KISS questions

gameguy1957

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Here's the backstory.

This pinball machine belongs to a long-time, close family friend. He was an ultimate KISS fan and this was the holy-grail of the collectibles for him.

For as long as he's had it I'd always ask, "When are you going to sell it to me?" And he'd generally reply, "never".

A few months ago I was over at his house and noticed it was in the garage. We have high heat and humidity during the summer months and it has not held up well. Even though it is not out in the weather the 90+ degree days and 90+ percent humidity are taking a toll on it.

I was thinking about it a couple of weeks ago and made him an offer.

1.) Let me help you fix it.

2.) Sell it to me.

3.) Let me store is somewhere climate controlled so it doesn't get any worse just sitting.

He told me he'd like to choice #1, but he's more into the garage full of Mustangs he now owns, so most of his time and money go into them. He's also not a huge of a KISS fan now, so it's not as important to him as it once was.

One #2 I finally got a reply of, "make me an offer".

And #3 is still open if 1 & 2 don't work out.


Questions ???

First question, how much would it cost to refurbish this if he decides to go that route? I gave him an estimate of around $1000 if he didn't replace the back glass or playfield. No real way to get a good feel for it without testing stuff. I know it needs a cpu board, needs to be repainted, has some broken parts on the playfield, and the back glass is peeling badly in a couple of corners. No key for the coin door so we couldn't pull the glass and look under the playfield. The price I tossed out leaves a lot of wiggle-room, but without testing and taking inventory of everything there's no real way to know what all it will take to make it playable.

Second question, how much would this sell for on eBay. I'd like to make him a realistic offer on it, not an offer for what pins sell for locally. I've got the sister machine to this, a Playboy, in about the same shape for $50 in town and have had many other pins, including DMD's, that I bought in the $15 - $125 dollar range. The games just don't sell well here, so I want to give him a better price for it or he can just put it on eBay and see where it goes.

I gave him a guesstimation of $300 - $500 on eBay, but I'm not a huge KISS fan and have not followed the game over time on eBay, so I may be totally off-base on the price.

That being said, I am a huge fan of the SS era pins and this is an iconic one from that time period. It would also be a good bookend to my row off SS pins with the Playboy as the other bookend. So I really wouldn't mind getting it if it ends up being something I can afford.

I'll attach the pics I have for it and appreciate any input you have on it.

I'm also going to copy the link to my friend on this so he can get an idea of his options on it and where he wants to go with it.

Thanks,

-JM
 

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Missed the closeup I had of part of the playfield. I couldn't get anything better because of the flash glare off of the glass. You can see some of the wear on the playfield even though the shot is not very close. It's going to be rough after it's scrubbed with a magic eraser, but it should be usable with some time and painting. I think a full restore would require a new playfield, but then it would need a new backglass too and that puts the price for the project way higher than the machine is worth. (Guessing again, but I figure it would be closer to $2,000 if we started replacing everything that was worn or damaged in order to make it perfect).

-JM
 

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Not really awkward since I'm open to any of the options.

I'd love to get it, but if they are worth an insane amount even non-working then I'm not in the running at all. If it's only a couple of hundred and he decides not to do anything with it then I can still store it somewhere where it won't be in the heat and humidity. I'd also enjoy working on it if he decides to put some money into it to get it working.

I'm not sure how much he paid for it, but I think he's had it for something like ten or fifteen years. It was probably worth more locally back then, there were still machines in stores and on routes. Today there is no market for video games or pinball machine locally, which is why I'm trying to get an estimate on an eBay price for it.

-JM
 
I don't care what the era, it's well known as a bit of a stinker. I like all types of pinballs, I'm just saying if your going to put a ton of time and money into it, find something that's more fun to play. Unless your a huge KISS fan...
 
i fixed a kiss pinball machine for someone local,when i was done,we played a couple of games on it,kiss is not a bad game.everyone says its no fun,and a dud,but i thought it had great flo and was fun for a 1978 game.
 
Looks like it could be fixed to work and be a decent player machine or a fine start for a restoration project. KISS isn't cheap, since a) it's KISS and b) they're usually worn out because they were played a lot and we have the opportunity to buy just about every piece of that game, reproduced. It has 2 things going for it - the obvious popularity of the theme /value among KISS fans and the artwork is some of the best of the era.
 
playfield 350-450 on ebay right now, backglass on ebay 450 right now, you will need to re-stencil, and its got the wrong bumper cap,30 bucks ish?

it will not be a cheap resto, id say 400,
 
I'm 40. KISS posters on my wall at 8 in '78!
Tickets from my wife at 22 (read 1992) for the KISS reunion tour (the first one).

I own no KISS MP3s but I had all the Albums back in the day. That pinball would be a great memory for me.
 
seen kiss 2x all original members,i like the pin too. you can not truly get kiss until you see them live.
 
i like the band, but the pin is OVERATED, seriously how often do people pay big bucks for other pins from 78(playboy,wcs,etc...) ......never! its not a bad pin, but not worth 3000 either

that project will cost 3 times what any other pin from 78 would cost to restore simply for the "kiss" factor
 
I'm 40. KISS posters on my wall at 8 in '78!
Tickets from my wife at 22 (read 1992) for the KISS reunion tour (the first one).

I own no KISS MP3s but I had all the Albums back in the day. That pinball would be a great memory for me.

I saw Kiss in 76-77 when they were on their Dynasty tour I believe. All the original members in the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. That was my first rock concert.

After learning more about the history of the band, and becoming a professional musician for several years, my impression of them has wavered a bit.
 
The KISS army makes almost everything KISS collectible.

Your buying a KISS collectible which happens to be a pinball machine.
KISS pinballs are often the only arcade game in a fans collection.

That means the buyer base is far greater then pinball or arcade collectors.
They don't want it because they like pinball, they want it because it's KISS!

Not many games have that buying power!

A set of KISS Dolls that are just 10 years old sold for $600 on eBay!
DOLLS!!!???
 
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