I had always wanted a pinball machine, mainly for the sentimental fun of playing it, but also for the technical challenge of restoring it. I had always assumed that acquiring a good condition machine would be outside my budget. Nonetheless, I have been keeping my eyes on Craigslist for the last year or so just in case. I saw a lot of machines in so-so condition for over $1000 but I wasn’t going to spend that.
Last month I came across a listing nearby for
two pinball machines for $950. One was a Williams Space Station that was working with a few issues, and the others was a Williams Jokerz that lit up but was otherwise not working. I ran the deal by some of my online
asshats buddies who are experts in such things and the reaction was “Run and buy that now!” So of course I rented a truck and appliance dolly, grabbed my 17 year-old son as a helper and bought them.
I am very happy with my purchase. Both machines have minimal wear for being over 20 years old, and both were in a home basement for most of those two decades.
Space Station was playable but needed some work. The playfield was dirty but the paint was in very good condition. The GI was very, very dim on the left, and out on the right. That is due to a burned out Molex. The black ramp was broken. The rubber was very old and flaking off onto the playfield. It's also missing a decorative plastic on top of the lower jet bumper.
Jokerz was also pretty dirty, but again the playfield paid was in really great shape. I was able to fix the Jokerz machine by replacing a fuse and re-seating a few PCB connectors!
I enjoy the Space Station machine a lot and have decide to restore and upgrade it a bit. I have started, I'll post a bit more on that later. I think this is going to be more time consuming than building cabs.
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Topic: Thus beginneth my next obsession (Read 1872 times)
