I buy from GAP a lot. Mostly NIB Stern’s but have bought a few used games. He has always treated me well.

You, sir are a class act!

I think Gap is good for pinball having a retails place where non pin_heads can check out games is good for pinball..... Whynow airing your dirty laundry hear is just wrong the guy trying to make a living... You seem like a two faced Punk the kind of guy that shakes your hand in front of you then talk s*** behind your back...

There is if you donate to help keep the site running.

Lol @ “he hunts down all the good deals so hobbeyists (sic) can’t get them.”

That’s because it’s his FULL TIME JOB to hunt down these deals.

Besides isn’t Hilton an operator? Since when does that make him a hobbyist advocate? Imagine the gall of charging people money to play your games. Doesn’t sound like any hobbyist I know.

Can you be any more classless here?

Sorry, but running a route is nothing like having a brick & mortar retail store. Your statement is baseless because you really have no clue what it takes to own a retail establishment. Not work at, not manage/run, OWN.

that's a deal breaker

Seriously Hilton? This from the guy trying to flip his AMH for $9200.00 (now showing $8400.00 listed price but originally was listed for $9200.00)

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/for-sale-americas-most-haunted-spooky-pinball-2014-2021

450B6D5D-8F71-4849-AB3B-3A98FC7BCCBC (resized).jpeg

It’s ok when a “hobbeyist” does it.

This will make a good segment on the next Kaneda’s Podcast.

When it comes to threads there are many I believe I have little (if anything) to add. In this case I felt compelled to write about Mike Nogle and his company, Great American Pinball (GAP). I've known Mike since the "RGP days" and our communication probably goes back around 17 years. He is a businessman and I have always appreciated how hard he has worked to make his pinball hobby a profitable business. As if that wasn't the case, he might have disappeared long ago as many others have. Now we haven't always agreed on everything (including pricing), but what friendship has two people always thinking or acting the same? And that is what my relationship with Mike has become, a friendship. I have tried to help him and he has most definitely helped me, we've completed deals over the years where we both walked away happy. He is a transparent, which I respect and you can get a good hot dog nearby his place!

Brad

Mike sold me a Monster Bash Frankenstein awhile back, it was in mint condition and packed nicely. I have had no issues with him personally and I appreciate the retail side which is what gets most people into the hobby. Not everyone starts as a pinsider.

Mike sold me a MM back in 2003 for too little money. Now every time I see him he wants to buy it back for the same price...I think he's really just auditioning to become a comedian.

Mike is a great guy and has been around in the hobby a long time. I think he's done very well getting GAP to where it is today and there definitely is a market for what he provides.

Mike has been easy to work with; I bought two NIB, STLE and MMr, from him and wound up selling him one of my larger footprint upright shooter games when he came out for a delivery to make room for more pinball machines

Oh yeah, he can definitely be more classless for sure. I've seem it many times before!

WOW.....all I can say is WOW lol. Just when you think a guy can't get any worse something like this pops up!!

Been a while since I had done business with Mike, but the numerous games he has purchased from me in the past went flawless. Drive out , plug in test here is your payment now leave. :-)Easy as that.

I know Mike for over 12y, trade games with, got what I want sold back to him never had problem!!! And also helped me getting in touch with people that had games that I was looking for it!! Just move on people if u think his price is too high, don't buy it!!! About the search think... if u want buy a game here (pinside) n look for deals u better be on 24/7 cause deals here don't last long Tnx for looking

So the Op Jorant has a problem with GAP, it has nothing to do with my prices. Let me shed some light on the issue. The Op liked a game that I had up for sale 7 or 8 years ago and put a $100.00 deposit down on it through paypal and wanted me hold it for him to inspect/buy. It was a World Cup Soccer '94 for $1800 or around there. I described the game as fully working. The op came out and inspected it and the GI lights were flickering, bad GI connector that we overlooked or was flakey. Easy fix and apologized for it. There might have been another issue, can't remember, but would have been minor. The Op looked over the game and decided he didn't want it and asked me to refund his paypal deposit that day which I did. I told him I was sorry it was not to his liking, we talked a little and went on his way. I did not try to hide anything and didn't force him to buy it. About a years goes buy and heard nothing from him until he starts blasting me on a forum about my business. So for a year he has been pissed at me and I had no clue. So Rillo tells me that he bought that same game 3 months later. THAT same World Cup Soccer 94 and Rillo charged him more money that I was going to sell it to him for. I heard he left the pinball hobby for a while, got out and just found out he returned back and is looking for some games . Hence is why he is ripping my company. All I did was hold a game for him, show him the game, treated him with kindness while hosting him at my shop and refunding his deposit after it was not to his liking and he ends up buy buying that same World Cup Soccer '94 3 months later. I'm not trying to create waves, I just want the truth known!

Thanks for listening

GAP

The point was I'll pay retail from retail, not from a private non-business owner who thinks their XF is a $5000 machine.

I remember when I got into buying pins like 7-or 8 years ago I didn't know to much at the time yet called GAP about a Spider-Man and was corresponding via e-mail, long story short I wanted to buy a Spider-Man from him and he just ignored my e-mails and I moved on and bought it somewhere else. Yet I remember at the time I was upset on why I wasn't "special" enough to purchase a machine from him lol Yea I was a noob at the time yet treat ppl with respect and the way you want to be treated. I just remember a super cocky guy who had a huge ego on the phone maybe cause I wasn't on his page with pin knowledge at the time.

The OP hasn't like you for a year wow! I haven't liked you since I starting collecting 8 years ago lol

People kinda seem to forget this is pretty much ground zero, you're the guy who knows the guy lol. I totally agree with Cosmo here retailers have a great place in this industry some people just dont have the time to clear a playfield or do a swap and its worth it to them to just get the total package and be done with it! I don't know about you guys but I don't want to be building all the leds from scratch one at a time I've ever used lol.

It's amazing any retailers come and support Pinside, all Pinsider's expect games sold to them with no profit, speedy service, support above and beyond and if none if this is provided, they get thrown to the wolves.

I would stay clear if owned a Pinball business.

Look at some of these “unshopped” games GAP has posted... not everything he does is “retail” pricing.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/chicago-traderseller-club/page/91#post-3849443

Those games are a welcome contrast to his "restored" games (which look very nice, but have correspondingly higher prices).

If his only goal was to stick it to his customers, he wouldn’t pass the occasional deal along to Pinside.

Just to be clear, I never was interested in a Stargate from GAP. I dont remember ever talking with him about one, sorry...he must be thinking of somone else. IF I did inquire, it was years ago, before I heard first hand from people that overpaid and what realistic prices were compared to retail.

I asked at one point if he had a real price on tha Banzaii that had been sitting and told him what i thought it was worth. He said it was already sold. THe fact tha a dealer will come here to publish a private offer, shows more of his business accumen.

I sold my AMH for face value when it was worth thousands more. SOrry, but deal with it. That is the reality.

Like I said before, Mike is a nice dude. Find his retail business to be worthless and clogs up the local marketplace with overpriced titles.

He is still in the business because of guys like me that do trust him, I guess)

First I don't remember how much I sold that game it's a long time ago I don't even know how much I paid for either was about 8-9 y ago. Sorry I don't keep notes on pinball about buy or sell prices, just don't care. Now the WCS machine you saw at GAP was the game I sold you. He sold it to me cheap and then I cleaned it up and sold it to you. It's the same game!!! Life is too short!!!!

If anyone wants to go reaseach some of his "restorations" that is some good history on GAP. In particular focus on the playfileds.

CAM00523 (resized).jpg

I love when i am selling a pin on Craigslist for a very fair price, and some local vendor calls me and tries the low balling bullshit about how i am asking to much i have to school them real quick, most know nothing about the fair value of any machine.

Mike's a nice guy and most peoples are just jealous that they're not living the dream of running a brick and mortar pinball joint. Gotta be the best job in the world.

Good seeing you ya dick.
20171013_151003 (resized).jpg

Please take a step back from attacking Hilton. I can't believe I'm typing this

I've been in the hobby for a pretty long time. On the local scene, I've been fortunate to get to know many collectors and yes, pinball flippers. Some who still do not post on pinside. Pinball flippers when you befriend them are a blast to talk to, tell great stories and you learn A LOT especially about others in the hobby. When I first entered the hobby, one befriended me and taught me about pinball. He was a player in the local market and knew everyone. Let's just stop there.

Businesses evolve over time. I'm happy that Mike has evolved his business. Mike is a really nice guy to talk to. For some long time local enthusiasts, like Hilton, we also hear of the deals that didn't end as well as those publicized on this thread. To be fair, when you sell as much as Mike does (which is great) not all sales are going to go as planned. Nature of business. Hilton was just suggesting do your research and make your own decision. This one time, don't vilify the guy. Mike would tell you the same thing.

I wish GAP much success. Not directed at GAP, but I welcome the filter the OP requested Robin. Make searching home buyers more user friendly.

I have had many emails conversations with Hilton a few phones calls and played pinball with him. I have all of the emails saved of our conversations that date back 5 years and have never had a beef with Hilton. I just dont have his emails, but every pm sent to me or responded too from pinside inquiries, Robin probably is going to charge me for email storage. I have always answered his questions and inquiries and always given him my attention. I get it he doesn't like retail or my business model. It's evident. I don't know how to please him. As I said earlier , I hope Hilton doesn't take this personal, and wish him the best. Hope we can come to a common ground. I don't like attacks on anyone.

Dude, that's why you gave $100 deposit so you could go and inspect the game 1st. He didn't try and screw you over. You didn't like the game, got your 100 bucks back and there was no sale. END OF STORY.

Isn't the full story that you listed your AMH for well above what you paid for it, took a ton of s#$t for it because you had made dozens of posts here over the years attacking "flippers" as harmful to the hobby, and then after the Pinside outcry you lowered your asking price back to MSRP? Of course, listing your AMH for fair market value was a smart and reasonable thing to do regardless of what you paid for it, and I'm sorry you let the crowd goad you into sacrificing thousands of dollars on that sale, though I'm sure it made your buyer very happy.

AMH is still being thrown in your face only because it was at odds with your well-publicized philosophy of pinball sales at the time, and nothing is more satisfying than pointing out someone else's hypocrisy.

So the guy tells you that he sold you the exact same game and you still want to argue? If the machine was unshopped and playfield quite dirty, them maybe the planking seemed worse at the time.

He sold it for "face" because he was unable - after years of trying - to scalp it and probably couldn't stand the sight of it anymore, just like anybody who has had it for a matter of weeks.

The whole "AMH is worth a lot of money" thing was always a house of cards fantasy built upon like one or two crazy outliers. Anybody who can get what they paid for their AMH today would be incredibly lucky. Nobody is doing anybody any favors by selling their AMH for "face."

Chronic price policers and the Flipper Patrol are just the worst. Holier than thou, full of it, and are ALWAYS exposed in the end of being hippocrites. It really never ends with these people.

It appears Rillo has confirmed the story and you owe GAP an apology. Time to man up.

Jesus, some of the guys on this board are no better than children. Point fingers, make up facts, generally whine how life is unfair to them. Thank you for this thread as it helped me identify more folks to avoid when selling or buying pinball machines. Bottom line with these stories... no one was ripped off or defrauded. Get over it. Life is too short to be an asshole.

Nope.

Listed it at the top to get the clicks. SOld it at face because it was the right thing to do. I had numerous offers over face, but chose to sell it to a good person that deserved to have it at face.

The reality is that flipping is VERY different than buying a game, owning it for a year and then advertising it later for FMV. I am not sure why the concept of intent is so hard for some to understand???

Hilton yer a good dude man what you (or anyone else) sell YOUR machine for ain't nobody's damn business. Haters gonna hate.

What's "intent" got to do with it? If I'm buying a machine from you for $3,000, why should it matter to me whether you bought it last week or two years ago, or whether you paid $1,000 or $4,000 for it? Either way, I'm out $3,000 and I got the machine I wanted (unless it was misrepresented, in which case we have an "intent" problem after all). I'm not going to lose sleep over whether to classify you as a "flipper" or a "hobbyist" based on how long you owned the game vs. the % profit you turned on the sale.

Retailers have a place in every market or hobby. All the people complaining about retailers should probably stop for a moment and thank them for creating higher market prices. If someone has a profitable business model selling pinball machines at retail, more power to them. I can only imagine the service calls from a retail customer base.

Some of you may remember Chicago Pinball Expo in 2004. There were a bunch of games there that year at the show. One of the highlights of the Free Play area was a row of Zaccaria pinball machines brought by David Gersic and Mike Nogle. It was a helluva sight seeing all the beautiful Zaccaria pinball machines lined up in one row. I think there were 12 of them or so. This thread brought back that memory to me. Thanks again Mike!

I think the spotlight is on you and not GAP now.