To be fair from what I've seen there seem to be far fewer pins for sale in nw than Midwest and east coast.. So getting certain titles you really want may cause this to make more sense over here. Still no screaming deals or anything but at least offers a shot at some pins that you rarely see for sale
Quoted from hisokajp:Definitely not to make money but it's a fun experience. Nothing like unloading 31 games from a container 5FT off the ground in the pouring rain!
Seems like xmas came early for some kids this year 
I can vouch for the "fun" of unloading a container when I got my FT (This also included Mbecker's game). It was essentially 2-2.5 people doing this from about 8:30PM to 1:00 AM. Of course, the container was parked at the end of the street, so we had to move the pins (literally stacked on top of each other) from the container to a truck, drive the truck over to the garage, then unload the pins there. When we were done, we had to reload the truck with the games we were bringing to another location. That was ridiculous amount of work, but at least we got some games out of it 
Quoted from Atreyu:I can vouch for the "fun" of unloading a container when I got my FT (This also included Mbecker's game). It was essentially 2-2.5 people doing this from about 8:30PM to 1:00 AM. Of course, the container was parked at the end of the street, so we had to move the pins (literally stacked on top of each other) from the container to a truck, drive the truck over to the garage, then unload the pins there. When we were done, we had to reload the truck with the games we were bringing to another location. That was ridiculous amount of work, but at least we got some games out of it
Wish I could have been there to help! Would have loved to at least see the container full of pins in person. I can't believe you guys pulled that off with 2 -3 people though.. especially with that set-up! ouch!
Based on what I saw from the photos, it looks like you all got lucky. Container shipments of pinball machines don't often look like that, and a few of those involved know that from experience. Most of the time it's machines with the legs still on and the backboxes up, coupled with pins stripped of solid state boards, hacked wiring, and games that look like nuclear bombs went off beside them. Totally a gamble for loss, i would not do it, and I don't recommend to others, unless you really feel like inheriting a bunch of subpar project machines, that you end up selling for a loss or just stripping for parts, and throwing the rest in a junk yard. Any game can be saved, but sometimes it is not worth the effort.
Several buyers have had the same experience we did - overall good experience, high resolution pictures, good packaging and a decent idea of what we were buying from the buyer we purchased from. I'd do it again.
Here's the other game I picked up - Magic Castle
Seller had listed it as not working - minor fixes and it's back up again . Playfield is almost perfect, and the cabinet is good. The only real problems are the neon (broken) and the outer backglass is missing.
image.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpeg
Quoted from Pdxmonkey:Glad you got the Magic Castle, I was scared off from the description but it seems you did well
Thanks . Also didn't hurt that Greg was able to negotiate a little better deal than the sellers asking price, so not too bad of a deal.
Here is the final WCS game. This one was in the worst shape. It looks like it was stored in a very damp area for several years. They playfield and most of the boards are in surprisingly good condition, but the metal parts and most of the plastics are shot. I was so happy to see they shipped the game with the rusty balls still in it. Notice the typical BR hack on the driver board.
Got my 20 games in today. They were packed very well. But really got shorted on legs. Out of 20 games only got legs for three of them. It's not a deal stopper but it's kind of sucks because it's just another thing I have to add onto the expense of these machines. This load of games turn out to be a lot more expensive than the first load I did. There was just a lot more incidental costs on this load.
Quoted from cfh:Got my 20 games in today. They were packed very well. But really got shorted on legs. Out of 20 games only got legs for three of them. It's not a deal stopper but it's kind of sucks because it's just another thing I have to add onto the expense of these machines. This load of games turn out to be a lot more expensive than the first load I did. There was just a lot more incidental costs on this load.
we thought the legs wouldn't be there or gripped anyway so we did a bulk order from PL
Turns out the legs were inside the games!
but man, those were some of the crappiest legs ever. so we're going to pinball life on friday for the expo party and will buy 10 to 20 sets. Got some crazy Zac titles, will post pictures of them in the Zac thread. Also got a wheel of fortune which turned out to be a decent game. dirty, but all there and pretty much working.
Quoted from vid1900:So after shipping and customs and everything else, what did each of those games end up costing you?
On the Seattle deal Greg arranged, I paid $3,717 total for a Creature from the Black Lagoon and Judge Dredd. Already spent another $200 on a translite, new sets of legs-bolts-leveler, and a Great Plains order for parts to remove the hacks. Mostly the clean up will be elbow grease and time, but I'll probably end up buying a few ramps too. It's an adventure, that's for sure, and both of my games have a few problems, but I'm pretty happy with the deal.
The feeling you get when a container shows up after 4 or 5 months is like X-mas, b-day, New Years all rapped into one! We did 40' containers 10-12 years ago when you would pay $650-$750 a game after shipping, insurance, broker, trucking. Having $50 to $60 thousand dollars floating out there doing 2 containers a year was fun, crazy, a lot of work and a big gamble. We had a container get caught up in customs in New York after 9/11 and that container was are worst experience we ever had. They call your broker and they call you and say your container has went through the X-ray and looked suspicious and we are putting it on hold!?!? They say if you want your container they need to search it for booms or drugs and if you do not let them know within 48 hrs your container is emptied and the content is auctioned off!!!! So, you say yes and they open it up and pull every game out and open every game. They do not strap them again and they just throw everything back in and tell your broker that they will release it when they get a money order of $2500 and today they will start storage fees of $150 a day till they get it. If it does not happen with in a week it will go to auction! Having that $2500 cash to get the money order and storage fees and fedex it to them with all the right fees was not fun. When the container arrived it was like X-mas again but Santa stepped all over are machines! Nothing was strapped, tied down. Imagin 60-70 machines riding from New York to Rockford, Il. Rubbing and grinding on one another! Soon your TZ, Addams, MB and so on that are going to way out your turds in the bunch turn into machines that need LOTS of work! With the euro and the dollar being so for apart and this event happening was the end of are container days. Don't get me wrong, it was awesome! Pick 5 machines to keep and wholesale the rest to get your money back......I would do it in a heart beat again if I could. Your games look very nice. You see a lot of hacks and bad fixes yes but bring the machines back is what is fun for me. I like the little strand of wire bridging the fuses that have blown for a good reason! That's ok...it is a slow- blow strand of wire, it will pop when your machine is on fire!
Anyone in the Chicago area in for a container? I think I have the itch again!?!??!?!
Quoted from Tvpinballs:The feeling you get when a container shows up after 4 or 5 months is like X-mas, b-day, New Years all rapped into one! We did 40' containers 10-12 years ago when you would pay $650-$750 a game after shipping, insurance, broker, trucking. Having $50 to $60 thousand dollars floating out there doing 2 containers a year was fun, crazy, a lot of work and a big gamble. We had a container get caught up in customs in New York after 9/11 and that container was are worst experience we ever had. They call your broker and they call you and say your container has went through the X-ray and looked suspicious and we are putting it on hold!?!? They say if you want your container they need to search it for booms or drugs and if you do not let them know within 48 hrs your container is emptied and the content is auctioned off!!!! So, you say yes and they open it up and pull every game out and open every game. They do not strap them again and they just throw everything back in and tell your broker that they will release it when they get a money order of $2500 and today they will start storage fees of $150 a day till they get it. If it does not happen with in a week it will go to auction! Having that $2500 cash to get the money order and storage fees and fedex it to them with all the right fees was not fun. When the container arrived it was like X-mas again but Santa stepped all over are machines! Nothing was strapped, tied down. Imagin 60-70 machines riding from New York to Rockford, Il. Rubbing and grinding on one another! Soon your TZ, Addams, MB and so on that are going to way out your turds in the bunch turn into machines that need LOTS of work! With the euro and the dollar being so for apart and this event happening was the end of are container days. Don't get me wrong, it was awesome! Pick 5 machines to keep and wholesale the rest to get your money back......I would do it in a heart beat again if I could. Your games look very nice. You see a lot of hacks and bad fixes yes but bring the machines back is what is fun for me. I like the little strand of wire bridging the fuses that have blown for a good reason! That's ok...it is a slow- blow strand of wire, it will pop when your machine is on fire!
Anyone in the Chicago area in for a container? I think I have the itch again!?!??!?!
You just proved my point, sarcasm aside.
Its called "unnecessary risk", and the days of quick flipping machines have come to a close.
If you want a specific machine you cannot get in the the United States (ie Zaccaria), then fly, crate, ship and return.
That includes using a passport and VISA if needed.
Its cheaper and you know what you are getting.
"Been there, done that" (Devil Riders)
I'm going thru the Zaccaria games right now from our recent container. Though they are in decent cosmetic condition but only about half of them actually boot. I know it's going to be a lot of work as these games are 30 years old. This is more work than bring in 20 or 10 year old games. Time is the enemy. But we wanted zaccarias, and there really is no way to get them. Italy was where they were made, so that's the place to go!
On the risk thing, yea, doing this is just plain dumb. Emotions get the best of you though.
Ok got through all the Zac machines (16 of them plus 3 others from the prior load that didn't run) and they are all running! Lots of power supply issues and some minor CPU board issues (one had bad corrosion and had a bad 4001 chip in the reset section.) But mostly power supply stuff to fix.
One game, the Zac Stars Phoenix, i can't run on 120 volts! The transformer has no tap for anything less than 200 volts. So i bought a voltage converter 110v to 220v on ebay (500 watts) and i'll try that. I tested the boards in another Zac and they are good, so it should fire up with the voltage converter.
what an experience!
Good luck man. Hope it all works out for you. I am jealous, looks to be a great haul after you finish with them.
Where's the next list, by the time they get here I will be done taking this starship troopers from a Italian lira stealing beater to a honest to goodness players condition quarter earner.
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Seattle, WA