looking at first pinball machine tomorrow

Torin

Well-known member

Donor 2013
Joined
Feb 4, 2011
Messages
3,691
Reaction score
757
Location
Boise, Idaho
Going to look at a Bally playboy 1978 pinball machine tomorrow. Guy says it lights up but the game suddenly stopped working two years ago. He says its in great shape cosmetically. What should I look for? What costs could I possibly be looking at, worst case scenario, to get it going? Could this also be a cheap issue? Thanks for any advice.
 
Last edited:
What's the title of the game? More than likely you will need to replace the main MPU board if it has severe acid damage from the old nicad battery that was soldered to the original board (they run @ 200.00) Again it really depends on the title, but anywhere from 200-400 dollars I think is fair since it will probably need some work to get it in really good playing shape.
 
I was in the same boat as you two days ago, maybe I was a little better off having experience with video arcades. Check my post out "paragon" it shows my story of the last couple of weeks leading up to me buying my first pin.


Biggiest thing I can say is condition.... Condition of the game as a whole and condition of the parts that make it playable. If your handy and don't mind spending a few c notes any game is fixable. (And with the Internet you can find the knowledge you need to fix it... This forums the best source)

The game I bought isn't working, same as the play boy your looking at, it lights up but nothing else. My MPU is fried, I could spend the time and fix it but I opted to buy a brand new board and be done with it. With misc. parts and the time needed to actually repair a board I say it goes to be about $100-$150... A new board is $200...just depend what value you put on your time...


Good luck keep us posted if you get it!
 
Back
Top Bottom