Just my quick observations from looking at the photos in the listings…
The F14 pinball looks like it has had a fair bit of water damage to the cabinet and I would consider it a project requiring a fair bit of work to really get the game fixed up and working. If you do go look at it, look for battery acid leakage on the MPU board. If the battery has leaked you could be in for about $400 to get a replacement board if you were unable to neutralize the acid and repair the damaged traces and replace affected sockets, chips and other components. Not something most beginners to pinball can handle but a experienced electronics tech should be able to fix most of the time.
The other pinballs were bingo style games. Not many collectors really value them much so they generally go fairly cheap. They are more complex than a normal EM pinball and the lower cabinet and backbox both weighs considerably more due to the extra stepper and relay units.
The F14 if the cabinet is not too bad and if there is not major acid damage to the MPU or wear to the playfield could be worth a few hundred dollars even in it’s current condition.
Cabinet, playfield, plastics/ramps, and backglass condition weigh heavily on the value of a pin. Over the years I have bought many games that were in great cosmetic shape but not working knowing that the electrical or mechanical issues inside could be addressed without expensive restoration and repair. Electromechanical pinballs can generally be brought back with a minimal investment in parts but require more time to clean, adjust and service everything to get it back running. Solid state pins generally have a higher repair cost due to broken ramps, outgassed displays, battery acid damage to the MPU or burnt connectors. Just something to think about when you are looking for a project pinball game… EM projects generally go for $100-$600 depending on the game and SS projects generally go for $400-1200 for most project games. Decent working EM pins go for around $500-$1500 and SS pins for $600-$3000 for most depending on condition and the desirability of the game.
I only wanted to have maybe 2-3 pins total ever when I started in the hobby 8 years ago. Now I have 72 pins, 4 EM rifle games, EM shuffle bowler, EM slot machine, and about half a dozen other EM arcade games… I went from a casual pinball player to having the largest private collection of pinball machines in North Texas and one of the top 5 largest collections in Texas… For every game I own now I have had one come and go as well… Between what I own now and what I used to own I have had over 150 pins… Yikes!
They do seem to become an addiction that consumes all available space and cash to get more…
@Shawn_Christian Good warnings.
I would skip the bingo games, even in like new condition would be hard to sell for $500 and all look like they need well more than that in work. F14 can’t tell the shape of the machine all that well. Without seeing pics of the back box motherboards, I wouldn’t bid.
Thanks for the post, all these feeler can lead to some amazing finds!
