Oh...my...GOD (pinball machine)

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Darryl B.
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Oh...my...GOD (pinball machine)

Post by Darryl B. »

So I went to this flea market last Sunday not far from the house. I went to resale shops over a few days' period since I had transportation for several days (my car's out of commission for now). Actually there's one within walking distance that I'd walk to once a week but I quit doing that months ago once it got way too damn hot. (But then, 'way too damn hot' works when there's a lot of women in those places barely wearing any clothes at all, but that's another thread altogether, so... :P )

There's usually at least one video game item whenever I go, along with other trinkets and all. On this day in particular they had a promo pic of the crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation that didn't look bad. Some inflatable promo thing for some kind of wine. I don't drink, but it's just one of those things that you want anyway because it's neat, you know? I'm just looking for a Vectrex that I can sell, although I do need another one to keep anyway eventually, just need some money. I hate going to these places where you see all these 'little things' but they'll eat away at your cash if you buy them. Got to talk to some chick about part of a miniature drum set she was buying for her husband that was up for grabs, and she halfway knew her drum stuff, as he has some $6000 (!), limited edition Ludwig set where they only made 400 of them.

Well, look at THIS:

http://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?any=the+e ... =quick#785

(make sure you look at the Playfield pics and all [gorgeous lit up!], and zoom in on them!)

Yeah. They had that. A tabletop pinball machine. Not real unusual, because the first time I ever went to this place they had an Atari Football arcade game. They had some kind of Sega tabletop once too; couldn't tell what it was because the display stuff was missing (it wasn't a Frogger though because it didn't have a joystick, just buttons...could've been Space Firebird, that was a tabletop). But a PINBALL game?

Holy crap! It looked to be in good condition too, it still had the City of Houston 1978 sticker on it. Could've been in a warehouse since whatever gameroom it was in closed down until just recently. DAMMIT I wish I was working and either living on my own or just about to, I would've snapped the sucker right up. And that's not a good idea when you don't know anything about pinball machines, they have to be worked on and all. Especially if you have something that has specialized parts, then you're screwed. The thing could have a funky power supply or something that maybe even Radio Shack couldn't replace. Granted, even if it didn't work it'd still make a helluva conversation piece!

The thing was in good condition though, so, aside from swapping some wires, some resoldering and all (I assume, as you can't just think a 30 year old machine is going to instantly power up and play like it did back then), it did NOT need to be restored, far as I could tell. (There's a difference; if you need to have a machine restored, rather than just shopped, you could literally not see your machine for years, as repair shops are really backed up, and restoration takes time too, since there's a lot of factors to consider in regards to parts, electronics, woodwork/painting that needs to be done, etc.) I see that the manufacturer (whom I had never heard of, but then, I'm no pinball expert) only made four machines, so it's possible everything could be just 'off the shelf' that's needed to get it running again, with common rubbers and all.

I'm almost 100% certain I never played this one back in the day, either (only pinball tabletops I played were Joust, War and one other that I can remember), and with only two ratings of it on that site, I'm sure it's extremely rare, even among other pinball machines from back then.

Still, though...GOD I want that! (cries)
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Re: Oh...my...GOD (pinball machine)

Post by Zap! »

Damn, that's too bad you couldn't pick that up, it would have been a great piece in a game room. What was the asking price anyway?
One burning question that will remain with him until his dying days....."Was my victory really worth the price I had to pay?"

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Darryl B.
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Re: Oh...my...GOD (pinball machine)

Post by Darryl B. »

Knowing them, probably not much, MAYBE $200 tops. Because I know the other arcade games I'd seen there (the Atari Football one and whatever the Sega one was) were $150 at most, maybe not even that much (I think the Football was only $50 or $100). (*still depressed* :( )
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Re: Oh...my...GOD (pinball machine)

Post by Kreationz »

Nice find. Bought my older brother a "Mr. & Mrs. Pac-man" stand up last year for his 40th B-day. He just recently finished repairing it and got it working.
:pacmaneats:
http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=1639&picno=6876 <-Image of similar machine.

I got it at a flea market for 80$ and a copy of Final Fantasy I for NES.

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Darryl B.
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Re: Oh...my...GOD (pinball machine)

Post by Darryl B. »

Wow, awesome! Good going with a great b-day gift!
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