Bill of sale from the distributor, the shipping label from the box with your name on it or maybe an email from the distributor that you bought it from. I always keep a small part of the box (with the serial number on it) on my personal games. I keep this stuff in the coin box.

I don't think you can document "home use only" be any means other than your wife's testimony "I have never seen this b*tch outside just once!..."

Only way is if you’re the original owner and can prove it.

Pictures of it in box, with me in some pictures, and unloading it out of the box. Beyond that, too hard to prove if you're not the original owner.

Yeah but how do you prove it’s never been to a show or tournament, or moved out to the patio on a sunny afternoon, or dragged to a friend’s super bowl party ?

Or even routed?

You really can’t. And this is terribly important to some people.

And for games that have been sold since the original owner, you’d want a bill of sale documenting every transaction since the original owner. That establishes chain of title.

But it doesn’t truly establish the game was never routed. Really I wish these games had a fool proof audit of lifetime games that could never be edited.

The bill of sale.

However, sometimes a game loses its paperwork after it passes through a few hands, so then someone might call it "undocumented HUO".

I have an "undocumented HUO" game. I was able to find out the details after buying it at auction, and it's clearly the nicest and cleanest game I have. When you see a vintage HUO game, you can immediately tell just by the condition. It stands out.

With more recent games, it's a bit harder to tell when the games are still early in their life.

Keep the box?... oddly enough I have met quite a few people that do this.

It's actually a thing with Nintendo collectors who will pay big money just for a box from back in the day.

Was an ongoing goof on KLOV to see pics of said "boxes" for arcade and Nintendo stuff.

Reputation helps. I have bought like 8 NIB machines and have had a "bill of sale" once, mayyybe twice.

Keeping the box is a thing with any box that has art or uniqueness to it. There is no reason to keep the box for a pin, they are not even good for shipping.

As to HUO, it means next to nothing, condition is king, if you take care of your pins they will retain value.

Means it was on location for the public to play.

That it was put on route--in public, at a location, earning money.

HUO is a bag of nonsense. There are HUO games played 1000’s of times and there are routed games in great condition. Look at the game, is it nice? Get it. HUO? Pfffffttttttt

Agreed, condition is king!

I've seen HUO ads on games where there have been so many quarters put in it on route, that there is paint worn off the coin door from fingers hitting the edge of the coin insert button

I would say if you have the original paperwork/invoices sold a Stern POTC recently and had all the invoices and email from distributor to back it up.

When it comes to old games, best thing that can happen to a machine is that it goes on route, has a major malfunction in a short amount of time and the op throws it in storage or uses it for parts and then sits and sits. Then we swoop in and get it in great shape.

The whole "HUO" is just a joke. Condition is all that matters. I've seen reimports that looked mint, games touted to be HUO that were terrible.

For me, I set up a HD video camera with date and time stamp and film my pin 24 / 7 in my home. For added proof, I walk in each day, wave at the camera and hold up a picture of that days newspaper with the date clearly visible. I download the digital video file for each day to a secure thumb drive and send to Iron Mountain which documents receipt. When I go to sell a pin, the new owner gets every thumb drive to prove from the video evidence that the pin never left my house. For one sale, the new owner walked away with 1,420 thumb drives.

Yeah, it’s a little more costly. But it is worth it to provide appropriate proof.

Uh, what? If you're actually doing that, that's way over the top.

Nah, just having some fun.

You take many many pictures of the shooter lane and insist it has less than 100 plays.

Some people love the boxes so much they never take it out and then sell it as NIB. Go figure.

A lot of six year olds play with the box more than the toy inside. Source: Christmas

Source, every cat gift I've ever given!

You can't and it really doesn't matter. A pin is either in pristine condition or it isn't.

That box was one of the coolest parts when I got my first NIB pin. My kids played in it for weeks. My cats perched atop it and hid in it. I was sorry to see it go.

If we don't half ass this recession and really go at it full tilt, you could also miss it for the shelter it would have provided.

I always write my name on the bottom in marker and the date I opened up. If anyone has any questions years later they can ask me. Not to mention if everyone who owns it after me did the same it becomes a nice historic documentation. So far Oktoberfest and Metallica have my name on it.

oh dear, remind me an add in the neighbour, pretending HUO & less than 200 games... pin was not only quite dirty, but showing a more than used shooterlane and front panel with holes from the anti-thief bar (not a RFM) !!!