I found my almost-like-new Safe Cracker prototype for 6k. I was pretty happy with that. Also, for as much as I play it and enjoy it, X-Files at $1600 seems a bargain.

Wish I had a better story. I have an almost score. Before I started collecting, I was at an estate sale. There was a Comet, that I plugged in and GI came on, but no attract mode. At that time I didn't even know how to look in the head or lower it for that matter, so I just wondered about it. Someone else came along, offered $100 and got it. I helped him load it up. Ha. Maybe we need a the-one-that-got-away thread too.

Not one to tell /brag about good deals but anything ive ever bought was very fair(last 3 years) and most of my current collection were found way under what most wld pay. A few that are gone now for example are a Flintstones for 1200
Huo rbion for 2500
ft 1900
jm 1700
hs2. 1k
bsd 1400
Smb 600

Another good deal / story. Several years back a pinball pops up on CL for $40 no title no pictures. It's about 4 hour's from me but for $40 I have to find out what it is so I contacted the seller. Ask can you tell me the name on the backglass and send me a pic. It's Quick Draw and he sends me pictures. But then he also puts those pics on CL I tell him sold but know what's about to happen he is going to get people offering him more. So I also let him know I'm on my way but it's going to take me about 4 hours I ask if he hold it for me I will pay him some extra. I get there game is on the second floor looks nice but doesn't work and no lock down bar. He tells me an electrician had looked at it but it would power on. So I go to pay and he just wants the $40 no extra he did says others contacted him but I was first so he was a man of his words. Get it home and find some one had unbolted the transformer. Bolt it back up and find the main fuse next to it bad replace it and game works. Probably the best deal I ever made on a game. We never did find the lock down bar even though he new he had it but for $40 I really wasn't worried about the lock down bar. To add I after that buy it like electricians.

I just bought getaway2 with acid damage,very clean machine.
Picked it for 700 bucks,best buy ever.

IMG_4039 (resized).JPG

IMG_4041 (resized).JPG

In the last 5 years I have had way more than my fair share of good deals. Ive had multiple system 11s for less than 500 bucks. I also had a lot of 22 solid state games for 7200. Only DMD was a shaq. System 11 was a pinbot. The rest were early gottliebs, bally's and williams. It also came with a minty Pink Panther

My best pinball score(around 2008) was a free STTNG. It was a mess, had to put 500$ into it to get it playing(doing the work myself), going to need another 1000$ to make it a look decent. Me and my 70YO dad at the time were into pinball. He had a good friend that runs a contractor business remodeling houses. Had a customer that said, 'I am throwing this machine away, we are afraid it is going to burn the house down'. Smoked when powered on(bad cap on main board) He called me at work one day and said they are throwing this thing away. No! I'll be right over. Its a FUN machine. ; )

Last fall (2016) My wife saw an ad on facebook for a pinball for $300 on a buy/sell page, It was a Baywatch, it was located in my old hometown, I called the seller, had my brother in law get the hell over there to get it as fast as they could. I sent an EMT for the money. It had pop spilled down lockbar and a sling didn't work, best money ever spent, it plays awesome.