Whats wrong with this machine and is it worth it?

[Droog]

Someone has a machine that says it doesnt work, he bought it at an auction, he says there are a couple wires hanging out the back.. here are some pics, he is asking $125, im trying to talk him down, but I want some expert opinions on it from the pics.
Thanks

[luckydog]

125.00 seems too high for something that doesn't work.

the loose wires may be for the lights, a 9 volt lantern battery usually powers them.


It looks pretty decent, I wouldn't offer more than $50.00, but I'm cheap

[Sid]

I agree with Luckydog..

it looks nice etc.. but 125? heck id spend another 75 and get a modern machine.

[compirate]

125.00 seems too high for something that doesn't work.

the loose wires may be for the lights, a 9 volt lantern battery usually powers them.


It looks pretty decent, I wouldn't offer more than $50.00, but I'm cheap

I agree with Lucky, 50 would be top. Basic face, seems to have most of the covers on the back (usually some missing, not an issue for play). An awful lot of loose balls in the payout mechanism.

[slothappy144]

I agree with everone posting so far playfield is in great shape it is clean but yet no promise of it working, might be a 10 minute job or several hours. The wires are supposed to go to the battery I see an inline fuse is there so no actual power block was used, the balls in teh payout is what raises a mild concern, a piviot /reward dump is either sticking or otherwise jambed, a quick roll around to dump the balls (before shipping!) might actually correct it. $50-60 if no moving parts are broken.

[DaStooge]

I would also point the seller to ebay, where alot of machines from this age go for less than what he is asking and they are working.

[azlew]

WOW what a clean looking classic!

If it local to Phoenix then I think a visit to look it over and maybe find a way to get it to work before paying anything.

[ocpachinko]

Years ago I "overpaid" for my first vintage pachinko. I did that because the seller cared enough to lovingly clean the machine, and ensure that it was in full working order when I received it. I still paid less than what was asked here.

I still have that one, I won't sell it, the purchase brings me a happy memory. It would be the first machine my daughter would play.

If a seller doesn't care enough to learn how to fix the silly ball jam pictured, they deserve non-functional 'thing my wife made me put on the porch' value for a very very common pachinko in nice physical condition ($25-$50 and you fix it). Ever since the fine folks here built this site there's no excuse for ignorance.

Shhhh...here's the big vintage pachinko secret: Japanese engineers KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING! The machines were designed to not allow play if there were insufficient balls available to pay a jackpot! Ignorant tinkerers DON'T KNOW THIS and try to get the machine to work by defeating the failsafe mechanisms...causing balls to jam in, well, the EXACT place you see them! The machine owes a jackpot for each of those balls, and it is damned if it will forget about those jackpots lest the drunken salaryman destroy it for so doing!

I'd bet you could make that machine work by clearing the jam in <5 minutes, just as the parlor attendant would have 30 years ago. Admittedly, you could also take a while longer to see if you could find/adjust the switches and install the bulbs and 9v transistor battery for the two bulbs (one for jackpot, one for out of balls) the machine would have had wired to the 10v parlor supply, at which point you'd be darn near a pachi wizard and could open your own vintage pachinko retail business. But the lights are optional, and the folks that imported these machines to the US simply ignored the lights and cut the wires.

As you guys know, I collect these cursed machines for the art...and this one lacks interesting center art.

If it's your first vintage, though, for the right money who cares about the art...if you want a little fun, offer $25-50 cash (explaining you'll have to 'restore' it but you can pick it up today) and see what happens.

That's more than fair, considering what he probably paid at an auction ($10?).

Much more than that and you can get one that's already claimed as working.

Good luck, but don't blame me if it's a disaster (but I've only had that happen when I didn't insist on a photo of the back...)

[takethecastle57]

It "Looks" like a clean machine but the back of it troubles me . It looks as though they Ripped the wires out of it and as for missing plastic .... slim chances on getting the right pieces . $125 is pretty steep for a questionable machine and the pictures of it where did he /she take them in a bathroom ? My recomendation if you like this machine give him/her $25 and consider them lucky to get that much .

[jwegger]

Too much money, easy to fix but I wouldn't pay more than $25.00 for this one. They are too common and show up quite a bit when you start looking