Star Wars Trilogy Pinball Resurrection
"Hey I found this pinball machine on Craigslist. It looks like a great deal! Should I buy it?"
Here's a cautionary tale. :)
About 10 months ago, I talked to this guy about 100 miles away that had a Star Wars Trilogy Pinball. I never saw the machine but had his description and a third party account of the condition.
We couldn't get together on price, so I walked away.
Last month, perusing Craigslist, I found the machine available for sale. The price listed was considerably less than my last offer, it was for sale by the same guy.
I called and he didn't recognize me at first. His situation had changed, and he was hard up for the cash to pay some unexpected bills. Hey, we've all been there.
I told him I was interested and pressed for details about the condition of the machine.
"Man, this machine is wrapped up in plastic, that's how it has been for 2 years but let me tell you it is Not Junk! All it needs is a $2 part and you are off to the races."
I agreed to buy it, arranged to have it brought to me and wrote down on a post-it note $600 in repairs. :)
Fast forward to today.
The CPU board was in need of extensive repair,
As was the Power IO Driver board
ROMS were mis-matched
Playfield toys where broken.
Two bad coils
6 playfield wiring snafus
A broken reed switch
1 Broken Drop Target
Dirt.. Oh My God.. The Dirt and Grime ..
Missing a Starter (Fluorescent)
Bad Ballast (Fluorescent)
The Coin Door Was wrong / Didn't Engage the Interlock
The Coin Door Had a Huge Hole from some card-based validator
1 Pop Bumper was out
2/3 of the Playfield GI bulbs were out
Stupid Hacks on the Playfield, like Wood Screws used as Stand-Offs
The total invested...
$30 Fluorescent Rebuild Kit
$100 Cointaker LED's
$15 X-Wing Replacement
$24 TIE Interceptor Spare
$40 2 Coils
$14 New Ball Set
$455 New White Star MPU w/ New ROMS
$95 Repair of Old White Star MPU w/ New ROMS
$399 New Sega/Stern White Star Power Driver
$95 Repair of Old Sega Power Driver
$12 Reed Switch
$220 New Coin Door and Wiring Harness
.. So we are at $1469 in repairs
minus $320 for selling the Repaired Boards
.. $1159
So the moral of the story is.. Be sure to be able to test drive a pinball before buying it. B/c that $2 part the guy mentions it needs, may just be a load o' crap.
Am I sorry? Nah. I had fun fixing the machine, even more fun fixing the machine & ended up trading towards a Tron Legacy Pro. :)