Where do you draw the line on a resto project on a keeper pin?

Frax

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Where do you draw the line on a resto project on a keeper pin?

I'm sure my wife thinks I'm nuts...just curious were other people fall on things like this..

I knew Shuttle was a keeper before I went and bought it. Pinbot was a pin that I'd actually never played *in person* until I bought it, but fell in love with the game via the NES. After I played it, and especially now that I have it mostly tuned up, it's a definite keeper. I've decided to go ahead with getting the parts to do the resto on Pinbot as well.

The repro playfield, plastics, and mini playfield will be 862$ shipped. I paid 200$ for the actual game. At that point, we're pretty much talking about buying a nice one, and that's not even including other stuff I will end up replacing like sockets, wires, etc. I'm falling more on the side of that these are keepers for me, so I feel the price is justified to effectively have new playfields and plastics for these machines that will last a very long time, and I don't see leaving my collection for a very long time, if ever.

Question is, where's the line between trying to build a beautiful machine that will hopefully function for a very long time, and just buying one that's already been taken care of, but perhaps has a mylared playfield, or other cosmetic issues that will never be correctable?
 
Don't ask me. I'm about $3500+ into a Funhouse restoration with no end in sight. I obviously don't know where to draw the line lol. :p

But for a Pinbot with a repro playfield and other new goodies, about $1000 is not a huge investment. Even well maintained HUO games that old are going to seem somewhat lacking cosmetically compared to a restored game with a new clearcoated repro playfield.

Feel free to disagree, but I'm in the middle of putting my Funhouse back together and this repro playfield is extremely nice. Best investment evar (now I just hope I don't f it up... doing a playfield swap is a pita).
 
When I look at buying a project machine I look at the following:
What is it worth when it is a completed when I'm done.
Then I look at the price that is being asked.
Then I look at the cost of gas to go pick it up and bring it home.
Then I look the condition of the machine.

then I go look at ebay and see current auctions and completed auctions to give me an idea of the recent market.

I never look at time to fix or time to go get it. LOL I would never buy any pins if that was the case.

If you can do your own board work. that saves money. If it is a gottlieb system 1 for example. you know for sure you are putting a Ni Wumpf on there. That adds about $190 to the price.

Chips are cheap.

So if it adds up, you buy it. If it doesnt, you pass. There are tons of machines out there. The people that are charging too much will just sit on them, or they will find newbies to buy them.
 
Well, Pinbot I would've bought regardless, esp. at 200$. ;) Shuttle, I knew they were working on the repro PF, and I probably would have passed on this specific one and looked for a cheaper one to use as a project, but I'm glad I didn't..I haven't really seen one cheaper than 500$ in any kind of working condition.
 
I NEVER touch the cabinets. They can be beat up for all I care, the business is on the playfield. :D
 
Did some very minor touchups on Pinbot where you could see actual wood, but it was just some cheap black gloss acrylic paint to cover up the wood color. It actually worked very well to match the finish of the original paint and the condition it's in. The whole cabinet is planked, but it's not bad enough to show wood, just fixed the areas where stuff has been chipped out and looked really ugly. No actual wood/bondo work.

Haven't touched the cabinet on shuttle at all, but half of it is faded in the red, it was sitting too close to an open window. :p
 
If it's definitely a keeper than you should spend as much as you feel comfortable with to get the pin in the shape and condition you're happy with. It's funny but even though you feel you'll never get out of it what you put into it, there are definitely people out there who can enjoy the work and attention to detail you put into it and are willing to pay for it. In the meantime though you're able to play a pin that plays just like you'd like it to. Besides, working on these machines and getting them running perfectly is half the fun anyway, how can you put a price on fun?
 
I NEVER touch the cabinets. They can be beat up for all I care, the business is on the playfield. :D

Won't say I never touch them, but I agree - it's the playfield and the backglass that you're staring at most of the time...

I know folks who bragged on their cosmetically beautiful games (including the playfield), but did NOTHING to ensure they played properly/well - bad angle, not level, weak flippers, etc. - they seemed more interested in them as eye candy. Like those "collectors" who never actually play their games - they just like to have something to brag about I guess?

As for putting money in - if you're going to keep it, and the money you put in makes you happier with the game, and improves it in some substantial way, why not. Sure, there's a line you may cross, and keep that in mind with real basket cases. Some games are just WAY hard to find however, or hard to find in your budget, and if you can make a clunker a good player with your own effort and elbow grease, plus some cash, who cares - enjoy it.
 
I do a lot of playfield restorations for people. I do see a trend in the playfields coming in vs the actual value of a game once finished.

We get in a lot of the same stuff. We do a lot of the high dollar games: Attack From Mars, Safecracker, Cactus Canyon, Scared Stiff, Theatre of Magic, Addams Family, Twilight Zone, Creatures, Indy Jones, Star Trek TNG, Medieval Madness, Monster Bash, etc.

We see very little low dollar games: Judge Dredd, Demo Man, Dirty Harry, most Sys3 Gottlieb pins, etc. Most people don't want to add $600 into a $1000-$1200 game.

We do get in some weird stuff like low production playfields and lots of proto game playfields.
 
Yeah, maybe that's why I feel like an odd-man-out I guess. The two games I've got there's pretty much a ton of them even though one is very well known for being trashed on the PF. These aren't 3-8k games, they're not small production or prototypes. Any illusions I had about having something out of the norm went right out the window when I figured out I had a translite, not a screened backglass on Pinbot. ;)
 
If it is a keeper for you then don't worry about what it will be worth when you are done ( you're never REALLY done ). Put whatever $$$ into it that you feel comfortable with. A lot of pinball "collectors" with high end games look at this hobby as an investment and try to turn a profit on buying and selling games. They are probably a large percentage of the people who send playfields out for restoration and clearing. Those people wont spend that kind of money on B or C list games for the simple fact that they are B and C list games. They have very little desire to actually play and enjoy the games they sink a bunch of money into. It's all about being able to say " This CC has a xxxxx restored/cleared playfield." when they are selling it for top dollar.

I have ALOT of money in my Dirty Harry resto, including a NOS playfield. Other peoples opinion on the game and the fact that it's not an A list game never had any effect on how much money That I did/will spend on it. If its a keeper for you, go nuts,
 
$500+ for a repro playfield makes restoring most games a bad business deal. This is why only the high-dollar games see the nice restorations, unless you have people who don't care about putting more money into game than they could ever get out. Those people are similar to the car enthusiasts who will pump tons of money and parts into a vehicle that they could never sell for the sum of its parts.

I guess if you have the money to burn and that's your thing, why not? But for many of us, myself included, I restore games for playability, not as trophies, and I avoid putting more money into a game than what its worth.

There are exceptions when the process will teach me some new skills. I'm in this situation right now with an Earthshaker that's heavily roached. It would make more sense to part the game out than restore it, but this will be a "throwaway" game that I will use to sharpen my skills at doing major game restoration. I can't see taking a whole playfield and cabinet apart to make minor improvements, but when it looks almost unsalvagable and you can bring it back from the dead, that's a cool thing. As of right now, I'm looking for a better cabinet I can cannibalize for this game.
 
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There are exceptions when the process will teach me some new skills. I'm in this situation right now with an Earthshaker that's heavily roached. It would make more sense to part the game out than restore it, but this will be a "throwaway" game that I will use to sharpen my skills at doing major game restoration. I can't see taking a whole playfield and cabinet apart to make minor improvements, but when it looks almost unsalvagable and you can bring it back from the dead, that's a cool thing. As of right now, I'm looking for a better cabinet I can cannibalize for this game.

Sounds like a good thread in the making - IE, what's the biggest basket case you took on, and rescued from being parted-out, or simply hauled to the dump...

Been there, done that!
 
Sounds like a good thread in the making - IE, what's the biggest basket case you took on, and rescued from being parted-out, or simply hauled to the dump...

Been there, done that!


Think that thread was started a few months ago...hadn't someone here picked up a pin or two that had effectively been in a burning building and were trying to fix them up? LOL :)
 
All bets are off for a keeper! This is really evident with the EM crowd where it's truly a labor of love. They'll take a $300 game, put a couple hundred more in parts and supplies, and about a hundred hours of searching for parts and restoration work to end up with an amazing game. They would never sell it though as the market value may not be above what they have in it.
 
All bets are off for a keeper! This is really evident with the EM crowd where it's truly a labor of love. They'll take a $300 game, put a couple hundred more in parts and supplies, and about a hundred hours of searching for parts and restoration work to end up with an amazing game. They would never sell it though as the market value may not be above what they have in it.

True. :) I really love the look of old EM pins, I just find it pretty hard to appreciate the gameplay. Child of the 80's right here, I have no attention span, I guess. I sent the email to sign up for the Pinbot repro PF today. :Þ
 
If the game is a keeper then what you spend should just be within your comfort zone because you'll never sell it. I have over $1000 in my Bally Strikes and Spares - it's a great game but not worth that much. I've always loved it and of the 4 I've owned, this one is incredible (now). It doesn't matter because it's a nice game after all is said and done. I like it and that's all that matters.

-Al-
 
Spend what you need to get the game running properly. The old pins are no fun if they're not up to par. Case in point, I've got an old Firepower that gives me no end of headaches on the PF becaues the mylar is bubbled. The ball randomly changes directions on me and really tries my patience. Still, it's a beater game and I love playing it anyway. Will I drop $600 on a new PF from CPR? Maybe someday, but not today.

That said, I'd pay $1500 for a Pinbot with a new playfield in a heartbeat.

I also echo the cabinet condition stance. Just so long as they're sturdy. My games are not for show, they're for go.

-STG
 
If you look at the expenses, and are considering what the resale value will be later one.... then it's not a keeper. If you're looking at the expenses purely in the fact that you need to know if you can afford it, then it's a keeper.

I think I've put about $2000 so far into my Black Knight, including the original beat to hell purchase at $500, and it's probably only worth about $1000 right now. Honestly, I just don't care. I love the way it looks with the new playfield and backglass, someday I'll redo the cabinet too. I love playing it, and I love working on it. It's just like cars, you'll almost never get the dollars back that you put into it, but the question is what else are you getting out of it?

Most of the guys out there flipping, trading, buying and selling, that's what the hobby is to them. It's about the wheeling and dealing. For me it's about the fixing, the playing and the sharing of knowledge.

-Hans
 
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