Alright you EM Junkies, give me some advice. Foto Finish

zoggynog

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Alright you EM Junkies, give me some advice. Foto Finish

I'll try and be brief (I'm not good at doing so),

I have a 1961 Foto Finish I am restoring. I am trying to determine if I should go though with the level of repair I want to do, considering the value of the pin (which I am unsure of...price check please!).

So far I have spent:

$200 - 2 Foto Finish Pinball machines, one almost complete, the other for donor parts (it's real bad).

$250 - Shay Repro Backglass (It's awesome)

$80 - Shay Repro Playfield Plastics (Again, amazing work)

Total = $530

I've worked over the last month to clear off the playfield (top and bottom) to work on my playfield touch ups. I bought my handy TOPS dvd for inspiration of course...

Now that the field is stripped, I feel I'm in over my head on the artwork restore. I have a worn gobble hole, flaking clear (possibly from liquid having visiting the field), and some fairly complex art to work on. I've contacted one of the few people I would trust to do the restoration work.

I'm in it for another $750 if I want it done right. I trust his assessment.

This bumps the grand total to $1280. I could see me putting another $200 in afterwards to grab some new bumpers and a few odds and ends from Steve Young's PBR. So let's say...I have $1500 into a now very nice (but not totally original) Foto Finish.

Is this stupid financially? I know of course that if I "love the game" it's worth what it's worth to me...but truth be told...I'm 30 and I don't really know how I feel about EM's in general yet. I love the look. I love the art of it all. How I feel about the play is unknown.

I check online, and see a link like this:

http://www.pinrescue.com/games/foto_finish.html

and I assume my pin isn't worthless. Of course, I'm more aware of the vids side of things and I know that asking prices on a site like that are often times more than a DIYer perceives value to be. These sells are being aimed (I assume) at different market.

Anyways...I'll shut up now...I'd appreciate all thoughts from those who are knowledgeable enough to have valued comments.

Do I go forward with the restore?
 
Ok, my 2 cents worth.

First, forget the pinrescue website prices. They are not remotely realistic. It is highly unlikely your restored game will fetch $5400 or even close. The 2010 Mr Pinball Price Guide puts your pin at $850. So once you get yours restored to the level you're describing you may get slightly more than that from the right buyer, if your plan is to flip it.

Now, on the other hand if you decide to keep the pin because you like it then putting in some time and money is not such a bad thing. I am currently restoring a '67 Williams Apollo. The time and money I have put into this machine far exceeds what it is worth. However, what I have learned by restoring it myself far outweighs the dollar amount.

You have a great opportunity. You have two machines, one good and one not so good. If I were in your shoes, I would use the bad one as a learning platform. Strip the playfield parts, buy yourself painting supplies (paint, artist brushes, airbrush gun), a tumbler for cleaning metal parts, etc and learn a new set of skills. I've done exactly that and so far my restoration is going well, I'm very pleased with how it is turning out.

Really it is a win-win situation. You learn some restoration techniques and you get a nice machine. You can keep the pin or sell it if you choose.

Like I said, my 2 cents. Your mileage may vary.

Half Life
 
So let's say...I have $1500 into a now very nice (but not totally original) Foto Finish.

Is this stupid financially?


From a pure dollars and cents standpoint, most likely. But it's a hobby, not a business. So thankfully every decision we make doesn't have to be considered in that context.

And quite possibly, you will end up with one of the 5 or 10 nicest Foto Finish pinball machines that remain in existence. Surely that's worth a bit of a premium?

Based on what you said though - my caution would be from a strictly gameplay viewpoint. Unfortunately, a fabulously restored machine does not necessarily make for a fabulously fun playing experience. I don't know your game, so I have no idea if it is fun or not. Hopefully, you've got some idea going into this that you like that particular game.

Alternatively, you could dump what you've bought so far, hopefully break even - take the extra $1000 and buy a nice DMD game. Would you ultimately be happier with that - from a pure "fun" standpoint? Only you know the answer to that.

My personal viewpoint - I wouldn't "over improve" an EM unless I was certain I enjoyed the gameplay of the machine and knew it would last long-term in my collection. I agree with the others guys about gaining experience (and it'll be fun along the way)....but you could gain the same experience with another machine that you know you'll enjoy long-term.
 
Nice.

Good to see responses that all have a similar feel.

I'm really only worried about the value of the pin in so much as I could see me wanting to trade this pin with someone down the road, for a more modern pin. I have this weird obession over the Dungeons and Dragons pin...I'm a bit of a geek...

Doing what I've done so far has already been a great way to get down and dirty with an EM. Clearing off the bottom of the playfield was quite the first lesson. I'm in for a world of lessons when I put the machine back together (good thing I have a second pin as a template).

I've already purchases supplies to clean my metal parts (buffer, lightning rust remover, vibration "shell" cleaner, walnut medium) and look forward to doing the metal cleaning/mechanical/wood work myself.

I truly don't know about the gameplay, but when I go hit the rec.games.pinball, I see it mentioned several times as a game with a large degree of difficulty, and plenty to do. There seems to be fans out there. I sure would love someone with some experince playing this pin to chime in. It also appears to be one of the first with the A-B-C-D advancement...and for that matter, one of the first wedge heads.

If I had this to do all over again, part of me would have looked for a machine with a better playfield. I now have an itch to find a lesser cared about wedge head with a better playfield and experiment with my own playfield touchups. Sadly, this one I feel goes beyond my level as a first time attempt...and probably deserves more justice.

Bottom line, I'm going through with this. I'm going to bite the bullet and have the playfield restored. Wish me luck.
 
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