Ever been offered a game at a deep discount, but thought about turning it down simply becuase the damage is too great? I was contacted by a person who replied to a running ad I have on craigslist requesting all kinds of coin-operated equipment. She said she has a partially working 1980 Bally Pinball – Skateball. Asking Price – $100. Great price? Yes. But is it worth it? I honestly don’t know…
Book value of a fully working Skateball, according to Mr. Pinball 2009, is $600. I doubt any machine with this much playfield wear would bring in $600, fixing any of the non-working items will cost me time, and replacement parts cost money, but should I skip it all together? I figure that unless the machine is missing the boards, it will be worth well more than $100 in parts. The backglass, while cheesy, looks to be in great shape.
I did a search on eBay and found this completed auction. Oddly enough, the machine in the auction listing had similar playfield wear, although not quite as bad. I wonder if this was common for this machine? Perhaps Bally used sub-par paints? Maybe no clear-coat? Maybe it is just coincidence. Anyhow, nice to see that this went above price guide value even with the wear. Maybe it will be worth it after all. Then again, with that molestache staring at me from the backglass, maybe not…
I have an arrangement with the owner to pick up the game this weekend. I’ll be sure to update on any other issues the game has and if I can fix it.
Tags: craigslist, Pinball, skateball
December 24th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
In my reading playfield wear is something that happens on every pinball machine. Around the 80s some manufactures and operatorsused mylar (essentially clear stickers
to cover and protect the playfields. Later someone (Bally?) started clearcoating their playfields to protect the paint.
Of course any such solution is temporary.
December 24th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
P.S. The important question is it fun to play.
January 17th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
i too own this machine. this playfield is in great shape , but the backglass is flaking.your old drop targets are available as game specific skateball drop targets. enjoy your bargain !
February 18th, 2009 at 11:13 am
[...] I wrote a few days ago about the prospect of picking this game up despite the significant playfield wear. Well here she [...]