Another OP story - leaving empty handed

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So as the story goes - I fixed a vector monitor for an OP I recently met. I delivered it to his shop last night. I told him I'm considering buying a pin and wanted to know about maintenance, his favorite tables and why - most problematic so on and so forth. He has several HIGH end popular tables. He is such a great guy, very knowledgable and I thoroughly enjoy talking to him. He pointed at a Star Wars Episode 1 machine and said, "I know you like star Wars and since you helped me out, where I'd normally charge $3400 for that I'll give it to you for $3000." Wow .... ummmm .... just wow. First of all I sincerely appreciate the price break but man the average price on the market is NO where near that. So I leveled with him and told him I see those machines "typically" listed for $1800 - $2200. He then replied, "There's no way in hell I'd sell it for that. I could part it out and make more money than that." Of course he can ask what ever he wants - I just won't pay it because I can't afford it. So we talked awhile longer and I left.

So here's the conversation piece of this thread. All the pins he has he bought brand new. So lets say the machine was bought in 1990 and put into the field. Almost 20 years later has thing thing not only paid for itself but also made him money by now? A blanket question - how much money does a good title pinball machine bring in annually?
 
Episode 1 came out in 1999, 3000 is FAR FAR FAR FAR from a deal haha.

I know a guy selling one for 3000. But that one is completely professionally restored. Absolutely mint, won't find a better example. I'm sure I could actually get it cheaper then that. Not a big fan of the PIN2k. Revenge from Mars is better by far if you want to get one.

Nowadays pinballs aren't making ANY money. Maybe the odd ones here and there...
 
The amount a game pulls in can vary wildly these days. I know most ops don't really like to say what they're getting out of the cash box, but I've had some kind of hush hush conversations with a few and if you have a prime location you can still pull in good money. It's never going to be like it was in its prime, but pinball can still be profitable on location.

I know of an op that still gets about $150/week out of his Addams Family machine. He also gets called about once a week by someone who wants to buy it for around $2,500. To him that's only a short time of earning power, so there's no way he's going to sell it for market value. The only way he'll sell that thing is if he can immediately buy another and get it right back on location.
 
I know a Terminator 2 that gets about $10 a week from me :) It used to be maybe $2 a week but I own every slot on the high score table and can't regularly beat my high scores to get replays. I get at most 2 replays before the replay score is jacked up so much that I can't get it.

Good way to get my money I tell you haha. This machine is in immaculate condition on route. No lights out, no wear(diamond plate), plays fast.

There is also a Medieval Madness next door that I play just as often that regularly brings in money.

I can see what Jar is saying by my personal experience putting money into these games.

Edit: Shoot come to think of it I should just buy a damn T2 if I'm going to keep pouring money into it!
 
You were dealing with a retailer. My boss would sell an Ep 1 for about the same. Of course, we shop out every pin before delivery, so it's not like you're buying from some goof ball who keeps it in his basement and MIGHT have wiped it down a couple times and ONCE put some new rubbers on and a couple light bulbs. Plus we have a warranty and service contract.

Now - having said that, I wouldn't buy anything for the prices my boss sells them for - and gets! You'd be amazed at what well-to-do people will pay to buy something they can see first, play before they buy, and know they can actually pick up the phone or stop by should they need help with it...
 
You'd be amazed at what well-to-do people will pay to buy something they can see first, play before they buy, and know they can actually pick up the phone or stop by should they need help with it...

As much as retail in general is hurting these days, this is precisely the reason that retail is still around at all anymore. People will pay 40% more to Barnes & Noble just so they can flip through the book beforehand.
 
I had a subscription to Replay magazine that I have since let expire, but in the top earners section, Medieval Madness was still listed and had been there forever. I think I let my subscription lapse in 2006...so that game at least was still making money. I know the one still on location locally takes a lot of my money :)
 
Nowadays pinballs aren't making ANY money. Maybe the odd ones here and there...

I would have to disagree on this one. Around my city/neighborhood, pinballs are big in the bars. Lots and lots of non-collector types love to play the pins, and will judge a bar by what pins and how many they have. Ground Kontrol holds pinball tournaments that are wildly popular, and the machines are usually getting played there more than the vids there on any given night.

It may be just a fad right now, but pins are hot. When I have a party the ST:TNG gets non-stop action, while greats like Major Havoc and Marble Madness just wait patiently for some attention :)
 
pins

its all about the location as far as how much a pin can make on location
this is of course assuming the pin is a good one and kept up by the op.
in restaurant A, which is only open 10 hrs per day and not super busy or popular, a lord of rings might make 30 per week, then it gets moved to location B, a busy bar restaurant combo thats open 24 hrs, and the same game makes 110 per week.
as a general rule the high and low of earning power would be about $15 per week on the low side and $120 per week on the high side with the average being about in the 40 to 60 range
 
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sounds like an op that i sure as hell wouldnt do any more favors for..

he prolly still thinks his old converted junks are worth a grand too
 
That op did you a favor by pricing you out of the market for buying that absolute crap of a pin and system that brought the downfall of a great manufacturer.
 
Pin 2000 made a profit. Williams pulled the plug because it didn't make a profit anywhere NEAR the profit made by gaming machines. Williams management killed pinball... not Pin 2000. I'd recommend you watch the documentary "Tilt"... it's both entertaining and depressing...
 
Pin 2000 made a profit. Williams pulled the plug because it didn't make a profit anywhere NEAR the profit made by gaming machines. Williams management killed pinball... not Pin 2000. I'd recommend you watch the documentary "Tilt"... it's both entertaining and depressing...

Of course you're right. But Obi Wan was our only hope and....epic fail. I will get around to watching tilt. Porky was in it right? Ha ha. But just the same...awful just awful pinball 2000 was, like almost everything else built in the 1990's with the suffix "2000" attached to its name. If operators spent 1/10th of the time and effort maintaining pins on location as they do slots maybe the younger generation would build up a loyal fan bace
 
I paid $300 for my Sorcerer pin 2 or 3 years ago, and it is without a doubt the most-played game I have. I'd love to have a title that more people know, but to me a $1500 pin is at least 3 arcade games. :D
 
I paid $300 for my Sorcerer pin 2 or 3 years ago, and it is without a doubt the most-played game I have. I'd love to have a title that more people know, but to me a $1500 pin is at least 3 arcade games. :D

In today's market a $1500 pin is 5 video games...:(

ken
 
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