Complete Medieval Madness Auction Jigsaw

[Asiapinball]

I picked up a MM at a public auction in Liverpool this week. It was a 300 mile round trip for me (fortunately broken up with an overnight stay with my brother in Lancaster on the way down). The auction catalogue listed it as missing everything from the playfield, but before the auction date a large box of parts had been found and were included in the lot. A rummage through the box before bidding and it looked like it was all there to me. There was huge interest strong bids on the day; about 5 or 6 bid in the room (including some coin-op dealers) and there were multiple bidders online too. I was chuffed to win it as I am a bit of a 90s Williams/Bally nerd so always wanted MM rather than MMr.

So, its now in the house and I wanted to take some pics before I even gave it a wipe over, so you get the whole picture, dirt and all. It does look complete, just disassembled. It appears the previous owner started to shop it out and just never finished. About half of the parts in the box had already been cleaned and polished. It's relatively clean overall with the bottom cabinet being the dirtiest part (but still not that bad). Condition is really good overall and it should clean and polish really well. it's clearly been stored properly as there is no rust / corrosion (other than on the leg levellers) . Unfortunately the playfield has some damage/ wear, particularly left side (touch up seems to have been started but not finished by previous owner) a little above the left in-lane switch and damage around the left troll which looks like it was caused by removal of mylar. So, I will need to decide what to do with the playfield (new, touch up, clear, mylar, just live with it?)

Cabinet is great for original. Really solid, no signs of even being damp. One small wear spot near each flipper and a few very light scratches elsewhere. Certainly no need for a re-decal and anyway I like to keep the originality as much as I can even if there are a few scrapes.
Boards look in great condition and no battery leak damage; and I didn't notice any burnt connectors.
Translite and lightbox all good
Plastic speaker panel needs replacing; it has some damage (anybody got one spare?).
Dragon wings broken (big surprise)
No broken plastics found, ramps all intact, mechanisms all look decent but generally dirty.
Operator hack free.
Legs have virtually no corrosion, will polish up well.
Overall, its about the cleanest of all the 20+ machines that I have fully stripped and rebuilt to date.

I expect that this one will mainly be cleaning and rebuilding rather than repairs. And I am oldskool so am not planning any mods / better than new improvements. Probably won't be getting LEDs either as they hurt my poor old eyes

I'm not going to get much done over the next few weeks (niece getting married tomorrow 200 miles away, England winning the World Cup, then Christmas and I also have to get my Diner back together before starting this one. So probably no updates until the New Year.

I will leave you with some pics for now, exactly as it came to me, before any work done.

Paul

 

[strobey]

Love this.

Paul you've been so generous with your DE parts horde I'm certain you'll get all the help you need to make this a minter.

Great project.

Youre up against the MM/NBA2 built comp, which (by my understanding) has been going for best part of 20 years! Baz/PP/SP

 

[Gonzo]

Best of luck with this project mate and congratulations on the auction.

 

[AlanJ]

A great buy, I'd scrap the diner plans, wedding, and xmas and get on with this........

 

[Ant-H]

Looking forward to seeing this get put back together mate!

 

[Bobbdobalina]

I bet it was such a buzz at the auction and getting it home to check it out and empty the box of bits, great day for you.
Well done

 

[David_Vi]

What a result! The holy grail of WPC and maybe even all Pinballs.

 

[mufcmufc]

It doesn’t look like all the lane guides are there? Some of the playfield wear will be covered by the trolls, the scroll you can get a decal for

 

[drhex]

Looking good, no wear in most kickout?

 

[Asiapinball]

Thanks for all comments. It was a buzz. The metal lane guides are all there I think. The really long outer loop is in the cabinet. Small ones have been polished and are in the boxes with the screws etc. Haven't had the time to go through it all in detail. Thanks for tips re what can be done with playfield wear. Paul

 

[Asiapinball]

It doesn’t look like all the lane guides are there? Some of the playfield wear will be covered by the trolls, the scroll you can get a decal for

Maybe inlane/outline guides missing. Will search when I am home.

 

[Asiapinball]

A great buy, I'd scrap the diner plans, wedding, and xmas and get on with this........

England winning world cup plans now scrapped and wedding attended so 2 off the list.

 

[newdos]

following!!!! great find man!

Cheers

kev

 

[Asiapinball]

Happy to report that the lane guides are all there. There was a box of metal parts that have already been through the tumbler. Clean and shiny and some walnut media was in the bottom of the box they were in. And cleaned flat plastics were in another box. Clearly the previous owner was a pinhead, just in the middle of a rebuild.

 

[Slingshot99]

Watched that auction. Surprised to see the TZ go for a relatively low price but the TAF went high considering the fees were nearly 30% from memory!

 

[Asiapinball]

Taf was bought by new collector in the room who wanted a taf. Taf was in excellent condition under loads of dirt and notably had a lovely original playfield with no mansion wear no hole wear no magnet burn. No cabinet wear around the flipper buttons either. Winner had already approached game room company and hld so was probably comparing to their quoted prices. It only takes 2 to really want it. I prepared the taf properly for transporting and told the winner about pinballinfo and he said he would introduce himself on here.

There were probably 6 or 8 in the room bidding on the pinballs plus a lot of bids coming in online. Hardman amusements were there and probably other dealers. Half hour before the auction started there were 5 people in the room and all of us were there for the pinballs.

The tz was in good order but again dirty and at 4k I was tempted to bid but I already have tz so let it go. And tz is so heavy. And it was well faded. And I would have needed to arrange transport. I hoped another collector would have got a bargain but suspect Hardman or another dealer got the tz.

I was only really there for the mm as I already have taf and cftbl and tz.

 

[Asiapinball]

Fees were 24 pct including vat if you were in the room.

 

[domlouis]

I like this thread. A pinhead taking over another pinhead labour of love to bring a classic back to life. What is there not to love. Good luck with the rebuild. Chuffed for you that it is complete.

 

[David_Vi]

I like this thread. A pinhead taking over another pinhead labour of love to bring a classic back to life. What is there not to love. Good luck with the rebuild. Chuffed for you that it is complete.

Everytime I think about it i feel sad for the guy who had to chuck his prized possessions into an auction
At least it's gone to a good home

 

[newdos]

Fees were 24 pct including vat if you were in the room.

Is that the seller that pays that I assume, not the buyer ?

 

[AlanJ]

Is that the seller that pays that I assume, not the buyer ?

buyers premium. seller will also pay a fee to the auction house.

 

[newdos]

buyers premium. seller will also pay a fee to the auction house.

24% FFS!!!

 

[Asiapinball]

Hammer price for the MM was £5,900 plus 20% (+VAT) buyer premium. So, I also paid £1,180 buyer premium and 20% on top of that being another £216 making £7,316 in total.

Then there are seller fees. Interestingly, on its website, the auction house argues it has some of the lowest seller fees in the country with no hidden costs. Standard seller's fees at this auction house are 20% including the VAT (unless the seller negotiated as discount to the fees which is implied possible in the auction house website) . So, the auction house would have deducted £1,180 from the £5,900 hammer price, so the seller would receive £4,720. And of the £1,180 seller fee, £196.67 is VAT and and £983.33 is the auction house fee net of VAT.

So, of the total £7,316 I paid the split is:

Seller £4,720.00
Auction House £2,163.33
Taxman £432.66

So seller actually receives 64.5% of what I paid.

That's the way public auctions work.

Indeed FFS.

Paul

 

[Paul]

I think i have found a rather profitable revenue stream for the Forum... We will just become an auction house for pinballs!!

 

[MadNat]

Great to read this - I'm sure the previous owner, looking up or down from the Pinball afterlife will be very chuffed his/her pride and joy has gone to a proper collector, who will finish the job for them.

If only everyone in the UK who owns a pinball know about this forum - they'd save themselves a lot of hassle and money. On this occasion I think the family/benefactors will be very happy too, given the guide prices... Everyone is a winner here I think - especially the seller who had no idea what they had. Auction house did a good job getting fair market value.

 

[Asiapinball]

Post auction, the auctioneer told me it was part of a divorce settlement and a judge had instructed that the contents of the husband's storage facility were sold at auction and proceeds split 50/50. Ouch!

 

[Ant-H]

Post auction, the auctioneer told me it was part of a divorce settlement and a judge had instructed that the contents of the husband's storage facility were sold at auction and proceeds split 50/50. Ouch!

Ouch indeed. I’m sure the former owner is sick to his stomach especially when he see’s what he will actually get after splitting the final amount 50/50 after fees

 

[MadNat]

Post auction, the auctioneer told me it was part of a divorce settlement and a judge had instructed that the contents of the husband's storage facility were sold at auction and proceeds split 50/50. Ouch!

Now that's a heartbreak... poor bugger

 

[Happypin]

Divorce is a swear word in my house, split with my wife nearly 8 years ago. Gave her the luxury villa which I paid for before marriage, I was also mortgage free before marriage, She put zero money into the marriage. So! now I’m going through the divorce and have just filled in the E form which you have declare everything including my pinball collection.
She wants half of everything now. I’m battling cancer and now battling for what was mine for 33 years my Home, marital home for less than 9 years.
Im sure the pinball machines is the last of his worries.

 

[russdx1]

Divorce is a swear word in my house, split with my wife nearly 8 years ago. Gave her the luxury villa which I paid for before marriage, I was also mortgage free before marriage, She put zero money into the marriage. So! now I’m going through the divorce and have just filled in the E form which you have declare everything including my pinball collection.
She wants half of everything now. I’m battling cancer and now battling for what was mine for 33 years my Home, marital home for less than 9 years.
Im sure the pinball machines is the last of his worries.

A ex wife can come after you 8 years later after already receiving half and then want more? 8 years later? is this even possible? what sort of world do we live in!