If it's 4 hours away, not working, your first game, and you don't have lots of previous repair experience................
I'd say no.
Just too many ways for this to go sideways.
Cosmetic condition looks OK, but too risky IMO.

I'm not sure why you think that because your 4 hours away the seller should drop the price by 25% as compensation to you.

I know how you feel,BUT,you don't want a fixer upper for your first pin!!!!Watch the ads,and hold out for a pin that works perfect! You'll be much happier!!! Good luck and remember,Pinballs multiply like rabbits!!!!

I disagree with this to an extent. The seller doesn’t have to drop the price as compensation but how difficult it is for me to come get the machine absolutely affects what I am willing to pay for the machine. A title like this one is not going to be a high demand machine so who knows what the seller would accept.

I would advise that if you’re buying your first pin, you should buy a pin that’s fully working. Since you don’t know if it’s a $5 fix or a $500 fix, I’d buy something possibly closer and working. Are there any other fellow pinsiders nearby who could sell you your first pin? I’d definitely stay away from a project, unless you have prior skills and experience in pinball repair

you never know might just be a fuse....

The first game I bought was non-working. But it was also pretty cheap. These days it's hard to find cheap projects.

The good thing is that it doesn't look like the batteries have leaked, and that's generally the big problem on many project games. A clean circuit board is always a plus.

I doubt it's a $500 fix.

However, I usually expect to spend a total of around $300-$600 refurbishing most games. That includes replacement parts and fixing/bulletproofing the boards myself. If you have to send a board out for repair or buy a replacement, it's going to cost several hundred dollars more.

This checklist should give you a rough idea of the sorts of things you would have to investigate when trying to fix a game:

http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Post-Purchase_Checklist

But, there's always the chance that the problem is just a blown fuse, broken wire, cracked solder joint, corroded connector pin, or something else fairly obvious if you know what you're looking for.

Personally, blackout is not a game I would pay a whole lot for or drive very far for, so it's really up to you.

Keep in mind that the pinball show season has started, so you might be able to find something that's either fully working or in a project state at one of the shows in your region.

My first game was non-working but electronically was all there. It was more playfield refurbishment and finding parts. Having said that I also enjoy tinkering and figuring out how things work so I enjoy working on my machines. It depends on what you want out of the hobby. Some people really want to play a lot and just clean their machines or do minor repairs. Some people love to really dig into the machines and do more major work. Agree that a working machine is probably a better bet unless you specifically want a project.

Also agree that Blackout is not a highly sought after title, unless you really want that particular game for some reason there are other pins out there that would serve well as a first game. My first game was Pinbot, love that machine.

There are a few problems i see here:

1) This machine is not sought after and likely not worth what the seller is asking...even if it were FULLY working. According to the Pinside market, the top end for these is $1210. While that may not be the final word, I have seen many of these working sell for less than that.

2) As many have already stated, you need to buy a working machine for your first pin. Unless you are mechanically gifted, don't mind working on it, are willing to potentially spend hundreds more on it, and are fine with possibly having the machine sit around for months unused...I wouldn't bother.

3) There has got to be something better within a closer distance. That's a very long way to go for an overpriced, non-working pin.

4) There is no guarantee the seller will budge at all. Im not sure what dollar amount you are capped at, but all this is just hot air if the price isn't lowered.

I would recommend a hard pass.

Poor resolution pic of circuit boards. It looks like corrosion on the It's on the Driver Board below the batteries. If so, avoid the game, assume a new CPU and Driver Board will be needed.

All that circled in Orange can't be good

Screenshot_20190409-134310 (resized).jpg

That's just heat damage. It's common. Usually to bulletproof that, you would change the board over to use MOSFETs, rather than transistors. That would remove the need for the large resistors, thus cut down on the heat.

this is priced in Canadian dollars so about 850 US

Sorry the picture is so bad.

Others have different opinions but mine is to pay a few hundred more for a fully working pin when it’s your first pin. You will usually need to pay a few hundred more to get a non-working one working anyway and it’s a much gentler entry into the hobby. Buy from a fellow hobbiest and make sure you see in person of course.

I don’t think $850 US for a non-working Blackout is a deal I would drive 4 hours for, personally.

Blackout is a challenging and fun to shoot classic pin IMHO, so you could do worse. Nobody can say what it will take to get working. The question is, do you like to troubleshoot and repair electronics?

I just got my Blackout working after collecting dust in storage for the last 20 years. It would power on but wouldn't save any settings and a lot of the electrical was pretty finicky (sometimes things would work, sometimes they wouldn't). Once the fuses were replaced we upgraded to 6264 NVRAM Module and changed a couple light sockets and now it works like a brand new game. As much as I love Blackout, $1200 is way too much for a non-working game.