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From my experience, and I have had a fair few project pins over the years, the transformers are the last thing to ever give much grief. Never had to replace one. So alarm bells ring a bit on that front.
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+1

Even at £500 I'd walk away from that TFTC. It's not a rare game so you'll definitely be able to pick up a better one for not a lot more money. My pinball sense is tingling and telling me that its a nail and your looking at some serious time and money to get a working pin that will probably be in average condition at best. If it's your fav game then buy a good one for £900, if your after a project then you want a game that will end up looking good when your done (I don't think this will)......one to walk away from IMO :)
 
I can see both sides to the argument. The playfield looks badly damaged but if it still plays, someone can enjoy it.
Personally, I now feel like playfield damage is the one part of the machine I can't fix or get fixed cheaply and it is the main thing I play on.
 
Calimori said:
I can see both sides to the argument. The playfield looks badly damaged but if it still plays, someone can enjoy it.
Personally, I now feel like playfield damage is the one part of the machine I can't fix or get fixed cheaply and it is the main thing I play on.
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I'd be more worried by unobtainable parts. If ramp X is smashed up, the game moves to the parts bin.
 
Went to view that Tales from the Crypt last night. Figured it was worth a look if nothing else but already knew it wasn't worth anywhere near the £950 asking price.

First issue straight away was that the table couldn't be powered up because for some reason the power cord had been cut about 6 inches from the cord cup on the back of the cabinet. Of course this meant it was virtually impossible to determine the state of the boards.

They didn't look hacked although there was some sign of mild battery damage near the battery holder. The batteries have been removed but it didn't look like any cleanup had been done so the problem is most likely getting worse as each day passes. There were a number of fuse holders which were missing or broken so this also would have inhibited our ability to properly test the table. So, in summary we could have been looking at repairing/replacing the CPU board, PPB, sound board and possibly also the DMD.

Rather helpfully he rang us after leaving saying he'd managed to get it powered up and it played a few sounds but nothing on the display. Hmmmmm.

Playfield was in pretty good condition as was the cabinet. Back glass was immaculate. Under the playfield a few bulb holders were missing but the majority of the parts were present. Had the original knocker launcher which also seemed to still be working (or at least it engaged the cherry switch).

Anyway, with the table being in the state it was I figured the best offer would be in the £400-£450 mark. The offer was made and it's been rejected. So we'll continue our search for a starter machine (prepared to pay more than that of course but not for a knackered TFFC).

Edit: I forgot to mention that my friend had asked about a second viewing tonight, seeing as he'd now managed to get it powered up. He didn't seem keen on a second viewing and started pressing for an offer to be made. It does make me wonder why. He's had the table on eBay since August so it could just be that he wants rid but if that's the case he needs to start being more realistic on price.

He then said it's not just ANY Data East table. He seems to think TFTC can command a higher price but given a working one sold on eBay a few months back for £800 he's going to have to rethink that. He then said he'd had loads of offers for it higher than ours; I don't doubt it but he's the one who has been refusing offers until people have seen the table. Most strange; I suspect many of his high offers wouldn't come to much when people turn up and see the state of the table.

What he said seems to suggest he's looking for around the £700 mark.
 
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Glad to hear you and your mate walked away from it, nothing but trouble for you there.....tell your mate to have patience, you'll get something much better :)
 
I did have a TFTC that came from Japan and wouldn't power up, I didn't look at the jumpering on it, just got rid of it for £450 as I didn't have the time. Wonder if it's the same one?
 
I am the infamous mate WiredWorm speaks of ;) The longer I wait, the more time I have to save money up to get a better table! Such a shame about TFTC though.
 
mufcmufc said:
I did have a TFTC that came from Japan and wouldn't power up, I didn't look at the jumpering on it, just got rid of it for £450 as I didn't have the time. Wonder if it's the same one?
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The game language on this particular table was set to German, so I assume it was manufactured in Germany.
 
All of the labels were in German too so it was definately sited there.

Strange situation - the guy seemed to know a fair amount about Pinball and had had a few machines go through his hands. Yet he made a big deal of the language being in german. Surely the language setting is either a configurable item in the menus or, worst case, just needed a new ROM burning?
 
Theres a menu option for install country on the Data East and one of the options is Germany. Assume that's the one. Hardly rocket science.

Be interesting to see how many times it gets relisted on eBay.
 
Fair enough, I stand corrected, and with the £75 ebay fee it was a pretty bad investment.

Something that I've been pondering for a while...does this mean that Hobbit will be cheaper for a standard when the LE sells out?
 
Does seem to have gone nuts lately. I've seen a couple of Fish Tails which have gone for waaaaay more than i'd expect - in fact there is one still listed that's asking £2k. :o
 
Fintan Stack said:
Wow. The bidding looks legit though. No obvious signs of anything dodgy.
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Nah the last 3 bids have been done by the same person with two different accounts (they bid on clothing as well to spread the bid history). So the last legitimate bid was £305 for it. :eek:
 
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