The machines are way undervalued, so people aren't selling them. When they do pop up, more often the machine is really beat up, like the mylar is peeling and inserts losing the paint, etc. So unless you're lucky and get a nice one, you end up buying a project to restore.

It seems like the only place I reliably find older machines for sale is at the expo/explosion. There was a Diner there last year, and since then not once have I seen one up for sale anywhere.

That's funny... You complain about how scarce they are but won't pay a higher price. I'm curious what they were asking that made you turn up your nose.

The backglass is pretty important for BK2K. One of the best ones in pinball.

To me that seems like a reasonable ask for the machine pictured. I wouldn't pay it because I think RBG is a boring game, but it seems reasonable. If you won't pay it maybe someone else would.

Below $2000 for any System 11 with no significant defects is a good deal IMO.

If the playfield is damaged, sure, it should be sub $1,000. But for a nice one, I'd generally pay up to $2,000 for a machine I want. You have to consider how hard it is to find a machine from 25 years ago that hasn't taken a beating. Both those CL posts seem good (though there is often a problem that's not so obvious from the photos, and that's when it's time to haggle or walk).

Of course, Chicago is one of the first cities to get pinflated. Every machine is more expensive here. A seller in another area may have a great price but no buyers! A wise seller in those areas would stay firm on the price and lug the machine to expo if it doesn't sell.

Maybe someone will buy it for a couple hundred and build a virtual pin.

I will say though that my DND playfield was *almost* that bad, and I got it restored, and it looks and plays great now. There hasn't been another DND for sale in my area since I bought it.
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Bally DnD Playfield Lower.jpg

The diagnostics on Sys11 are great though. Try troubleshooting a Bally 6803

Somebody needs to tell me where people are finding $1200 Taxis in 2014. I call bullshit. I think people are saying this because they want to buy one.

I'd rank BK2K higher than HS, SOF, WW, etc. But that one strangely hasn't dried up as much as the others. It's pretty easy to find, maybe not at a great price.

I'm pretty happy with mine. The aggravating thing is how hard these machines are to restore. Your best bet is to leave the original mylar on it and don't mess with it.

Meh. I like to call WW "Jurassic Park without dinosaurs."

If you're playing for score, pretty much any machine will have just one strategy (e.g. Go for the super jackpot) and you ignore the other 95% of the gameplay that's available.

That doesn't mean it isn't there.