Out of the blue I got a PM from nettek wanting to know if I wanted to sell one of my Williams 1970 Strike Zone EMs. This was his favorite game when he was a youth and couldn't find one in Austrailia. I had two #strike-zones so selling one was an easy decison to make - especially if it was to someone who wanted it a lot more than I did.
I sent him pictures and we exchanged emails, arriving on an agreement to sell the game to him. He took care of all of the shipping arrangements, thank you for that @nettek, and I prepared the game for shipping. I cleaned and waxed the playfield and put on a new coin door that he wanted. I found a backbox door and put new locks on the coin door and backbox, keyed the same. I was asked to remove the backbox and strap it down to the cabinet.
My friend and I went to Harbor Freight and he had a coupon for the 72" x 80" shipping blankets on sale for $3.00 off each. I bought two and I bought two of the fourteen foot ratcheting strap-downs from Harbor Freight. I now have two more of the infamous blue LED hand lights.
I have never shipped a pin before, let alone halfway across the world, so I wanted to get the right packing supplies. As it turned out, both the blankets and straps are perfect for packing an EM with it's head down on the playfield.
Shipping blankets: https://www.harborfreight.com/72-inch-x-80-inch-movers-blanket-66537.html
Ratcheting straps: https://www.harborfreight.com/500-lbs-capacity-1-in-x-14-ft-ratcheting-tie-down-61295.html
One blanket was put from the back of the playfield to the lower front of the cabinet. A piece of cardboard was placed on top of the blanket where the backbox would go. I put the second blanket from the lower back of the cabinet to the middle of the playfield. The backbox was then placed on top of the blanket/cardboard/blanket sandwich.
This is how I left it until the shippers came to pick up Strike Zone 1. They put some bubble wrap under the backbox. Then they used the straps to tie down the backbox and shrink-wrapped it.
Head down and blankets on (resized).png
Packing and shipping (resized).png
I sent two keys, one taped to the playfield with duct tape and the other in a baggie taped to the back inside of the cabinet. I also sent a new pinball, a tilt ball, a tilt bob and a 14' power cord from PBR. The original looked like someone had used a lamp cord!
nettek was easy to work with and communicated well. Overall, the shipping process wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
Strike Zone 1 is currently in Los Angeles. It is scheduled to go to a warehouse where it will be palletized, if it isn't already, then into a container and then on a ship for the long boat ride to Sydney.
God Speed Strike Zone!
