Vids for pinballs - Getting my first (working) pin

gobsgraham

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So I really want a pin or maybe two or three and have lots of games to trade. I am already picking up a Data East Batman (new DMD) and now I have a choice between a few more games. I can get a Shaq attack, Nightmare on Elm Street or a Dracula. All are in pretty good shape. Any thoughts on which one or two are best? What are these games worth so I know which is the best value for me? Is there an easy way to research prices?


Thanks
 
So I really want a pin or maybe two or three and have lots of games to trade. I am already picking up a Data East Batman (new DMD) and now I have a choice between a few more games. I can get a Shaq attack, Nightmare on Elm Street or a Dracula. All are in pretty good shape. Any thoughts on which one or two are best? What are these games worth so I know which is the best value for me? Is there an easy way to research prices?


Thanks

The consensus will be that the Shaq is the worst of the bunch. Some guys really like the Nightmare's, some folks don't. The Dracula (Bram Stokers Dracula I am assuming), would easily be the best of the choices...... if they are all in equally good shape that is.

-Hans
 
Man I would love to have that Batman!. Great game and great choice by you! To answer your question BSD hands down....
 
Try Pinpedia.com for average sale prices. Of course this is just the average on ebay. It isn't going to be exact to your situation.
 
So I really want a pin or maybe two or three and have lots of games to trade. I am already picking up a Data East Batman (new DMD) and now I have a choice between a few more games. I can get a Shaq attack, Nightmare on Elm Street or a Dracula. All are in pretty good shape. Any thoughts on which one or two are best? What are these games worth so I know which is the best value for me? Is there an easy way to research prices?

Bram Stoker's Dracula = $1200-1500 depending on condition ...lower if it has any major problems or issues to deal with

Freddy= $800-1000

Shaq Attack = They should pay YOU. ;) ... $400 or less

Drac's the best of the bunch...Freddy's pretty cool for a Gottlieb DMD. Shaq blows....but if it's cheap enough, even bad pinball can be pretty good. :)
 
No Attacks here!

I 3rd that,

1. Dracula

2. Freddy

3. Find anything

4. Shaq Attack = 5 each only to part them out for the PCBs.
 
No matter how tempting the price, friends don't let friends buy a "Shaq" pinball.
Nor a Raven, or a Popeye....

But I'd let you get a Roller Disco, just because you should already know better about avoiding THAT subject matter.

-Hans
 
Yeah, if that's a Bram Stoker's Dracula, you just gotta get it. The game is extremely good.

It seems like more pinheads hate Freddy than like it, so you'll definitely need to play it a good bit before striking up a deal on it. (I'm extremely fond of the game, myself.)

I can't comment on Shaq as I've never played it, but it sure doesn't sound too promising.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. I will avoid Shaq at all costs. Pins in Calgary and probably most of Canada are more expensive than US prices as we don't have as many around. I would say on average $500 more than what I usually see pins here go for.

The Nightmare is fully working with some playfield wear and needs new rubbers and the price is around $1500-$1700.

The BSM is an obvious first choice from all of the comments here but it is the only one of the three that needs work and the price is also around $1500-$1700. A couple of the score bumpers don't work, needs a good cleaning and rubbers, and the dracula has an eye on the multiball that sometimes doesn't read and then it starts to do a ball search and needs to be reset.

Hmm. I will probably put them both on the back burner for now and wait a bit to see if the prices will come down or if I can get more trade value out of my games.
 
shaq has horrible sound, but i played it some at the last auction i was at and found the gameplay to be fairly decent. if i could snag one up for $500 or so, i'd definitely get one.

it's definitely not the best pin out there, but it's a really cheap dmd.
 
I bought a Freddy in a bulk buy. When I first started playing it I did not "get it". The rule set is extremely deep, so I had to actually read the instruction card (both sides) as well as the manual to finally figure out what my objectives were. Once I got past that, the game became one of my favorites. If you just like to bang the ball around, this is not the game for you.

As for value, Mine was probably an '8' but it still took forever to sell, and eventually went down the road for only 700 or 800 bucks. That was in 2009 in western New York.
 
No matter how tempting the price, friends don't let friends buy a "Shaq" pinball.
Nor a Raven, or a Popeye....

But I'd let you get a Roller Disco, just because you should already know better about avoiding THAT subject matter.

-Hans

Have you actually played Popeye?
 
So I ended up finally getting the DE Batman. The other two pins came off the market but they were overpriced anyways and he turned down my $1000 each offer so it is no big deal.

The Batman seems to play fine. Everything works well and it has a new DMD which is nice because I have read that they can be a pain to find a replacement. The playfield is not as nice as I was expecting from the pictures but is not too bad.

Does anyone know if it is normal that they game keeps advertising Star Wars while you are playing it? Seems a little odd to me so I was wondering if it has all the original boards or if something was swapped at some point.

Thanks
 
So I ended up finally getting the DE Batman. The other two pins came off the market but they were overpriced anyways and he turned down my $1000 each offer so it is no big deal.

The Batman seems to play fine. Everything works well and it has a new DMD which is nice because I have read that they can be a pain to find a replacement. The playfield is not as nice as I was expecting from the pictures but is not too bad.

Does anyone know if it is normal that they game keeps advertising Star Wars while you are playing it? Seems a little odd to me so I was wondering if it has all the original boards or if something was swapped at some point.

Thanks

Don't be bummed about the playfield... I have yet to see one without playfield wear. I tried to get a guy sell me his NOS playfield, which I didn't know such a thing existed, but he declined...

There is teasers for the D.E. Star Trek on there. Is that what you're talking about?
 
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That must be it. Couldn't remember if it was Star Wars or Star Trek. Just thought it was kind of weird.
 
Have you actually played Popeye?

I have found that a whole lot (not all, but many) of people who hate on Popeye have either never played it or only played on or two games and gave up.

I have one, I enjoy playing it, my daughter loves it, and I only paid 800 bucks for a WPC widebody DMD pin with DCS sound and lots of ramp and loop action. Not a bad deal for the dollar/fun ratio.

RussM
 
Does anyone know if it is normal that they game keeps advertising Star Wars while you are playing it? Seems a little odd to me so I was wondering if it has all the original boards or if something was swapped at some point.

Thanks

I'm not sure about Batman, but you can turn off the game promotions in most DE pins. At least you can in SW and LW3. Look for it in the Audits and Adjustments menu.
 
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