I vote Williams system 3 - 7. Lots of available parts, and they are not hard to debug.

Good tip. Thanks

Yeah available parts important too. We’re new to the hobby, don’t cringe too hard. He’s digging it, so figure a good project for him to work on. If it takes him all summer to tinker and figure it out I’m happy with that.

I think that that generation of pinball is about the best ratio of ease of repair to fun. Something like Gorgar or Blackout will have some legs beyond the initial thrill of the game. If he decides he wants to learn more, you can also easily swap the MPU for an APC board and write your own rules for the game.
I learned to fix pinballs on a Gorgar and played that beast for years.

The only two Gottliebs in our current collection are Black Hole & Haunted House and both will likely get sold at some point. I just don't know how soon that might happen. We need to thin down things from around 18 machines to around 8 over the next year or so. Now we just need to figure out where to start. You guys know how it is you love them all but can't keep all of them!

How old is your teenager? What are his skill sets and interests? Is he mechanical minded or electronic minded?

What kind of tool selection will he have? He will need a nice soldering station. He will learn many skills working on a pin. Knowing how to properly solder carries a lot weight.

You say electronics. I would suggest something by Bally in the late 70s/ early 80s. They are relatively easy to work on. Most common parts are readily available. If a circuit board needs replaced, they are readily available and reasonably priced.

And--------there are a lot of Bally people here who can help him out when he runs into problems.

$500.00 will not buy very much in this market. But deals are out there.

Shoot, put him on the hunt for the pin he thinks he wants. You Tube has lots and lots of pinball videos to let you see what you might like. You guys might get to take a road trip together to pick up a pin and get a little father/son bonding.

I think you’d have better luck posting in the below forum.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/northeast-us-for-sale-thread/page/401#post-6216150

Playboy
Bally ss
$1200
Pinsider @upkickpinball
Hackensack, nj
https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/112864

I saw this one and about 5 minutes later it was sold. I didn’t get it.

033BFB7D-B76D-4AAE-866E-DB67909E8877 (resized).png

is that the one that sold for 500.00 yesterday? If it is, it cleaned up nicely.

Yesterday was April FOOLS day....js

I think it was real, I checked and they had a few other things for sale. It did say players 3 and 4 displays were out but other then that it worked. By the time I went to respond it was marked sold. Add was up for about 6 hours from what it showed.

It happens. Like that Gottlieb Majorettes I passed on for $50 being an idiot and not looking up how valuable it was and it was 10 minutes from my house.

I've got 6 projects if you are looking. Bally viking, bally flash gordon, stern magic, stern flight 2000, and 2 stern meteors.

$500 each Daditude ? Sold, I’ll drive up tomorrow

After reasonable pricing, plus shipping, puts me above where I’d like to be. Especially given the fact that I’m not using it as an investment, and expect no real return, other than get my boy working with his hands and perhaps interested in the hobby beyond me buying nib pins! Thanks for the offer though, much appreciated.

Bally Hokus Pokus
$350
dallas.craigslist.org link

Edit take 2- reposted - see below:

Guys I just picked this last night (happened to be dropping off a game 15 mins away when the listing appeared) - repinned, recapped and bead blasted all the boards and it boots! Boards and backbox/cabinet is actually super clean compared to most games of that era. It will need an overhaul on the playfield tho, and I don't have the time/space to get to it. PENDING

Also if you're interested in a cheaper project - I have a project Gottlieb Jungle Princess EM (Jungle Queen 2 player) for 450. Never been tested but it's complete.

I got that one! Drove up from Austin super fast to snag it, but it was indeed legit

Better play the lottery!

Congrats, that’s awesome.

If i did not have so much on my plate I would have grabbed it, fun game.

"Elvis" pinball

Manufacturer: Brunswick
Game/Type: Alive / EM 4 Player
Month/Year: 1978
Production: Too many
Price: $8,000
Location: Douglasville, GA
Link/Contact: atlanta.craigslist.org link

OP: Elvis Pinball machine, last time played 10 yrs.ago . I had and enjoyed, lights up but ,need some minor work.

Me: If the seller will accept Paypal payment, I can pick this up for you and store it.

ESTATE SALE - TH 04/22-SAT 04/24

Manufacturer: Williams
Game/Type: SlugFest /SS
Year: March 1991
Production: 1,559
Cost: ????
Location: Burr Ridge, IL
Link/Contact: https://www.estatesales.net/IL/Burr-Ridge/60527/2835819

Me: Seller also has arcade games; Indiana Jones*, Joust and Pole Position. Plus a juke box

*I played this a lot back when it first came out in 86(?). Fun game for the time period.

ESTATE SALE - FRI 04/16 - SUN 04/18

Manufacturer: Bally
Game/Type: Time Zone / EM
Year: May 1973
Production: 2,500
Cost: ????
Location: San Diego, CA
Link/Contact: https://www.estatesales.net/CA/San-Diego/92110/2841696

ESTATE SALE - SAT 05/15 - SUN 05/16

Manufacturer: Gottlieb
Game/Type: Jack In The Box / EM 4 Player
Month/Year: February 1973
Production: 8,300
Cost: ????
Location: Addison, IL
Link/Contact: https://www.estatesales.net/IL/Addison/60101/2844072

ESTATE SALE - SAT 06/05 - SUN 06/06

Hi Score
Gottlieb EM 4 player
Kiss
Bally SS
Deluxe Batting Champ
Williams EM pitch and bat
Unidentified woodrail
Saddle Brook, NJ
Contact/Link: https://www.estatesales.net/NJ/Saddle-Brook/07663/2843361

ESTATE SALE - SAT 04/17 - SUN 04/18

Manufacturer: Gottlieb
Game/Type: Shaq Attaq / SS 4 Player
Month/Year: February 1995
Production: 3,380
Cost: ????
Location: Nashville, TN
Link/Contact: https://www.estatesales.net/TN/Nashville/37214/2814135

LMAO. This isn't a project, more of a dream.

Estate Sale - Last day tomorrow 04/11

Manufacturer: Stern
Game/Type: Austin Powers / SS
Month/Year: June 2001
Production:
Cost: ????
Location: Tarzana, CA
Link/Contact: https://www.estatesales.net/CA/Tarzana/91356/2840844

Me: When I asked the price last week they said $3500. If it's still there tomorrow, maybe someone can get it for 50% off.

ESTATE SALE - SAT 04/25 - SUN 04/26

Manufacturer: Midway
Game/Type: Judge Dredd / SS Widebody 4 Player
Month/Year: September 1993
Production: 6,990
Cost: ????
Location: Northfield, IL
Link/Contact: https://www.estatesales.net/IL/Northfield/60093/2822067

ESTATE SALE - FRI 05/14 - SAT 05/15

Manufacturer: Bally
Game/Type: The Six Million Dollar Man / SS 6 Player
Month/Year: October 1978
Production: 10,320
Location: Montclair, NJ
Link/Contact: https://www.estatesales.net/NJ/Montclair/07043/2844600

ESTATE SALE Last day tomorrow SUN 04/11

Manufacturer: Gottlieb
Game/Type: Batter Up / EM 1 Player
Month/Year: August 1970
Production: 560!
Location: Williams Bay, WI
Contact/Link: https://www.estatesales.net/WI/Williams-Bay/53191/2837586

Manufacturer: Williams
Game/Type: Dipsy Doodle / EM
Mo/Year: December 1970
Production: Unknown
Cost: $350
Location: Lexington, NC
Link/Contact: https://www.facebook.com/groups/eastcoastarcade/permalink/2021830544631823

Manufacturer: Gottlieb
Game/Type: Olympics / EM 1 player
Month/Year: 1962
Production: 2,200
Cost: $350
Location: Brick, NJ
Contact/Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Pinball4sale/permalink/4582446271782136

Manufacturer: Bally
Game/Type: Atlantis / SS
Month/Year: April, 1989
Production: 1,501
Cost: $1,350
Location: Myrtle Beach, NC
Contact/Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/374370779354283/permalink/2820881308036539

SHUFFLE BOWLER EM MODEL

$300
Richmond, CA
Seller: Andrew Harris
Contact/Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1413885755408760/permalink/2138250106305651

So are you saying that Elvis won’t be leaving the building?

Yes. Elvis never even got into that building.

Bluespin -

You should have posted the Elvis for $8K in the Craigslist laughs!

I’m not sure where this belongs:

I get a text from an acquaintance who knows I like pinball. He asks if he can pass my phone number to a friend looking to value a pin. I said sure.

The next day I get a call from some woman who puts on estate sales. A friend of hers has a Royal Flush that needs to move. She gives me an address and I say I will go look at it tomorrow.

Tomorrow comes and I drive the 15 miles for a look see. The pin is in the basement. Nice house.Nice basement. These people are packing up to move.

The pin turns out to be a Williams Straight Flush. There is some minor wear on the play field and the back glass, while not perfect, is in good condition. And it works! So says she.

It has an old lamp cord for power. I plug in and reach under the cab to find out there is no toggle switch. So I push the credit button and the GI lights come on. Nothing else works. The rubbers are dry, yellowed, and broken.

I’m not interested in this pin called Straight Flush; I don’t do EMs. For a Royal Flush I would make an exception.

I ask her what kind of money she is wanting for it. It is obvious this woman has been looking at EBay. She wants...drum roll...$3500.00.

I told her that this is not a popular pin and needs lots of work. That it might be worth $200.00. Well, this is the pin her late husband always wanted and that she will just go ahead and keep it.

She thanked me for coming to look. I headed for the door.

That’s my over priced pin story.

For some reason that reminds me of a story..

I tell them the old joke about the man who asks a girl if she will sleep with him for a million dollars. Of course, she says yes. He then offers her two dollars and she slaps his face, saying, ‘What do you think I am?’ He answers, ‘I know what you are. We are just haggling over the price.’

Such a deal! I would have asked her how much she would pay me to get it out of her way. That's one ugly pin to begin with.

She's lucky and YOUR lucky it didn't burst into flames! Lamp cord? Check. No power switch? Check. Fuses? Who knows. Potential fire box? Check.

I'll add I picked up an old EM with my cousin. It was the right price and located in the basement. Standard wear, back glass flaking - $200. We flipped it on and GI turns on. I check the backbox and all of the fuses were bypassed except one which was blown. I undid all of the modifications and replaced a few coils. Cleaned up well enough. Coulda been a fire starter!

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/441732693584779/?ref=search&referral_code=marketplace_search&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A06942633-6b30-49cc-8b69-9c5420923574
Was thinking about checking this out since its closeby. Closed Sun. and Mon.

Really nice backglass and playfield. I’d start messaging them now. Just because their store is closed doesn’t mean they’re not responding to messages.

Flip Flop
Bally em
$500
Bellbrook, oh
Pinsider paugust1127
https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/113038

Me: Large hole drilled in right side of cabinet.

Not really that interested, just figured I'd post the link. If I get a chance to check it out I'll post back.