Author Topic: The Ultimate Part Time Job! (Read 4882 times)

USSEnterprise · « **on:** February 18, 2007, 08:00:36 pm »

Just spotted a listing on Craigslist, for a help wanted to clean and make minor repairs to pinball machines. I just replied to it. I'm really hopeful about it. I told the guy about my machines, and my experiences with them. Hopefully it has some effect, and I at least get an email back. I could really use some more money to put toward my cab, and getting that money by fixing pinballs would be completely awesome.

shardian · « **Reply #1 on:** February 18, 2007, 09:08:49 pm »

Sounds pretty cool to me. Good luck.

USSEnterprise · « **Reply #2 on:** February 19, 2007, 12:32:06 am »

Seems like I got the job. I'm probably starting tomorrow. The shop is located in Asbury Park, a half hour drive from where I live, but only about 10 minutes from where my father works, so its not that bad. Says he deals in mainly SS games, and he sells about 10 a week. I can't wait until tomorrow. This should be fun.

missioncontrol · « **Reply #3 on:** February 19, 2007, 06:45:41 am »

please post and let us know how your first day goes....

ChadTower · « **Reply #4 on:** February 19, 2007, 08:45:47 am »

That's pretty cool.

vader · « **Reply #5 on:** February 19, 2007, 03:10:51 pm »

We should have popcorn and a seat so we can see the expression on the owner's face when he see's a young guy fix his machines. He's going to save so much money finding someone like you to work on his machines.

Good Lucky USS

shardian · « **Reply #6 on:** February 19, 2007, 03:36:42 pm »

~~Hopefully he takes a liking to you and teaches you some stuff.~~

Yeah, after looking at that again, it doesn't sound too good.

Hopefully you can learn some neat stuff about pinball machines. There, that's better.

horseboy · « **Reply #7 on:** February 19, 2007, 05:01:51 pm »

Quote from: USSEnterprise on February 19, 2007, 12:32:06 am

The shop is located in Asbury Park, a half hour drive from where I live

That's a long walk.

USSEnterprise · « **Reply #8 on:** February 19, 2007, 07:51:45 pm »

First day went well. Turns out he mainly works with and sells Dot Matrix Solid State Machines. Not my cup for tea, but still pretty cool. He had quite a few machines in his workshop. He definitely had:
2 STNGs
3 Pinball 2000 machines (2 SW, 1 RFM)
2 Dr Who
2 Twilight Zones
2 Getaway
1 T2
1 DE Star Wars
Many, many more machines, parts, translites, legs, boards, etc.
It was pinball heaven. He had me working on two different machines today, a Dr Who, and a Hurricane. Basically, we have to strip the playfield, clean all the plastics and posts, remove any bad mylar, novus the whole surface, wax it, reinstall all the plastics with new rubbers, and change all the bulbs. With two people on it, the Dr. Who took about 2.5 hours, with no mylar removal needed. The hurricane was in really bad shape. The playfield mylar was awful, and took forever to remove. Many of the plastics were cracked, and there were ICs on the MPU board which had been pried off.

Overall, it was a fun day, and I made $50 having fun. Going back on friday after school, and then the weekends. Until I get my license in March, my parents will be driving me, but after the 13th, I'll be able to do it myself.

shardian · « **Reply #9 on:** February 19, 2007, 08:03:51 pm »

That is pretty awesome. Oh, and savor the moment because Chad said something nice for once...it was kind of dissapointing really.

ChadTower · « **Reply #10 on:** February 20, 2007, 09:16:34 am »

It's a good position to be in. Shopping dot matrix era machines can take a LOT longer if you don't know the techniques for keeping track of the playfield toys and aren't familiar with them. My TZ took me like 40 hours, though the shop job was more extensive, a lot of that was simply because I had to reverse engineer the toys and then remember how to put them back together. So having someone involved that can do that quickly will really show you the ropes much much faster.

USSEnterprise · « **Reply #11 on:** February 20, 2007, 09:29:00 am »

You're right. And if I ever do decide to get into DMD machines (mainly the two ST machines), I'll know hw to shop them out. Starting to like The Sopranos machine as well, fun the price is not justifyable compared to the the quality of the gameplay. I still prefer the early Solid States and Late EMs.

ChadTower · « **Reply #12 on:** February 20, 2007, 09:33:17 am »

The guy I was working with for a little while is a MASTER at that. Dude can take a TZ (which is generally the hardest to shop), tear the whole thing down, shop it very clean, put it back together, in about 3 hours, alone. And considering he just takes all the parts and dumps them on a table with no sorting method or tracking of what is part of what, I still am amazed by the ability.

shardian · « **Reply #13 on:** February 20, 2007, 09:44:03 am »

Quote from: ChadTower on February 20, 2007, 09:33:17 am

The guy I was working with for a little while is a MASTER at that. Dude can take a TZ (which is generally the hardest to shop), tear the whole thing down, shop it very clean, put it back together, in about 3 hours, alone. And considering he just takes all the parts and dumps them on a table with no sorting method or tracking of what is part of what, I still am amazed by the ability.

Shoot, if I take 5 bolts off my car, I get lost putting them back on.

I don't think I ever want to shop a pin.

ChadTower · « **Reply #14 on:** February 20, 2007, 09:47:01 am »

Pins with lots of toys are a real pain. It's a labor of love thing. Pins without tons of toys are all mostly the same and take far less time once you become competent at it. Not tons of variation in type and number of parts.

Ninten-doh · « **Reply #15 on:** February 20, 2007, 12:08:19 pm »

Congrats on the cool job!

So...when do you hook me up with a good deal on a World Cup Soccer?

USSEnterprise · « **Reply #16 on:** February 20, 2007, 01:53:12 pm »

Quote from: Ninten-doh on February 20, 2007, 12:08:19 pm

Congrats on the cool job!

So...when do you hook me up with a good deal on a World Cup Soccer?

Heh, I saw a World Cup Soccer '94 there, but it was still unshopped, and he doesn't sell them unshopped.

USSEnterprise · « **Reply #17 on:** February 20, 2007, 05:59:31 pm »

Wow. Apparently, he has a World Cup Soccer Listed on eBay right now, but the price is a bit high (BIN $1650, Starting bid $1550)

ChadTower · « **Reply #18 on:** February 20, 2007, 06:02:12 pm »

That's a bit low for a WCS.

horseboy · « **Reply #19 on:** February 20, 2007, 09:46:50 pm »

You and your boss need to get together and see how many of those pins will fit in your basement.

ChadTower · « **Reply #20 on:** February 21, 2007, 09:39:57 am »

I guarantee they will all fit in mine.

Bro, keep us posted on the pins that he is selling. There are quite a few of us within driving distance for the right pin at the right price.

USSEnterprise · « **Reply #21 on:** February 21, 2007, 12:17:09 pm »

He sells everything through ebay, under the name barrywnj

ChadTower · « **Reply #22 on:** February 21, 2007, 12:21:32 pm »

Wouldn't he be amenable to selling the occasional machine without Paypal or Ebay fees?

Ack: He offers "free tech support for life" with a BIN? On a PIN?!

USSEnterprise · « **Reply #23 on:** February 21, 2007, 12:43:24 pm »

Over the phone, I believe. If I were to say to him that I know someone who may be interested in the WCS, and wanted to pay the BIN, he'd make them use ebay to purchase it so there's less of a chance that the buyer will pass. I don't think he needs paypal as opposed to cash on pickup, though. He will let anyone who wants to, inspect the machine prior to bidding/buying. I don't think he accepts offers on machines.

ChadTower · « **Reply #24 on:** February 21, 2007, 12:54:16 pm »

Those practices probably drive off some buyers.

USSEnterprise · « **Reply #25 on:** February 21, 2007, 12:56:15 pm »

I agree, but I'm not about to start questioning him

ChadTower · « **Reply #26 on:** February 21, 2007, 01:07:48 pm »

Agreed there. Taking a quick peek as his listings, he has a couple that are under market but most of them are well over. That's probably why he sticks with Ebay only.

ClubNinja · « **Reply #27 on:** February 21, 2007, 01:32:29 pm »

barrywnj. That guy doesn't have a whole lot of friends on RGP...

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.pinball/search?group=rec.games.pinball&q=barrywnj

ChadTower · « **Reply #28 on:** February 21, 2007, 01:34:54 pm »

Ow.

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #29 on:** February 21, 2007, 02:34:16 pm »

d0h....get your pay in CASH!

USSEnterprise · « **Reply #30 on:** February 21, 2007, 05:34:35 pm »

Yeah, he did say that the people on RGP are not too fond of him. Personally, he seems like a nice guy. The shopping he does isn't collector quality, but more like "pinball for the average joe" quality. For instance, if there's a broken plastic, he'll either glue it, or use a large washer to cover up the imperfection. Not the best methods, but when a collector buys one of these machines, and scrutinizes it, he can find things to complain about. Personally, if I were to buy one of his machines and get a good price, I wouldn't really mind, but I'm not really a collector. He gets them working, looking nice, and sells them. I'm getting paid once a week, in cash.

ChadTower · « **Reply #31 on:** February 21, 2007, 06:23:02 pm »

If it were a good price in that condition I would say all is good. Those are not prices in that condition.

USSEnterprise · « **Reply #32 on:** February 21, 2007, 06:26:38 pm »

I don't know DMD machines, so I'll take your word for it. As long as I'm getting paid and doing something I semi-enjoy, all is good. I might be getting a cheap Slick Chick with the money I'll have made by Sunday, as well as investing some into my cab.

ChadTower · « **Reply #33 on:** February 21, 2007, 07:19:44 pm »

Yeah I don't see his practices, from what little I've seen of them, as being bad enough to be an issue for you personally. Don't attach yourself too closely to his name, though, as a bad rep is hard to shake.

rrr9 · « **Reply #34 on:** February 22, 2007, 03:09:41 am »

Quote from: USSEnterprise on February 19, 2007, 12:32:06 am

Seems like I got the job. I'm probably starting tomorrow. The shop is located in Asbury Park, a half hour drive from where I live, but only about 10 minutes from where my father works, so its not that bad. Says he deals in mainly SS games, and he sells about 10 a week. I can't wait until tomorrow. This should be fun.

Hi,

I just lurk around here, and congrats on the job, but if this is Asbury Park New Jersey, and this is Barry White's shop, you might want to do a google groups search for "Barry White" or Barrywnj (his e-bay id) on rec.games.pinball.

I've bought from him, and while the machine works, it needed repairs, and was far from what it was represented as.

Maybe you working there will bring up the quality of the place if it's the same one.

Anyway good luck on the job.

Robert

FrizzleFried · « **Reply #35 on:** February 22, 2007, 09:52:22 am »

Hey USS...worry not what folks are saying as long as he pays you, you enjoy the job, etc. There are THOUSANDS who loathe WAL MART yet they employ so many people...and do you think THEY give a damn what the "haters" think?

ChadTower · « **Reply #36 on:** February 22, 2007, 09:53:50 am »

Walmart isn't a niche hobby with a high trust factor. Get a bad rep in this hobby and you cannot erase it. Pin people are very sensitive and frankly a lot of pin collectors are self centered only children that get extremely picky about things they buy.

Crax · « **Reply #37 on:** February 22, 2007, 09:59:18 am »

Quote from: rrr9 on February 22, 2007, 03:09:41 am

Maybe you working there will bring up the quality of the place if it's the same one.

That should be your goal USS, just do the best work you can and hopefully it will help bring up the overall quality level. Sounds like a great learning experience and as long as you are getting paid, it probably doesn't matter too much if someone hates your boss.

ChadTower · « **Reply #38 on:** February 22, 2007, 10:09:24 am »

That's the point... do the work, learn what he can, just don't put his own name out there as a representative of the business. People understand the "I'm just a part time assistant" concept but if he goes out and tries to sell machines for the guy with the same practices, he'll trash his own rep too. It's a fine line.

USSEnterprise · « **Reply #39 on:** February 22, 2007, 04:29:10 pm »

I understand and agree, Chad. I definitely won't say anything on RGP or any other forum/mailing list. Too risky at destroying my rep if I ever decide to get into this business for myself.


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