kdub3821 Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 If anyone has the time to give me a rundown on pinball machines I would appreciate it. I have 5 nice sized pizza shops I have bulk toys in. I have been wanting to talk to the owners about letting me put in pinball machines. I always played when I was a kid. I wanted to know what the usual split money wise is? Are they difficult to work on? Good places to get parts? What brands are good? And will they pay for themselves? Most pinball machines I see foe sale range from 2k to 5k. Thank you for your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Vending Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 50/50 split, They require a lot of maintenance and rotation. It take a long time to get your money back. I would invest in a crane instead or a interactive pinball like an impulse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musser Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Pinballs suck. Put in cranes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 I can't even remember the last time I saw a pinball machine. Had to have been around 1992 and they were a waste of space then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdub3821 Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 So pinball is dead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Vending Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Yes, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musser Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 The only place pinballs make money is selling them to the home market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprint54fan Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 I hate to hear pinballs are dead..but then again I may have made a good deal today. I do bulk and cranes so I always wanted to dabble in pinballs..but after seeing what they sell for on ebay used WOWZERS! I was thinking only cranes. Well today I was headed home and came across a yard sale..out sat a full size coin operated pinball machine. Machine is made by Gottlieb and is called Silver Slugger..Machine looks nice..needs cleaned tho but cabinet and everything isnt beat up. The guy said it worked. I ran home and picked up my father (hes my electronics fixer as hes been working on electronics his entire life..) We looked it all over and even looked on Google..machine works as it should but needs new rubbers but they are available online cheap.. we bought her for 180.00 cash money.. After looking on ebay I found the same unit!: http://www.ebay.com/itm/291192718473?item=291192718473 Now to clean her up and find a location for it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psk007 Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 With pinball they have to always be cleaned and kept up. They require a lot of work to stay in route condition and the newer models are way too much money to ever make your money back with a decent return. I still run pinball's on my route but target nice older games in the $1500.00 range. If you don't know how to work on them or don't know much about them, I would stay away from them. NIce cranes would make you way more money and less headaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWvend Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 If you get the machines free, you will go broke operating them. They are dead. If they should get some play, the cost of keeping them clean & repaired plus service calls will run you in the poor house. To replace rubbers , bulbs & clean everything the right way every few years takes many many hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musser Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 The best thing you can do with it Danny is clean it up get it working and put it up for sale in October for the Xmas market. I know someone that sells a lot if them this way, but he knows what the hot titles are and gets the best money. Pinballs are a cult thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprint54fan Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 I have decided not to locate it but clean it up and put new rubbers and bulbs in it and keep it for home use.. it will be a nice gameroom starter beside the pool table in our new home.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodney69 Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 I hate to hear pinballs are dead..but then again I may have made a good deal today. I do bulk and cranes so I always wanted to dabble in pinballs..but after seeing what they sell for on ebay used WOWZERS! I was thinking only cranes. Well today I was headed home and came across a yard sale..out sat a full size coin operated pinball machine. Machine is made by Gottlieb and is called Silver Slugger..Machine looks nice..needs cleaned tho but cabinet and everything isnt beat up. The guy said it worked. I ran home and picked up my father (hes my electronics fixer as hes been working on electronics his entire life..) We looked it all over and even looked on Google..machine works as it should but needs new rubbers but they are available online cheap.. we bought her for 180.00 cash money.. After looking on ebay I found the same unit!: http://www.ebay.com/itm/291192718473?item=291192718473 Now to clean her up and find a location for it.. I used to do repairs for a guy on his pinball games and counter top bar games, jukeboxes and so on, I spent more time replacing parts on the pinball games than all the other equipment combined! I was always in there for something! Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superior games Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 In a sense pinball is dead. As operators we can really only operate them in high end accounts. We operate only 6 pins, all are new and located in las Vegas casinos. The revenue they earn is very high but they will only have a life span of 3 years then we will sell them. On the up side, pinball only depreciates 20% or so during that span. Our smaller accounts can't carry a pinball, earnings average $80/week which is not high enough to justify maintenance. So my advice is stay away from pinball. Cranes cranes cranes... Can't go wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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