We have seen threads about the furthest that you've traveled for a pin, but what is the shortest distance that you traveled for one? And I am not including shows and such that you've attended, I mean something that was arranged on CL, eBay, or otherwise. And what was the background story of the pickup?
I picked up a Hot Shots about 1.5 miles from my house, and a Fireball about 2 miles from my house. Both were calls from flyers that I hung up locally.
The guy that owned the Hot Shots called and wanted to know if I was interested in purchasing, which I told him "no." He still wanted me to come out and look at it to give him an idea of what it might cost to fix it. What the heck, it is only 1.5 miles from me, so why not? I got there and then gave him a few names and a general idea of what it might cost to fix it. He really seemed reluctant to get it fixed, and practically begged me to drag it away, so I gave him a little bit of money, loaded it up, and was on my way.
Another guy called me about his Fireball (EM) that did not work in his basement that he wanted to sell. When I got there, I hit the flipper buttons and he watched the playfield light up, he declared that I had fixed it. From the time that he called me to the time that I arrived, he did a little research on eBay and realized that it was a desirable machine, so he decided he was going to put it on eBay instead. Anyway, to make a long story short, about 2 months after I initially visited, he called back and we struck a deal--and I wasted no time getting there to pick it up.