Category Archives: before

eBay Impulse Buy? Willliams Love Bug Caveat Emptor?

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This is a story about an impulse buy off eBay for a pinball machine. It perhaps may be a cautionary tale of how sellers can hide the true condition of a machine. This also explains why it’s important to really “low ball” unknown sellers of games. There’s a very good chance what you see and what you get are two different things… here is my story of an eBay purchase of a Williams Love Bug (the add-a-ball version of Williams Doodle Bug).

“Hey Professor!” First Look: Gilligan’s Island

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Here’s the first of another multi-part series of stories on some recent game pick ups.   Come look with me as I discover new pinball machines in the wild and take them back to the lair to examine and restore! This was from a lot of about five games I picked up from a company that was going out of business. This was the main game I wanted but I had to get the entire package. Boo hoo. 😉

Stern Meteor Pinball – First Look at a new, heavily-played pick up

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These days I’m pretty backed up on repair/restoration, but there’s always a “magic number” that’ll get me in gear to pick up a game. And when someone wants to reclaim their dining room or spare bedroom, I’ll do my best to help them out, as was the case with this “heavily-loved” Stern Meteor pinball game. I pop the hood on this baby and we take a look and see what’s going to be involved in getting it playable and in better condition..

First Look: Williams “Flash” and Gottlieb “Grand Slam”

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Here is a quick video of two new machines that are in the shop to be brought back to 100%. Usually I run across games that are not this nice. This was a pleasant surprise. Take a look along with me as I examine the games after unloading them.

First Look: Bally “Mystic” prototype/early production game!

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Bally Mystic with prototype cabinet color

Lately, I’ve been developing a big appreciation for the 80s-era Bally games. As a kid I remember them kicking my ass and having unique and interesting rulesets that set them far apart from the Gottliebs and Sterns of the day, so when the chance to pick up a “Mystic” came up, I jumped at it, and drove about three hours to get this game.

Little did I know how special the game would end up being…

First Look: Gottlieb “Charlie’s Angels” and the damage batteries do

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This is a quick post of a short video I shot awhile back that I hadn’t had a chance to upload because I’ve been spending so much time renovating the new pinball place, but I wanted to share with you all soem of the new pick-ups. I’ve been on a moratorium of pinball buying but every once in awhile the price is too good to pass up, and some of these games I believe if I don’t get them, they’ll end up cannibalized and turned into a hipster’s coffee table — we can’t have that if the game has a chance of living again, so into the repair queue it goes!

In this video I give you a “first look” at a new game before I’ve unloaded it and show you the damage caused by a leaky old battery and why that’s so bad.

First Look: Red & Ted’s Road Show

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These days I’m really not trying to acquire more games. I’m stuffed to the rafters and until I get the new space finished, which is all-consuming both in terms of time, money and blood-sweat-and-tears, I don’t have room for new games.

However, I’ve learned that the key to building a good collection at a reasonable cost is to be patient and always be on the lookout for deals. When you are hot for a game, it rarely falls into your lap, so it’s best to have a “wish list” along with some standard dollar-amount target values that are what I call, “no-brainer deals.” If a game shows up in good condition at the right price, I jump at it.

In this case, that’s what happened. Take a look at the restoration video series for a “first look” at my latest acquisition. A Red & Ted’s Road Show pinball game.