Great post. Definitely see the writing on the wall as well in the BC, Canada region.

I have always felt there is a huge misconception for EMs in general. I mean, many rare EMs constitute the highest valuations, yet people see them as being worth less than SS?

Also, ALL of the $50 - $100 specials are basically ones that have sat in someones shed for 20 years... and somehow, this project valuation seems to stick in the head of people translates to EMs being worth that.. this is stupid.

The fact is, a pinball is a pinball. Like with SS, condition and desirability is king. I would argue that the window for finding your A-list EM has mostly closed already... sometimes, we still get lucky, or the local yokums don't know what they have in their backyard, which I guess is one of the points of your OP. In your case, it sounds like that's the case.. local flippers just know they can't flip enough profit on it without actually doing any work.

Glad the machine found a good home!

Totally. You have to be pretty old to actually have nostlagia for an EM. 50+ anyway? You totally hit it with this post. Not about the nostlagia, the games are just fun, and the art of Parker and Morison in particular, just seems to age really well. My son hates new sterns, but we play Grand Prix just about daily. Go figure.

Wish I knew where these cheap wood rails you are speaking of are...

The only ones I heard about for cheap are serious projects.. otherwise any flippered woodrail in fair working condition/complete seems to be highly desirable, and much more bids / value than any B-list Wedgehead anyway.

[edit] I should add that just like any pinball.. all are not equal.. there are of course, a huge gambit of flippered wood rails of various desirability... I'm talking about desirable ones... DRAGONETTE and Buccaneer come to mind as I've seen them recently...

Exactly.. I had recently come across some of this guys videos.. he does a nice job of explaining the woodrails.. and clearly has access to some gems!

I'm glad you snagged them. I kind of dislike those 'deals', love how they can bring good people in.. but they can also just be flipper bait where you see them posted a couple hours later at an inflated price... twang.

Point is, even needing work, those machines would be gone at twice that price likely just as quickly.