Quoted from bluespin:Manufacturer: Stern
Game/Type: Meteor / SS
Year: September 1979
Production: 7,939
Cost: $300
Location: Richland Hills, TX
Link/Contact: dallas.craigslist.org link
OP: Meteor pinball machine. Needs some work. Lights come on. No pinball. Front door stays open, need re keyed. Some of the rubber? Or plastic? Inside need to be replaced. I really don't know much about it. It's been in my garage for years and had plans to bring it inside but I really need the cash.
do NOT contact me with unsolicited services or offers
Quoted from bluespin:Manufacturer: Gottlieb
Game/Type: Snow Derby / EM 2 Player
Month/Year: December 1970
Production: 1,050 (!)
Cost:
Location: Wichita, KS
Pinsider: cottonm4
Contact/Link: wichita.craigslist.org link
OP: I have a Gottlieb Snow Derby pinball for sale. This is a project pinball. It does not run and I don't know how to repair electromechanical pinball machines. It does turn on and the lights in the back box light up. But nothing else happens. Beats me.
The machine was sitting for a number of years and it is apparent that the previous owner was a heavy smoker. I have cleaned the play field up but the cabinet is a nicotine stained mess. The back glass in mint condition. There are no missing parts. Everything is there.
Snow Derby is the 2-player cousin to the 4-player Snow Queen. 1400 units were produced.
Asking $375.00. Would consider doing some trading around for an early solid state pinball.
With this Meteor now home safe and sound, I can tell the story.
Bluespin posted about a Meteor for sale in Richland Hills Texas. I had been staying with relative in Ft. Worth for 8 days and only 10 miles from Richland Hills. Two days after I get home to Kansas, this ad comes up. The timing just sucked. When I looked at the CL ad it had been up for 20 hours and had "pickup pending". I emailed and said if the sale fell thru that I would buy at ask price and that I had the cash. I did not hear anything.
On day #2, I emailed again and again I heard nothing.
On this same day, I placed a CL ad for a Snow Derby I was selling. With in 15 minutes a local guy contacted me but backed away. With in 30 minutes I got my 1st scammer. Then I got a call from a guy in Iowa that did a good job of sounding serious and asked for more pics to which I obliged. To his credit, he called me back and started giving excuse of why he could not drive 600 miles. Not a problem. I understand and I appreciate the return call which was not necessary.
On day #3, I got my 2nd scammer. I had fun chumming these guys---but that is another story.
On day #4, in the morning, I looked at the Meteor ad again and saw the the "pick up pending had been removed. I emailed again and said this was the 3rd time I had emailed and that I saw the "pick up pending" had been removed. I have the cash. I will pay your ask price. I have a sister-in-law who can deliver the money and I can come down and make the pick up.
My girlfriend and I have to leave for Oklahoma for a funeral.
Part #1: The ice cream sundae.
About the time we arrive in the town where the funeral was at I got a text message. " I got all three of your emails. I am so frustrated. I have been dealing with no-shows and cancellations, people wanting to talk me down on price and just rude people. I got a lot of emails and I am trying to be fair and go down the line. You are still aways from the top but you are the only one who sounds serious. When can your sister-in-law come buy and when can you come down to pick up?
I got with S-I-L and "she can have the money to you today and I can come down on Thursday. We make a deal. I make my plans to return to Ft. Worth so I can pick up the Meteor in RICHLAND HILLS.
I got it all arranged before the funeral started. Whew. On Tuesday July 10, at 10:30am, out in the ether somewhere, I now own a Meteor.
Part #2: The cherry on top.
That afternoon, about 5:30pm, my girlfriend and I were in her back yard cleaning her fish pond. I went in to the house and hear my phone ringing. I miss the call but see that the caller was from RICHLAND HILLS. I am not used to seeing cities named when a call comes in; I am used to seeing phone numbers when the caller is not in my contact list. But I figure the seller of the Meteor is trying contact me. Wrong.
In short order, my mystery caller and I make contact. It was not my Meteor seller.
Instead, on the other end of the line, I have a guy calling my asking about my Snow Derby for sale. When we talk I know that I am talking to a collector. He asked for more pics and I obliged. He called me right back and said he wanted to buy my Snow Derby, "but I am having trouble with figuring out the shipping logistics."
I said, "Man, this is your lucky day. I just bought a pin that is living about 10 miles from you and I am coming down on Thursday to pick it up and I can deliver Snow Derby myself and save you the shipping."
*******************
I left Wichita early Thursday morning and delivered Snow Derby at 1:30pm.
My seller for the Meteor works weird hours so I hit a couple of pawn shops and Harbor Freight to kill time. At 4:pm, I backed into the Meteor seller's driveway. At 5:00pm I was loaded up and on over to my S-I-Ls to get some sleep. I left Ft. Worth this morning. Tomorrow I will unload Meteor.
It is a project. The back glass has flaked away. It lived in this seller's garage for three years. Before that it lived in his boss's barn for I don't know how many years. The cab in planked. But the play field will clean up real nice; It has some very light swirling and NO flameouts at all around the inserts.
I sold a pin that I no longer wanted and got a pin that I can use. The shippers got cheated. And my buyer has a real good EM mechanic who can get Snow Derby up and running.
Everybody is happy---except the shippers and they don't know.
How is that for living right? You can't make this stuff up.
Wichita, KS
It is covered with 35 years of nicotine. Cleaning the nicotine off is more than I want to mess with but the pin has more collector value than what I paid. I might mess with it and I might just take the money and run. Maybe that is skimming, but why would that be bad? No one else at this auction knew anything about pinball machines. If I was not there it would have more than likely wound up in someone's shed or garage to further deteriorate. But now, this pin is going to live again. And I'll make some money for my time and gas in going to the auction to get this pin. Is this skimming?
That Big Game play field looked like it was in nice shape.
It looks like 4-lane Interstate Highway the entire distance.
Ottawa, ON
