(Topic ID: 164186)

What to look for when buying!

By Hollywoodbone

7 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 15 posts
  • 8 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 7 years ago by joekiss
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

You

Linked Games

No games have been linked to this topic.

    #1 7 years ago

    Bought my first pin from a reputable place. Was shopped and real clean. Has been a great game but feel I paid probably just a hair too much.
    So now I'm ready for my second and would rather pick it up from a individual at decent price! So my question is what do I look for when checking the pin out? I know play field, strong flippers, lines or dots out in DMD that sort of thing But is there any thing that can be slightly hidden or not real obvious that I should check?
    Thanks for any feed back! I know this has probably been posted 100 times

    #3 7 years ago

    Wait you can still get games at decent prices

    #4 7 years ago
    Quoted from timtim:

    Wait you can still get games at decent prices

    No,silly rabbit!

    #5 7 years ago

    Yeah I have read that before. But I'm not really talking about scams. I'm talking about once I'm at the machine looking at it. Played it a few times. Visually every thing looks good on the out side. Now I open the back box and lift the play field. Is there any thing that I should look specifically for? Any thing that could be rigged or a problem in the very short future!

    #6 7 years ago

    The best way is to know how to look at the games. Studying your sega menus you will know how to check things in Segas, and I believe Sterns are the same basic menu (?), but knowing the menu systems is important. But before menus, it's juts using your eyes and really looking for defects and problem areas. These boards are full of info on gaem specific issues you can search before looking at whatever game you find on CL or whatever.

    #7 7 years ago

    I assume the DE menus are close to sega as well? And thank you!

    #8 7 years ago

    Carefully look over the wiring/plugs/boards looking for any signs of hacks or burnt pins etc. If you find something it doesn't make the machine a "dud" or a bad purchase but it might alert you, and possibly even the seller, to some lurking issues that could need addressing?

    I would factor into ANY purchase $100 for rubbers/lamps and small things that you will invariably miss when you are dribbling and drooling all over your new love.

    When I buy a machine I just confirm that everything works as it should then look at the overall physical condition VS the price asked.

    I have bought many machines in poor to terrible condition as long as the price asked matched the condition.

    #9 7 years ago
    Quoted from Hollywoodbone:

    I assume the DE menus are close to sega as well? And thank you!

    Maybe at the end but I refuse to touch DEs so I wouldn't know DMD era W/B are similar, they just look diff'rent but it's all the same "test" area and so on. These are just simple things you can do, go in the all lamp test so you don't notice a whole sting of lights is out you didn't notice before.

    #10 7 years ago

    switch test - make sure they all function

    switch error - Even on old machines they have basic switch tests (but note some switches are pressed, like ball troughs)

    Fire all the solenoids (and flashers on those circuits), make sure there are no dead transistors.

    ALWAYS turn off the game, then back on again. If there's dead batteries (or worse, corroded ones), you'll get an "adjust failure". Sellers sometimes like to get the machine warm and already on when you get there, don't be fooled.

    Cabinet wear is no big deal. Backglass wear isn't as big of a deal, at least if you can easily buy a replacement translite (painted glass is another beast). Playfield wear can be a big deal because it can be a pain to fix, and wear will only get worse over time with a ball rolling over it. Run your finger over the playfield, check for stickers. Often wear is covered up by stickers.

    #12 7 years ago
    Quoted from Hollywoodbone:

    Bought my first pin from a reputable place. Was shopped and real clean. Has been a great game but feel I paid probably just a hair too much.
    So now I'm ready for my second and would rather pick it up from a individual at decent price! So my question is what do I look for when checking the pin out? I know play field, strong flippers, lines or dots out in DMD that sort of thing But is there any thing that can be slightly hidden or not real obvious that I should check?
    Thanks for any feed back! I know this has probably been posted 100 times

    It is more than worth it to pay 'just a hair too much' from a reputable dealer to have the game fully shopped, have a warranty (my guy gives me 90 days after a shop), have peace of mind and have the game ready to play, especially if I don't know what to look for when buying a game.

    #13 7 years ago
    Quoted from Dooskie:

    It is more than worth it to pay 'just a hair too much' from a reputable dealer...

    If his phrasing is accurate I agree with you, but I've never seen a dealer selling games just a c-hair over real street prices. The real deals are buying games from people and being able to fix them up...it's all part of the process.

    #14 7 years ago
    Quoted from TheLaw:

    If his phrasing is accurate I agree with you, but I've never seen a dealer selling games just a c-hair over real street prices. The real deals are buying games from people and being able to fix them up...it's all part of the process.

    I agree. Unfortunately, I'm not much better than being able to replace a burnt out light under the playing field, and even that is iffy. So for me, it's worth a little bit more. For instance, Eight Ball Champ shows up on Pinside as a $1,300 game. Paul has one in pristine condition that I bought from him for $1,500. Every single thing checks out, and it comes with a 90 day warranty. That's well worth $200 to me, plus Paul's a good guy, I trust him, he does outstanding work, and I don't feel like I'm being gouged. Maybe $1,500 for that game is way too much, but basing it on what the 'going' price is, I'm happy to pay the extra $200. Plus he's 30 minutes down the road if I ever have any trouble.

    BTW, here's a shout-out for Paul's Pinball Palace in Newport, ME:

    http://www.paulspinballpalace.com

    #15 7 years ago

    Im much more worried about game-specific unreplaceable or hard to find parts then a non-working switch or something minor. Plastic pieces or ramps for games like TAF and TZ are usually easy to find but some games a broken ramp or plastic is going to be hard to replace.

    Reply

    Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

    Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

    Donate to Pinside

    Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!


    This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/what-to-look-for-when-buying and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

    Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.