Doylestown, PA
Wanted to share my experience searching for a pin. I had been looking for a SMB w/o much luck so just over a month ago I posted a want ad here. I've been told this one doesn't get sold all too often and when I checked the site stats, 229 pinsiders had it but 325 pinsiders wanted it. These didn't seem like great odds. I had already told my wife, it might take a year to track 1 down we'd want. Since so many other pinsiders wanted one, when I'd find one for sale that didn't work for me, I posted about it which started some discussion. More than 1 pinsider reached out to me either w/ a pin they'd be willing to sell or a lead on one. Dr-Willy posted in 1 of my threads saying he had 1 in Cali (I'm in Philly) he'd sell me but he was inundated w/ PMs from closer members who said they'd buy it. That combined w/ having to find someone who'd handle shipping it and I was concerned it wasn't going to happen.
Then RoxasUrSoxas answered my want ad w/ one 440 miles away. That seemed like a long way to drive for something that might end up being shit and I wasn't sure about the price BUT the photos looked really nice and it was in my budget. (was probably what Dr Willy's table would have cost after shipping) most importantly from the pics it was possibly the nicest one I'd seen so far (hard to tell from pics) but that went a long way in helping to convince me to take the 14hr drive. besides, I really wanted it & went the next day.
He was really nice and had a great collection of tables. It played really well & didn't look like shit. I was tired and after making that drive I was gonna buy it no matter what so I didn't really look at it real close. my initial thoughts were the playfield looks great but the cabinet had imperfections I didn't notice in the pics. It was LED'd, clean, and there was no way I was gonna drive home w/o it.
When I got it home and really looked at it, there are no cons. it's all pros. The playfield & plastics are way nicer than I could have hoped for and what seemed like a negative about the cab, I already can't see. the cab looks amazing. I'm gonna color match the blue paint & deal w/ any of the little imperfections but honestly, none are bad & none are in the art. I could easily leave it as is. I'm gonna just chalk it all up to being tired & nervous about driving all that way for something that "might" have been a let down. the playfield is even nicer than I thought. even slight issues I thought i saw in pics must have just been due to the way the pics were taken because, seeing it in person those same areas look perfect. I'm gonna assume that's original mylar because the art on the inserts all still look brand new. I absolutely love it and it's better than I could have hoped to have found. it needs nothing. I mean, I'll do stuff to it but I certainly don't have to.
now about the price, any concerns I had were un-justified. based on what pinsiders told me a SMB should go for I was thinking maybe it was a couple hundred high but in reality, based on the playfield he probably could have gotten more for it. He was really reasonable & helpful. I was really lucky that he answered my ad. if years from now selling it was an option for us (which it won't be) I'm sure I'd be able to get my money back. (not sure about the speeding ticket, tolls, & 2 tanks of gas it took to get it) if it wasn't for the distance, I wouldn't hesitate to buy from him again. Long story short, due to covid I wanted this table now not later. I don't expect to bring my son to the arcade this summer & now we have an arcade at home.
NOTE: There's a little wood wear at the holes in the table but Cliffy makes protectors for these that'll cover that up & prevent it from getting worse. if there was gonna be wear, that's the spot to have had it.
Already ordered a set of mario coin themed flipper buttons, started searching to topper ideas, need to find a back box lock / plate, and I'm gonna get some LED strips for under the ramps. flippers seem fine but I'll likely rebuild them. (who doesn't like new flippers) LED flashers int he back box are a little too bright IMHO and washing out the backglass but throwing normal flasher in it seem to yellow in comparison to the LED GIs. I'll play around w/ that but honestly, I'm just nitpicking at this point.
THANKS!
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