Stern Galaxy - $1500? Surrrrrre

Well with a market value of $500, how can this person possibly ask triple the price for this thing? This pinflation is really going to people's heads

space invaders - $1900 (update)

What a shock, nobody wanted to pay $1900 on craigslist for his "restored" pin:
http://bestofcraigpinball.blogspot.com/2012/08/space-invaders-1900.html

Now he has it up for sale on ebay for.. $2350 buy it now.  Of course! makes perfect sense, if you can't sell it for $1900, why not try to sell it on the over-inflated ebay for $450 more, surely it will sell right?

super mario pinball $2150

It's not the price I so much have a problem with (though it is high for this title which maxes out at about $1500), it's the fact that he says "want to sell it since it's becoming so popular again".  That translates in my eyes "I bought this cheap 13 years ago, and now that pinball prices are skyrocketing, I'm going to try to sell it for more than I paid for it"

williams hurricane - $3300???

 Another insane seller.  Says he somehow put $4k into it (not sure how that's possible, unless he hired a tech over and over, or spent thousands of dollars getting it shopped out). I don't care what you put into a pin, there's a point where a title like this has diminishing returns (I would sooner buy a routed whitewater than a perfect version of this).  I don't know where he thinks he saw it worth $3,300 online (not a single one for sale on ebay right now, the three for sale on mr pinball are selling for between $1200 and $1800.  I emailed him asking where he saw one for sale at that price, said he's seen them at that price fully restored (so you lied).  Also said he'd come down to $2k (wow, a thousand bucks off?  Your too kind).

Indian Jones, antique?

Antique, as defined by wikipedia, is anything at least 100 years old.  Since the first pinball (not including bagatelle) is 1932, that would mean nobody can make the claim of an antique pinball until at least the year 2032.  This ad is calling a 1993 williams indiana jones pinball an antique.. I just find this hilarious!

big guns pinball? Or old shitty backglass, you decide

Williams Fire!.... on fire?

Granted the price is about right ($100 for parts), WTF happened to this poor pin?  I mean this seriously looks like it was in a fire, and then hosed down... which is quite ironic considering the title.
"can be used for parts or restored", I think probably the first part of the statement is the truth.  The only way for this to be restored is if someone has a NOS playfield, and pretty much every plastic and vacuum formed part on it.

See for yourself:

Circus pinball, HUO

This ad kills me.  He's selling a circus pinball (retailed for about $600 new back in 1980).  He's trying to sell it for as much or more now, 32 years later.  Fine, nothing wrong with that I suppose, medieval madnesses are selling for $15k, they sold for maybe $3k-4k new, let's give him the benefit of the doubt.  He goes on to say "been in a home since new, never in a commercial establishment"??? It's a HOME PINBALL! How would it ever be in a commercial establishment?  There is no fucking coin mechanism!  That's like saying "Huffy bicycle for sale, never been used for bike messaging or an olympic triathalon".. yea, because no professional would ever use a huffy bicycle.

1969 MIBS, needs nothing! NOTHING HE SAYS!

$450 for a one player EM seems high.  Yes it has balls in the backglass, who cares?  wedgeheads seem to be a dime a dozen, and this thing needs some SERIOUS TLC (not nothing).  I also hate when people write ads and double speak, like saying three times it's working 100% (does that means it's actually working 300%?)

That cabinet needs some serious sanding/painting, and that front coin door looks like someone sneezed rust all over it (I'm amazed the side rails look so good compared to everything else).

12 pin route - description shortened..

You remember this ad?
http://bestofcraigpinball.blogspot.com/2012/07/niles-buy-my-whole-route-as-giant.html

now it just says... pinball.  No phone number, not listing what he has, just an email address.

I think he's realizing that every pinball collector in chicago thinks he's insane, and are constantly flagging his ads, so he thinks that by just saying one word that people won't know it's him.  Problem is, he hasn't updated any of his photos

robocop - decent price?

However, it has the horrible description that makes everyone cringe "needs a new fuse".  Yea, fuses are protection devices, they don't just burn out like bulbs do.  That means you have a short, or someone played it beyond it's limits (like flipped the flippers constantly and overheated the coil).  Who knows, maybe it's a steal, but I wouldn't be willing to drive to Hobart, Indiana to find out.  Also I don't think this title is so great from what I've read.  $700 for working (needing cleanup) maybe.  Sad that he actually purchased it for $1200 5 years ago, I think someone ripped him off

cooper baseball is back

Listing is chicago still.. Was $30, now it's back up to $100?  Either this is another moron, this is the same moron, or this is a flipper moron that bought this from the other moron and is trying to resell it at a higher price.

snowblower for stern

This is just an odd ad.. This is just an odd ad (hey, he repeated himself).  This guy apparently bought 6 snowblowers last year hoping to sell them when snow broke.  Last year in chicago was so mild (it barely snowed), so he got stuck with these.  Now he's moving to florida, so obviously he doesn't need snowblowers.  He wants to trade one or two, perhaps the whole lot for pinball (because he's a 25 year collecter collector).  He would also sell sepurately separately.  $1500 value for 6 snowblowers?  $250/each is a bit high, I mean they're mostly toros, and the handles look a little rusted.

Anyway, if your in the market for an army of snowblowers, and you have a pinball you don't want anymore, contact this guy!

I hope a magic lamp comes with that aladdin

This one has been up before, it pops up now and then.  Apparently this pinball machine OS is for sale.  He's asking $2300 for an EM machine?  Granted, it looks in good condition, perhaps he bought it new in 1975?  I'm guessing it's not worth that if it still hasn't sold and he's trying again (perhaps lower your price, that's how the market works.  Can't sell, lower your price).  Anyway, here's the ad.. I had to photoshop not one but three separate phone numbers in the description.. You know, like the carpet commercials where they play the jingle 3 times so you don't forget the phone number.

NOS rubber?

Ok, this one made me chuckle.  Not because of the asking price (he could come down a couple hundred but not unreasonable).  He's claiming NOS rubber.  In the case of NOS backglass, plastics, that's wonderful.  NOS rubber?  I'm pretty sure after 38 years NOS rubber would be dry rotted so bad it would be cracked and in pieces.  So either he's selling a pinball with a mess, or he meant that someone put on new rubber (because they still sell rubber in every size).  It looks like the latter

High speed $1800.. I think the seller is high

Here's an ad that showed up today, which was quickly flagged (not by me).  This guy is selling a high speed (not 2, the first one) for $1800.  This is high, especially since he admits cosmetic issues.  I think $1800 is probably high for a pristine condition of this title (I wouldn't pay more than $1100).

On top of that, he has made the claim (which never means anything) that they are going for $3200 and $4995 on ebay.  I quickly did a search, and only found ONE on ebay, for a buy it now price of $1350.

He's also firm on his $1800 price, which is amazing.  If he actually thinks someone is going to say "yes" to a pin they've never seen in person, he's nuts

Cooperstown pinball baseball game

Here's another annoying ad that's been up for at least a year.  This guy bought this desk baseball game for $130, he's attempting to sell it for $30.


Not saying this isn't a bad deal, if I were a baseball fan and was an executive with a large office and desk, I'd probably happily pay this.  Is this a pinball game? Not sure, I mean it does have a flipper, it does have a plunger.  This is probably closer to a pinball game than a pachinko machine is.  Problem I have is that it comes up in pinball search, a LOT.  And clearly nobody wants to buy it, perhaps he should throw it on ebay, then he can broaden his audience a bit more than just chicagoland (it's not that heavy).

Oh look, here's a buy it now for $26, 3 available and one sold:

 Better yet, here's an auction starting at $10, no bids, 42 minutes left (I bet nobody bids):

pinball glass, $50??

This one really has me stumped.  Guy sells Freedom pinball machine, has leftover playfield glass (dusty, probably has scratches).  He wants, $50? There is nothing special about this, I can buy the same tempered glass (brand new, no damage) from pinball life for $25:
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=478

Now if he had playfield glass from say a 1960's pinball (where many had a custom frame around the entire glass), maybe.  But this is just a piece of glass.  Does this guy think they don't make glass anymore?

paddock

So this ad is just as bad as the mati hari for $800 in the area.  I think I've seen this ad weekly for at LEAST 6 months or more.  This guy is selling a paddock (single player EM) which in my opinion doesn't have much value (no matter what american pickers thinks).  If I own a pin to have in a collection, it's going to get played.. by more than just me.  That seems a bit limiting, let's move on. He claims all bells, lights, and chimes work.  I don't know if that means functioning 100%, or it just lights up and makes noise?  He also shows a photo where he has "for some reason" written (I'm guessing high scores?) on the backglass with permanent marker, but says it can be removed with some acetone?  He has also repainted the cabinet.  Granted he at least matched the same shapes, but he decided to choose new colors (perhaps these are colors he happened to have in his workshop?)  None-the-less, this is far from being worth $750, see for yourself:

Money for transmission?

I really hate ads like this, mentioning stuff like "selling because I need this".  You see the same crap on Pawn stars (TV show about a pawn shop in michigan).  It'll be some guy bringing in some crappy 19" tube tv, and he'll be like "I need $200, I'm not leaving without it", when the TV has a value of about $5.


Now granted, he's not necessarily asking for $725 for his crappy pinball machine, he's just implying that by saying he needs a new transmission that costs $725 and it would be nice if he didn't have to pay for it.

So let's assume this is in great condition, it's still an EM.  Of course he DOES have one of the slightly more sought after ones (if your into that), but $725 would be for a really nice one (that works).  He claims $150 in repairs to top cabinet (which means he had a tech come over and adjust some leaf switches) which is probably the real reason he's getting rid of it, he can't fix it himself and he can't afford to pay someone else to.

1. The top glass is missing (actually the backglass, top glass would be the playfield glass).  That's sort of a problem, in fact it probably drops the value by at least $300.
2. fuse blows for top cabinet (yea, that's usually where most of the fuses are).  That means it has shorts somewhere, and it will take a tech (or an experienced pinball person) a few hours to figure out, what is that time worth?
3. playfield worn out?  Oh lovely, it'll so be worth fixing then won't it?

"Does work as 1 player unit, meets my working needs".. Then your needs are pretty low, because a blowing fuse is sort of a problem.

He does say nothing under $100, so maybe I should offer him $100 to take it off his hands?  I can always re-theme it to something else since the playfield is shot and the backglass is missing.

**Update**

He's revised his ad a few times.  By revise, I mean he posted a new ad and didn't delete the old one either.  He's now asking for $150, I mean $200 or best offer?  Wait what?  Which is it?!!  If it were digital I would happily take it off his hands, but I just can't deal with electromechanical.  My first pin was an EM, and it was so hard to get those leaf switches adjusted right.

trade stuff, for other stuff?

This one I just don't get.  This guy has posted like 12 ads, all for stuff he has... that he wants to trade for other stuff, including pinball.  One of them is a crappy schumacher battery charger that has maybe a $40 value.
http://chicago.craigslist.org/nch/bar/3283269583.html

$1200 aztec pinball, worth $2500-$3000 when repaired??

Where do these people come up with these values?  I have NEVER known a single EM to be worth that much money, not even a popular title like captain fantastic.  He seems to think he's giving the buyer a deal by selling a non-working EM for $1200.  As a matter of fact, there's a fully working one on ebay right now for $700:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1976-Williams-AZTEC-Pinball-Machine-Works-Completely-/180965413148?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a2261111c







I look forward to seeing this guy get a clue in a couple months as his price drops.

The cycle of craigslist life - nugent 500

Nugent seller is back, now he's at $500.. Hmm, started at $2k:
http://bestofcraigpinball.blogspot.com/2012/07/ted-nugent-2000.html

Then he went down to $1k:
http://bestofcraigpinball.blogspot.com/2012/07/ted-nugent-1000.html

I wish most pinball sellers on CL would get a clue this quickly.  At $500, the type of buyer would have to be one of complete nostalgia factor seeing how the cabinet still needs stencil painting (oh and don't forget those impossible to replace rubbers).  I think most people would pass on a $500 evel knievel.  As boring as it is, I would almost buy one at that price point just because I grew up with one.  Anyway, I can maybe see someone negotiating down to $300 for this title, but at least he's close.

space invaders - $1900??

Ok this one made me laugh.. Going rate for this pin (even restored) is $1000 tops:
http://pinside.com/pinball/archive/space-invaders

So let's give this guy the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps this is a perfect specimen, and the right person might purchase at this inflated price? Well let's start off with those legs. Yea, not NEW like you state. If you check IPDB
http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?gid=2252

the original has black ones (yours aren't even new, my guess is they were rusty, so you painted them flat primer gray after you grinded them to crap).

That lockdown bar doesn't look too restored.  Doesn't look polished at all, in fact it looks like someone snotted on it.  At least the coinbox looks to be in good original shape.


Oh what's this?  We spend all that time restoring, and we can't even put the effin pop bumper cover on straight?  And you proudly show a giant photo of this mistake?  It's so obvious this doesn't match the other 3!


Inside cabinet looks good, looks like perhaps he even did a full teardown of the playfield and painted the underside.  Not sure the stock one was primer gray (probably just natural wood), but let's give him the benefit of the doubt (clean is good).



Oh?  What's this?  Yea.. stock factory is natural wood, but hey!  let's put a stripe of grey underneath towards the front, it'll look cool.. Or perhaps we're covering up wood rot?



Hey, there's that wonderful crazy off kilter pop bumper.  Wonder when he'll notice?  And look at the plunger ramp guard, looks a little dark and dingy, not chrome.  Either it's also been abused by primer gray paint, or it's just so pitted there's nothing left to shine.


Oh boy, the back gets even better.  Hmm, the backbox is black, Shouldn't the back cabinet also be black? Nahhh... let's use some more of that cheap gray primer I still have left over.  And oh hey! why mask off those white plastic protectors, spray over those too!  Oh, and why bother touching up all these scratches on the cabinet, nobody will ever notice those.  My guess is he only knows how to spray, not use a brush.  If he did, he wouldn't have white paint all over that window trim behind the pinball in the background:

fireball EM - $3k??

I don't know who these people are? Why don't you read your own ad? "one of the most popular EM pinball machines ever made".  Hence, plenty of them out there (and boy are there).  This is also the EM version, not the remake.  Why would I bother with EM if I can have a digital version?

"Will not answer any emails".. Yea well, get ready to not answer your phone either, because nobody will be calling you, unless they are trying to pull your head back from under the clouds.
 

couple more ads

This one kills me.  says "TODAY ONLY!"... Ok, and what happens when you don't sell it the same day?  You'll keep it forever and never put it up for sale again?  You'll drive it down to Stern pinball in melrose park and trade it in on an Xmen like a used car dealership?

Here's another good one.. He's looking to trade, one of the things he's looking to trade FOR is a pinball machine.  Note what he has for sale:
Tons of womens clothes (size 7)
bags and bags of handmade jewelry, at least 500 pieces (earrings, bracelets)
Me thinks someone broke up with their girlfriend, and has decided to build himself a man-cave to hide in for a while.

gotlieb frankenstein??

Only thing that kills me more than typos, is not knowing what the hell you have for sale.  Either:
A. Your an amateur flipper, and could care less about what your selling, or
B. You have mental problems and can't remember what the hell you have for sale

Ok, first off, your selling a frankenstein pinball by Sega.  Secondly, if you DID have a GOTTLIEB, there are two tees in it.  Thirdly, I have a friend that just sold a very well shopped one about 4 months ago, and he had trouble selling it for $1400, so I doubt your going to get $2500 for yours.

bttf - perfect condition?

Ok, let's assume a pinball can actually be classified as perfect (even though anything 20+ years is going to have issues, unless it's been completely disassembled, checked completely (every circuit, every piece of hardware polished).  Usually teardowns like this cost $3-4k just in labor alone.  It looks like this guy is selling what perhaps might have been HUO.  Fine, probably in "Good" condition, but not perfect.  In fact,  let's look at the photos.  The left one shows some obvious paint missing, and perhaps a chip on the lower left corner of the backbox (hardly perfect).  And then look by where the flipper buttons are, obvious wear from hands slapping the buttons (not perfect).  "This is one of the 3,000 that was made I was told"? really? that's like saying "this 1989 mustang is one of 100,000 that were made I was told".  Yea, it's called a production run, and anyone that's buying a pinball can look that up on the database.

I'm not saying this isn't a good example of a BTTF pin, I'm sure it is.  But PERFECT? hardly.  And his ridiculous $3k asking price is never gonna happen.  It's a non DMD data east game, this would never sell for even half the price.  Also as much as I love the BTTF trilogy, this pin is a pretty big turd as far as gameplay (and repetitive soundbites).

$8500 - WH20

yes, some people do smoke crack.. and then post a CL ad.  This is a nice game, I want one, I would NEVER pay this much for one.  Hell, this is #15 on the top 100 list right now.  Oh, and I'm sure people will pounding down your door seeing how you haven't posted a single photo.

*update* I guess this is a guy (won't mention his website) in southern illinois that actually does do full teardowns.  I can't speak for his work, other than what I see in the photos, but this explains why he's charging so much.  I'm all about restoring pinball, but not if it means someone has to pay half the cost of a brand new car for it.
http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/vgm/3148200237.html

space shuttle - $1800... are you high?

Ok, so I have a space shuttle myself.  I bought mine for $400 about a year ago.  I've replaced power supply, the sound board, I have a brand new playfield/plastics, brand new ramp and shuttle, new backglass, flipper rebuild kit, new rubbers, probably spent nearly $1500 in parts alone (I plan on repainting the outside cabinet with a stencil kit, add another $150), and yet.. I... that's right, ME.. I DON'T EXPECT to ever concieve to ask $1800 for mine when I'm done.  This guy is trying to sell a working space shuttle, worn playfield, replaced shuttle (ooh, $42 big spender), and you want $1800?? seriously?

Niles - buy my whole route as a giant package?!

I am so sick of seeing this ad. This guy currently has like 12 pinballs, currently on route in the public scattered around chicago.  Fine, ok.. Nothing wrong with that.  The problem?
1. He wants unrealistic prices for his heavily abused pins.  I'm talking about $2400 for a 94 world cup soccer? Seems I can buy that pin all day long for $1800 (in good condition), why would I buy your abused POS?
2. Who the hell could possibly buy 12 pins at once, much less 500 bins of parts they may or may not be able to use (oh, and don't forget about that test fixture).

craigslist war

This guy posted his indiana jones for $7,200.  I admit, pretty high (though this is highly sought after).

Looks like someone else doesn't like his pricing, he posted this parody ad:

ted nugent - $1000??

Looks like this guy is starting to come to his senses.  He had this listed for $2k less than a week ago, his price is cut in half.  Drop it down a few more hundred, and you MIGHT get someone interested.

bally mati hari - $800

I think this guy has had this ad up for the past 2 years now.  The time he's spent on posting new ads every week, he could have probably made more than the $800 he's asking for this.  Not saying he's not close with the price, but clearly nobody is interested in his machine if this ad keeps popping up EVERY single week at the same price.

ted nugent - $2000

This one keeps popping up.  Okay:
1. This pin would never be worth $2k, best offer would be more like.. $600 at best.
2. Especially not when the cabinet has been repainted white without re-doing the artwork on the front and sides:


3. If the only thing that was honestly wrong with this is needing replacement rubber bands, you would have done it already.  Any idiot that can replace a vacuum belt can replace rubbers.  I'm glad the lights work fine, that doesn't mean it boots, that doesn't mean it functions properly.