gameguy1957
Active member
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
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
