I totally get what you're saying, and had wondered the same thing.

My best guess is that there are more DMD and SS games coming up for sale than EMs because:
1. There are still DMD games coming out of commercial use.
2. Most EMs have found their way into the hands of longer-term collectors by now; there are more people coming to the SS/DMD pinball market, buying stuff, and selling it.
3. Rising prices for DMD games is causing people to unload games they wouldn't have unloaded at their original purchase prices.

Look here...

http://www.pinrescue.com/forsale.html

read this thread
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/some-nice-looking-em-classics-just-came-up-on-cl

I buy and sell more em's than any othere pins I get in. It seems more non pin people have them sitting around because they are on the cheap end of pins and they just want one.

For what it's worth, I'm planning to list a couple EMs once I can get some pics. Got a Big Indian and Kings & Queens.

Folks tend to not post EMs for sale on rgp because they draw lots of commentary and critique. Plenty of EMs on craigslist though, just not always super close by. Sometimes have to travel a bit to hunt games down. Or remote purchases aren't so bad if a pair of games can be found (shipping cost is the same). Ebay seems to have EMs on all the time, but ratio-wise, yes, very much the minority. PinballOwners is another resource to find EMs though, and is usually collector to collector.

The real challenge though is finding decent, desirable EMs. That takes more patience, scrounging, and usually some distance. If you specialize in certain titles, then the net needs to get cast pretty far and wide. If any old EM will do, then it shouldn't take more than a few days to find something (at a fair price; not talking about the $100 garage sale finds).

But if you're looking for the same couple dozen titles everyone else is after, well, get in line.

Chicago Craigslist has alot

They are all in my garage/house.

http://www.weirpinball.com/gallery/index.php/Restoration/Current-Restorations

Scott

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What i saw was this: when the economy took a big crap I started seeing the midwest area CL flooded with pinball machines. I picked up several during that time. Every other day someone was listing something for around $250 within a few hours drive from me. From des moines to chicago. At that time I was quite the newbie so I was not paying attention to the higher end machines do to my own budget constraints.

After many months of this, the games started tapering down. The real crap that either no one wanted or was overpriced are still being listed to this day.

So in my case I purchased several EM's that are in my cue for future restoration for my own collection. I bet that is the case for a lot of EMs right now. Several somebodies are sitting on them and doing nothing with them. LOL

This is Pinside. You won't find many EMs here. Why? Most Pinsiders have never owned one. Many have never played one. Many don't appreciate them (yes, they are tons of fun!), and can't even handle a game that doesn't have ramps, a DMD, Stern/WMS/BLY on the backbox, etc.

If you want to pick up (or even discuss) EMs, this is not the place. Step away from Pinside. Look around where general items are for sale. Maybe even *gasp* go beyond your computer screen (eBay and craigslist are not all-enompassing) and try old-fashioned resources. That's where you find the real deals.

Oh gimme a break. Plenty of us with EM experience here.

I have a Grand Slam for sale right now, in fact. Just sold my Card Trix to a local collector. I'm going to be EM-less for the first time in a good while. How sad. =\

After stalking Pinside before joining it is true that not many discussions are about EM's but to think that most here don't appreciate them?
Well that's just sad

Like iono, a horror film forum not giving a darn about Hammer or the classics just new gab.

History people!

The VAST majority of Pinside does not dabble in the EMs. They are here, just not in the numbers the SS games show up. Try some other avenues like Mr. pinball or RGP or even CL. Most CL EMs seem to sit much longer than SS machines.

Understood, we exist, but people who own and sell and enjoy EMs are a small minority on Pinside. I think there was a poll or thread a while back that verified this.

Personally, I think it's crazy, and feel sorry for those who never owned or enjoyed an EM. And I think it's nuts--people will pay $300-400 for a sheet of optical glass or LEDs and toppers for a game, while my last purchase was a Mars Trek EM in excellent condition, plays beautifully, for $350. Yet lots of Pinsiders still whine about the "high price" of pinball these days....

That's awesome, if we were to ever be able to get another pin an EM would be top of the list.
Don't think there are that many round my neck of the woods though? Unless someone can correct me.

You never know, even where you are! EMs are the games that often wind up sitting in a basement or back of someone's garage for decades. Which means some of these finds are in excellent condition to boot!

There coming soon, keep your pants on.

John P. Dayhuff
Battle Creek, Mi.
269-979-3836

I used to buy/sell a few a year
but now like others - feel like holding on to them and just stow 'em away

Unless it is a rare or pristine EM machine, it will often cost more to ship than the purchase price. So most will be put for sale in a local market like Craigslist, and around here, new ones seem to pop up everyday, most at fair prices.

The painted backglass on some EMs is a quality that just can't be replicated on a plastic translite.

Funny here is Central PA I can't sell EM's. Right now I have a shopped and fully working Palace Guard (wedgehead) and a pretty nice "300" (again fully shopped) for sale and have had very little action on either at $550 each or $1000 for the two of them.

I am working on a Wizard with a super nice backglass and decent machine overall I can't wait to get finished just to see if my issue is with selling all EM's or just the Royal Guard & 300. That has had playfield cleaned up and new rings installed but I have not gotten into the electronics on it yet. I would take $750 for that before I get it done but again no one even seems interested.

Yet if I list SS machines (even earlier ones) they normally sell in a few days?

Shipping is the biggest issue as it makes you think before buying a $500 pin! Supply of good quality EM's is small but so is demand. If it ever picks up, things could go crazy!

60's EM's were much higher prices in the 1990's so who knows what will happen. If nostalgia is the driving force then will the kids of today want EM's??

I have a sweet original 2 player Gottlieb Swing Along with zero pf wear due to day one mylar, BG is near perfect as it's plexi (also original) First game with spinners, great Roy Parker art, super colorful and works 100% (now) It's in the back of the line for restoration here as I have several needing more attention. I have a rubber kit. Plastics are perfect. Truly a showpiece if someone were to repaint the cabinet and give it a simple shop job. Willing to let it go for what I have in it. $600 PM me if interested. I can take more detailed pics if needed.

lite-shopping.JPG BeforeRestore_profile.JPG lightshop_001.jpg lite-shopping_all.JPG

Deal has been struck, money has changed hands.........there coming ASAP. Hang tight.

John P. Dayhuff
Battle Creek, Mi
269-979-3836

Palace Guard is a fun, but hard game. Love it. One of our local guys has one and it was used in a tournament. Absolutely awesome.

Look there, but only if you got money to burn!!

300 is a solid game; Royal Guard and Swing Along look fun too. One possible hurdle to selling some EMs issue is that even some folks who like EMs tend to shy away from ones with the 2" flippers. I tend to be partial to early/mid-70's WMS games, but a nicely set up EM with 2" flippers can be a LOT of fun!

EMs are different animals to me. I prefer the short flippers on EMs Once you go to longer flippers (longer ball times), you may as well go to modern pins.

2" flippers are the BOMB. For real... NUDGE THAT THING!

Your problem is Palace Guard and 300.

I have to agree as far as Palace Guard (basically it seems swinging targets & the fact it is a wedgehead are the only two things that machine has going for it) but "300" is actually a pretty decent machine and I am kind of surprised it doesn't book for more money. If I wasn't totally out of space I would likely be keeping the 300 for the collection but once the basement and garage are full there is really no where else to go with machines.

But as far as EM sales I have always had a rough time selling them - even when I have had some really good titles. I don't know if it just our area or what but EM's don't sell well for me so unless they are fairly nice I end up making most of them into parts and Royal Guard and 300 might be headed in that direction if I don't sell them at the York Show this Fall.

I really hate to part machines out but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. And needing space that is my only choice if I can't get them sold.

I think it's because you are in pinball heaven, seems 80% of all pinballs are in the northeast, especially PA. Too much supply up there and the cost to move them is too high relative to value. If they were here in the south (NC) they'd sell NP.

I think that with the price of dmd/ss on the rise, em machines are getting a second look by people who never wanted one.
I never had a problem finding ems but in the past two yrs things are getting tougher and when a good title pops up there are many more people interested in it. good thing i have almost all on my want list except a few and they are not top ten ones so in time I will find them.
and like john in nc said pa is the hot bed for the em market.

I can personally vouch for this. I my case, it wasn't so much that I never wanted one, I just didn't have any exposure to them prior to collecting. I never knew until recently that I had always wanted one.

I couldn't agree more, I prefer 2' flipper games, it actually takes some skill to play these games, and then when you play a machine with 3" flippers it is like shooting fish in a barrel.

I would love to own that palace guard, just not driving to PA.

I Love the 2" flippers

Brian Lenker
Madison hts, MI
586-344-0721

Usually if a game doesn't sell it is priced too high, both I think are popular titles. I have a Royal Guard and its definitely a keeper!! BTW do you have royal or palace? or both?

Price is the key with em machines. there are ones that will always go up in price and there are ones that do not.
SOME people will over pay for a machine, then when they try to sell it always try to get back what they have in it or more and wonder why it will not sell. Sometimes you can make a profit sometimes you have to take a loss.
I would NEVER part out a playable machine. It would get sold at the price that the market commands. that is why I only buy machines at what I feel they are worth

I've got a new answer: In basements of people who don't want to bother actually listing them for sale.

While picking up a jukebox with my dad last night, I found a couple EMs in a basement - a Chicago Coin Playtime, and a Bally Bow And Arrow. The Playtime was a keeper for the owner, but she let the Bow And Arrow go for $150 in need of a bit of work.

Normally I only part out machines that are way too far gone to fix up but I will also consider parting machines out if I know doing so will save several other machines. That last machine that fell into this area for me was a Data East Batman with a really bad playfield. I had 3 people needing parts from that machine so even though mine was playable I decided, since playfield was so bad, it was better as a parts machine to save several other machines.

Some parts can be found without parting out machines but other parts can only come from machines being parted out. So parting out machines isn't always a bad thing. I think it really just depends on how bad a machine is condition wise.

As far as my 300 and Palace Guard both are way to good and both play 100% so I would have a really hard time parting either out. I highly doubt it will come down to that because they have only been for sale a few weeks (during the slow Summer season) but if it comes down to parting them or renting more storage I'll have to seriously consider parting them out later this Fall. Sorry to all that are upset by this but sometimes we have to do things we just really don't want to do.

Not good.

Good.

Ken

People are starting to appreciate EMs in recent years. Most pin collectors that I know have at least 1 EM. Compared to the newer games, they are inexpensive. People tend to be nostalgic and usually want something that reminds them of when they were kids. I have seen many of the better EMs sell for Much higher prices than a few years ago. As the hobby grows, more people will start adding EMs to their lineup. The opening of pinball museums has also renewed interest in these machines.

I've got a Slick Chick and a Pat Hand for sale. PM me if you're interested.

I think most are missing the part of EMs I most appreciate: I especially like how the entire machine is a mechanical computer with a program made of electo-mechanical devices. We will see many non-working EMs in the future, but a working EM is an engineering marvel compared to a bunch of computer controlled toys.

It is always my contention that playable machines that mostly score and play as designed are worth a ton more than some broken project waiting for someone to fix. When I see a shopped EM selling for under $500 I always think those broke down projects aren't worth more than a few bucks.

Pm Sent Mike - you've got me curious now.

I think Em's should be part of any balanced collection. I enjoy the nostalgia and feel of an EM, but I also like the speed and audio of an SS machine. There is no doubt, IMHO, that EM art is unbeatable.

Nothing replaces the sound & feel of a well setup EM. The score reel spinning wildly when you make that killer shot thru a nicely tuned spinner target, the clunk-clunk of the stepper motor counting off bonus points at the end of a ball, the faint clickity click of a Gottlieb "AS" relay resetting. The chimes, the bells. And all of the mechanical stepper clunks, clicks, the buzzing of relays when starting a game. That's REAL pinball. When you see a pin in a movie or on TV, do you hear Gorgar, Taxi, or EBD? Nope- it's always chimes & bells. At least one belongs in every collection.
I see a few EM's come up on CL every so often in my area. Mostly people think they are worth big $$, but I tend to go for the non-working "projects" that are priced accordingly. Unless they are really rusty or someone has butchered the innards I will buy just about anything that's reasonable. The parts on these alone will be priceless at some point IMO.
Oregon is a hotbed of pin activity right now - you have to act fast & have cash in hand to get the deals.