Best place to find pinball machines?

[shawnzilla]

Specifically looking for a Cyclone pinball machine. My cousin wants to buy one, but I told him to beware of buying a pinball at an auction.

Any advice?

[ChadTower]

rec.games.pinball

[crsdawg]

r.g.p.

mr. pinball classifieds

ebay

good luck with your search. cyclone is a pretty sought after game considering it is a non-dmd machine. i've seen them sell anywhere from $600 to $1200. condition pretty much dictates value, but ymmv.

[Buddabing]

Specifically looking for a Cyclone pinball machine. My cousin wants to buy one, but I told him to beware of buying a pinball at an auction.

Any advice?

If you know what you are doing, I don't see any reason to not buy one at an auction. Caveat emptor.

I got my pinball machine (Stargate) thru an ad in Mr. Pinball.

I recommend getting one from a collector rather than a vendor. A collector will give you a better price and will be nicer about helping you out with problems after the sale. A collector will be less likely to try to screw you since most collectors are in it for love of the hobby versus love of money.

[Stingray]

Ebay, sort by items nearest to you first. Then email the sellers and ask them what else they have for sale. Often if a guy has one pin for sale, he has several more that aren't listed. This method works well for arcade cabinets too.

-S

[ChadTower]

Pins from ebay is very risky, a trillion more things can be wrong with a pin than with a vid...

[Flinkly]

yeah...i'm relatively upset with my preliminary look into the world of buying a pinball.  i'd be very worried about ebay since i don't know much about pinballs, and second, everywhere else, people want top dollar, or more, for their pinball.  maybe this feverish dream wont happen fo a while.

[crsdawg]

auctions will always be more of a gamble than buying from a collector, but that is also where you will most likely get a better deal. just ask lots of questions, if the game is close see if you can personally inspect it. if it's to far, get as many high quality pics as possible. if the seller starts to act funny when you request these....move on.

if your friend is willing to spend the $'s then try to find a collector selling one. you will pay more, but will most likely get a game that will give you less trouble, although that isn't guaranteed but your chances are better.

arcade auctions like super auctions are kinda a crapshoot. you will get to see the games and play them to access their condition, but your time is limited and you can rarely find the seller to ask any questions. prices are also all over the board,

[skim36]

I got my cab from the local vending rental place....they often have old games and pinball machines...juke boxes etc....just lying around that they'd like to move.  I was about to ask about a pinball machine they had..(A Black Knight 2000!)  but they needed them all for a place upstate.  It was nice too...the bottom was shrink-wrapped....just a thought...they can often tell you what exactly is wrong with it...(if anything)...