So you want to buy a vintage pachinko on eBay... READ FIRST
Manual shooting vintage machines are large (around 3 feet by 2 feet by not quite 1 foot deep) and weigh 35 pounds (which is a little less deep and half the weight of modern video-equipped electronic pachinkos). The pictures are small. Large things look nice in small pictures. Here's what has been hidden in small, fuzzy pictures on machines I've bought on the Bay:
1. Water stained playfield. Can't fix this...it's as it always will be.
2. Rusted chrome. Sometimes this can be cleaned up nicely-surprisingly so. If rusted heavily, you'll need to rechrome/chrome paint if you don't want a rusty machine in your house.
3. Back mechanisms/shooter door/playfield filled with dead bugs, dirt, garbage, packing peanuts, etc. You can fix this in around two hours outside with a screwdriver, plastic cleaner and patience-DO NOT spray cleaner on front playfield or you'll have problem 1 above. Don't show the thing to your significant other until you clean it unless they are a saint.
4. Parts in back missing due to idiots tinkering and not putting the parts back in the same place. This is tougher; if a critical part is missing there is no parts source I know of other than another similar machine.
5. Tulips in front bent out of adjustment (balls stick in tulip). Less frequent, but a pain...you have to carefully pry them out, rebend, then reattach with screws you locate somewhere (they're generally attached with nails at the factory...but not always).
6. Shooter spring missing. A pain...have to locate another spring and reattach.
7. All/some wiring ripped out/switches bent badly. Not as big a deal...older vintage machines work on gravity alone and lights are for 1) jackpot and 2) balls out in upper tray. A very few manual shooter machines have other powered features...rarely seen on the Bay. You can live without lights or fix with a 9 volt battery, clip, new wires, switches, etc. if you want. Or not.
8. Incredibly, no frame around machine! Only happened to me once. You want a frame, believe me.
9. Broken glass/plexiglass. www.professionalplastics.com has $30 minimum order, but will cut to size 4 sheets of beautiful film-masked .125 acrylic sheets (extruded) for that $30. Machines come with two panes of glass but only really need one (closer to playfield). Be lavish and use 2...use extras on your next pachinko...you'll probably get another. Or acquire locally (which might cost as much for one as the four sheets do!)
10. Parts out of adjustment in back (especially with older mechanisms which you can identify since they aren't completely covered with plastic covers)...
11. And of course, balls stuck in back-the number one reason why machines "don't work"--easiest to fix, but you sometimes have to disassemble the machine (well heck, you're cleaning it anyway!)
And then there's what happens when they ship it...more broken parts, cracked wood frame, large portions of back coming apart from front (many machines from 70's had mechanisms STAPLED to wood instead of assembled more carefully with nails/screws..these come off more often in shipping...)
The shipping often costs more than the machine. Too big a box and you pay a balloon shipping rate. Too small and your machine will arrive with small assorted pieces unattached.
So why bother?
Well, local pickup is a better option, but if you buy from a buyer that will say the machine works, answers your questions (you know what to ask now), provides big, clear pictures, and packs it with some intelligence you can relive your lost past when you could have bought these machines for less at the local discount store.
The luxury option, for those with $300+ and little patience for the above, would be to buy a beautifully restored machine from pachinkoman.com. He also sells clear DVDs (plan to play on computer, though) that cover the restoration process thoroughly for several vintage machine types...and they have helped me immensely. There's nothing like a video to show what the heck is supposed to happen.
But that's more expensive than a new modern machine and you want a bargain, right?
Remember, it's on eBay because they don't want it, and don't have a taker in their family/friends. Why is that? I assure you that a clean undamaged machine that works perfectly is the exception by far on the Bay...don't imagine that there's one lurking in that fuzzy low res dark picture...unless it's that one I just saw...
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