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Wanted Really, really cheap pin (preferably loaner)

Andy B

Andy B

Site Supporter
Joined
Oct 6, 2014
Messages
1,375
Location
Hull. England.
Been helping out a local lad who’s set up an arcade in Hull’s Trinity Market (search Arcade Hub Hull for details) by lending him my self built Mame cabinet and today (for one day only) my DESW.

He’s an arcade fan but has definitely caught the pin bug today and says he really wants a pinball machine in the arcade.

He’s already been offered a LW3 for £1,150 which is about right in my opinion looking at the photos but that’s going to be a massive stretch for him so I said I would post on this group to see if anyone had something cheaper - and the cheaper the better. Even better would be a loaner (but arcade is open to public so appreciate if no one’s interested in that ?).

Long shot I know but if anyone has something in the £500 - £750 range (please don’t laugh - he’s having a crack going out on his own to try and spread the coin-op word and I’m sure a lot of us can appreciate how really, really hard it is trying to start your own business) let me know and I’ll pass it on.

Cheers

Andy
 
My brother sent me a Facebook invite to that event, I thought I'd seen that black Star Wars somewhere!

Hope he manages to find something and good luck.
 
Good luck to him, sounds like a fun adventure.

Is he handy around machines (I am guessing not and is new to it)? As I think he will struggle to get a worker in that budget, from what I ve seen. My SFII went for £1,200 and that seems to be on the bottom of the range.

He might be better taking a hit and buying / renting a NIB. It would also bring punters in, especially if he gets a popular Stern (GOTG).

Just my 10 cents, but good luck to him.
 
Thanks.

He’s totally new to pinball machines though has been in to vids for years. I cold help out with a project.

He’s realistic and, in fact, his only concern with putting a pin is, is he knows they are so temperamental and that’s why he doesn’t want to throw a lot of money at it. This is really shoestring stuff (from what I can see) he’s doing with this arcade. He charges a set price and then once you’re in everything’s freeplay. The footfall is not high in the part of the market he’s managed to bag a unit in, so I doubt he will take enough to cover a rental. NIB is way, way, beyond his means.

That’s why he wants something for next to nowt ?

I know it’s a long shot and a worker is almost certainly impossible but I told him I’d ask.
 
Bring him over to Blackpool to the NLP event being held at the Norbreck Castle. Give him a overdose on Pinball for a whole weekend.
 
Cheers Ben,

He’s after anything. He charges £3 an hour and everything’s on freeplay. So if he had a pay to play pin in there I doubt it would make any money. I can ask him what he could afford to pay to rent rather than buy but I imagine after he’s taken out rent and leccy for the unit from his weekly takings he’s not left with much (and may even be subsidizing it at the minute as it’s not been long opened). Someone on UKVAC is loaning him some arcades that he would rather have somewhere being played so that he doesn’t have to put them in cold storage for the winter.

I’ll give him and the people he has helping him out during the mornings (when he is in bed after working nights at his full time job) basic instruction on do’s and dont’s, how to unstick balls etc. and pop in at least once a week to help with maintenance and cleaning
 
Andy B said:
Cheers Ben,

He’s after anything. He charges £3 an hour and everything’s on freeplay. So if he had a pay to play pin in there I doubt it would make any money. I can ask him what he could afford to pay to rent rather than buy but I imagine after he’s taken out rent and leccy for the unit from his weekly takings he’s not left with much (and may even be subsidizing it at the minute as it’s not been long opened).
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That sounds mightily cheap!!! Based on the fact people could drop their kids off in there and then go off to do some shopping, i'd be looking at the price he charges...

However, what do i know??? Fair play to him for giving it a go!!
 
Paul said:
That sounds mightily cheap!!! Based on the fact people could drop their kids off in there and then go off to do some shopping, i'd be looking at the price he charges...

However, what do i know??? Fair play to him for giving it a go!!
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Same here minimum a fiver at least
 
That’s cheaper than putting them in a crèche. Has to be £5 at the minimum.
I really hope he can make a go of it but u fortunalty many have tried over the last couple of years and not lasted. The cost of repairs can outweigh any taking you make.
For ,yes.f as an example, went into the games room last night and within 30 mins I had two monitors fail on my Arcade cabinets. That will cost me around £180 just to get them repaired.

Good luck and if I had a cheap pin I would help out.
 
That budget would get an Solid State or nice EM both of which provide fun pinball.
 
That sf2 would have been ideal. The range you get under £1250 is 10 xs what you get under £750. The initial outlay may be hard to swallow but a £1200 game will hold its value .
 
Might be worth looking at mid 80s bally machines perhaps? With an Alltek MPU board in they're pretty reliable and not crazy complicated to fix if something does go wrong
 
Cheers guys. He’s asked how much it would cost to rent a game? I know there are many operators that do shares in takings on placed machines but he is committed to the freeplay concept and besides which I don’t think there are any ops around the Hull area.
 
Andy B said:
Cheers guys. He’s asked how much it would cost to rent a game? I know there are many operators that do shares in takings on placed machines but he is committed to the freeplay concept and besides which I don’t think there are any ops around the Hull area.
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Its a shame you guys are so far im dying to get games into locations but nowhere seems interested around my parts. Personally, for private party rentals i charge £150 but i think most charge more. I wouldnt really know what people would charge for a long term solution to be honest. I’m sure someone will be willing to help
 
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