St. Louis, MO
Hello everyone,
I just made a trip to Amini's Galleria in Tulsa because I saw an advertisement for a sale on pinball machines. For those not familiar with Amini's it's a regional game room retailer in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, St. Louis and Kansas City. We've all seen pinball retailers prices, but I had so much fun at this store I thought I should share.
Their lineup was actually impressive. I had a chance to try all the games, and here's what I found.
Xmen Magneto LE - First time I had ever seen this pin, so I was excited to play it. The playfield was set at about 2 degrees, so it wasn't any fun at all. Tried a couple games, but never really got anything going since the ball always managed to float to the outlanes. I asked the salesman how much it was going for. He never gave me a direct answer, but mentioned that it was over $10,000, since it's only one of 250.
Bally's Game Show - Misaligned and weak flippers. Absolutely filthy playfield and ramps. 3 of 4 displays were malfunctioning.
Batman, Dark Knight - Game served two balls at the start of each ball. During this game the salesman came over to highlight Amini's pinball techs and how they can keep your game running 100 percent. When I asked him why it served 2 balls instead of 1 he said it was supposed to do that to make it more fun. I pressed a little further and another salesman said it happens because there's an extra ball in there by mistake, but they haven't taken it out yet. Asking $7500 for BDK.
Rolling Stones - Only played one game because it had the same 2 degree slope as xmen. Didn't notice anything else wrong with it. Asking $7500.
Stargate - Salesman couldn't even get it to turn on. Playfield was worn and absolutely filthy.
Lethal Weapon 3 - Pushed start and the game wouldn't even start because it was missing a ball. I really wanted to ask the salesman to take the extra ball from BDK and put it into LW3, but I didnt want to be too much of a jerk.
Rescue 911 - Display was flickering, but the store closed before I could play it.
Lord of the Rings - Seemed to be in pretty good shape, except for the fact that no playfield lights were working. It's hard to shoot the flashing shot during modes when everything is dark. Asking $8000, because they still have to pay royalties due to the theme.
So, that's the story of my trip to Amini's. The salesman spent 10 minutes bragging about their tech team, and explaining that they charge so much because their techs will fix anything that breaks within two years. Given the state of the pins in their showroom, I wouldn't let them within 10 miles of the games at my house.
I told the salesman I was looking for a TX Sector, and he promised he could find one. Ive been looking for one for about 9 months and havent come close to finding one. We'll see if he ever calls back.
Hope you enjoyed this story, and has anyone had similar experiences with retailers that they'd like to share?
Sana'a
