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Grand Lizard Pinball

Aladeran

Registered
Joined
Aug 30, 2021
Messages
117
Location
Worthing
Hello,

I am interested to purchase the Grand Lizard that is currently on eBay. The seller wants £2600 for it, which is more then the average selling price for it.

Is that a good deal? Is there anything that does not seem right? That would be my first 80s pinball. Thanks for your help :)

Cheers
 
From memory he paid 2.2 or 2.4k for it? That was the lizard gate one right? :rolleyes: It was in pretty good condition at the time. Who knows what he's done to it since then...

By the way we have a thread just for discussing pins on ebay - that lizard was mentioned not long ago with an offer to go see it:

 
That would be my first 80s pinball.

My recollection of Grand Lizard is that it has no speech (bar some chanting sounds in the background), and very little text on the displays. I take it you're aware of its similarity to one of Williams lesser known split-level games, Solar Fire, aka The Orange Menace*.

* whoever coined that description, apologies, but I don't recall your name just now
 
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Ok, so deep breath as I've not mentioned this since Lizard gate!

This game was mine, you can see a video of the actual game being played here....


It is in fantastic condition for a GL (normally the upper playfield is mullered) and I had replaced a lot of parts including all the displays. I chose to sell it on Ebay rather than here as if I had asked for a valuation I would have been told £1k max and if I had asked £1.8k (what I felt it was worth) I would have suffered all the abuse the price police (usually people with less than 5 years in the hobby) give people to this day.

In the event it sold for just under £2.5k. The guy picked it up and was very happy with it but on the Ebay section of the forum I was treated as if I had kidnaped one of his kids!!! It was suggested I had shilled the auction and the price paid was ridiculed by people who don't know me.

I have thick skin but my main beef with this was if the guy who had purchased the machine (as his first machine) tuned into the forum he would in all lightly hood feel I had stitched him up and he had brought a lemon.

Fast forward to today, when it was listed on ebay this time people on the forum weren't throwing their hands up in horror at the £5k starting price but were (without irony) suggesting it was worth around £2.5k the price I had come under attack for only 18 months ago :rofl:

The guy who is selling it had contacted me asking what he paid for it as he genuinely couldn't remember, also what could he put in the description as he had no idea. I told him it was £2.5k and not £5k and this is why the price dropped so considerably in the early days of the auction.

I'm over all the crap from Lizard gate now, @Paul pointed me in the direction of the ignore button and now I don't hear anything from a couple of the more corrosive members it's a much happier place!

To answer your original question I (still) think £2.5k is too much for this game as the theme, sounds and game play are very limited, however it is in really good condition and preformed faultlessly in the 8 years or so I owned it so if it is your cup of tea go for it :thumbs:

Best regards,

Matt.
 
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I have played Grand Lizard at 3x pinhead's houses over the years.

I agree with @Matt Adams that the gameplay is limited and I even gave up playing one as I got bored with it. I think that it was designed as a system 9 but for some reason production got delayed.

I feel for noobs as it may be tempting to start out life with a game like this given how ferocious prices are.

But as a sole game in a household- it could get old very quickly. Many of the weaker system 11s are better as part of a larger collection imho. Noobs should try to bag a top end System 11 like an Earthshaker or Whirlwind.

Or even better go for for lower end wpc titles like fish tales, Dirty Harry or The Shadow. These are all great players and will keep you engaged much longer than a Lizard.
 
Or even better go for for lower end wpc titles like fish tales, Dirty Harry or The Shadow. These are all great players and will keep you engaged much longer than a Lizard.
I've never understood why Fish Tales is seen as 'lower end' apart from theme and production numbers. It is my favourite pin, I've owned it for a year now, and for several months it was the only pin in our house.

In short, I agree with @DRD. Unless you're a known fan of classic (70s/80s) pins, I'd go for a cheaper B/W in preference. It's just lower risk if you turn out to be someone who loves deep code.
 
Fish Tales is my most played game.

Theme, art, sounds, callouts, toys, modes all weak v TAF which is same era title.
 
Fish Tales is my most played game.

Theme, art, sounds, callouts, toys, modes all weak v TAF which is same era title.
Boy oh boy, I hate TAF... And my five-year-old son loves it, as well. He keeps asking for one. That, and a Mandalorian 🤣
 
I've never understood why Fish Tales is seen as 'lower end' apart from theme and production numbers. It is my favourite pin, I've owned it for a year now, and for several months it was the only pin in our house.
Fish tales is a prime example of an original, non licensed pinball.
It looks great, sounds great, and has fun and humour in spades.
It’s simple rules wise, but not easy, shots are not gimme’s, and can be brutal at times.
And it has the “ just one more go “ effect

The arcade had one in my town in the 90s, over a period of 6 years, the owner had pins, 2 at a time, and swapped them regularly.
I remember him telling me, when he stopped having pins, that over the 6 years, fish tales took the most money
 
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Fish tales is a prime example of an original, non themed pinball.
It looks great, sounds great, and has fun and humour in spades.
It’s simple rules wise, but not easy, shots are not gimme’s, and can be brutal at times.
And it has the “ just one more go “ effect

The arcade had one in my town in the 90s, over a period of 6 years, the owner had pins, 2 at a time, and swapped them regularly.
I remember him telling me, when he stopped having pins, that over the 6 years, fish tales took the most money
You’ve summed up, in a nutshell, why I love it so much. The rules are simple, but the shots aren’t easy and it has a “just one more go” effect.

It’s also got, arguably, one of the best (and definitely funniest) video modes in pinball and the drumming fish animation (on the replay) is a total joy.
 
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