Woodbury, MN
...I thought I would share what happened to me last night and this morning. Sherman set the way back machine to 2 weeks ago...
I was doing yard cleanup around the house. For a few years now I have been trimming the Amazon jungle the previous owner had here, tree limbs, bushes, brush and trying to get it under control. House was bank owned for over a year before we bought it and it had gotten out of control. I've been piling it up in the backyard and it finally got to be to the point that I had to get rid of it since the pile had gotten too big. I didn't have a way to haul it conveniently, so I went online and found junk removal company and contacted them. They said they can do yard waste removal, so they came over the next morning. They did a great job at a nice price and it was all gone, I was happy. I was making small talk with them and asked if they ever got called to haul away cool stuff and they said not really. I brought up that I like pinball machines and arcade games and they said they had never seen any of those on a call, but he would keep me in mind if he did. Not too encouraging but I always like to network anyway. They went on their way and I forgot about it. Fast forward to last night, I get a text from the junk removal guy and he says they just picked up a pinball machine and was I interested? I couldn't believe it, I never thought I would hear from him again...certainly not in the next 2 weeks. I start getting delusions of grandeur seeing pics of a Cactus Canyon or some other pricey game of course. He sends over pictures and it isn't a grand slam by any means, but a solid single. They picked up a 1976 Buccaneer. It's dirty, broken rubbers and broken sling plastics, but it's all there. They don't even know how to turn it on. I call him and we talk. I explain that this game isn't super valuable, especially in this condition to temper their expectations. I offer to come out to him and see it the next day and he says he will bring it to me...nice! They got here this morning and dropped it off. Backglass is really nice, it has the coin box, minimal playfield ware. It looks all there at first glance, just dirty. I have the legs, I just didn't put them on yet. We agree on a price and they tore outta here so I think they were happy. Before they left I made sure to let them know that other games that they might find could be worth more to make sure to keep their interest and they said they would let me know if they come across anything else.
When they left I plugged it in and turned it on (they didn't know where the power button was) and it lights up, score reels reset, credits up and kicks a ball over to the shooter lane. I plunged one ball and I didn't get any sound, pop bumper action or roll over action so I'll have to look into that. I'm not a great EM mind, but I'll clean it up and probably bang on it for a little while and then move it on. Overall, not too bad and a cool story to boot. Hopefully I hear from them again in the future.
Newmarket, ON
jmountjoy111
