Meph
Well-known member
I posted this last week on Pinside and got a lot of differing opinions. I think more people there are players and less want any type of major restoration. Anyone here done pinball restorations before want to give me some advice on this machine?
The machine in question is a Theatre of Magic. Its a routed machine and like most routed machine, not well taken care of. When I looked at the machine the first thing I noticed was all the inserts are worn and will need new decals. The only place I noticed wear on paint itself is between the inserts, right outside the Haunted Basement. There were some broken things on the machine like the basement door and the chest. The machine was pretty dirty.
On first inspection I was going to walk away from it but he wants me back tuesday to inspect it after he "shops" it. I don't expect his shop job to be on par with mine but he said he is going to clean the PF, fix the basement, replace the chest, replace flippers/rubbers/etc. He claims everything works perfectly and I will check it good when I go back this week.
I'm planning new decals for the inserts and targets. I also plan on repairing the PF either by hand painting it or using a vinyl overlay like Ed Cheung uses on this Resto: http://www.edcheung.com/album/album06/Pinball/mm.htm
I have a friend that does Auto body work and will spray clear coat the PF for the cost of materials if I want to go that route. Unfortunately I only took a few pics but here is a couple of the PF. I should have taken more.
So my big question is.....if it electronically works perfect like he says, there is no signs of hacks or burns on the boards, and he cleans/repairs like he said, is there any reason I shouldn't JUMP on this for $1500-$2000? I'm pretty sure it will be closer to the $1500 range. I posted this on Pinside but I get a lot of differing opinions there and it seems a lot of people are just afraid of any kind of restoration work. I'm looking for the opinions of some people that might have similar experience.
The machine in question is a Theatre of Magic. Its a routed machine and like most routed machine, not well taken care of. When I looked at the machine the first thing I noticed was all the inserts are worn and will need new decals. The only place I noticed wear on paint itself is between the inserts, right outside the Haunted Basement. There were some broken things on the machine like the basement door and the chest. The machine was pretty dirty.
On first inspection I was going to walk away from it but he wants me back tuesday to inspect it after he "shops" it. I don't expect his shop job to be on par with mine but he said he is going to clean the PF, fix the basement, replace the chest, replace flippers/rubbers/etc. He claims everything works perfectly and I will check it good when I go back this week.
I'm planning new decals for the inserts and targets. I also plan on repairing the PF either by hand painting it or using a vinyl overlay like Ed Cheung uses on this Resto: http://www.edcheung.com/album/album06/Pinball/mm.htm
I have a friend that does Auto body work and will spray clear coat the PF for the cost of materials if I want to go that route. Unfortunately I only took a few pics but here is a couple of the PF. I should have taken more.
So my big question is.....if it electronically works perfect like he says, there is no signs of hacks or burns on the boards, and he cleans/repairs like he said, is there any reason I shouldn't JUMP on this for $1500-$2000? I'm pretty sure it will be closer to the $1500 range. I posted this on Pinside but I get a lot of differing opinions there and it seems a lot of people are just afraid of any kind of restoration work. I'm looking for the opinions of some people that might have similar experience.
