Because of the lockdown, I have to pass on this pinball machine

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Some longtime dopers may remember that I have occasionally taken votes on which pinball machine I should add to my collection. I have quite a few, including my all-time favorite, Bally’s 1978 Lost World; also Funhouse, The Black Knight, and a few others that are less recognizable.

We declared the collection closed, because we didn’t think we could fit anymore machines into our space, but I have been out with the measuring tape, because this is for sale-- locally. There’s a guy with an antique mall, sadly closing, because he can’t get a break on the rent while his doors are shuttered, and isn’t doing enough online business to balance the books. He has a few pinball machines, and one is this, he claims working perfectly, and he is willing to sign a warranty (ie, if I have to make any repairs for problems that show up in the first 90 days, he will reimburse all costs, even if I postpone actually making repairs). I can get it for about 2/3 what it would normally cost.

I have to pass.

We are selling that property, and normally, when doing something like this, we’d give ourselves a little bit of indulgence, I mean, it’s really a lot of cash coming in, and even with some going into the retirement fund, and some being banked for next year’s taxes, it’s still a lot.

But with income being so unsure right now, indulgences are not a good idea. And in spite of the “no contact” delivery (his masked & gloved movers drop it off in front of our building; we go out and wipe it down with disinfectant, bring it inside, but leave it outside the front door for an hour, then wipe it down again, this time inside and out, and bring it into the apartment), nothing is 100%. I mean, it’s been sitting in a closed shop for a month, but before that, it was being touched by all and sundry.

Spectrum wasn’t one of my childhood machines, and it isn’t one of the really famous ones, like Black Knight, or Funhouse, but it’s very unusual-- it capitalized on the popularity of Mastermind, which was a new game at the time, and it was a talking machine, also new at the time. It’s a “shooter’s” machine, in that you really need to know how to aim the ball, and hit things in a certain order to score. I don’t have a machine like that already.

I’m going to be a grown-up about this. Just expressing my disappointment.

2

You may want to try to find space- a note in the IPD file on this machine “According to the book Pinball Memories, of the 994 games made, less than 500 were sold. The rest were ultimately scrapped or salvaged.”

3

Are you suggesting it would be an investment? The problem is, that pinball machines keep depreciating if you play them, and it takes a long time for old ones to become valuable. And then, there has to be an interest. Just being rare isn’t enough. I mean, there’s a chance that there could be a sudden interest in this machine, and it could be worth $10,000, but right now, I think we need to be keeping cash on hand, and not making high risk investments.

Sigh.

4

I would never call a pinball machine an investment, but unless you pay way too much, it’s quite rare not to be able to get your money back out of a machine when you go to resell it. (Make sure you check the going rate at pinside.com) Depreciation is really something that only happens with a machine that is not kept in good working order and condition. When I want another machine, I just sell or trade one of the three I already own to free up the space and funds for it. Except for a few rather inexpensive parts and a little cleaning and maintenance I haven’t had to put any money into my hobby since I added my third machine four years ago even though I’ve had the pleasure of owning six different machines (Williams Bad Cats, Atari Superman, Stern Star Wars Premium - and my current lineup: Sonic Butterfly, Williams Bride of Pinbot, and Stern Batman ‘66.j

That said, I too would hesitate buying a machine at a time when household entertainment is at a premium. Now is the time to sell that machine that never gets played and bank those funds to buy another machine when the lockdown is lifted.

5

You had to what‽
Oh, pass…

6

They can be addictive. Way back in 1980 when arcades were flogging off their electro-mechanicals in favor of processor pin games, I bought a Gottlieb Card Whiz. It’s the two-player version of Royal Flush, not as popular with the arcades, so only about a quarter of the former were made compared to the latter.

When we moved, the place wasn’t big enough to hold it so it was loaned to my brother just when my two nephews were in their teens and proved popular. Early last year he was going to move out of that house and rent it out. The renter wanted the pool table out of the upstairs rec-room but, my brother assured me, he was, “okay with my giving the pin game to him.”

After a quick lookup, I said, “The hell he’s okay with it – you’re offering to hand him a thousand dollar bill!” and we moved it out of that house and into the larger one we’d moved to in the meantime. I had exaggerated a little. The estimates top out at $940 and this one has a badly worn spot on the playfield where one of the flippers was maladjusted plus the backglass is flaking. I was vexed, though. It’s not the first time bro has been cavalier about stuff I’ve lent him.

7

You probably paid like, $150 for Card Whiz back then, right? I bought my first machine in 1999, and it was one of the earliest solid state machines, Lost World (no connection to the later machine based on the movie); $400. The next machine I bought was about 10 years later-- same vintage, also solid state, but this time $1,400. And that was a fair market price. When I sold it about eight years later, I sold it to a dealer (he picked it up), because I could find a buyer in a matter of hours instead of weeks, like it would take if I used Craigslist or eBay, and I made a slight profit.

8

I first responded before I left for work and now reading the posts back at home after work.

I mistook your interest in the machine by your comment- " I don’t have a machine like that already." I then check the IPD as I have never heard of that machine and seen the low production numbers and it would be a very unique machine to add to a collection which you stated you have. I never stated or intended my statement for you to buy it as a future investment, only as it would be a nice, somewhat rare, machine to have in your collection.

I have a couple of pinball machines (electro-mechanical) and have played hundreds of different machines in my life and never heard or seen the Spectrum pinball machine. In reading about it I would make room for it if I had the opportunity to buy it.

9

The emotional investment and financial questions sound quite similar to my own comic book hoardin… I mean, collecting.

I often have to stop worrying about the cost/resale values (because like sports betting, it’s all a crapshoot!). And ask “Will I enjoy reading this book?” (had a dealer perk up when he heard me ask myself that… “Ahh, sometimes I forget about that part of the equation…”)

So in terms of fun, I’d pass on the Spectrum machine… might be valuable in years to come, might be worth about what you spent on it. Purely subjective, but it’s too glitzy for me. Way too "Oh, look, we’re X-treeeme Hi-Tech!". I’d have more fun playing one of your older machines.

10

Well, for me, I’d LOVE to add this to my collection. I can’t think of too many machines I’d like more-- the one that stands out is Strange World, but I’ve never seen one for sale, ever. I also like the Looney Toons one that has the optical illusion of the playing field being tilted the wrong way, maybe, or some really out-of-reach ones, like Houdini & Whodunnit, but Spectrum is a neat machine. I always thought if we ever had space for another, though, it’d be an old electromechanical machine-- if not Strange World, maybe one of the many card game machines. Or one of the Carnival themed ones. There’s actually a kind of cool race car one that is electromechanical, which the same guy has for sale for only $800, but I’m too pissed at the Indy 500 from living near the brickyard to think too much about getting that machine.

11

I would love to have just one pin ball machine. Right now!

gawd I love those.

Love the one you are with.

12

I’ve got a collection. It’s not many, but it’s enough for a Purim pinball tournament every year.

Purim is this holiday where you are supposed to get drunk while reading the book of Esther, and making a lot of noise. I warn my neighbors there will be some noise, and invite them to come (free beer and pinball); we read a shortened version of Esther, after people have a chance to socialize, eat a buffet dinner, and get some booze and hamantashen (traditional pastries), then there’s a pinball tournament. I don’t participate, since they’re my machines, and I’d win, because I know all their little foibles. So I’m the referee and High Queen of the tournament. I’ve got a Queen Esther Crown I wear every year.

Purim was the week before everything started to shut down, so I went out on a high note.

We probably spend $2,000 on this party every year (booze is expensive), plus I spend hours and hours baking hamantashen, and making a buffet dinner, but it’s our one thing we do every year. We invite everyone who has invited us to anything over the last year. We don’t host seders, or break-the-fasts, or Chanukah parties. We once in a while have people to Shabbat dinner, but it’s always just 2-4 people. This is our big blast every year, and we just love doing it.

I don’t actually drink myself, so we borrow a van from someone, and I pick up and take home a lot of people, and we make sure everyone else gets an Uber. One year, one of my friends was pregnant, so she did all the chauffeuring for me; it was her third kid, so they’d just bought a mini-van.

I didn’t know this year it was going to be sort of a “Good-bye” party as well. But it was a blast. We let people over 16 come if they are with parents, and we make virgin daiquiris, and supply some non-alcoholic beer. One of the kids won the tournament. Presciently, first prize was a year of Amazon prime. Second prize was toilet paper with Trump’s face on it.

It was so perfect.

13

I loved Card Whiz (and Royal Flush)! Great games–Gottlieb could do a symmetrical playfield, but didn’t always, as Card Whiz demonstrates; and in some ways, these asymmetrical games were more challenging and fun. Other favorite Gottlieb asymmetrical EM machines would include Atlantis and El Dorado.

As for production runs, two-player games didn’t seem to be very popular. I own a Gottlieb Out of Sight, which was the two-player version of the four-player Far Out. According to the IPMD, there were 1750 Out of Sights manufactured, compared to 4820 Far Outs. Slightly over a quarter as well.

14

On a side note, I spent four years playing only one machine… because it lived in our frat house (no one knew where it came from). Thanks to this thread, and the links to the Internet Pinball Database, I found it! After 45 years, it’s like finding an old friend.

Shout out to anyone else who played Gottlieb’s Jacks Openin the basement of the Phi Sigma Epsilon house…

15

To the OP, shit’s getting real, ain’t it? I know I played that machine back in the day, but don’t remember much about it.

Man, I just started with a new company, and we are all working from home. One guy, who does the video calls from his couch in the rec room has 7 machines in the back ground. They are all newer but still. He’s got one EM machine in parts in his garage.

I pinged him to find out what all he had 'cause some are off screen and some were not in focus in the background: Transformers Autobot LE, JAck bot, Star Wars, Dr Dude, simpsons, Game show, F14 tomcat, back to the future and magnotron. He has invited me over for when the lockdown is over and you bet I’m gonna impose myself.

I just happened to ask if he had any EM machines in stock, and that my two all time favorites were Captain Fantastic and Wizard. Now get this, he replies that his really good buddy only had space for two machines, bought and then spent about $2500 each to restore those exact two machines. Holy moley, I might get the chance to play those again one of these days. (And I think at least one of these is in the pinball hall of fame in vegas, and when things get back to “normal” I’m sure I’ll have a biz trip to Vegas and will go to HOF just to play one of these guys.)

Damn, I wish I had a working machine, any machine, in the garage right now.

And just cause, there was a machine I played in grad school. Had a “plasma save” function. I forget exactly, but you could light it up, and press a button to keep the ball from draining. It was a devil type theme. It was hella fun and pretty easy to rack up some games. I am blanking on the name. Anyone know which machine that might have been?

16

I seem to recall that both those machines were at the Pinball Hall of Fame the last time I visited Las Vegas. I could be wrong about “both,” but you’ll find at least one of them. Enjoy your visit; for a pinball aficionado, it is heaven.

17

I’m still holding out for a data east star wars set the new stern mini is great (if you ever come to Lancaster ca stop in the Britisher pub and try to beat my han solo title)

but my problem is the mini part …the playfields too small if you launch the ball too hard it’s out before you hit the flippers luckily they have a generous redo for the first minute the balls launched

18

They have both. One flipper was not working well on Captain Fantastic when I was there, and it generally needed service, but yeah, they had both. Had Wizard of Oz and IIRC, Cueball Wizard too.

It’d be cool to have something like Hippy, Far Out, Wizard, or one of the other 60s drug trip machines. Which come to think of it, is probably what Strange World is.

19

Are you thinking of the “Magna-Save” feature? Several Williams machines in the early 80s had this. The one I played most was Black Knight. It had a “dark” theme to it but not really anything with the devil. Can’t think of another machine that would have a devil theme with this feature. Gorgar maybe? Don’t know if it had Magna-Save though.

20

Devil’s Dare? In the video, the top glass is off, and all the features are shown, including the kick-back, the “requires a button.”

ETA: Gottlieb machine.