When you show up, look clean, neat and trustworthy. Appearance is very important to private sellers. Introduce yourself and start to build a relationship. Tell them how nice their town/neighborhood/house is. Ask them how they got the game, how long they have had it, why are they selling it. Be friendly and open; try to be someone they like having in their house. They are more likely to give a good price to someone who puts them at ease. As you go through the inspection, ask if it is OK to open up the game, turn it on, etc. This shows respect and builds trust
Auctions
Dress warmly in the winter; be prepared to stay the whole day. Pinballs are almost always auctioned last. You may be allowed to open the game, you may not. Power it up and see what it does- if it smokes, it’s not your game
Operators
Some may leave you to wander around piles of bird-crap encrusted games, others will watch you like it says “criminal†across your forehead. Ask before doing anything, like opening a game or powering it up. Try and get a feel for what they expect you to be doing. Building trust is important. Dress appropriately for a really dirty environment.
EBay
The camera does lie. Mediocre playfields and backglasses look like NOS champs in 90K jpegs. Descriptions are even less likely to tell the truth. Questions may help- make them as specific as possible. If the seller is cose enough and you are interested enough, ask if you can physically inspect the game. Learn to recognize obvious scams- sellers with no feedback, sellers in Nigeria that claim the game is your home town, games close to home that you are not allowed to inspect.
If they want to talk price right away, see if you can distract them or say “well let’s not talk price until we see what we’ve got†so you can get on with the inspection
• If you are interested, start a methodical inspection, take your time
• Turn on the room lights if possible
• Clear away surrounding stuff
• Cabinet/Legs/Trim
• Use flashlight to inspect the cabinet paint/decals on all sides
• Check legs/trim/coin door for rust, dents, damage
• Check for paint/decal fade or wrinkling-look at all sides
• Check condition of the power cord
• Playfield
• Clean or remove PF glass- Open the coin door, find the lever and release the lock bar. 40s-50s-60s games may require you to remove the two wing nuts inside the coin door to remove the lock bar. Remove the lock bar and slide out the glass.
Place the glass somewhere safe, but not directly on concrete.
• Inspect playfield, check the following carefully
• All parts present? (especially plastics)
• Ramps- look for cracks with the flashlight up close
• Wear- Look carefully around inserts, pop bumpers, top lanes, slingshots, saucers and flippers
• Backglass- get up close with lots of light. Look for scratches, paint lifting and “thinning†of the inks
• If possible, remove the backglass and look at the screened side
• Later games (90s-00s) have translates. They can scratch and they can fade
• Inside Cabinet and Head
• Be sure all balls are removed before raising the playfield!
• You should get familiar with lifting the playfield and opening the backbox on various ages of games
• Open it up- 40s-50s-60s games may require you to remove four screws on the rails around the playfield. 60s Gottliebs have a playfield lock inside the cabinet that requires you to pull a bar forward. Lift the playfield and support it with the propstick, or pull the bottom forward and lean the PF against the backbox. Some 80s-90s games like Addam’s Family have pivoting playfields. Later Bally/Williams and Sega/Stern games have a pull/ pivot mechanism. Opening the backbox: EMs have a key lock in the back door at the top. Early SS games have locks in the side of the backbox or top center in front. After unlocking, lift the backglass at the bottom, then pull it forward slightly to sclear, then lower it enough to free it. 80s Bally backglasses are in a door. Later SS games have a lock top center, lift out the backglass, then lift the speaker panel about 1 ½ inches and bring it forward.
• Completeness- look for missing parts, boards, assemblies, cut wires
• Condition- excessive rust, dirt, signs of spray contact cleaner or lube spray
• Signs of poor repair- odd looking wire, connectors, electrical tape, amateur soldering
• Damage- sign of too much heat (transformers, circuit boards and connector plugs especially), water damage, insects, mice, etc.
• White powder on metal parts under playfield can mean water or saltwater damage
• Paperwork
• Are the manuals, schematics and other typical papers included?
SHOULD YOU TURN IT ON?
• It can be risky. Ask first if they know how functional it is. Be prepared to turn it off right away. Listen for locked-on solenoids buzzing
• Modern games can give you error information and diagnostic tests
• Late 70s-80s games can test switches, displays, sounds lamps
• Resist the temptation to poke around and see if you can get it going- don’t fix anything, no matter how easy or obvious
• Does it boot/reset?
• Will it take a credit?
• Will it start a game?
• Sound board/chimes/bells working?
• Solenoids working?
• Score displays/score reels working?
• General illumination (GI) lights working?
• Feature lights (machine controlled) working?
TIP: Watch your poker face! Don’t talk about how rare it is or how you have been looking for that game for 35 years. Don’t talk the game down- a seller will take comments about the game personally- as if you were attacking them or their business. It’s OK to mention anything that concerns or disappoints you, such as completeness, modifications, and exceptionallyad conditions of any part. Just mention it in passing, like: “Wow, that playfield has seen a few miles†or “Gee, the plastics on this game always seem to be beat upâ€
