Don't usually post these questions but I have to hear what people around here say. An upcoming auction about four blocks from me will have a couple machines at it. One is a Comet and the other an EM Sky Jump.

I'm interested in the Comet. Haven't gotten a really up-close look but it appears to be in very nice shape and working fully.

Pinball machines never come around this close to me. I'm in a pinball desert and would really like to know how far to take bidding on this. Any thoughts?

Thanks for the responses, guys. I've only seen photos from the auction website, and those did not go into detail (playfield pics, etc.) The cabinet does seem very nice from the pics. I'll obviously get more up close and personal at the auction, but for now I'm just kind of looking for a general feel for price.

This is a pretty well-advertised auction, and I'd say 80 percent of it is stuff like pool tables, beer lights, juke boxes, disco lights, a handful of arcade video games, foosball tables and then some furniture. None of it is stuff that usually brings big crowds around here - tractors or parts, lawnmowers, land, snowblowers and other stuff. This is gonna draw a strange (possibly much younger) bunch and I have little doubt getting a deal is going to be damn tough.

Thanks again, guys. I'll keep you posted.

Just got back from the auction and didn't get either one of them. The Comet went for $820 and the Skyjump for just under $800, I believe. If I hadn't received my bill for my car insurance and mortgage this week I might have jumped in but I couldn't pull the trigger.

I wish I had taken pics, but it was kind of crazy.

The playfield had mylar on its lower half and the table looked pretty nice under that. Where it didn't have mylar (outlanes, etc.) you could distinctly see the paint cracking. Hard to tell how badly as I'm used to looking at a really nice Diamondplate playfield on my current machine. It needed a thorough cleaning as well. The art on the targets was pretty beat up. Backglass was really sharp, probably the nicest part of the machine.

The ramps looked really, really nice. The only problem was the center ramp where the owner had put a little piece of athletic tape where the ramp meets the playfield. Shots up the center ramp would occasionally hit the glass, but stay on the ramp. Wasn't sure if this was normal or not.

Another issue, and this is what I was told, was that the solenoid that kicks the ball up and out on the right side was not working, so the guy had put a business card on top of the hole so the ball wouldn't get stuck down there. I assumed this would be a relatively easy fix, but again, I was unsure and didn't know enough about the machine to know if he knew what he was talking about to begin with.

It needed a general "tightening up," but it seemed to work for the most part. There was also a drill hole from a lockdown bar.

Might have been a good pickup for whoever got it but I couldn't make the numbers work for me. At least I checked it out.

Like I said, this was a well-advertised auction. I was listed in a shopper that covers a lot of southeast South Dakota. This is a town of 1,400 and there were at least 50 guys scoping out machines who were likely from out of town. A Ms. Pacman in a Pacman cab with rough front and side art and no bezel went for $550, I believe. A lot of people were on their phone/Internet looking for pricing info with each game that came up.

Incidentally, the Skyjump looked pretty nice. I have no experience with EMs but the playfield looked relatively good and it also seemed to work. It was only missing the back door to the head.

Thanks again for the help, all.