what the "right" price is for an item being sold. If bidding goes higher than one buyer is willing to pay that just says someone else felt the "right price" for that item was higher. No one forces anyone to overpay for items - that is a buyers choice.

In the end -- in a free market economy buyers are actually the ones setting the price. Sellers can ask what ever they want but if no one buys an item doesn't sell. Auctions just make it all happen much quicker!