ok, i'm the one who bought the cleo. This guy is portraying me as some kind of dick. wrong. i'm showing the whole exchange. make of it as you will:
Jerry,
No hard feelings on this end and if Wayne had a working power supply here you would have had one in the machine. When I said about "getting it up and running" I was talking about MPU - kind of a bad way to say things but that is what Wayne & I say when MPU works. Then after it is "up and running" he goes through the driver board next to get machine working 100%.
When we are fixing & shopping machines he does his part and I do my part. My job is moving them, cleaning & shopping them, and selling them. He does all the board work & electronics. This makes it kind of hard when selling machines as anything other than as-is or fully working.
I did learn something from this transaction with you. First off - never change out boards once picture is taken without explaining it was done and why. And second - take the extra 5 minutes to explain if something is different then in the pictures.
I was just concerned with that huge capacitor hitting ground on the one end and only having electrical tape between the wire & the bracket is was something that wasn't a good starting point. So I figured you were better off with something without the hacked capacitor.
Anyway - that power supply shouldn't take much to fix or replace and once that is done the machine should be 100% working. Sorry for the misunderstanding! I just wished you didn't have to make such a long drive but at least you did end up with two machines in one trip!
Later,
Skip
Thank you for the explanation. That is all that was required. All that was said was that it was up and running and that He went over the power supply and tagged issues on the power board. Not that it was not the original. That little explanation would have gone a long way.
I Don’t mean to question your “good guy” status. But step back and look at it from my point. From an earlier email.
>> I actually paid $350 for the Cleopatra (and I know I over paid for
>> that) so we are already selling that for less than we have into it.
>> And now we have a couple hours work into just getting it up and
>> running on top of taking a hit on it compared to what we paid for it.
>> I didn't know which way you were going to want to go on that and
>> since we had the time I talked Wayne into working on that yesterday
>> to get MPU up and running. Machine still needs some work but at
>> least as it stands it does work but since we already finalized things at $325 such is life.
No mention of swapping, and or bad supplies. So on getting there and the short explanation of swapping the supply out and back with a known good. And the fact that the board in there does not match with the other boards (you have to admit it the boards and head unit was surprisingly clean). It is only natural to question the whole thing. That is why I have emailed you and not hopped on the forums going off the deep end.
I am satisfied with the explanation and more than happy with the cleo. I hope that we can part in good standings and just chalk it up to not enough info and a reasonable misunderstanding.
Jerry
From: Barb & Ski
Sent: Sunday, September 01, 2013 4:33 PM
To: Jerry Lindsay
Subject: Re: Cleopatra
Jerry,
I took pictures of the machine to show you everything with the machine and you were back and forth between dates & if you wanted it for $400 working or $325 as a project. Wayne is headed on vacation for a couple weeks so when he had some free time last week I asked him to go through and see if he could get that machine up and running since I wasn't sure which way you wanted to buy it. Since I didn't know exactly when you were coming and if you wanted it for $400 working or $325 not working I figured it would be best to at least have him check it and get a head start on it.
So he went through it and found two major issues. The first was the MPU had that bad button on it and the second was power supply was totally dead. So when working on it he put a brand new power supply (his testing unit) in just to test things and got everything else working. Then he checked over the power supply that was in the machine and it was totally dead. So he told me he had a couple on the bench that were part way working he could put into the machine that would be better then the totally dead one. So I told him that would make sense because then at least you would have a good starting point.
If you want to cover shipping cost I would be more than happy to send you the totally dead power supply that was in the picture and you can return the part way working one he was nice enough to leave in the machine for you. Just goes to show it doesn't pay to try to be a nice guy I guess.
He fixed the MPU, installed a battery pack for you, went through all the switches & stuff for you and put a better power supply in than what was in the machine and you are unhappy because it wasn't the one in the picture. If you want that one I'll get it packed up and let you know what shipping cost will be. Then just send that other one back to me.
Crazy thing is not only did we do all the extra work on it but on top of it you only ended up paying $320 for it instead of $325. And you got a fully working machine that just needs minor work on power supply instead of a "project machine".
As far as all the other boards they were all salvageable so they are all the same ones that were in the picture. Sorry I didn't explain the power supply thing yesterday but we just figured part way working and tested was better than totally dead on that.
Skip
On 9/1/2013 3:31 PM, Jerry Lindsay wrote:
Skip;
We have an issue. The non-working power supply that was in the unit was not the one that was in the pictures you sent. And this was the pictures of the boards before you had Wayne do any work. What is up with that? Knowing that we had agreed on a price of $325 before you had Wayne do anything on it. But now I am concerned about the other boards as well. Were any of the other boards swapped with non-working boards?
I am including the before and after pictures. As you can see it is def. Two different power boards. The original with Yellow Cap and the non- working swapped board with straight blue. Not to mention the general condition of the boards.
Waiting for a reply with patience,
Jerry
-----Original Message-----
From: Barb & Skip
Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2013 2:31 PM
Subject: Re: Cleopatra & Raven
Jerry,
I fully understand as far as the Raven goes and you likely just made someone else very happy for sure because I have 2 or 3 other people after that machine if you decided to pass on it.
Our address is:. Be sure to use Drive and not Street or Lane because we have all 3 here in,
Cell number is
We are about 15 or 20 minutes passed. You will likely be coming in on Interstate and if that is the case we are just off exit
47 about a mile. If you could give me a call when you get near I can head out to the garage and be waiting for you.
Thanks,
Skip
On 8/29/2013 12:52 PM, wrote:
Skip;
I'm going to pass on the Raven. From the picks it actually is in better shap then Ithought, even with the mylar bubbling on the playfield. That just means it should be pretty easy to remove.
I just can't swing the price for both machines. After factoring in everything it would just put me over the top. Thanks for the opportunity anyways on that one.
I'll be there Saturday to pick up the cleo though. For the agreed cash price of $325. I did spy it set up in one of the raven pictures, got me pretty excited.
So what I would need is the address and a phone number (in case I get lost). I'm hoping to be there around noonish. I'll be coming over from Stafford springs in CT. Staying at a relatives and a place where the daughter can stay. So a little hard to say the exact time. but once I'm on the road Ican call you later in the morning for a more definite time.
Jerry
---- Barb & Skip > wrote:
Jerry,
I know Wayne will not go for $850 on the two machines because we are
into them for more than that not including our time and parts.
I actually paid $350 for the Cleopatra (and I know I over paid for
that) so we are already selling that for less than we have into it.
And now we have a couple hours work into just getting it up and
running on top of taking a hit on it compared to what we paid for it.
I didn't know which way you were going to want to go on that and
since we had the time I talked Wayne into working on that yesterday
to get MPU up and running. Machine still needs some work but at
least as it stands it does work but since we already finalized things at $325 such is life.
Raven is actually even worse. I paid $450 for that, plus board work
or maybe even a replacement board (I don't remember), and have $25 to
$40 into other pars & shopping it plus almost a full days labor into
it. I have turned down $600 twice already on that and was hoping
Wayne (my son who is actually the driving force behind this hobby for
us) would be OK that I offered you the two machines for $950. I
really doubt he will want to move off that price since we have not
only a days work into it but also fuel cost to go get it.
On the average we make very little on machines we sell and just enjoy
doing these as a hobby. But if we can't at least break even on them
our wives will not stand still for us doing this for very long. So
when selling machines - especially ones we have a lot of time into -
we like to make at least $50 per machine on them. To do that on the
Raven we need to be over $600 on that and that is how I came up with
the $950 for the pair.
Really if you look at things from our direction I originally said
$400 for the Cleopatra if we got it up and running for you so at $950
for the pair we would already be giving our time & labor away on
both. At $950 I doubt I have even covered our cost if I add in fuel
& parts. And doing the math that way I am already reducing the price
of the Raven by
$100 to below our cost. I am just hoping Wayne does no stop and look
at it that way.
I fully understand you having to stay with in a budget but I also
know Wayne would kill me if I sold two machines for less than we have
invested in them. Cleopatra was hard enough for me to talk him into
letting go for less than invested and he was really pissed at me
yesterday when I had him working on it for nothing when we have so
much else to get done this Fall. But I really wanted to know what -
if anything - it needed.
Later,
Skip
On 8/27/2013 11:01 AMwrote:
I measured the van and would be able to fit them, but honestly I think the wife would kill me if I brought the Panthera home.
The cleo is def sold. But if you guys can help on the price for both that and the raven I would be able to do it. The $950 is just outside of my budget considering the gas and hotel I'm going to have to do (not really your issue). I can do $850 and that is pretty much my ceiling. I understand the time and effort on your part.
I really wanted an Egyptian themed pinball with Pharaoh at the top of the list but have had no luck on that. The cleo fits in good and I do like the artwork, that's why the very long round trip as I haven't found anything in Maine or the surrounding states. And two pins is always better then one. So let me know what can be worked out. and if you can work with me, if so then you can count on both sold this Saturday.
Looking forward to the pics on the raven anyways, ya was apprehensive about it as the reviews were pretty bad. But I did download it and try it on the virtual and play seems pretty good, some cool shots. But the virtuals are almost always way worse then the actual.
Jerry
---- Barb & Skip wrote:
Jerry,
I can make it a little easier for you. Spiderman & Panthera are
both wide bodies and not only are they wider than average pinball
machine they are also 4 to 6 inches longer. So if you are tight on
space I doubt you would want to consider either of those. And I am
currently holding the Touchdown for one guy and have a second guy
in line if the first guy doesn't take it once it is finished.
So basically it looks like Raven is the only machine on your "short
list" that will fit and is also still available at this point. We
are mostly finished with Raven and should be able to have it 100%
before the weekend but for now it has a small hand full of silly
little issues we still need to get finished.
Of the "issues" the biggest one is that the slingshots don't always
score (likely dirty contact) and the backbox fluorecent tube is
missing and one end of the fixture is broken (I should have both on
a parts machine but have to dig them out) and a couple other silly
little things. Nothing an hour or so shouldn't solve so we should
be able to have it 100% by the weekend. We just keep working
through machines as we have time and then fast track them if they
sell before we are 100% finished with them.
We brought Cleopatra home from storage today and got that up and
running but it also needs a few minor things taken care of. Main
thing on Cleo is I did notice it has one more broken corner on a
plastic I didn't see before so there are still going to be a couple
chipped plastics on it and I still need to find that slingshot
plastic I bought for it. So hopefully before the weekend we should
be able to get that 100% working for you also.
I think my son would be OK with $950 for the two machines with Cleo
up and running and all the little issues taken care of on Raven.
Translite on the Raven has one split at the bottom part way covered
over with arcades decal (from the past) and is pretty faded but it
still OK. I could get some pictures off to you tomorrow but
overall Raven is pretty nice and is fun to play. (Don't believe the
ratings on that machine - it is much better playing game than it is
rated)
I'll talk to my son tomorrow but I doubt he will want to go much
cheaper on the pair just because of what we have invested in them.
But for now I will say I will do the best I can for you as far as
both price and giving you the best machines I can.
Thanks,
Skip
PS - Saturday is fine on this end if it ends up being Saturday
On 8/26/2013 10:10 PM, Jerry Lindsay wrote:
Skip,
Looks like it will be Saturday. I'll let you know 100% tomorrow.
Also been thinking, how about a combo deal? Throwing out the idea, I think I can get two in the van and still have a place for the kiddo on the way home.
So the ideas following:
Option 1 = Cleo + raven
Option 2 = cleo + touchdown
Option 3 = Cleo + Panthera (this one is a stretch cause the panth is a wide body correct? Might not be able to finagle the fitting in the van with one of the middle row seats up for Izzy.
Option 4 = cleo and spidy
At this point don't worry about shopping or board work. I can take care of it. Just thinking about doubling up since it is such a long drive, save money where I can.
Jerry
-----Original Message-----
From: Barb & Skip [mailto:]
Sent: Saturday, August 24, 2013 8:31 PM
To: Jerry
Subject: Re: Cleopatra
Jerry,
Pretty much any time should work on our end so just let me know
once you figure things out. If you prefer a working machine at
$400 there is a good chance we could have that done this coming
week but I wouldn't want to promise that. But I sure don't mind
trying if you prefer picking it up as working 100% for the $400
As things stand this coming week we will have at lest two or three days we will be working on machines. We don't have anything that has to be finished so we could squeeze that Cleopatra in this week if you would like us to do that for you.
Later,
Skip
Carlisle, PA
Toronto, ON
Melbourne
