View Full Version : holey shizz a bally pinball machine at a dirty thrift store?
FireMillen
12-27-2005, 10:55 PM
alright i've been waiting ever since this morning to post this: A friend of mine tipped me off that there was a PINBALL machine at a local thrift store but they wouldn't sell it
This is the type of thrift store that i always come out of disappointed. Its a donation house kind of like goodwill but not a chain store. Just cups and nicknacks for grannys mostly. NEVER have seen ANY video game stuff. Just. Old. Junk. What fool would give away a real pinball machine. I was skeptical.
They were closed for christmas including monday. I called them this morning. I guess they were in the mood to sell it or either they figured out what to ask for it. I asked them what the name of the pinball machine was and they said "bally". Right then of course I knew this machine was no joke. I said no I mean the actual name of the game like what is written in big letters. She couldn't pronounce it so she spelled it. X-E-N-O-N
She said they played it for a couple of hours and had a blast with it there at the store while it was closed for the weekend but suddenly the ball got stuck and it wouldnt work anymore.
she said they'd take 200 for it like it sits.
I excused myself from work and darted to this place before it could get gone. When I got there I plugged it in and it booted up just like I thought it should and I put the money down. There were people coming in and out of this store and I was afraid like hell that someone was going to get it before me.
Well here it is in my garage. Funny thing is the ride home in the truck must have done it some good. the ball is no longer stuck and it plays FLAWLESSLY @_@
http://www.firstgenerationmontecarlo.com/album/mystuff/DSC01818.JPG
http://www.firstgenerationmontecarlo.com/album/mystuff/DSC01819.JPG
http://www.firstgenerationmontecarlo.com/album/mystuff/DSC01820.JPG
http://www.firstgenerationmontecarlo.com/album/mystuff/DSC01821.JPG
http://www.firstgenerationmontecarlo.com/album/mystuff/DSC01822.JPG
http://www.firstgenerationmontecarlo.com/album/mystuff/DSC01823.JPG
Jibbajaba
12-27-2005, 10:58 PM
DAMN!!! That is a VERY nice find. I would love to have a pinball machine. Congratulations!!!
Chris
Kuros
12-27-2005, 11:11 PM
Very nice! Can you post a pic of the table?
cranberrygrape
12-28-2005, 12:03 AM
You're lucky with the ball.
Sometimes they can break the glass when being moved.
It's a great looking. Congrats.
kainemaxwell
12-28-2005, 12:26 AM
Nice going man!!
Tron 2.0
12-28-2005, 12:39 AM
X_x X_x X_x X_x
Congrats man!
Sothy
12-28-2005, 12:43 AM
Can I have it?
tholly
12-28-2005, 01:27 AM
nice find...congrats...
....but, be ready to buy another one...once the bug bites, you keep buying...
...i started with 1 neo geo mvs cab....now i have 2 pins, 4 arcade cabs and 1 slot machine......
InsaneDavid
12-28-2005, 01:32 AM
That's an amazing find and looks to be in really good condition! Xenon is a nice open playfield table from 1980. Here's the Visual Pinball / VPinMAME recreation if anyone wants to see what the playfield looks like...
http://irpinball.ztnet.com/screenshots/xenon.jpg
And here are some details on the table for FireMillen...
http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2821
That is an excellent start to collecting pins.
diskoboy
12-28-2005, 02:17 AM
Oh man, you lucky little S.O.B! :D
She is a beaut.
Lothars
12-28-2005, 08:47 AM
wow that is an awesome find :)
Very nice, Lucky guy but im happy for you
looks to be in very great shape
jajaja
12-28-2005, 09:12 AM
Nice find :)
I have no idea about Pinball machines so I have to ask, is this some spesial or rare pinball machine?
Darth Sensei
12-28-2005, 09:16 AM
Wow, that's purdy.
djbeatmongrel
12-28-2005, 09:21 AM
damn man, you hit the jack pot. congrats
Jumpman Jr.
12-28-2005, 09:26 AM
Crazy find. I remember a while back, there was a few cabinets at a local thrift near my house (dirty as hell). But never any pins.
Good job!
ClubNinja
12-28-2005, 09:49 AM
Xenon is EASILY one of the most desired and collectible pins of its era. That is a SERIOUSLY fantastic buy in what appears to be excellent shape.
Given what you paid for it, you should have no issue investing just a little extra into it, right? Buy a new rubber kit (see eBay if noplace else) for about $25 tops. Take the plastics off of the playfield and polish them with Novus 1 (see pinballlife.com). Clean the playfield itself with a little Novus 2 (see pinballlife.com), then put a few coats of carnuba wax on there (see any local auto supply store). Also at pinballlife, buy some coil sleeves - these go inside the coils under the playfield and collect lots of junk over time. Finally, while at pinballlife, buy new balls - an old ball does nothing but damage each time you play. All of this is about $45-50 and a few hours of investment; but in the end, you'll have a great looking and playing game that'll be worth well over $1000.
I promise you - take good care of this one and it'll be well worth it.
goatdan
12-28-2005, 09:55 AM
Yeah, great deal! Xenon is a great game, and for that price... SWEEEEEEEEEET.
Maybe your pin and one of mine can get together. I own Cybernaut, the sister machine to Xenon that was the only other one to feature a clear tube like that. Cybernaut doesn't have multiball though, and is really, really a tough game. Personally though, I LOVE it. I'm sure you'll love Xenon too :)
And about the bug... yeah, two pins, two arcade machines and I already have the next two pins I want figured out as well as the next arcade machine... now I'm waiting on building a larger house!
I used to have a KISS pinball machine. Well, more like my family used to, but you get the idea. We bought it off some guy my mother knew for about $100. After a few good years of service she decided to sell it, got either $300 or $600, I can't remember. A few months later while browsing through eBay, I stumbled upon KISS machines breaking the $2K and $3K marks, she was pissed. That was a fun little machine though.
Good find on the Xenon, play a round for me.
undead455
12-28-2005, 10:04 AM
Congrats man, that's a cool find. By the way is that your car in the background, from what I see it looks great. 8-)
Flack
12-28-2005, 12:03 PM
If nothing else, you have convinced me to go thrifting at lunch -- see ya!
christhegamer
12-28-2005, 12:18 PM
That does'nt seem TOO unlikely of a find; heck, where I go for fleamarkets, they usually have three pinball machines/darts cabinets :/...
pretty cool, none the less. :) :) :)
puxley
12-28-2005, 12:19 PM
The stuff that dreams are made of. Sniff.
That's one nice looking pinball machine, I love the spacey chick in the art - perfect! Exactly what a pinball machine should look like.
Congratulations on your excellent find. You have done well, young jedi.
Ruudos
12-28-2005, 03:32 PM
What a surprise to see that machine! I've played on that machine years ago. My cousin's neighbour had that pinball machine in their garage and I remember going there to play. I wonder if those people still own it, but I remember it as a very fun pinball game.
Videogamerdaryll
12-28-2005, 03:46 PM
DAMN!!! That is a VERY nice find. I would love to have a pinball machine. Congratulations!!!
Chris
Ditto!!!!!!!!!!!!
cyberfluxor
12-28-2005, 05:25 PM
Really nice find! I wouldn't mind paying $200 for it either.
FireMillen
12-28-2005, 11:03 PM
Xenon is EASILY one of the most desired and collectible pins of its era. That is a SERIOUSLY fantastic buy in what appears to be excellent shape.
Given what you paid for it, you should have no issue investing just a little extra into it, right? Buy a new rubber kit (see eBay if noplace else) for about $25 tops. Take the plastics off of the playfield and polish them with Novus 1 (see pinballlife.com). Clean the playfield itself with a little Novus 2 (see pinballlife.com), then put a few coats of carnuba wax on there (see any local auto supply store). Also at pinballlife, buy some coil sleeves - these go inside the coils under the playfield and collect lots of junk over time. Finally, while at pinballlife, buy new balls - an old ball does nothing but damage each time you play. All of this is about $45-50 and a few hours of investment; but in the end, you'll have a great looking and playing game that'll be worth well over $1000.
I promise you - take good care of this one and it'll be well worth it.
My wife and I both are excited to have found this machine. And to answer your question no I don't mind spending a little extra on it. Its my new baby ya know... I didn't know about the cleaner and polish so thanks for letting me know, I guess pinballlife will be hearing from me soon. Need some assorted bulbs while I'm at it too. BTW what they say is true this machine does have a sexy female voice!
PS: another thing I find interesting about this machine is that it has a couple of quarter slots for 1 play and a slot for a Susan B. Anthony dollar for 5 plays. Being made in 1980 i guess they didn't yet know that the SBA Dollar would be a flop huh...
FireMillen
12-28-2005, 11:09 PM
Congrats man, that's a cool find. By the way is that your car in the background, from what I see it looks great. 8-)
thanks, the car you see in the picture is mine. I've owned it for many years. As you can see I like all kinds of collectibles from VG stuff all the way to automobiles. This one is a prized possesion of mine. It leaves the garage MAYBE once a month...Its a 1970 Chevy Monte Carlo. Here is a better picture (along with my truck too since its all one big jpeg)
http://www.firstgenerationmontecarlo.com/ebay/mymonte.jpg
Ed Oscuro
12-29-2005, 05:14 AM
Damn...I'm so happy it got rescued from people who...can't even pronounce the name of a simple element! LOL
ClubNinja
12-29-2005, 10:05 AM
And to answer your question no I don't mind spending a little extra on it. Its my new baby ya know... I didn't know about the cleaner and polish so thanks for letting me know, I guess pinballlife will be hearing from me soon. Need some assorted bulbs while I'm at it too.
Awesome. If you have any questions along the way, feel free to PM me. I'll either write you a book or point you to some sources.
goatdan
12-31-2005, 12:29 PM
My wife and I both are excited to have found this machine. And to answer your question no I don't mind spending a little extra on it. Its my new baby ya know... I didn't know about the cleaner and polish so thanks for letting me know, I guess pinballlife will be hearing from me soon. Need some assorted bulbs while I'm at it too. BTW what they say is true this machine does have a sexy female voice!
This reminds me..
Read up on polishing your game. The older boards like Xenon aren't clear-coated, and therefore can get scratched up if they aren't properly cared for. There are a ton of resources about it online, but I can tell you from experience that if you want the board to keep lookin nice for a long time, make sure that you polish well and polish regularly.