I bet a new fuse would bring it back to collector condition. =)

My Surf Champ has twice as many players. A deal at $6k? Ha...

Sad thing is, I bet I could get someone to pay $2k for mine.

Finally a multiball I don’t want to play...

My father used to reference the normal intelligence curve. The internet is a frequent reminder that a certain percentage of people fall on the lower end of the curve....

The sad reality of this hobby is asks like this are becoming normal. EMs commanding over $1k. System 7s pulling $2k. Nice ones more.

Anymore I think you’d might as well “splurge” for a low end WPC game over the overpriced older stuff. Just my opinion...

Who Dunnit?

Buy my rust bucket, arguably THE only Whirlwind that may have actually been outside during a twister.

louisville.craigslist.org link

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Wonder what he wants for his Funhouse? Lol

What a bargain. Needs work, can’t find one in better condition without it costing more money! Right.

cincinnati.craigslist.org link

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And another. It works, just look! I wrote the guy and he said it just needs cleaned up. I’m guessing it may need a little more than that, lol.

louisville.craigslist.org link

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Yeah, I thought about writing him back with that, but clearly he knows more than I do about pinball. I took a shot at a $500 offer but honestly don’t need another basket case, so I’ll probably pass even if he writes back.

I’m frankly tired of everyone bitching. There’s no need it, I’m contacting a moderator.

Sincerely,
Karen

Ha ha, just kidding. Bitch away!

And about 4 friends with guns.

Years back, I'd search the local craigslist for "pin ball". Once a year or so, I'd get a hit. I saw some damn good deals this way, even posted them either here or RGP....

I have an S+ slot. My father in law also has one, as does my dad. They are great when they work. They suck when they do not work. It seems like IGT intentionally made them difficult to work on. For instance, the battery died on my father in laws. I replaced the battery but can’t for the life of me get it to accumulate credits. It pays out for every win. Annoying...

Wow, that a real gem. But his price belongs on “squeeze play” on The Price is Right.

He always prices his game at top dollar. I’ll just leave it at that.

I still found it entertaining. I agree with @tomass, I think what once was funny has now become some sick reality. I see prices daily now that just make me shake my head.

I’m afraid it’ll never go back. Inflation is a real thing. Don’t worry, Biden will fix it, ha ha.

Reminds me of “back in the day” when newspaper ads were still a thing. Someone pranked a coworker and listed free AKC puppies with his desk phone as the contact. You can only imagine how well that went over…

I sent him the following message just for fun. =)

Can you take some pictures of the inside of the game? Inside the head and cabinet?

Do you have another Black Hole pop bumper cap so I can replace the correct one on the upper playfield?

Can you provide a 1 year warranty?

Shit, I’d sell my nice one for half that.

I always lick my chops when I see Surf Champs at this price - because I own it, ha. Wonder what a reasonable price is for a nice players version?

If it is sturdy enough, it might make a nice stand for a few slot machines. But it’s not worth anything IMHO.

I think it’s funny that nobody wants DLP televisions. Some of them are 1080 and have a nice picture. I know because I own one, have for 16 years now and replace the bulb every few years, and it just keeps going.

You are about to enter the scammer zone. It’s so close I’m tempted to call them out. Then again, I already have a TZ….

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1686389545122313/?mibextid=6ojiHh

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Or this guy. “Very sought after machine!”. Right. Just needs bands. Right. Don’t pay attention to the errors on the displays. Or the carved up speaker panel.

This guy is local to me and I thought about offering $1000 for it. But I figure I’ll just end up mad and not getting it. Not sure I even want it, it’s one ugly ass game on its best day.

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When I was a kid, they had a millionaire at a soda shop. I’d drool over it and occasionally scrounged up a quarter to play. So there is some nostalgia, but let’s not kid ourselves. It’s not the best. Far from it.

This guy updated his ad. He’s now offering to change the rubbers for the low, low price of $800. I’m so tempted, lol.

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For fun, I offered the guy $1,000. Of course, he wrote back insulting me. It’s a collector piece, etc. I sent him some pinside data which seemed to piss him off more. At that, I deleted his emails and moved on with life. He’s not worth my time….

His displays show “adjust failure”, so I’m assuming the batteries puked on the CPU. Given that he doesn’t know a damn thing about pinball and claims to have owned it for 30 years, I’m sure it needs a full rebuild, likely some plastics, all boards rebuilt, etc. Given what they sell for rebuilt, $1,000 seems right or maybe high.

I knew he wasn’t going to bite on it and arguing is an awful negotiating tactic. I had zero hope of getting it, just seeing where his head is at. Typical crap I’ve dealt with before, the game is rare, highly collectible, it’s in great shape, blah blah blah.

I remember going to see a funhouse about 20 years ago and the guy said it was minty - his price reflected that. It was beat, including a cracked flipper. I offered him half of what he was asking which pissed him off. He escorted me out of the house. I actually thought he may start a fight….

Still reading? Probably not, but I’m venting, lol.

About the same time frame I want to see a Playmatic machine. I specifically asked the guy if the case had damage since they are so susceptible to that. Of course he says no. Get there and the bottom had large areas that had been poorly patched with bondo and painted. Called him out and he got pissed. To be fair, I was pissed too that he lied and wasted my time.

I thing I’ve learned over the years is there are a lot of liars in this world. Especially when you are buying stuff online.

I was trying be nice here by not outright calling the guy a moron, but…..

His last response to me:
“ I played it today it works great owned it for 30 plus years and no problems. It's programmable digital has circuit boards not tubes”

Say what? I never mention tubes or anything of the sort.

That’s exactly what I do for stuff I really want. I realize that arguing kills deals. That applies to online haggling and getting things done at work, home, etc.

Time is a great negotiator. As you said, make your offer and if they don’t take it, walk away. Sometimes they come back later. Most times not. But, I’m not paying this dude $800 to put a rubber set on a game that’s already double what it’s worth.

I know that if I really want something and need to bring the price down a bit, doing it in person is a lot better than trying to negotiate online. It’s a lot easier for someone to hide behind email.

Is it just me, or is $1,850 a price for a fully working Dracula? I offered him $1,000 since, well, odds are I'll have to drop money and time on it before it's working 100%. He basically told me to piss off, lol. I told him "obviously you're an expert" and moved on......

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Yeah, I should have noted that in my post.

Look, it could he as simple as a switch adjustment. Or it could be as bad as needing new boards. Almost for sure it needs shopped and mechanically rebuilt.

That's what frustrates me about this hobby. People either don't know - or ignore - the fact that most machines need a ton of time and money invested to make them stable and playable. His Dravula is likely worth about $1,000 if the purchaser stands a chance at getting their money back.

I think that's the root issue; there are people who will pay stupid prices. I assume most of them just don't know better.

If I were dishonest, I'd jump on the "buy low, sell high" bandwagon for pins. Buy junk, do virtually nothing and re-sell them. I can't do it though. I can't leave well enough alone. If I sell a machine, it's been properly sorted. And more often than not, I lost money on it.

This one is close to me too. He is asking $750, so I offered $500. He said $650 is his bottom line. I'm on the fence about it too. I can fix it, no worries there. But will I ever get my money back out of it? I assume I'll drop $200 or so in parts during a rebuild. EMs are a hard sell.....

Yet, I'm itching for something to fix. Anyone near Louisville, KY have a SS machine in need of repair? Ha. I missing doing in depth board work....

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I'll give credit in saying it's actually a decent re-theme. That being said, I wouldn't pay more than $500 for it. And only that so I could flip it.

I bought a re-imported CFTBL years ago and it had screw holes in the side of the cabinet. The seller had an IJ too, which also had screw holes in the side of the cabinet. Both were re-imports. What's up with the Europeans screwing cup holders onto a perfectly good cabinet? Yack.

But it has a strong speaker. Pricing justified.

I can’t get over the cheese factor. Waaaaaay back in the day my friends and I would play TZ at a local bowling alley. Hours per night. Eventually we put so many miles on TZ and they replaced it with a Baywatch. We never went back again. Not kidding.

$500 and $125 to ship. Not much more and you can get a playfield, cabinet, wire harness, boards, etc.

I really wanna write this guy and ask if he’ll take $1,000. Lol

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The price is right. If it were just a 25 cent fuse, this would be a steal. Yet, we know better.....

Still though, it seems like a good deal. A link in case anyone near Cinci is looking for a cheap project.
cincinnati.craigslist.org link

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Well said. I often tell people the same thing. Fixing pinball machine circuit board is cheap. Knowing how to fix them is difficult.

I’ve been in this hobby for 25 years. I’m proficient at board work, but certainly no expert. Newbies need a lot of guidance, as did I. Rec.games.pinball was a wealth of knowledge back in the day, and I read the posts daily. Couldn’t get enough back then…