So here's the story for anyone interested...
A few months ago a guy posts one or more games for sale on CL. I don't remember which. Kinda over-priced. But in the pics I could see a bit of a tron, so I inquired about that and also to see if he had anything else he was thinking of selling, most notably DK. He said he would consider selling the tron, but at $800, telling me I'd have to see it to understand and that he put a lot into it. Well, that was way out of my price range. The MOST I wanted to consider was $650. So nothing came of that.
A month later, I decide to email him again "just in case" he was reconsidering his price and suggested $700 just to see if he might budge at all. He says no. Then shortly thereafter I get an email from him saying he was having a problem with the joystick, and as soon as his friend could fix it for him, he would consider selling to me. Then I was excited! He told me to check back in a couple of weeks. I did, and it still wasn't fixed. I checked in a couple more times over the last month and a half and finally he got it fixed, but reiterated that he wouldn't sell for less than $800. I was not only disappointed, but a little ticked because he could have just told me at the beginning that he wasn't going to lower the price, and instead he got my hopes up by implying that he was willing to work with me on price. But of course I didn't want to burn bridges so I replied with a courteous "thanks anyway" and said if he or anyone he knows is ever looking to sell a game, to please let me know. I wrote this off and never planned to contact him again.
Then no more than a week later (3 days ago) I get an email saying he had decided to list it on CL for $700 and would give me first dibs at $600!!! I thought that was a bizarre turn of events, and especially the "price break" he was going to give me seeing as how I had previously mentioned $700. But was I going to question it? Heck no! I asked him some details on the condition. Everything works, 8 out of 10, etc. Then I get some pics. Looks too good to be true! Then I arrange to come see it, and hopefully pick it up, last night. I was so afraid I'd get there and see something that would disappoint me. But no - it met expectations! Sure, there were some little "aw bummer" things but those were such small things that they didn't come close to making me want to pass. Heck, I didn't expect a NIB tron. All I hoped for was a tron that wouldn't consume extra money or time because I don't have much of either to devote to it.
So did I get a steal? No, I don't think so. But I think I got a very fair price and a very nice unit. It's been well taken care of throughout it's life. I couldn't detect any water damage, nothing seems broken, boards and the rest of the inside seem clean.
Now, I do need to give it a little bit of care. It doesn't seem to hit the diagonals. So I'm hoping it's just a leaf switch adjustment. And the spinner doesn't spin that great, but hopefully it just needs cleaning/lubing. But the good thing is I actually have a complete tron CP that's in nice shape, so worse comes to worse, I can swap controls.
I'm also not sure the coin slots work. He put a free play button on the front, which I plan to remove because I like using tokens (a good way to limit the kids' play time, and more authentic anyway!).
But these are minor things that I don't mind doing. All in all, I'm thrilled to have the one game that I wanted more than any other besides DK. And on top of that, a 4th cab will really make a difference in making my dining room look more like an arcade! Once everything is in place in there, I'll take some "arcade" pics and post them.
Moral of the story? Patience and persistence pays off! My cyberball purchase story is actually very similar to this one.
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Topic: Bought a Tron! (Read 2417 times)
