Flash and Genie, sold as a pair
Manufacturer: Williams
Game/Type: Flash / SS 4 Player
Year 1979
Production: 19,505
Cost: $500
Location: Seattle, WA

Manufacturer: Gottlieb
Game/Type: Genie / SS 4 Player
Month/Year Oct 1979
Production: 6,800
Cost: $500
Location: Seattle, WA

seattle.craigslist.org link

OP:Selling two vintage pinball machines. Williams FLASH & Gottlieb’s GENIE. Both machines is good condition, and they both power up, but won’t play cycle correctly. I replaced one board in Flash and that fixed the problem, but now they both need a tune up. I have over $1,500 in these and am only asking $500 each or $1,000 for the pair. Sold as a pair. I can help load them.

Manufacturer: Bally
Game/Type: Doctor Who / SS 4 Player
Month/Year Sept 1992
Production: 7,752
Cost: $2300
Location: Silverdale, WA

seattle.craigslist.org link

OP:
The bad:
2 coils are locked on (outhole kicker and knocker).
controlled lights are not turning on
flippers are inop (but they are complete)
hole in topper cover

The Good:
2 brand new flipper opto boards
Playfield has no wear and the Time Expander works.
All other coils and switches are working (except what is listed above).
The cabinet has the normal nicks and dings.
I can throw in a new start and launch buttons and a rubber kit.

I think that's a bit high given it needs board repair or replacement

Where are all the Space Shuttle projects?!?!?! Dangit!!!!!

Because when you want it, you want it, right?

I have some questions:

Of all of these project pins that have been moving around the country, how many have been put back together and are now up and running?

How many have just changed hands and are sitting folded up in a different corner in a different house? Rephrasing the question: How many of these project pins are in pinball purgatory and just living in different houses as they get passed around from basement to basement or garage to garage.

How many will we see ads for that say," I'm selling this pin. I have too many projects right now."

I have a pin folded up in a corner of my house. It will be at least 2 years before I can get to it. And I could decide sell it as a project in the meantime.

I'm not knocking this thread. I'm just curious of how large pinball purgatory might be.

I haven't had that many, but all my solid-state projects have come back to life. Only a couple were purchased in functioning condition, the rest were various levels of dead. They are either set up up and playing in my own house, or were sold as 100% playable machines. I'm actually looking for my next one too, since my Devil Riders is essentially done at this point.

The only one I didn't finish was an EM pitch and bat. But I did make a lot of progress before selling it, and it was playable but still needed some work to finish it up. I love playing EM's, but don't enjoy working on them.

-Hans

Well here is what I have going right now.

1) Time Machine- Was dead, got it working 100% a month ago. Someone was interested in it at that point, no follow through. When I'm done with two other pins it will be painted and decal'd and put up for sale as I have two.

2) Melody- Picked up month ago, referb'd and in the line up.

3) Hearts and Spades- In process of referb, just finished playfield. Might be done and in the line up at end of month. Maybe.

4) Grand Tour- Done for over a year aside from webbing and stencils, going to web H&S and this pin at same time. Waited till I was ready to learn how to shoot webbing.

5) Bazaar- Over year ago, got it working, waiting turn for cabinet repair and stencil.

6) <new project> Just picked up, preliminary look over, researching solid state platform and issues. Works, erratic sound and lighting issues. Playfield and cabinet fair.

So everything I have is moving along aside from Bazaar which got pushed to the back burner when other projects and pins came in. I have purchased an easy dozen pins since that point. All of them needed work of some sort which required time. Ground mods, lighting changes, reliability upgrades, minor board repairs, etc.

Currently 14 running strong in the game room. Last one to be worked on when it arrived was Hollywood Heat which needed driver board repair, a few sockets, full LEDs, flipper rebuilt and mandatory System 80B ground mods.

No one can truly answer these questions, but I think you would be surprised at how many pins are brought back...or at least improved upon before changing hands.

I know a lot of pinheads that repair machines and even more that try to fix up whatever they can while a pin is in their possession.

It seems that the ones that sit the longest are those owned by non-pinball fans (e.g.pins passed down by family or those wasting away in a warehouse).
I think the ones that sit for extended times that are in pinballers hands are the "broken down" machines that just need a lot of time and repair. I have seen a few of these recently.

Space Odyssey

reading.craigslist.org link

High Speed

louisville.craigslist.org link

Great game!

1) Xenon - This is the only one I can confirm I bought from a post in this thread. It wasn’t the game listed (Counterforce), but was another game he had for sale. It’s currently sitting folded in my queue. I just received a CPR playfield and plastics for it. I have a couple other projects I want to get to first, then I will do the restoration.

2) Getaway - I can’t remember if bluespin tipped me directly or in this thread, but it was a working game that I fully shopped and have in my lineup.

3) Agents 777 - Saw here or CL ad, don’t know. I fixed it, shopped it, played it for a while and put it in storage. I’m keeping it around in case I need to use it as a test bed for a Cyclopes build, then I’ll sell it.

Man, I'm thinking about this one! Would piss off the wife though...

I've picked up three because of this thread:

Bally Monte Carlo - 100% working and in my gameroom's lineup.

Alien Poker - 90% working and set up for play in my shop room. Will cross the last 10% after the reproduction PF arrives from Europe later this summer

Flash - Had it at 100% and I made a custom playfield protector for it, but it has taken to blowing a fuse so it needs more attention. It is in my shop room with the backglass and PF glass out right now.

-Rob
-visit http://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or my pinball 2000 H+V Video Sync Combiner kit

Manufacturer: Gottlieb
Game/Type: Bank Shot/ Wedgehead
Year 1976
Production: 720
Cost: $600.00
Location: Wichita KS

wichita.craigslist.org link

also on Pinside

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/for-sale-bank-shot-1

Without a doubt there are tons of project machines just sitting.

I bought a Firepower II without coin door keys at an estate sale and resurrected it in 3 months as a novice.

Currently working on Blackout. This one is a bigger mess than anticipated, actually. The boards are out for repair and the tech is having headaches. Thinks he can repair and I trust him, so now I'm waiting to get the boards back...and the longer that takes it is more likely that I wait for the hard top...before I finish this one. I'm stuck due to factors beyond my control at the moment. It is set up, new legs. I've got parts for it, natural LEDs, new rubbers, inserts...probably going to cobble together a rotisserie for a few weeks from now when the boards get back or when I track down a Rottendog combo board and start putting in some daily time on it. Will end up rebuilding the flippers, kickouts and bumpers also. Likely also has some display issues. Once done, I'll order the new backglass.

I've got a new rule after having bought this: avoid games that are torn down and in a box. Only buy a fully assembled pin. Listen to the story about what works and what doesn't. This one has some GI issues that have burned up connectors/harnesses and likely has some solenoid issues. I've learned a lot so far but honestly FP2 was faster, cheaper and easier.

Hoping to find a Space Shuttle that has repairable (or solid) boards. System 9 is tough. Good original board set. Can't really replace them (the Rottendog board for that system was discontinued and they are allegedly working on a less buggy one, so Space Shuttle, Sorcerer and Comet--all good pins--might be had without boards for someone who is willing to wait for the next-gen Rottendog).

There's a guy here who has likely a few hundred tombstoned project pins (he's a 75 year old distributor)...he isn't selling any of them. I don't quite understand it. He's ill. He will clearly not get around to many more of them.

My other rules:
Don't be that guy: Do not hoard project machines.
Don't buy a project with the idea that you will flip it--just buy the pins you want in your collection.
Eventually you'll sell the ones that don't hold your interest and upgrade the lineup. (buying crappy/marginal player pins is just a way to have a headache. FP2 is decent. I like it. I'd rather have Firepower or Space Shuttle--lots of similar shots, both fun and accessible and both have better multi-ball than FP2. FP2 is better in a larger collection than the one I have room for. When I sell FP2, it will be a breakeven probably and to get to that point, I'll need to listen to mostly lowball offers and not many of those. Better to just buy your preferred list, I think.

Estate Sale

Manufacturer: Stern
Game/Type: #austin-powers / SS
Month/Year: June 2001
Production: ????
Manufacturer: Williams
Game/Type: #twilight-zone /SS
Year: May 1993
Production: 15,235
Cost: ???
Location: Kinnelon, NJ
Link/Contact: https://www.estatesales.net/NJ/Kinnelon/07405/2285502

DATES: SAT 06/27

Me: They also have a Defender arcade game

ESTATE SALE

Manufacturer: Williams
Game/Type: SlugFest /SS
Year: March 1991
Production: 1,559
Cost: ????
Location: Hinsdale, IL
Link/Contact: https://www.estatesales.net/IL/Hinsdale/60521/2291253

DATES: FRI 06/26 - SAT 06/27

Me: Slugfest will be $2,200 (Yikes!)

Manufacturer: Zacarria
Game/Type: Magic Castle / SS
Year: Jan 1984
Production: ????
Cost: ????
Location: Seattle, WA
Link/Contact: seattle.craigslist.org link

OP: Selling a project Zaccaria Magic Castle. Import from Europe. As far as I know it does not work but I have not turned it on. It is in good shape. Playfield and boards looks good. Playfield glass is cracked. Comes with legs but no bolts, don’t know where they went. Selling as a project. $900 cash.

Ooooooooo!!! I would love to have that!!! Too far, as usual

I think most folks who regularly repair games have a few sitting in the repair queue waiting for the right time and/or parts to come along. Sometimes I'll polish off 2 or 3 pretty quickly when they're a similar era/boardset. Other times, when a game needs more work, research, or parts hunting, it might sit for a few months or longer depending on what state it was in when I found it.

Though I finally started to weed out some of the project games I'm less interested in, just don't have time for, or have been taking up too much space. I was buying them faster than I could fix them for a while. The thrill of the chase was part of the fun.

I just finally finished a parts machine that had been sitting idle for 2 years

I agree with all of this. I’d say half of the games I owned were non working projects when I got them. Very few left still in project state. Until recently I’ve always traded fixed games for other projects and cash to repair but here of late I’ve had a lot of remorse over games I’ve let go so I’m starting to hold on to more. I’m sure the total game number will gradually increase from this point.

Manufacturer: Williams
Game/Type: #alpine-club / EM 1 Player
Month/Year: February 1965
Production: 1,200
Cost: $350
Location: Englewood, CO
Pinsider: @stevebo
Contact/Link: Posted in Colorado FS/FT thread

OP: Alpine Club for sale -$350. Williams single player EM game with a snow skiing theme made in February of 1965. It features 4 flippers, 4 pop bumpers, 3 passive bumpers, 2 slingshots, 2 kick-out holes, 1 standup target, and a right outlane ball return gate.

The game appears to be all there although I don't know if it works or not.

For local pickup only.

I don't think I've ever bought a pin that was ready to play, always just repaired myself

The fire just wiped out my passion for years

I currently only have 2 pins, and thanks to Daditude I'm finally starting restoration on my lone survivor from that fire

I keep checking here though because frankly 2 pins just isn't enough lol

My biggest question is why do people hoard multiples of the same pin that aren’t parts machines?

Trade bait.

Agreed. But 3,4,5 is a bit excessive. Maybe one on reserve is reasonable

It's simple. Lots of hoarders in this hobby.

Is that why I can't find projects in South Texas?

Well, you have to admit, for some who have been sitting with a few pins for the last few years some of these pins have turned into good investments.

Manufacturer: Bally
Game/Type: Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy / EM 4 Player
Mo/Year: September 1975
Production: 16,155
Cost: $700
Location: Hatboro, PA
Seller: Edward Seigler
Link/Contact: https://www.facebook.com/groups/840783619322597/permalink/2387466827987594/?sale_post_id=2387466827987594&rt=11

OP: Up for sale is a Captain Fantastic pinball machine. It has sat in storage for two years. Worked before it was disassembled and stored. Body and backglass in very nice shape. Legs and back door for the head included. Will need to be cleaned and shopped. Once done, it would make an excellent addition to any gameroom.

Manufacturer: Williams
Game/Type: Gorgar / SS 4 Player
Month/Year: December 1979
Production: 14,000
Cost: $600
Location: Sparks, MD
Seller: Mike Frasca / Pinsider Guidotorpedo
Link/Contact: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Pinball4sale/permalink/2847843465242434/?sale_post_id=2847843465242434&rt=11

OP: The good:
Mostly if not all led’d
Boards gone through/services by Eugene mosh
New wollfpac displays
Sort of works, has a phantom tilt issue
Average backglass

The bad:
Cabinet and playfield are rough
Displays not working right

I bought it and was going to fix it up but it’s a little too rough for my tastes. It’s still wrapped up in my trailer. I’m not setting it back up. Selling it for what I paid for it, so price is firm.

Manufacturer: Williams
Game/Type: Expo / EM 2 player
Year: October 1969
Production: Unknown
Cost: $375
Location: Mahopac, NY
Seller: Scott Wilson
Link/Contact: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Pinball.for.Sale.Classifieds/permalink/1312468322251060/?sale_post_id=1312468322251060&rt=11

OP: This is a 1969 Williams Expo pinball machine I have cleaned and waxed the play field installed a new ball and rubbers but it needs someone with a little knowledge of pinball repair to complete the job as you can see it lights up and plays but it needs adjustments. Thanks for looking

Been their... and still doing that.

Manufacturer: Mylstar/Gottlieb
Game/Type: Alien Star / SS System 80A 4 Player
Month/Year: June 1984
Production: 1,065 (!)
Cost: Trade "I am more interested in trades as I am struggling with pricing it."
Location: Bethlehem, PA
Pinsider: Jiggly_Martian
Link/Contact: https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/82309

This will go fast. A lot of tournament players live this title, and people have been lobbying Mirco to make a repro playfield for this title

I enjoyed playing the machine at Allentown, great title

I have about a dozen, I’m not even sure. They can be had for an exorbitant price!

I live how everyone is talking about projects and this and that....and bluespin is still just posting project games in between comments.

...and not talking about my project pin stash

Wanna donate one to a pinhead in need lol

Manufacturer: Gottlieb
Game/Type: #world-fair / EM 1 Player
Month/Year: April 1964
Production: 4,650
Cost: $750 OBO
Pinsider: @krid54
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Contact/Link: https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/80734

OP: For Sale: 1964 Gottlieb World Fair machine. Needs restoration, but everything is 100% intact with no external damage. Currently located in Pittsburgh, PA.

Manufacturer: Bally
Game/Type: Champ / EM
Month/Year: June 1973
Production: 4,070
Cost: $400
Location: Westminster, MD
Seller: Tom Warner
Link/Contact: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ArcadePinball/permalink/2289014221197534/?sale_post_id=2289014221197534&rt=11

OP: The game is currently not working. The playfield and backglass are in great condition. The cabinet is solid but has been painted black.

Manufacturer: Gottlieb
Game/Type: Bank Shot / EM 1 Player (AAB version of Sure Shot)
Features: AAB
Month/Year: March 1976
Production: 730 (!)
Cost: $600
Location: Derby, KS
Seller: Jeff McNown
Link/Contact: https://www.facebook.com/groups/midwestarcade/permalink/2593078647436184/?sale_post_id=2593078647436184&rt=11

OP: Selling a Gottlieb Wedghead. $600.00. Game is Bank Shot. The Add a Ball version of Sure Shot. 720 produced. Game will need to be restored or serviced to play. Back head door is missing and lock down bar. Very cool classic machine. PM me for more details. Located outside Derby KS.

A collector that I know in Texas told me that there are three collectors in his state with very large collections of pins. They’ve been buying and hoarding pins for years and very rarely sell anything.

I probably know at least one of them lol, but yeah, lost contact with a friend , who last I spoke to him had about 150 pins, more than half were projects, his job allowed him to travel in a company truck with unlimited fuel...

I know 2 of the 3...and i "know of" the third.

I don't understand this type of thinking. I either play my pins, work on them so they can be played, or sell them. Hoarding is not in my nature. I get disturbed if one sits too long unplayable.

Me either. If I have a pin that’s not working I’ll fix it and play it. Maybe sell it, but I won’t let it sit in the corner for years.

I bought 5 projects in a lot last year. These games were really rough and needed a lot of love. I got them all working and sold 3 of them. Two remain and are a blast to play.

What did you keep?