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What's New

7/24/2010

I picked up a Star Trek: The Next Generation pinball. This was a pinball I fixed up several years ago and sold to a friend. It is in beautiful condition and not very much more used than a few years ago. The South Park turned out very nice and has been posted for sale.

7/18/2010

I went to Florida last week to visit my parents. My sister, her husband, and two kids live there too. My son flew in from Kentucky. My brother flew in from New Yrok City. I am always thankful when I return home. I love visiting them. However, I believe most of the older population there does not give a damn or not whether they kill you when they are driving. I guess they have lived a long, fulfilling life and if they take a few people out with them while driving down the street, I guess it is no big loss. I know this is not a nice thing to say. But looking at their bewildered faces as I am driving, I am amazed how unsure, uncomfortable, bewildered, and confused most older people in Florida look while driving.

I came back last Thursday and rode my bike on the W&OD bike path. I met two teenagers coming the other way on the trail. I turned a corner going almost 18 miles an hour and ahead there were branches blocking the path. I stopped and moved them. You could see the marks where they were dragged from the side of the path onto the path. I have to believe that those teenagers moved them there or at least moved them out of the way and replaced them when they passed.

On Friday, I sold the Elvis. It now has a new nice home. A few friends of mine will be sad that Elvis left the building. This is a game I will look for again and buy. I stopped at Lloyd's warehouse on Friday on the way home. The boards for the two machines below are still out being repaired so I have not had a chance to see what is really wrong with the games. I did pick up a Sega South Park. Cosmetically it is in nice condition. It boots up, which is better than the other two. The row of target switches was out on the top left. Luckily it was just a wire that was disconnected. The Kenny opto was not working. The transmitter was bent and had a cold solder joint. I repaired this and the opto worked. Mr. Hankey was acting like a little s**t and was not coming out of the toilet. I figured out how to get the coil in front of it out and took out Mr. Hankey. The ledge that the coil was resting on needed to be bent just the right way to work. It now works fine but will probably have future issues with it. The game is basically working except it needs a gate near the bumpers, new rubbers and new lights and cleaning. It is nice to get a pinball from Lloyd once in a while that I can get it basically working in a few hours. It will also need new locks and I will buy the Cliffy protectors.

7/2/2010

I picked up a Rescue 911 and a No Good Gofers. This is the time period that I get upset with Lloyd for selling me junk. Then I realize that is what almost every pinball I get from him is before I get it working. Then I fix it and am happy again. And then I buy another machine or two from Lloyd and the cycle continues...

The No Good Gofers blows fuse 602. This is the 115 - 123 volt fuse that controls the high power (to the display) on the audio visual board. I assume the high power circuit is bad. I will just send the board to Coin Service Technology to fix. I will call them on Tuesday and see if I should just send the whole board set to test...

The Rescue 911, based on reading www.marvin3m.com/fix.htm, appears to have a bad U8 DMD Controller GAL chip on the dot matrix controller board. The LED does not flash like it should and the screen shows garbage. This fits the explanation exactly. I will see if CST can also fix this and possibly send in the entire board set to check. This machine will be for Timothy since he is now a paramedic. I owned this and Fire! when he was younger but have sold them a long time ago. Hopefully I will get this working and given to Timothy and Jessica.

6/30/2010

A friend told me that the Chantilly Costco had a pinball machine for sale. It was a Batman for $3,299. This is much less than I can buy it wholesale. I thought about getting one. Luckily I quickly checked www.ipdb.org and found out that Stern is now making "Standard" versions of their "Pro" pinball machines. It is really sad that Stern is selling these cheap versions for several reasons:

1. People want a regular pinball machine for their home, not a home version that is crippled. Bally tried this in the 1970s with cheap 3/4 size pinball machines sold at Sears. I get calls to fix these all the time and I just won't waste my time on them.

2. In the future, when I buy a pre-owned Stern pinball, I will need to figure out whether it is the "Standard" version or the "Pro" version. I will have to spend half of my time explaining the differences. Moreover, I will have to explain why I am selling one for $4,300 but the "same" version is on ebay for $2,000.

3. Once people get these cheap versions in their home, they will never know that there is quality and depth to the pinball machines and it could cause a quicker death of the pinball.

This is another sad day for pinball....

There is a quote on the above site that says that this game plays very different than the "Pro" version. This is an example of why I wouldn't be allowed to write the advertising for the "Standard" version. I would be truthful and state that it will have less challenges, less to do, less programming and complexity of the software, and overall a very unsatisfying experience. However, if you ask me to write the advertising for any real Stern pinball, I would be truthful and be able to talk about the great things of each game....

I will do my best to never buy a "standard" game in the future to repair and resell...

6/19/2010

It is interesting how fixes come in sets or multiples. I fixed the reset problem on two different customer's pinballs (an IJ and a TZ) and the problem came back. I tell people that once the BR1, BR2, Cap5 is replaced it should work 10 - 15 years. So resetting within a year on one machine and 3 months on another was disconcerting. I documented the changes on my Repair Chronicles. For the TZ, J101 was burnt and needed to be rebuilt. On the IJ, the heat sink on BR1 and BR2 was bent down. I slighly raised it and straightened out the legs and it worked.

On the IJ board I also noticed that a fuse had a wire soldered on the outside. I should have noticed it when I originally went to the customer's house. But I noticed it this time. Upon further inspection, 3 fuses had wire soldered on the outside. This frustrates me. I can only assume that this was on location and a replacement fuse was not available so they simply added a wire on the outside of the fuse. True that it closes the connection, but it does not provide what the fuse is intended for: protection. If there was a problem with the game, the fuse would not have blown. This could have been a fire hazard. Please use the correct fuses (if it says 3amp and you only have a 5amp, spend the time and buy the correct fuse rather than use the incorrect fuse). Also ensure that if a fuse is slow blow then use a slow blow. If it is regular, use a regular. Smoky the Bear will thank you. Only you can prevent pinball fires!

So, now I can provide some random thoughts.

* I was at the mall on Friday and another person went through the stop sign while someone was driving on the side that said "Proceed without stopping". Another idiot proving that my wife is correct and you should stop because people don't stop at stop signs in malls.

* I bought a road bike and have been riding on the W&OD. It is a 45 mile bicycle trail from Purcellville, VA (my hometown) to Washington, DC. It is great fun and great exercise. Note to self: Breath through your nose rather than your mouth while on the trail to eat less bugs. I haven't built up the nerve to use my shoes with clips yet. I use a pair at the gym while spinning, but the chance of falling over at the gym is 0.

* I provide a detailed description of fixing the reset problem on the Road Show I currently have. All of the information is good information. I finally broke down and sent the board to Coin Service Technology. They said that there was probably a run of boards that did not have good solder connections since they are seeing a lot of the same problem. So now I think I finally have it worked out and it worked without resetting after 5 minutes or 5 hours of being on. Finally....

6/8/2010

In December, between the snow storms, I bought an Indiana Jones (Williams) from a person in Round Hill, VA. I looked it over and offered a price. The person wanted more. I gave it to him since it looked like everything was in order except for what I knew was in okay condition (the cabinet). I have learned my lesson (again) and have updated my "Check List" to help you and also help myself. It turns out that the translite was not a translite but a piece of paper with a copy of the translite. I would have never thought to check for this. Did the person lie to me and know that it was a piece of paper? Probably. Can I prove it? No. Most importantly, did I ask? No. Did I think I would need to ask? No. I guess this question would be similar to asking if a car really had the engine in it or a cardboard cutout as a replacement.

I guess what bothers me the most is that I did not notice it when looking at the game and did not realize it when I took off the back glass many, many times. I noticed it the day that I was delivering it with the customer there. Luckily I am good friends with the customer and told him to buy a translite and I will reimburse to ensure he gets what he wants and deserves. I just wish I would have noticed it sooner. I don't like when people lie to me or do not tell me the whole truth. I will never lie to anyone, but will stand behind everything I sell. I am more embarrassed than anything else that I did not sell a pinball to the customer that was of the quality (knowing the condition of the cabinet was far from perfect) that I portrayed it to be.

4/26/2010

I spoke with Gene at Retro Pinball today and will be set up to distribute the remake of Gottlieb's King of Diamonds pinball. This game looks very classy and provides everyone with the opportunity to own a new "classic" Gottlieb pinball machine using state of the art electronics for easy repair.

4/24/2010

The Williams Indiana Jones has been completed last week. I finally had time to take and post pictures. The playfield is beautiful. I wish the cabinet was in better condition. Oh well, you play the game not the cabinet. As I state on the for sale page, this is not collector material, but it is a 100% working great looking playfield. If someone wants to get it re-decaled, I think I know someone that I can pay to get it done. I don't want to do the work.

4/10/2010

The Roadshow has been posted for sale. I worked out all the problems with the game. The left flippers were getting hot. I replaced the flipper button board with a Rottendog Amusements replacement flipper board and this solved the problem. The problem described below concerning the spacer on the CPU board solved the problem, but it reset a few more times. I took off the CPU board and added a washer to adjust the spacing and reflowed the solder on the two double row of pins connectors at the top of the CPU board and this seems to solve the problem. I will continue to play the game and test.

I took all the ramps and other items off the Williams Indiana Jones. I purchased replacement plastics before. I also bought a new plastic ramp from MAD Amusements. Mike Chestnut replated the wire ramps and the gun. They look beautiful. I will start cleaning the playfield and replacing parts tomorrow.

3/21/2010

The Stern Indiana Jones pinball was delivered yesterday. It is a very nice, entertaining game to play. I miss it already.

Most of the playfield on the Roadshow is complete. I have the sling area to work on next. I will then try to clean up the yellow plastic ramps as well as I can and get them back on the machine. I put a few strategically placed LEDs on the game to reduce future frustration....

Added Grand Slam to the Archives page. Only 1000 or so to go....

3/17/2010

Another St Patrick's Day that I forgot to wear green. Someday I will remember. So what is new? The Roadshow is almost finished. Hopefully I will be posting it soon. Then I will start working on the 1993 Indiana Jones. I will not do the decals. Only bad things can happen when you give me a decal.

I played Elvis in the dark the other day to see the LED lights. The game looks very nice. I will need to try the other games.

I still have not updated my archive pages. Hopefully will get there eventually. I will probably not add the other secondary pages until I have something to put on them.

Hopefully sales of pinballs will pick up soon. Otherwise I will get bored with all the machines I currently have.

The new Stern Indiana Jones is a very nice game to play and very addictive.

The MAC has been a very nice computer. The iPhone has also been great. I think I see an iPad in my future....

2/7/2010

I thought I fixed the reset problem on the Roadshow. It happened yesterday night. I figured out the problem today and posted the solution on my repair chronicles. Since it wasn't the typical BR1, BR2, and CAP5 reset issue (since I already fixed that), I searched RGP and it led me to the look at the CPU board. The interesting thing about the conversations about the reset issue was the quality repair people on RGP talking about not liking fixing reset problems on their own machines since they worked hard to ensure that the game worked correctly. But the "bread and butter" that helped keep them in business repairing pinball machines are all the "eBay specials." It is funny that I complained about them as well and said that "eBay has been very, very good for me."

This problem took me a day to figure out in between shoveling 3 feet of snow and working on other tasks around the house. I am very glad this problem did not happen at a customer's house since I would not have been able to think about it, test things, research the issue, and finally come up with the solution.

I feel a little bad, the person I bought the machine from did not want to put any more money into the game. He gave me the receipt of the repairs that were done by another pinball repair company. They charged A LOT of money. (I don't feel bad about what I charge now.) They charged almost $500 to repair the driver board. When I do repairs, I make a determination of whether it will cost more than $150 to repair the driver board. If so, the honest thing to do is offer to sell them a new driver board. I won't make as much money but I will be doing the right thing. (Thank goodness I am not doing this for a living.) So the really sad thing is, in hindsight, they didn't really fix the problem since it turned out being a missing spacer on the CPU board that was causing it to vibrate and creating cold solder joints. So he paid for a repair, it worked a little and then stopped working. He didn't play the game for a while. Found me and sold me the game.

2/5/2010

An almost new home use only Stern Indiana Jones has been added. Tomorrow, I get to work on the Roadshow since I will not be able to go anyplace due to the snow blizzard.

1/31/2010

I am working on replacing the bridge rectifiers and the capacitor on the Roadshow I bought last week. As usual, I have to replace the connectors for the GI lights (J120 and J121) since they usually cause the connectors to burn and don't get a good connecting. I just went to take out the board. The Bozo that repaired this machine before me solder some of the wires from the J115 connector directly to the pins. If these people would just bother to do a repair correctly, it would make my life easier when I have to repair their repairs.

Roadshow: Now that game does not reset and all GI lights work correctly, the remaining problems are:

1. Weak Left Flipper - replaced coils and flipper button board
2. Red and Ted's eyes do not close (3/17/2010 - Red's eyelids needed a new coil. Ted's eyelid coil broke and was reapir with a twist of wire that did not work very well. Thankfully, Red and Ted can now open and close their eyes.)
3. Clean playfield, change lights, replace rubbers.
4. Replace a few plastics and buy the orbitpinball.com protectors.
5. Display is missing two right columns - new display.

1/24/2010

I completed adding the repairs for Gottlieb, Data East, Sega, and Stern. I will work on adding back the archive pages. Then I will work on some of the 2nd level for sale pages (that no one ever looks at anyway).

1/23/2010

I completed re-adding all of the repairs for Bally and Williams. I will work on Gottlieb, Data East, Stern, and Sega tomorrow. I also need to add back the archived machines I sold or traded in the paste. Finally, I still need to complete the menus for the "for sale." But I will not add back pages where nothing has sold...

I purchased a Road Show today. A bit faded but it looks nice. It needs a new left sling (which I think I have). The "Start City Event" plastic is also missing a small triangle off the left bottom. It will need to get the BR1, BR2, and Cap 5 replaced to stop the reset issue. J120 and J121 on the driver board will also need to be replaced. Once I do this work, I will turn on the machine and see what else is wrong.

1/18/2010

Now that I finished restoring all of my pinball machines, I am continuing my work to migrate my web site from Web Expressions (Front Page) on a pc to Dreamweaver on the Mac. I may or may not duplicate all my archived pinball machines. This will be a lot of work.

So when this site goes live and you see this comment, hopefully I have brought my current site over without missing anything. One major change is changing the pages from .asp extensions to .html extensions.

1/9/2010

Monopoly is complete and posted for sale. I purchased a Williams 1993 Indiana Jones. I did some work to get it working 100%. There are a few broken plastics. It needs to be cleaned. I am just enjoying the game as is. I am trying to decide whether to spend money to change the lights to LEDs, re-plate the wire ramps, replace the plastics. The cabinet decals could do with replacing but I really, really do not want to do this work.

12/27/2009

Note to self: Do not go to Tysons Corner Mall the day after Christmas. It was a zoo. The people were almost as rude as New Yorkers! (I can say that since I am from NYC.) It was enjoyable and very crowded. We left at 5pm. The parking lot was backed up. We got into the car and backed out. Sat there for 5 minutes and decided to go back in and shop some more. As we were walking back, people were yelling to the traffic control people that they have been in the parking lot for 1 hour and 15 minutes waiting to move. We came back out at 7pm and it was empty.

I finished the Elvis. It looks very nice with the LEDs and all the new stuff.

I also updated this web site to move some items off the for sale list. Now I got to work on the Monopoly next.

12/21/2009

I forgot to mention some things yesterday...

I marked a lot of the Stern machines as "we can help you locate" since they are not available new anymore. I also put a disclaimer that I need to verify the price since Stern keeps raising them...

I sold the World Cup Soccer. I received a deposit. I moved the game off the "for sale" list. Then the person decided that they did not want the game. I refunded the money. In the future, I will keep it on the "for sale" list to ensure that I don't lose a potential sale.

I always stand behind what I sell, but I will make my policy and returns explicit. The delivery fee will not be refunded. There will also be a "restocking fee" of $300 to cover my cost to pick up the machine and the time it takes to bring back. I have not had to do this yet, but want to be ready.

12/20/2009

I finally completed the Ripley's Believe It Or Not and posted it for sale. I started working on Elvis.

I probably delivered my last pinball machine on Friday right before the snow storm. With almost 2 feet of snow in the backyard, I doubt I will be able to move any more machines for a while.

It is that time of the year where I will not schedule repairs due to bad road conditions. Last year I went to fix someone's machine and their street and driveway were not plowed. My Prius does great on gas, but not on ice and snow. So I will probably take a break from repairs for a few days until conditions get better.

The new Dreamweaver-based web site I am doing on the Mac is coming along nicely but have been very busy at my real job, and fixing machines, and getting my own machines restored. Hopefully sometime next year I will switch out of the pc world totally.

11/11/2009

I added my Lord of the Rings. It is beautiful. I am working on an Elvis, Monopoly, and Ripley's Believe it or Not. These are all great games and will be working 100% and also be beautiful when I am finished restoring them.

It's been almost two months with the Amazon store and I made $0 in commissions. If I multiply that by 12 months....

I have been thinking of making a list. (It is just my subjective opinion.) I will probably move it to another page, but here it goes:

My favorite games:

Star Trek The Next Generation (in my opinion the best pinball ever made)

Lord of the Rings

Monster Bash

Ripley's Believe It Or Not

Monopoly

Eight Ball Deluxe

Games I like and would sell well:

World Cup Soccer

Road Show (but I hate taking the heads apart)

Indiana Jones (1993)

Diner

Theatre of Magic

Flintstones (great for kids and adults)

Corvette

Twister

Dirty Harry

Fish Tales

Scared Stiff

Monday Night Football

Xenon

Gorgar

Big Guns

Stargate

Games I like but would not sell well:

Slugfest

Water World

B. S. Dracula

Freddy: Nightmare on Elm Street

Tales of the Arabian Nights (maybe just priced too high)

Robocop

Fire!

Games I don't like but would sell well:

Twilight Zone

High Speed

High Speed 2: The Getaway Twilight Zone

Addams Family (I like it but get bored with it so quickly)

Games I don't like and would not sell well:

Maverick

Silver Slugger

9/19/2009

I added a link on the left menu to a store featuring Amazon Books, Software, and More for Pinball and slot machines. If you need to buy something from Amazon, go to my store page:

http://www.purcellvillepinball.com/store.html

and click on "Powered by Amazon.com" on the right side. I will get a small commission. Thank you!

8/28/2009

I finally posted the World Cup Soccer for sale! I have been working long hours and have had very little time to work on pinball machines or the web site.

I bought a new Mac. I got tired of working with Windows, virus software, etc. I didn't want Vista and I didn't want to wait for whatever Windows 7 will be. Plus I would probably have to buy new software so I might as well buy new software on a different platform. I decided no Microsoft software shall taint my Mac. So I bought iWorks which works very nicely. This web site is built using Web Expressions (Front Page and ASP) so I am now still using my laptop until I finish learning Dreamweaver and rewrite ALL of my web sites.... I am going through the entire tutorial on Dreamweaver rather than jump in a do a half baked job on the redesign. I don't simply want to copy the design, I want to make it better. I am hoping to use a database again to store references to all photos and items and build up the site automatically for the pinballs for sale, archives, slots, etc.... (1/17/2010 - I decided not to use a database approach since although it could be easier to ad and move information, it would not show up in search engines as well.)

I think I did a very nice job on the World Cup Soccer. Since I wrote the post on the World Cup Soccer on 7/5, I ended up buying a new soccer ball motor, new hole eject plastics to ensure the ball goes into the goal correctly, and a power supply for the display.

I also worked on a Theatre of Magic and I think I did one of my best, if not the best, restoration of a pinball on this. I have pictures here if you would like to see them. I had the wire ramps replated. The customer decided to replate everything including the side rails, hinges, u-channel, h-channel, legs and lock bar (which are not shown in the picture since I didn't want to have them on the machine while working on it. The entire game uses LEDs from BCSPinball. The game looks great. It also has the animated saw and mirror and lamp post. All plastics are new. The clear plastics and plastics protectors have also been added. The ramps are all new. The five target switches are new as are the decals for the entire game.

Back in May, I purchased a Mills OK Vendor slot Machine (see May 28, 2009). I think I did good job in restoring it. Click here to see the restored game next to pictures of it before it was restored.

7/5/2009

It is 1:20am ET. I just finished shopping a World Cup Soccer. It has a new display and new soccer ball. I added the Cliffy protectors, replaced the clear plastics and put plastic protectors on. I changed the lights, cleaned the plastics, playfield, and ramps. It is back together. I think I have the back legs too high but will lower them tomorrow. I may post it for sale tomorrow, but I still got to finish my scope document for a meeting Tuesday and finish business requirements by Friday, plus handle all of the current issues. I wish I could have bought replacement ramps, but the ones on the game look good. There were two broken plastics. I was able to buy one but not the other. The plastic protector is covering the area that is missing so it doesn't look too bad.

7/3/2009

I posted two Diners for sale. Both at $2,195. One has mylar and one does not. The one that doesn't has new stickers. Both work. A great opportunity to see two of the same machine side by side. It is like when I was growing up in New York City and there was a diner on every corner. (3/17/2010 I was re-reading this to correct some typos and realized that I should have owned two "Starbucks" pinball machines -- which they don't have so I can use this decade's analogy of a Starbucks on every corner.)

6/29/2009

Here are a bunch of things that I have learned over the past few weeks but have been too busy at work and at home to write up:

1. Do not buy or take a bowler for free. They are not worth the time to move and set up and they are very heavy. No more bowlers for me, thank you.

2. Do not buy or take a juke box for free. I thought I would try to learn to fix them. I don't want to or care to learn. They are heavy and bulky and I don't want to deal with them anymore. I do have a lighter working CD jukebox that I will put up for sale $799 to free up space if anyone is interested. www.abjukebox.com can help repair it in the future if you need it repaired.

3. Do not buy or take a video game for free. One exception is Galaga or PacMan cocktail tables. Video games are too heavy and not worth my time to fix or sell. If you want to buy one, look on the internet. Wholesalers sell them to individuals for less than I can buy one and resell. So it is just not worth dealing with them. (Similarly, I love the Pinball 2000 games - Star Wars Episode and Revenge from Mars, but the monitor is too heavy and not worth moving by myself.)

4. Do not offer to fix video games. I do not like them. I do not care about them. I don't want to waste my time and yours trying to fix them. Call www.twobits.com for help or Pinball Paul on my links page. I like pinballs and after doing this since December 6, 2004, I realize that I really only like fixing pinballs and will simply focus on pinballs (and antique slot machines).

5. Do not offer to fix EM Slot Machines. They are a pain in the neck and not worth fixing. I write on my repair page that I will not fix them but I am stupid enough to have two in my shop that I am looking at. They are a pain in the neck and I am wasting my space and time. I will probably repeat what I have written elsewhere. If you are at an auction or antique store (I love going to antique stores but I hate when they try to sell a slot, pinball or bowler and have no clue what they are selling) and you see a non-working EM slot machine. It is not working for a reason! Don't buy it! You can't get them fixed. You will have a really heavy paperweight in your home. Do not bring them to me anymore.

6. I comment on my repair pages that not many people fix EM pinball machines. I "know" why (because when you fix them, then 100 other non-related problems appear and the customer expects you to fix them for free). Now that I have been doing this and the pinballs break again (a few months later or years later) and I am expected to fix them, it is just illustrating why I should "wake up and smell the roses" as other repair people have and not bother. Even though this item is above #12, I wrote this after so I will repeat what I said below, "Nice guys finish last..." I try to help and it backfires and now no one will get them fixed....

7. I will not sell pinball machines to retail establishments nor will I do a 50-50 deal on the proceeds of the money from game play. I have never put a machine into a retail establishment. I am not sure of the licensing issues. But more importantly, I do not want slimy, dirty hands on my games from people that will treat them like garbage. Plus I would spend all my time adjusting switches for a few dollars. Not worth it! I help fix pinballs and other items for one restaurant. I spend more time than I ever get back in fees fixing their machines. (I have to go and waste my evening tomorrow fixing 3 of them....) From a hobby perspective where I work full time, I am wasting too much time on one place getting the machines fixed (because I am dumb and I do not charge nearly what I should to cover my time).

8. Only sell machines outside of my area of local repair when the person can truly fix the machine themselves. I recently sold a machine about 125 miles from where I live. I delivered it and it was working fine. I sold it without a warranty but would help over the phone - but the reality is the machine must and will work 100% so I am stuck fixing it even if I have to drive back again. I was playing it for several months before I sold it. One of the flippers was not working strongly. It turned out a bushing was missing. (Maybe it broke off in transporting it since it was working fine for me.) I sent the person some parts in the mail and they fixed it (top left flipper) and then the bottom left flipper became weak and hot. I happened to be driving by today when he called. I stopped with my wife with me. She said so but was not a happy camper. Especially since she only wanted me there 30 minutes. I was there 1.5 hours. Too long. I replaced the coil since I happenned to send one (and had no tools or parts with me). Somehow, I put the brown power wire (EBD) on the other side and blew the main 3 amp slow blow fuse. Luckily Lowes had a variety pack of slow blow fuses. Based on searches on Rec.Games.Pinball I think the problem is we probably fried the diodes. Maybe he can replace them and see if the new coil solves the problem. But the lesson here is to only sell locally. I do not offer a warranty to come out. But it is important that all my pinballs work. So I will get this fixed even if I have to go out there next weekend and blow a holiday weekend. This is just not worth it.... Hopefully I can get them to try to replace the 2 diodes on the coil and it will solve the problem.

9. When someone calls wanting a new pinball, direct them to a wholesaler on the internet. I make $200 at most selling a new pinball machine. This is not worth the time and the burden it puts on the "business aspect." If I sell a $5,500 pinball and make $200, My "annual income" (for tax bases, etc) goes up astronomically but my real profit goes up by $200. This is also not worth doing. I will make more money when you need the new machine installed in your home and set up or you need it fixed down the road. Sorry, but that is the truth. (I know this is my page to whine and complain. $200 may be a lot of money but not when I need to work from home to wait for the delivery of the machine and then spend 3-5 hours driving to deliver it, set it up, inspect and ensure it is working 100% and teach the person the basics of maintenance and cleaning.)

10. Japanese slot machines are NOT real slot machines. They are not worth more than $200. It is so funny to look at Craigslist and see people trying to sell "real Las Vegas" slot machines for $400 or $600 or more. I want to send each and every one of them an email to tell them to get real, you will not get that much money for the machine unless you take advantage of someone. When people call wanting to sell me a "slot machine" and I find out it is a Japanese slot, I have to bite my tongue and tell them (nicely) I do not buy junk toys. I did that once by accident and offended the person. Sorry. Don't try to to sell me junk... errrrr. I mean a Japanese Slot. I do not want one. Thank you very much.

11. I like pinball machines and antique slot machines. This is what I will stick with and this is what I do well.

12. As I write below on 5/28, do not broker deals for friends or strangers. Although I have nothing into the pinball, I now am in the middle of trying to help the person get the machine working. That is not my job. Although I help many, many people for free by phone, I am so busy lately at work, I just do not have the time. Plus when I help a person I have never met over the phone I do not "feel obligated" to get it working although I will do my best to help. This will now be my problem until it works. I think the real solution is to let people find machines on their own. Then I can be called to fix it when it doesn't work and get paid for it. I think nice guys really do finish last.... Or better yet, buy the machine for a low price, fix it up and test and sell it for more than double to cover the parts, time, and warranty and do it correctly....

5/28/2009

I just purchased a very nice Diner and a nice World Cup Soccer. I need to restore these. I also have a Rowe CD Jukebox that I will put up for sale. I also have a Lucky Ace that I may put up for sale. I have almost $1,100 into the World Series game. As I state on the page for it, it works but the bases are lower and I either need to figure it out or sell it for what I have in it to someone else to fix up. I was hoping to eventually sell it for much more. But if I can get my money back and get it to someone that can do the finishing magic, that would be great. I also bought a beautiful Mills OK Vendor slot machine from someone in Kentucky not too far from my son. I was able to take it to the local locksmith (Leesburg Lock and Key) and they were able to make a key to open the front to get to the mints. One of the panes of glass that shows the mints was missing. I took the front door to Banner Glass in Leesburg and they quickly cut two new pieces of glass. They look great. I will also replace the glass in the jackpot area, reel area, and coin area. I am debating whether to repaint the front. It is faded and missing paint, but I like old things looking old rather than looking like brand new reproductions. I need to decide what to do. The knob for the mints work when you press down the lever inside the machine. But I do not see where the mechanism engages this lever, so the knob never turns. If anyone knows what part is missing or what to do, I would appreciate some advice.

I recently helped two people connect to sell a machine. I ended up helping by moving the machine and setting it up at the new location. Hence my pricing changes and clarifications below in the 5/16/2009 post. I quoted the person $250 to do the move assuming 2 hours. It took almost 4 hours. But since I quoted the price, I stuck with it. The person gave me a little more but that defrayed the costs of the boxes of lights and the replacement pop bumper bracket.

The machine was supposed to be in working condition with just a few lights out. For the most part that was true. But as I stated, a pop bumper bracket was broken and the coil was dangling and many plastics were broken. The person paid a really low price for the game. If I bought it and took it home and fixed it up, I would have sold the game for about double the price. However, it would have included replaced plastics, plastic protectors, all new lights, new rubbers, the playfield would have been taken apart and cleaned everything. The person got a solid machine and a great price, but I am not sure they were 100% satisfied. But this was not my concern since I was not involved in the deal. It does illustrate the difference between doing a private deal and buying a machine from someone that warranties the machine and provides it in 100% working order.

5/17/2009

I drove I-81 today to deliver a machine. I think I passed at least 15 police cars giving out tickets. I am sure they are generating funds for the great commonwealth of Virginia. If they could use just one policeman to get 1 drunk driver off the roads, it would probably do a million times more good than all the cars they stopped today....

5/16/2009

Eight Ball Deluxe Limited Edition sold. This is one great game! I haven't listed the Lucky Ace yet, but if you are interested it will be $995, much less if you don't need a warranty.

Time for a complaint:

I dislike when people stop at intersections that say "Keep Moving." My wife stops at such intersections such as at the mall. She always tells me that she stops because the people coming the other way don't when they should. She always stops when I am with her and it never fails that someone goes through the intersection that should have stopped. I guess I really dislike people that don't stop at intersections when they should.... (Plus these people are proving my wife to be correct...)

I updated my repairs section to add specific costs for moving a machine from one location to another (minimum $350) and moving a machine from your garage to your basement (minimum $175). This covers the time it actually takes to do such tasks.

Stern raised their prices on not current machines by $400. This means that you can still order a newer machine but it will be made on demand rather than in quantity.

4/25/2009

I fixed up the World Series game. What do you think? I still got to do more, but it will probably take several months working on it here or there. Take a look: www.purcellvillepinball.com/worldseries.html.

I finally helped a customer get the left flipper on a Teed Off working. One less thing to worry about. Tomorrow, I need to fix a switch on the Lethal Weapon 3 I sold at Christmas time. The switch fell off and the two screws and nuts were found. We cannot find the actuator. I will add the actuator tomorrow.

4/17/2009

I purchased an Eight Ball Deluxe Limited Edition. I just fixed it all up and is working nicely. I really like the 1990s Bally/Williams games, but this game keeps me coming back for more. This was the first machine I fixed when I first decided to fix other people's machines back in 2004. The person bought it and had it in their garage in pieces. He brought it over and I put it back together and got it working. In hindsight, I realize how much more productive I would have been now than I was then. He is moving out of state and decided not to take it. It is kind of nice to have the first machine I worked on as a business.

I also purchased a 1933 Rockola World Series Pinball machine. (www.purcellvillepinball.com/worldseries.html) www.halor.com is a great web site to buy reproduction parts for this machine. This machine has no flippers. The top part actually has pins. I fixed up the mechanism to correctly keep track of balls, strikes and outs. I was gently trying to bend the casting that held the pivot point of the mechanism that turns the bases. It snapped off in my hand. I should have followed the directions on the site to line it up. I need to work on putting in a wooden block and then finding the correct pivot point to attach the mechanism and hopefully the bases will turn. It is a really nice looking machine.

I have been working on the Making Home Affordable Initiative at Fannie Mae. Take a look at www.makinghomeaffordable.gov. See, I was actually really working at work.

Yesterday, I fixed a Twilight Zone. It needed a new reinforced slot target (as all TZs should have) and it needed the diverter to The Power aligned (mechanically) to work properly. It also was resetting in multiball mode when you pressed both flippers. Typical BR-1, BR2, CAP 5 replacement. I changed these out and put in the board and it did not work. I checked all the connectors. I pulled it out and reflowed the solder to the BRs to ensure it went through. I even took a spare driver board that I marked with markers to ensure that all connectivity is still there. I put this board in and it worked. I took out the Cap and followed the 2 traces on the top of the board. One was not getting continuity. I took out my board and drew in the trace for future reference. I added a wire between the two points and confidently told the person that the game would now work (secretly praying that it actually would). Thank goodness it did. I did not charge for the time I spent resolving my own problem. This would not be fair. If I better marked my board, I would have found this issue, added the trace immediately, and save a bit of time. In my opinion, this is the right way and the only way to do business.

Now for a rant. A few shingles flew off our roof. We paid a company to fix it. They fixed it and told us that the attic fan was installed improperly and it would cost $300 to replace and do right. I called them and found out they do not cover electrical work. I could do it myself or pay someone. I have never been in my attic and thought it best to pay someone. Then I decided I did not want to spend the $425 or so in total to fix. I did a search on the internet and found I could get a solar powered attic fan installed for $677. So now I am paying more money (on my own free will) to hopefully save a little money and keep our home more comfortable in the summer. They will be replacing the attic fan next week.

3/15/2009

I took the Monster Bash off my for sale list. I like it, I play it, I don't want to sell it. No new pinball machines lately. But I continue to fix machines.

1/26/2009

It has been a while since I wrote anything. My wife, Suzanne, and I went on a New Year's Eve cruise to the Panama Canal. It was 11 nights stopping at Labadee, Haiti; Cartagena, Columbia; half way through the Panama Canal, Puerto Limon, Costa Rica; and Georgetown, Grand Cayman. It was great. I realized the only way I am going to relax is by sticking me on a ship in the middle of the ocean without a computer, cell phone, email, voice mail, or pinballs to repair... I donate plates and plasma (at Inova Blood Services) once a month. I went in today to donate. I cannot donate for a year because of the threat of Malaria since I went to the beach at Labadee (and went parasailing for the first time) and went into the Rain Forest in Costa Rica (and went on a zip line for the first time). Oh well...

I am slowly catching up on my repairs. I have a favor to ask every one next Christmas. As we get closer to the holidays and you realize that you own a pinball machine that has not worked for the past 6 months, year, 5 years, or 10 years and you have guests coming in a few days, please don't all call at once and ask for your pinball to be fixed immediately. :) Start calling now, I will have more time to get your machine working before Christmas.

I know I have mentioned this before (and even provide a checklist on each item for sale), but I will mention it again. I have a few more pinball machines available for sale. I will buy machines that interest me. But after I sell these machines, I do not plan to buy any more pinball machines specifically for sale. I cannot and will not compete with the low, unrealistic prices on eBay. I have told people to be very wary of buying pinball machines on eBay. If you know the buyer, or see the machine in person, then you will have a better chance to get what you want. If you view a machine, you need to run all tests, look for broken plastics or missing plastics, and broken or missing parts. I am spending a lot of time fixing up machines people bought on eBay. The funny thing is, if they would buy it local, they would pay more but in most cases after the delivery and potential repairs it could cost about the same, if not less. If I sell it, it would be guaranteed to work before you pay for it. It will have a warranty and be in the exact condition specified. Be careful buying from eBay. But if you do, then if you live close to me it will probably be good for me since you will need to pay me (or someone in your area) to come and fix it. Or in some cases, get the machine to work in the first place. I guess I can say that eBay has been very, very good to me.... So if you buy on eBay, try to determine the price you think is fair and remember that you may be adding several hundred dollars for shipping. Then subtract between $300 to $500 (or more) for repairs. If this price is a good deal, buy the game. Otherwise, you may not be getting a good deal.

As many of you know, I work for Fannie Mae. There was a large layoff on Friday, 1/23/2009. Luckily, I made it through this layoff. I am using my visits for repairs and sales as networking opportunities. I also added a link to my Linked In page. If I fixed a pinball for you, please add a recommendation. I could use all the help I can get. Thank you!

11/8/2008

I traded the Monday Night Football. Hopefully there will be some sales for this Christmas season, but I do not expect any.

I fixed a machine for someone. It was actually the 2nd time I fixed it for different reasons. I did not sell this machine.

I spoke to the owner of the machine. He said he paid $2,100 for it. I told him that I charge $3,500 for the machine. Now that he has worked with me he realizes that the extra money covers the 6 month warranty, the under plastic set, replacement plastic set, clear plastic set, ramp protectors, Cliffy protector, and other items that add up to about $500 of extra parts, plus the 4 hours or so it takes to install. His game was also missing a toy on the playfield.

10/7/2008

I added my Monster Bash back for sale. I will also add my Ripley's Believe It Or Not, Star Trek The Next Generation and Lord of the Rings.

9/30/2008

I donated my Monday Night Football pinball machine to the Fannie Mae Help the Homeless silent auction. A month ago, someone called from Richmond looking for a Monday Night Football, but I just donated it. I just found out that the silent auction this year has been cancelled due to all the issues at Fannie Mae. Therefore, the pinball is available. I cannot find the person's phone number. It will not list on my phone bill until next month. (The phone bill cut off the day before he called...) Hopefully he still needs it and will get it.

7/13/2008

I added Monday Night Football. I also added my Linked In page.

5/8/2008

I still have not posted the chips, etc. I will get to it.

I raised the price of delivery. Gas prices and the time it takes to deliver is killing me.

For my Repair Chronicles pages, I added a mobile phone feature. This turns off the menus and allows more screen space for the information. I own a Voyager cell phone and now I can see my pages without having to scroll to the right. If you use this and need to scroll to the right, ensure that the MENU > DISPLAY RENDERING screen is set to Screen Optimized (at least on the Voyager phone). [This may not be necessary with my new web site....]

4/23/2008

Over the years I have purchased many chips and repaired boards. I have many extra chips that I will eventually use. I will offer these for sale over the next few weeks. These are chips you can't buy at Radio Shack anymore. You usually need to buy these from the internet as I have. Postage will usually double the cost of a chip if you need to order just a few. By providing this service, I hope to provide chips and other electronics locally to people that need it fast or need small quantities. My prices will be higher than what you can get on the internet. I built in the portion of postage that I paid.

Sample of chips I have available:
35 amp bridge rectifiers
15000 uF snap-on capacitor
7408 chip
TIP102
TIP42
TIP36
IRL540N Mosfet N Channel (replaces 20N10L, 22NE10L and 12N10L)
IRF 9530 (12P06 Mosfet P Channel) [used on Gottliebs]
2N3904
2N4401
2N5401
74HC123 IC Dual Timer
1N4001
33 Ohm 7W 5% resistor
2N5060 SCR (used on Bally Lamp driver)
2N5061
MCR106 SCR (used on Bally Lamp driver)
Opto Emitters
Opto Transceivers

4/20/2008

I now have a reliable source to sell and service newer slot machines. I will start selling only IGT slot machines for around $1,195 without a bill validator (my preferred method of selling a machine) or around $1,395 with a bill validator. Williams Slot Machines with Dotmation are around $1,995. Call us with a specific machine and we will get you a specific price. Slot machines are warranteed for 3 months but you need to bring them back for service. In most cases, we can diagnose the problem over the phone and just ask you to return a specific part. Eventually we will have some in stock.

We will not sell newer Universal or Bally machines.

4/13/2008

I added Shrek and Indiana Jones. Stern raised their price by $100, so I had to also.

4/1/2008

Someone actually read this and asked if I really was not fixing machines in people's homes. I thought I was the only one that read this. I am doing fixes in people's homes. However, I am being selective in what I choose to fix. (Although so far I have chosen to fix everything.) I am actually fixing more now than before. I realize I just don't like fixing machines in the winter. I guess I just don't like the cold and having to schedule around snow and ice.

Some people have even brought machines to me. This is nice for the more complicated fixes (especially for EM machines that will just take a long time to track down, or Williams System 3 - 11 machines that usually take a bit more time for me to debug).

I did raise my rates. I still feel they are reasonable. I stand behind the repairs and warranty them. The other day I tracked down a broken wire on a coil. Simple solder fix. But I did not do a good job at soldering (since it was in an awkward position) and it broke again. I came back the next day and repaired it and double checked the solder will hold. This is what I consider good customer service. (Yes, I would have rather done the job correctly in the first place.)

3/17/2008

I do not wish to repair pinball machines in people's home. I have been whining about this for a while. I enjoy fixing machines in my home, but not for others when people are worried about costs and I don't charge nearly what I should. In some cases I don't charge at all if I cannot fix the machine (usually because it will just cost too much).

I will do so occasionally. I will raise my prices to cover my costs. Otherwise it is just not worth doing. I am trying to find another business to keep me busy.

2/1/2008

I added my Monster Bash for sale. I love it. I will now be on the look out for my next Monster Bash. But it is time to move this on to someone that wants it.

1/26/2008

Some of the machines that I hoped would sell for the Christmas season have just sold. I hope to add an Addams Family next week.

I cannot repair electro-mechanical slot machines. There is no information about repairing them that I have been able to find.

I added back the video games. I will still offer them...

12/27/2007

I finally added Big Guns on the site. It is a great, fun game. It has a new PinLED display.

12/25/2007

I finally added all the cosmetic changes to the Star Trek Next Generation. The game now looks great and plays great. Tomorrow I will photograph and post the Big Guns pinball.

11/27/2007

The Robocop pinball was donated to my church's (Holy Trinity Lutheran Church) Christmas Bazaar. This raised $800 for social Ministry programs for the holidays. A Rowe/AMI CD-51 jukebox was donated to Fannie Mae's Help the Homeless auction in Washington, DC. This raised $700.

I have decided that I will sell out the machines I currently have and concentrate on repairing machines in 2008. I will buy the machines I want when I have the space and money but will not really have them for sale. I guess after 3 years of moving around machines, I want a break. I enjoy fixing them.

I removed all my new video games from the web site because distributors were selling the games lower than I can buy them. Some machines I could sell and make $25 for 4 to 5 hours of my time including delivery and setup. This just did not make sense. Enjoy buying machines from the internet where in most cases you will get no personalized service and need to move the game from your garage to your basement (or even need to pick up a machine from an airport).

I permanently lowered my prices on several pinball machines and other items that will allow me to free up space and money to buy machines I want. If you want to know why some of the prices were not lowered it is because I would loose money. It makes no sense to loose money. If my prices with a 6 month warranty are not good enough then please search the internet and ebay. I guarantee you can probably buy the same machine in worse condition and maybe working or not for the same price or less. Good Luck! I sell quality, restored, warranteed pinball machines. This has some value and I have no reason to lower my prices anymore. For example, compare my prices and quality to www.mrpinball.com. Then add the fact that I warranty the pinball for six months.

When I did the York show a few weeks ago, everyone wanted a deal. I did not sell some of the items I had. I decided it was not worth selling the items for the same price that I paid for them. I have a scale mirror on my site available for $99. A decent price. At the show I offered it for $70. The people were not interested. That is fine. I felt like telling them, "I paid $50 for it, give me $45 and it is sold." Yeah, right. Maybe I should have gone down to $60. But I like it and will keep it. (Now I will lower the price to match this story.)

10/27/2007

Twilight Zone is complete and ready to make it into your home! Very fun to play. Very fun to fix as well.

10/14/2007

I just returned from the York Show. It was the first pinball show I attended. It was put together and run well. Thank goodness it did not rain. I enjoyed meeting many people. I did not enjoy carrying all the parts. I had to take what I did not sell and pack it on my pickup truck, load into the hotel, load onto the truck the next day and set up again. Next year maybe I will rent a truck.

The manual page and marquee page will be out of date until I have time to update what sold at the show.

10/10/2007

I have ordered all the parts for the Star Trek. This will add $500 to the cost on the web site.

I posted a High Speed II: The Getaway. This is a fun game.

I just purchased a Twilight Zone. The clock needs to be replaced. I am waiting for all the parts before I start working on it.

I purchased two Rowe AMI CD051 Jukeboxes.

9/30/2007

I extended the sale. I want the pinballs to sell. A new lower priced Star Trek The Next Generation has been added. I can add the extras for an extra cost. Now the price compares to all the other run of the mill Star Treks out there. I advise you to add all the extras to protect the playfield. I will probably add them as time goes by if this machine is not sold and raise the price accordingly.

9/16/2007

Fish Tales and High Speed II: The Getaway are coming soon. I posted a few more marquees.

9/8/2007

I just added a Robocop pinball machine, Peo Barnyard Golf, NYC Subway gum dispenser and a scale mirror.

9/3/2007

We just returned from visiting Timothy in Kentucky. If you live in Kentucky (Lexington area) and have not had a chance to visit the Kentucky Game Exchange at 930 Winchester Rd, Lexington, KY 40505, you should. They do great work and have a great selection of machines.

I decided to put all my in-stock pinball machines on sale. I was tired of looking at the same machines. I need money and room to buy new machines to fix. When my showroom starts looking like a museum since nothing is changing, it is time to move out some pinball machines.

I will be going to the York show October 12- 13. I will be in the flea market area selling anything and everything pinball related and more. Please stop by and say hello.

I finally sold the Scared Stiff. It is a great game.

8/25/2007

I redid the menu. I added many of the screens I jerry-rigged links to within the page. I also redid the main page so it looks better.

I will soon have a Robocop and possibly a Lethal Weapon 3. I purchased a Barn-Yard Golf Trade simulator game from Peo in 1931. I hope to get keys made this coming week and get it working. It has the rare gumball attachment. I also purchased an antique gum machine that was used in NYC subways. A cool piece of history since I took the A Train every day to high school for 4 years.

8/18/2007

I have added pinball manuals, bingo manuals, plastics, pinball flyers, video game marquees, and other fun items to enhance your game room or add value to the machine you own.

8/1/2007

I finally finished my Stargate project. This was the machine from hell. that I got from a friend with everything imaginable missing. It took a while to get it together, but it now works 100%.

I also purchased a Street Fighter II. This is definitely a parts machine. Do you need a cabinet, power supply, plastics, ramp or playfield? I will be posting this soon.

I also have about 40 pinball manuals for sale for $18 plus postage. I have video game marquees that I will post soon on my parts page. take a look.

7/21/2007

I traded the Data East Star Wars for a Sega Godzilla a few weeks ago. I just finished fixing it up. It has been placed on the web site.

6/2/2007

I put Slugfest and Indianapolis 500 on eBay. No bids. They did not sell. This is very funny since I put a low price on it (without a warranty). Oh well. Just goes to show that everyone on ebay wants a deal. I thought this was a very good price. But another Slugfest came on with no reserve. I am hoping this other Slugfest sells for way beyond the price of mine (sweet revenge). The cash register did sell....

5/25/2007

I am doing minor fixes to the site. I removed the reference to tax refunds on the main page and added a Christmas 2007... banner. I will try the Slugfest on eBay....

I added Family Guy and Spiderman to the new pinball page.

5/10/2007

I finally added my gum ball machines. I have three Ford 10 cent gum ball machines for sale.

I also finally posted the Star Trek The Next Generation. This is the 5th Star Trek The Next Generation that I have restored. This is my favorite game. If I sell it, I will buy another and restore. If I have the room and money, I may buy another so I can start to restore while I still have this one.

4/29/2007

I guess I haven't posted in a while. Today I finished up the Monopoly. It is a beautiful machine and in excellent condition. A few weeks ago I posted a Scared Stiff. I also posted The Simpson Pinball Party a few weeks ago. Ebay did not do any good in selling the Star Wars machine. But it got me in contact with a local collector that I will trade the machine with. I will also assist in fixing some of his games. I got in a Gilligan's Island. But a friend came over and wants it. I just finished fixing it up. View my repair log for the fun I experienced in getting this machine working.

Now that the weather is better, I am more apt to fix machines. I think I have caught up with fixing machines. I am happier when there is sunshine and warmer weather.

2/16/2007

I posted the Roadshow. This is a very nice machine. The entire game was taken apart to fix Ted's eyelids. (This is the only way to get to "Ted".) This is a very enjoyable machine.

2/13/2007

I posted the Slugfest.

2/11/2007

I posted the Star Wars on eBay. As I stated below, I prefer to sell locally. However, the advertisements in the local newspapers were not working (except giving the papers more money). Hopefully, this will generate some web traffic and maybe even some sales for about $5 a week.

I will be posting a Slugfest and Roadshow soon. I will probably also sell The Simpson's Pinball Party soon.

2/3/2007

I added all my repair notes for the past few years. Click here to see them or go to the link on the main page.

I purchased another Roadshow and Star Trek the Next Generation (STTNG) a few weeks ago. I just finished shopping and repairing the Roadshow. I have 3 small items to fix (right flipper, adjust plunger gate and replace 2 opto switches on the dozer board). It looks really nice. I needed to replace the lids down coil on Ted. It was very fried. You have to take apart the entire game (almost) under and on the playfield. While I had everything off, I replaced the rubbers, lights and cleaned the playfield and plastics. I put the hyper thin Cliffy protector on. It looks very nice and does not affect game play.

The STTNG looks beautiful. The playfield and cabinet are in great shape. The playfield is dirty, as are the ramps and plastics, but they should clean up nicely. The Alpha ramp switch is not working but I will get to it once I start taking the game apart. I have all new clear plastics, under plastics, ramp protectors and the hyper thin Cliffy protector to add over the next few weeks.

I picked up a Slugfest today. It will need a new display and a lot of cleaning. It has a lot of baseball cards. Maybe one of the cards will be worth something.... I will work on this after the STTNG.

I traded my Tales of the Arabian Nights (TOTAN) for a beautiful working Scared Stiff. I saw it about a year ago and am looking forward to getting it. Although I liked the TOTAN, I did not go back to play it. It was not selling so I traded.

I thought about putting a machine on eBay. Although I would rather sell locally, maybe it will generate the advertising (for $5 to $10 a week) I couldn't get advertising in my local papers. Maybe I can get to a point of selling one machine every week or two.... I will put one up in the next two weeks and see how it goes.

1/21/2007

I have been maintaining a list of problems and solutions for all the repairs I have made over the past couple of years. I finally organized the list and placed it on line to share with others and also have when I am out doing a repair. Take a look: Click here to view my Repair Chronicles.

1/5/2007

Adelphia is now Comcast so my email is now mbelofsky@comcast.net. What fun! I get to change it in 10,000 places...

12/24/2006

Merry Christmas! I took the sale off the web site. I keep becoming delusional believing that great prices and a sale would entice people to buy great machines.

I may have a contact to purchase newer slot machines from. If this works out and I can get the person to warranty the slot machines 6 months from the time I sell them (not the time I buy them from him), then I may consider continuing selling newer slots. Otherwise I do not have the knowledge, tools, etc. to fix up newer slot machines.

I cancelled all my print ads starting January 1st. We will see if this is a good decision....

11/29/2006

Does anyone actually read this (besides me)? Some decisions I have come to:

1. I will no longer advertise in Leesburg Today, Loudoun Easterner or Purcellville Gazette starting January 1, 2007. I get no leads, sales or repairs from these advertisements (but it does get the papers a bit wealthier). Why waste my money when most of my repairs and sales are word of mouth (referrals) or my web site?

2. Although I love pinball machines, I am tired of hauling them around. I will no longer buy machines as "specs" in the hopes of selling it. I will buy machines I personally like and maybe someday sell them. Or I will buy a specific machine for a customer to fix and sell (with a down payment since I have done this before and have been stuck with very nice machines until they sold.)

3. Although I fix the pinball machines and they work great, I occasionally get tech support calls on my machines, which I promptly repair. Since I offer a warranty and stand behind the machines, you can be guaranteed they will be fixed and working. I will slow down on selling machines so I can slow down on repairing machines.

4. This is a hobby. I enjoy it (although I am starting to question myself and therefore will keep it a hobby). I reserve the right NOT to fix a pinball machine if I don't feel like it. Several reasons that I would not feel like it include a) you live too far away and I don't want to travel that far; b) I may not be able to fix the machine and do not charge if I do not fix it, so why bother going to your home to fix something that probably is not fixable (either because I am not skilled enough or usually because it would cost more to fix than it is worth) and I waste my time and my entire evening; c) If you live too far and I fix it and it breaks again, I don't feel like coming back out, so I just won't fix it in the first place. I am sorry I feel like this, but I want to enjoy this and I am not because of certain people.

5. Although I say I buy machines, I don't guarantee I will. Remember, I will need to take it into my shop, fix it, get it looking great and working 100%. I will be offering a 6 month warranty. If the machine is worth $2,000, you will not get $2,000 from me. You will probably get $800 - $900. If you want to get more money then you will need to sell it yourself. You can try http://www.mrpinball.com classifieds or http://washingtondc.craigslist.org. You may make more money. You can have the person pick it up from you. If the backglass has a prominent picture of Arnold or Stallone, it is harder to sell. These games are great but people shy away from them because of the backglass.

11/25/2006

I added a link to the Internet Pinball Database on each pinball machine. This will help the customer find out more about the machine including pictures, ratings and rule sheets.

11/21/2006

Completed the Indianapolis 500. I got it working 100% and cleaned up really nice.

11/18/2006

The Road Show sold faster than I thought it would! I was hoping to enjoy it in my collection for a few weeks. Now I know that I will get another one in the future. I am on the look out for a really nice Star Trek The Next Generation for myself. I just finished one for a customer and really wanted to keep it. I enjoy working on them and I enjoy playing them even more.

My three favorite games are Monster Bash, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Lord of the Rings. I hope to have all three for my own collection soon...

The Joker's Wild! IGT slot machine sold at the silent auction for Fannie Mae's Help the Homeless auction yesterday. It went for $700. Not bad. I was hoping for a little higher but anything is good for the donation. The 1977 Bally Night Rider sold at the live auction. It went for $850. This wasn't bad either.

I am thinking of changing the way I buy and sell pinballs next year. Instead of "speculating" on a machine, I may only fix up a machine for a customer once they tell me what they want (and put a down payment on the machine). This will stop me making wrong decisions and having machines I don't really want. However, if I buy machines I really want it would not hurt to stay in my collection....

I am waiting for a board that should have come with the Indianapolis 500 to start working on it. It is a pretty nice game. I would not mind keeping it if I can't sell it. It will go nicely with the Corvette that I originally bought for a customer (I should have ask for a down payment) and then never heard from again...)

11/10/2006

I put the Star Wars up for sale. This is quite an enjoyable game. Tomorrow I will work on getting the rubbers changed on the Road Show, cleaning the plastics and replacing the gears in the Red and Ted heads.

11/5/2006

I put the Road Show up for sale. I still have some cleaning up but the game works nicely.

11/4/2006

It's Christmas season! Yeah! I am working on a Road Show. It is a very fun, family oriented game. On Monday, I will receive a Star Wars and Indianapolis 500. If you are interested in any of theses games, please reserve them now. If you are looking for a specific game, please tell me and I will find it for you.

I decided to donate the Night Rider pinball and the Jokers Wild! slot machine to the Fannie Mae Help the Homeless auction to raise money for HTH.

9/26/2006

Only one taker for the summer sale. What a bummer. Maybe people will buy for Christmas...

I fixed the small problem on the Twister. It was intermittent. It was a wire on the trough coil that was touching but not soldered. The game now works 100%.

I just completed a Water World. I will post this next week.

I just posted a Stargate PROJECT pinball. I don't have the time or energy to work on it. I would like to sell it as a unit.

I added the checklist to the pinballs. It is so frustrating to see the shape of the pinballs that have been sold to people....

I modified the repair charge. I will charge a nominal fee of $25 if I can't fix the machine or it is not work fixing. Otherwise, this fun hobby will not be fun anymore and I won't do it. I don't have to do it often but if a fix will take more than the game is worth or a game is beyond repair, my opinion has to be worth something...

8/19/2006

Suzanne and I just dropped Tim off at Eastern Kentucky University yesterday. Now we are on our own (at least until Thanksgiving). So now it is time to get all the pinballs that I have been sitting on working.

I got my order of transistors from Great Plains Electronics. I replaced the 74LS175 with a 74HCT175 on the master control board for the engine. This solved the problem. I added a lock. I replaced the leg bolt plate for the left front leg. (It is amazing how it is always the left front leg where a bolt gets stripped. This is a pain in the neck to replace with all the wires and boards there.) The Corvette is now complete and posted for sale.

I also replaced the power board on the 1977 Night Rider machine. I posted the Night Rider tonight as well.

Now off to work on some other minor fixes for my other machines.

I added a summer sale. I placed 4 of my machines (including one pinball) on sale.

7/30/2006

Just added the Bram Stoker Dracula.

7/28/2006

Just added a great Twister and Dirty Harry. This is the second Twister I have worked on. Note that pictures of a pinball are the pinball that is being sold. I do not reuse pictures.

7/17/2006

Just purchased and fixed up an Attack From Mars. It looks great and plays great! I will be adding a Bram Stoker Dracula.

6/19/2006

Added pictures on a 1952 United Super Shuffle Alley that I just figured out how to fix! It is starting to look good. http://pvillepinball.com/supershufflealley.html.

6/9/2006

Added map and driving directions. My web hosting company provided these toys to me. As a developer it was fun to add it onto the Contacts page of this web site. [removed in dreamweaver.]

6/2/2006

Cleaned up the main page. I removed a lot of the pinball machines that I have not sold page. I left the 2 traffic lights on the main page since I have no other way to get to them. I kept the Theatre of Magic and Tales of the Arabian Nights on the main page since they are very pretty and in excellent condition.

I added Monster Bash and the 1946 Candy dispensing machine. I fixed it up and cleaned it. I did not redo it. For $1,495 it looks original with the dings and bends. I like antiques looking like antiques. If you want an older machine to look like new or if you are looking for a great bar and set up in your basement, you should check out Bars and Booths/Back In Time Warehouse in Charlestown, West Virginia. I highly recommend them!

3/18/2006

Added the traffic signal and the walk/don't walk sign.

The Tales of the Arabian Nights has been completed. It looks great and plays great. I would love to keep it but then I would have nothing to sell.

I picked up a 1946 Candy dispensing machine. It looks pretty good. It is set up for free play. In other words the coin mechanism is no longer in the machine and the machine will give candy (once I put some in) by just pulling the lever. I am not sure if I want to keep it or not. If you have any interest, please call or email or ask to come over and see it.

I bought my son an old fire call box. It just needs to be sand blasted and repainted. He is about to go to college (EKU) to get a degree in EMC. He is a volunteer EMT at the Purcellville and Lovettsville Rescue Squads.

Hopefully soon, I will start working on getting my 1952 United Shuffle Alley Deluxe Bowler working.

Looking for someone to buy a Xenon project machine for $800 including the overlay. I don't have the time or the experience to do it myself.

2/19/2006

Added Theatre of Magic. It is a great game and in great condition.

I raised the price for repairs. Otherwise it is not worth doing.

1/29/2006

Added Tales of The Arabian Nights. I still have some more work to do on it, but reserve it for yourself now.

I am working on a beautiful Theatre of Magic. If I do not decide to keep it for myself, you may want to find out more about it.

I added a warranty page. I stand behind the machines I sell but I want to be clear what is and is not covered.

1/15/2006

Re-did the menu on the left. Added a menu selection for Video Games. Now you can go to video games from the menu rather than scrolling down the page. I also added a menu and page for others to sell items through this web site. Look for items soon. I also added a testimonials page. Hopefully someone will provide a testimonial to show that we are doing a decent job...

12/25/2005

Retook the playfield pictures of Silver Slugger with the glass off. The game photographs looks so much better. Did some additional minor switch adjustments to get all of the switches working absolutely correct. Took of a resistor that controls the bottom jet bumper light (you will note it is not lit up in the pictures). I will buy a replacement resistor and solder it back on tomorrow.

I spent yesterday getting a 1994 Williams Flintstones cleaned and working. Everything came together very nicely on this game. Please click on the link above for pictures.

12/23/2005

Just finished fixing up and cleaning a 1994 Data East (Sega) Maverick pinball machine. It is very fun and addictive to play. This will work great in any game room for the adults and the kids. It will also do very well in a gambling- or poker-themed game room. This machine was made by Data East and production continued under Sega when the company changed hands.

As a funny note, we have been advertising our pinball machines on www.mrpinball.com. It is amazing how many scammers there are. Not only can they not write in proper English, they all use the same hokey methods of trying to get your attention.

I believe in selling locally so I can stand behind the machines I fix. However, I have sold 2 machines to people in California. I ask the buyer to set up delivery with North American Van Lines (NAVL). This way, they are responsible for setting up the delivery (with me telling them when I am available for pickup), they are responsible for paying the shipping charges, and they are responsible for handling insurance claims if necessary. I can tell you that NAVL is very experienced in packing and shipping pinball machines. The shipping people are very professional and skilled in moving pinball machines. So far, I have a 100% batting record for getting machines safely to their new home and great condition (both physical and working). I highly recommend using NAVL to ship pinball machines.

12/17/2006

We guess we should update this more often. What is new since May:

We have increased our warranty from 30 days to 6 months on pinball machines and antique slot machines. We are very confident with the work we do on these machines that we can increase the warranty. We have been offering this to customers. Now it is official.

We have a beautiful cocktail Ms Pac Man with 16 games (Pac Man, Ms Pac Man, other variations, fast and slow), a new monitor and new glass and underlay. We lowered the price from $2,395 to $1,995 as a Christmas special.

We offer newer slot machines for $1,195 without a bill validator and $1,395 with a bill validator. The quality of these machines is outstanding. We can provide references on these and everything we sell if you wish. We currently have 3 slots in stock at a lower price of $995.

Many machines have come and gone in the past 6 months. It would be nice if the Fire! below goes. It is wearing out its welcome...

In November, our business was a finalist in the Home Based Business category for the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce. We did not win, but we met nice people and had a nice dinner at the event.

December 2005 is our one year anniversary. We made it one year! Only 99 left. I thought some day I would be famous and be in a million households. I never thought I would do it by visiting houses one at a time to fix pinball machines. Only 999, 900 houses to go...

5/22/2005

We just completed restoring a 1980 Williams Alien Poker Pinball Machine. It has been created from 3 Alien Pokers in various stages of demise.

5/15/2005

We now have a great and fun to play 1987 Fire! Pinball Machine by Williams.

5/14/2005

Take a look at a very nice 1991 Data East Checkpoint Pinball Machine.

5/14/2005

We just purchased an original Galaxian Cocktail table from 1980. Click on the image to view the description. We are offering as is (with a 30-day warranty of course) for a special price including sales tax and delivery. We are also offering additional upgrades if you want to improve the machine. [didn't copy image to new site.]

4/9/2005

Two new slot machines. These are real dollar slots from a casino in Michigan. Click on the image to go to the description for Fiery Doubles or Triple Crowns. [didn't copy image to new site.]

2/9/2005

We now sell new video games, jukeboxes, air hockey games and bubble hockey games.

1/8/2005

We now sell New Stern pinball machines! We will start selling Juke Boxes, Video Games and Air Hockey games soon too.

12/12/2004

Added a 1977 Gottlieb Cleopatra and a 1993 Data East Last Action Hero Pinball machine for sale. We have also listed a Mills Hi Top 10 cent slot machine circa 1948. We also placed our repair philosophy and prices on the web site.

12/4/2004

This web site! We love pinball machines and slot machines. We like playing them. We like fixing them. This web site will allow us to find machines in need of a new home. This web site will hopefully allow us to find these machines and improve our skills at repairing them. Eventually, each machine must be sold due to space constraints.

Since we live and work in the Northern Virginia area, this is where we will be concentrating on buying and selling machines. This is not a full time endeavor (although some day we hope it could be). We enjoy pinball machines and slot machines and we hope to share this enjoyment with others in our area.

Several pinball machines are available for purchase. Several parts are also available. There will be a slot machine soon.

Purcellville Pinball and Slots, LLC 37790 Eastgate Dr Purcellville, VA 20132 703 431-5470 mbelofsky@purcellvillepinball.com or mbelofsky@comcast.net Showroom open by appointment only Copyright © 2010 Purcellville Pinball and Slots, LLC. All rights reserved.