(Topic ID: 29020)

Purchase an F-14 Tomcat?

By Bok013

11 years ago


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#11 11 years ago

Just picked up my F14 in fantastic shape for 900. It is a great game but 1500 is too high IMHO if it has any of the conditions described below.

You are looking for a few things:

Raised inserts - The main drag of inserts tend to pop out. The arrow design and the kills are prone to popping out. The flatter the play field the better in general
Beacons - Do they work and rotate?
VUK - How reliable does it make the kick up?
Flippers - This has four and they are sometimes very weak
Bumper - This thing sees a lot of action so see how strong it is

F14 is built like a tank but these are the things to look for.

1 week later
#30 11 years ago
Quoted from Bok013:

Hey Tweedlefuzz. If I find that there are some issues with the game as you mentioned are any of those problems considered major? Are most of them something that I can fix myself? I am going to see the game tomorrow night. Hopefully I'm not taking a 2 1/2 hour drive for nothing.

Bumpers, Flippers and VUK are all standard things that will need rebuilding almost for certain. Being that it has 4 flippers its just something to consider when doin the price stuff.

The inserts are bound to be raised up... just the way f14 was built and what kind of inserts they chose to use. How many are raised and any damage to the playfield wood is more of a concern. Most of the playfields still have the Mylar over them so you can see when an insert is pushing up. Look at some of Vid1900's threads and you can see what a common un-restored playfield looks like and what work it takes to restore. Vids the man when it comes to anything F14 btw.

The beacons are a tricky thing. Finding new domes is tricky and can be a pain. The motor was missing out of mine and that can be pricey too.

Other then that F14 is built like a tank and has fared better with time then other System 11's ive seen. But they are around 25 years old and have seen their share of use. These things where great earners in there day.

None of these should be deal breakers by any means. These are just the areas of concern on this machine. Use this info to haggle a good deal. Let us know how it goes.

Cheers

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