This is a rant and is going to be harsh and long...


For years I have been in the hobby and helped create this group in order to help others, but for a while now, all I seem to get is slammed. I have had it. The last straw being another goddamn machine I sold (Firepower) which was working perfectly when I sold it and it seemed to have developed a problem. Now, I am stuck buying back a goddamn machine again. Money I don't have, again.

I hate to say it but this hobby is giving me more trouble than anything. Every time I sell a machine, people complain, even though most machines I deal with are over 25 years old and it seems that some don't understand that these machines are not factory fresh, and that mess happens. It really pisses me off that I get accused of non-disclosure, when I spend a better part of an hour showing the machine and even playing it before I sell it.

So I have decided that I will no longer participate to any more activities due to the headaches and hardship I have to deal with constantly. This to me has become a job that I pay for ... not a hobby... I no longer get any pleasure out of it. Sorry to say so, but it's true. So I am out. I am not even going to sell what I have. Believe it or not, it will all be trashed tonight. All of it. And for the one that I have to buy back a machine, I will raise your money shortly to buy it back, and I will gladly "take care" of the machine when I get it back. I can use the firewood anyways.


Good bye.

Ian, signing out.

Wasn't it sold few months ago ???? , that a long warranty for old used stuff !!!!

Quoted from Sparky

This is a rant and is going to be harsh and long...

Now, I am stuck buying back a goddamn machine again.

Actually it was a pretty short rant..  Hopefully you'll cool off somewhat in the next hours/days.  

Buy back a machine???  I'd tell the guy to go stuff the machine where the sun don't shine..  It was working when you sold it..  So f*** it..   Why the hell are you buying it back??  Do you think the guy who sold you your house felt obligated to buy back his house when the pipes broke???  Would you feel you had to buy back a vehicle you sold because the transmission quits 2 months down the road???  WTF???  

You've been had if this was turned around against you..  This sucks.  Now I'M pissed off..

Mike

I don't know the specifics of the deal but I gotta say, if something on the machine broke after the user had the machine then tough mess welcome to pinball the hobby where mess breaks.

Sounds toe me like you did everything you could for the sale and I see no reason why you feel obligated to buy the machine back.  You sold it in good faith, gave the person a chance to check everything out after that your hands are clean.  

I really wouldn't quit the hobby over this I would just not be buying back the machine and would tell the seller that there is nothing you can do.  Sounds like at the time the machine was in perfect working order, you disclosed everything and did you due dillegance.

I think I've sold mabye3 or 4 machines now and mabye I'm jsut lucky but I've never had any one come back to me with a complaint ever.  But I know if they had I would not be buying the machine back but I might be willing to give them a hand depending on how the approach the problem.  If they try to call me a crook, I'm not going to be willing to help them out.

Anyway I guess I hope you don't end up destroying your collection, it seems like a rash decision in a moment of anger and I think you would regret it in the long run.

Holly f***.
Ian personally I do not warranty any machines never ever if i did would be 30 days at most.
You cannot guarantee a 25 year old machine at all its impossible anything can happen!!
I feel really bad I hope you dont leave us I always like talking to you at the meets and your great a person I find and a great personality of Maaca.
You even helped me with A4A it kept it up for year another because of you and I really did appreciate it I only closed it because was not used but you are on this forum every day and are very involved.
I know you have had tough times but the grass will get green.
If you need help Ian I will help you just ask but don’t leave would be ashamed to loose you bud  

WTF

Quoted from mark

Educate the buyer. You shouldn't be buying back a machine. That's just insane. I would explain how it works with a used car -- you buy it, it's yours. Same deal w/ a pinball. Perhaps put him in touch with Bruno for board work, maybe help him sell it via MAACA -- at a loss as it isn't working, give him some options, etc. Buy it back? Not unless it's cheap.

Hopefully you cool down, take a deep breath, and look at the situation with new eyes.

Duane

Yeah I've never heard of someone doing what you're doing, some people expect the world of things. Just cool off and come back don't throw all your mess out either.

Mark

I had to go back to a buyer's house once because he couldnt put the connectors back togheter and fucked up the ground, ended out blowing fuses and getting weak coils etc... thats as far as i went in a sale.

Buying back the game.. NO ! It is a used machine, hell even Startburst/Stern only give 90 days warranty on a BRAND SPANKING NEW GAME ! And i doubt they will be taking it back without a lost, they will fix/change it but not take it back i'm pretty sure.

Sold a broken satellite receiver once, my ad was mentionning it, it is BROKEN ! Guy picked it up, and called me 4 days later telling me it could not be fixed and wanted his money back. No.. then his pissed wife called me and told me the same thing.. No !! I told him he took the risk when he bought it, everything was disclosed. It should be the same for ANY pinball machines.

Hey, Ian. I agree with most of what people are saying. We have never met, but you are the personality of MAACA. You say "all I seem to get is slammed", but we here in MAACA are not slamming you. I have sold many pins, and like you I try to be honest and yes every once in a while something happens, mess hits the fan, but that does not mean you are a bad, all you can do is educate the guy and connect him with who can help him.

Hopefully you will look at the situation differently after a few days, Enzo  

As someone who was intimately involved with this deal
(... it was a colleague from my work place who bought the game based on my recommendation ... ),
I thought I would shed just a bit of light in the hopes of diffusing the situation...

The fellow who bought it was new to pins.
He'd looked around a bit and waited for a game he liked for a price he could justify.

Sparky's Firepower seem to fit the bill , and I told my buddy I thoughit it was a decent deal.

So he drove to MTL to pick it up.

When he got the game home,  it worked for ONE day , then crapped out on him.

So I went over to see what I could do and replaced a bad fuse.

The game worked for a few balls, then crapped out again.
I checked to see if I could find any kind of short, did not find any, so put a new fuse.

Now the game simply wouldn't boot.
The GI would come on, but nothing else.

I tried to re-seat the infamous 40-pin connector, and the game came back to life.

It again played OK for one day, and was dead the next time my buddy powered it on.

Since I know that my pin repair skills aren't that strong yet, I went looking for help.
MrMikeMan graciously offered, but before I took him up on it,
Marty (aka SpaceCadet) said he had some spare time and could look at it right away.

So I took the game to Marty's, ...where he's been working on it for 4 weeks now !

He replaced everything ( all connectors, caps, sockets, resistors, everything, ),
and the game "still" craps out.  In Marty's respected opinion, he believes the
problem lies with the watchdog section which appears to have some acid damage .

Now.., I'm trying not to take sides here,
but my buddy, who's out $800 for the pin + whatever parts and many many  hours of labor is going to cost him,
only had the game in his house 1 week and played 10 games at most ,
and is now understandibly disappointed in the whole deal.

On the other side of the coin, I know Sparky would never knowingly misrepresent a game,
and I don't question that the game was working when he had it at his place.

It's just a very unfortunate situation that the game no longer worked at my buddy's place,
...and for reasons that can not be explained by merely moving the pin.
( ie. it's not a loose connection or bad socket... )

[ It's not, as many of you were quick to assume,  that my buddy played the game non-stop
for 6 weeks then wanted a refund because something broke... ]

That said, in talking with my buddy, I don't think he ever expected Sparky to take the pin back.
I don't know what was said between them, but I know my buddy sent Sparky an PM
explaining the situation and his disappointment.

It's no doubt unfortuante for both parties, but before people start to jump to conclusions (as many seem to...)
and take sides, let's try to get this resolved "amicably" .  Although disappointed, I know my buddy
is very reasonable , and I'm sure he, and everyone else,  doesn't want Sparky to pack it up.

[ BTW : Although my buddy would still ultimately like to have the game to play at his house,
he's not averse to selling it for what he's got invested in it.  The cosmetics are very very nice,
the boards are 95% fully-shopped/fixed, and if the remaining issue can be resolved,
it will be a very very nice pin ]

Cheers,
Steph

        You can't leave now!!!  I've got an even LOUDER machine for the next mtg...Harley Davidson!!  It KILLS Heavy Metal Meltdown in the music dept...sounds great turned up to 10!!

        If I had to buy back every machine I've sold that had issues develop, I'd have about 100000000000 sq.ft. of space filled with the damn things!!! Its the nature of the beast...when I sell something, I give one guarantee..thats that the machine WILL breakdown at some point....if they can't accept that, then they should not be getting into this hobby.

     I'll buy it for the $800 if thats what he needs....hopefully this could resolve the situation! I know Mike or Sylvain will be up for the challenge!! Right guys??????????????

Jim Your one in a million
I am sure you can even make a deal with him for another machine
But thats a great offer on your part Jim Always said your a good guy.
At least it,s not a ebay suprise

Quoted from 265

     I'll buy it for the $800 if thats what he needs....hopefully this could resolve the situation! I know Mike or Sylvain will be up for the challenge!! Right guys??????????????

Quoted from 265

when I sell something, I give one guarantee..thats that the machine WILL breakdown at some point....if they can't accept that, then they should not be getting into this hobby.

That's what they call a "100% Guarantee"  

Duane

How come i haven't seen these boards yet ????

Ian PM me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quoted from Steph

As someone who was intimately involved with this deal
(... it was a colleague from my work place who bought the game based on my recommendation ... )

Hey Steph,

Sounds like you were trying to help a friend out and that's a admirable. Shame things haven't worked out and I hope everyone involved ends up happy in the end.

For future consideration, I would never recommend an early SS to anyone thinking of getting into pinball that isn't comfortable with electronics. I started with that generation of game and they are a pain in the a**. Always seem to need some type of work, always breaking down, etc. I know others will disagree, but that's one of the main points I moved onto other games (and newer games are better -- putz! to Mr Hide !). I generally recommend Sys. 11 or better. For $1,000 or less, your buddy should be able to get a Sys. 11. Of course, that doesn't help the situation now, but thought others might appreciate that if they have friends itching to get a game.

Just a word of advice.

Cheers,
Duane

unfortunately Ian can not pm anyone at the moment as he deleted himself I will talk to him and get him reinstated.  anyone else still reading who left the forum if i have you in backup we can put you back, if not please make a new account we miss your input.

Quoted from mindstorm88

How come i haven't seen these boards yet ????

Ian PM me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quoted from mindstorm88

How come i haven't seen these boards yet ????

Ian PM me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YOU DID  ...   it was once AMX ...

Quoted from JD3

unfortunately Ian can not pm anyone at the moment as he deleted himself I will talk to him and get him reinstated.  anyone else still reading who left the forum if i have you in backup we can put you back, if not please make a new account we miss your input.

So is Mark president??? I joke Seriously Sparky, have a cold one tonight and give it some more thought. Crap happens. That's life unfortunately.

There is more good in the hobby (any hobby really) than bad.

Duane

...and just to follow-up...

I just spoke to my buddy, ...who's quite frankly puzzled by Ian's reaction....

His PM to Ian only queried to know if he had ever had that problem before,
because it seemed unusual that the game should break down after only one day
(..although stranger things have happened ... )

It was Ian, ENTIRELY of his own accord, who said anything about taking the pin back.
My buddy never even hinted that he wanted any kind of compensation from Ian,
nor did he ever mention wanting any kind of refund or return.
... he only said he was disappointed that the pin broke down so quickly and was looking for information.
(...see my next post to Mindstorm...)

I admire Ian as much as anyone else and think he's a stellar spokesman for MAACA,
but I take offense to my buddy being vilified for something he never said or did.

He never asked Ian to take the pin back,  ... nor does he want to...
...

Now lets all take a deep breath...
(...or a beer, or whatever it takes to chill out ),
and wait for Marty to work his magic  .

Like Rudy said,   "... it's only Pinball !   "

Steph

Quoted from mindstorm88

How come i haven't seen these boards yet ????

Apparently you have...

http://archive.maaca.org/s107351202.onlinehome.us/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?m-1180439687/

Quoted from Sparky

Machine is VERY clean, been recently shopped, and boards are super clean and were updated by Mindstorm a while back

As for Duane's comment that a newbie shouldn't buy old machines if they can't fix them,
consider that :

1- The game was being sold as fully working by a very reputable seller  (...who still is in everybody's books )
2- The boards had been shopped by Mindstorm
3- It was cared for by Phil before Ian bought it

If that doesn't sound like a "sure thing" , I don't know what does...

I know a 27 year old pin is prone to problems, but given the pedigree this machine was coming from,
I  figured it would be good to play for awhile.

Besides, tell me how many of you paid $1000+ for your first pin ...
As a newbie, pinball prices are somewhat intimidating , few could afford, or would want to pay more
than that for a good working pin.


Steph

Hey John,

Talk to your buddy (Ian) and tell him to relax and to calm down...

The problem with rookies: They buy a 'cheap' 25-year old machine and expect that it's a $5000 Stern one (even those break, right Marty? )

Ian: don't be stoopid...take a Guiness (or 5) and relax... I don't see a written contract, so too bad for the buyer...

BTW, been there, went through that (bought a working machine which broke as soon as it got in the basement....frustrating yes, but you have what you pay for)

Mes deux cennes,

Frosken

    Does this mean I don't have a Firepower in my collection now????..

Maybe I should get Jim to buy the MB back..  It also only worked for a day (And cost a HELL of a lot more than 800$)..  

One of the pops was missing the metal yoke (missed that when I went over the game for Jim   ).

Pop bumper bakelite yoke & plunger came apart, the spring shorted the pop switch, the whole row shorted to ground, got slam tilt, then Frankenstein started going down with the ramp targets still up. Pop, pop, pop, pop...  That was the sound of all the teeth on the plastic gears breaking..  

Frank no longer works, 1 pop dead, 5 switches dead (those I knew already).  I'm having such a great day...  Hopefully my Bay Area order will be quick to arrive.

I think I'll keep the game anyway

I don't see what's so 'easy' about getting to monsters of rock..  Getting to monster bash is easy of course but I don't find MoR easy...  Also I have the game set at about 8 degrees (SUPER FAST).

Mike

Quoted from Steph

As for Duane's comment that a newbie shouldn't buy old machines if they can't fix them,
consider that :h

Actually, I suggested newbies keep to Sys. 11s and newer. Relatively newer and more reliable technology. Wasn't saying they shouldn't get a pin at all.

Duane

Quoted from 265

    Does this mean I don't have a Firepower in my collection now????..

Jim you're killing me! Good one!

Duane

Quoted from MrMikeman

I don't see what's so 'easy' about getting to monsters of rock..  Getting to monster bash is easy of course but I don't find MoR easy...  Also I have the game set at about 8 degrees (SUPER FAST).

Mike

BINGO!!! Everyone (including myself at one time) says the game is easy but I think that is because they think getting Monster Bash is the wizard mode, but it isn't. Getting Monsters of Rock is no easy feat.

As for all the problems, give Jim's tech hell   Hope you enjoy the game. I know I am glad I have a friend with one  

Duane

Quoted from TwilightZone

BINGO!!! Everyone (including myself at one time) says the game is easy but I think that is because they think getting Monster Bash is the wizard mode, but it isn't. Getting Monsters of Rock is no easy feat.

Duane

Been there done that, got the T-mess and an 800 million score as well if I remeber correctly.  I even went as far as to get MOR before I got MB still a boring game IMO

Only thing I have not done in MB is Lymans Lement.  Supposdly if you shoot the scoop some rediculous amount of time like 80 or 100 or something you get a special mode called Lymans Lement.  I have no idea if it is true as I've never done it and don't have a machine to take the glass off of and try it on to be sure it exists.  But that alone is not enough for me to pay 5K for a machine.  

Quoted from Vengeance

Only thing I have not done in MB is Lymans Lement.  Supposdly if you shoot the scoop some rediculous amount of time like 80 or 100 or something you get a special mode called Lymans Lement.

Actually it's a flipper code that enables this mode..  It's actually called Lyman's Lament.  I thought it was pretty lame..  But I guess you can't make "lament" without "lame".  You hear Lyman make stupid quotes as you play and I think the bonus goes up pretty quick but that's about it...

Mike

Quoted from Mrhide

YOU DID  ...   it was once AMX ...

OK i guess i've seen it 4 0wners ago !!!

I feel bad, i though my repair were eternal !!!!  

If Marty doesn't succeed , send it to me !!!

Quoted from Steph

Besides, tell me how many of you paid $1000+ for your first pin ...

I did.  First pin was DM.  Still had to save up quite a bit for it.

I'm with you Ian...

These 25 year old pieces of shite have a toe tag on them already, and I'm tired of replacing 9 pin connectors because some goof used a condom for shrink tube in 1988, or wrapped a Caramilk Bar foil around the fuse holder instead of spending 3 bucks. Some days it's funny, most days it's just tragic.

It's expensive, time consuming, and after selling, fixing, custom building, and restoring and even more selling this year, (which I believe to be the absolute anus of this hobby)  I'm "phoquin" done too. lol

Skateboarding is a hobby, fixing arcade machines is masochism, unless you're a soul-less drone who can
sociopathically sell half-assed work for top dollar and still sleep at night (in my jaded opinion).

If I could have afforded these machines on my own? I would have bought them ALL working and never sold anything.....I STILL don't understand why people who "have" the money even fix these things up....seems crazy...but whatever.

So yeah! Cheers to the Death Card Ian!  It took a year for my thick skull to get the message, I thought working with machines would be a dream, what a freakin nightmare. Why should you spend hours giving that guy with the Firepower a seven tiered economics lesson when you and I could be rockin our bilingual asses to the top of a government agency for three times the money, and buying whatever machines we want?

Anyway, that's where I'm headed....you comin?

Craig

I say we start a fund to help Ian ... it's something he would do

Sparky ca me ferais vraiment de quoi si tu trashais la Lightning. PM-moi avant stp

Quoted from mindstorm88

How come i haven't seen these boards yet ????

Ian PM me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ben oui, c'etait la mienne!! T'avais toute refait les boards.
C'est Phil qui l'a p�t�, c'est de sa faute!!

C'est pas de chance, cette Firepower fonctionnait tr�s bien, j'ai jou� une dizaine de games chez Phil sans prob.
Sparky j'esp�re que tu ne feras pas de folie maxime2019@hotmail.com

M�me si on se connait pas vraiment, j'esp�re que tu vas revenir Sparky, car tu m'as toujours aid� et pass� des commentaires, �a aide les petits nouveaux dans le domaine comme moi

   Sorry Mike...already spent your $$$$........

Are you frikkin kiddin' me Ian?!? Man... come back in here. Maacaa wont be the same without you... hell.. if it wasn't for you and JD3, Maaca wouldn't existed prob.


Try help the dude fix his machine.. but don't buy the damn thing back.. Jesus! He should fix that.. it's a used pin.. can't expect NOT TO BREAK from time to time.

ok i had macphreak restore Ians account I take full resposibility for this action. I havent had a chance to talk to him yet just give him some time to cool off, cmon guys we all have been to this point.  

Is this message even coming from him?
Seems like a visitor?
Whatever....anyway if it is you man I am sure this can be fixed wihtout you leaving the hobby.

Also guys it may have to do with the lack of participation and interest in meetings.....

the fund is at 100$ ... but knowing Ian, he will refuse it and give it away back to us

Sparky, go if you must, burn and destroy if you must , but really you have friends here who appreciate your contributions, your candor and your humour (well not so much the latter).  Cool heads prevail, of course.

Having just finished electronics on a Firepower, that worked, didn't work, worked, didn't work, etc. that I wanted to have working 100% before selling (to avoid jsut this type of headache), needed to be completely reworked according to Clay's Guides for System 6.  Changing the 40 pin connectors (male and female) and many of the other connectors solved a lot of problems.  If the GI lights up and the two red test led's come on and stay on, then it's likely the 40 pin connector (#1 soft spot).

That being said, when selling a pin, 60% of the time I sell them as is (to people who already have them, or remote location), and demonstrate it working (I wouldn't let it go without rigourous play testing anyway).  But if it dies on delivery, not my problem, though I would go out of my way to help troubleshoot, if I need to repair it, then I need to get paid for my time.  The other 40% first time pin buyers (local, neighbours, friends, etc.) I guarantee working for 30 days (but then again would charge around $1200 for Firepower),  and will come and fix it free or buy it back if I can't.  If I do rent them (as I'd prefer to), then I'd throw in service as well.

Machine's of this age can be a b****, just when you think you've got a problem ironed out, boom another comes along to throw you for a loop.  It's a damned exciting and frustrating challenge.  Particularly when my Laser Wars screws up EVERY time my nieghbour kids lay their hands on it.  I swear they have it out for that machine!

I like Frosken's advice and Steph makes some good points.  But the bottom line is, that Sparky should do what he thinks is right, and the buyer should consider himself lucky for anything he gets.  It's a dirty business and there's no guarantees in this or anything else in life.

Quoted from TwilightZone

For $1,000 or less, your buddy should be able to get a Sys. 11. Of course, that doesn't help the situation now, but thought others might appreciate that if they have friends itching to get a game.

Just a word of advice.

Cheers,
Duane

Uh, point me towards one of those working ok condition Sys 11 games for $1000 or under please. My preference would be Big Guns, High Speed or Cyclone please.  

I will have a Road Kings fully refurbed in the future, but I doubt it will go for less than $1000 - but you never know.

Quoted from Steph

...and just to follow-up...

I just spoke to my buddy, ...who's quite frankly puzzled by Ian's reaction....

His PM to Ian only queried to know if he had ever had that problem before,
because it seemed unusual that the game should break down after only one day
(..although stranger things have happened ... )


I admire Ian as much as anyone else and think he's a stellar spokesman for MAACA,
but I take offense to my buddy being vilified for something he never said or did.

He never asked Ian to take the pin back,  ... nor does he want to...
...


Steph

I never got the impression that Sparky was vilifying the buyer, his initial post jsut seemed to express that he was fed up putting effort into fixing up and selling pins only to have them crap out and create unhappy recipents (which he then feels obligated to do something about).  And thus hates the hobby which ties us all down in some way.

And on the other hand, anybody buying a pin would be disappointed to have it crap out, but it's totally NOT unexpected.  I have yet to buy ANY pin that was 100% even though the previous owners "thought" it was near 100% (and that includes MAACA folk).  The disappointment of the "problems" then became the thrill of the "hunt" and the elation of the resurrection again (after an hour of sobbing of course).

It's absolutely NOT unusual for this era pin to breakdown after 1 day of use.  Partlicularly after having been dismantled or moved. Disappointing, yes, not what we would like to have happened, yes.  But unusual, I don't really think so, there is just so many age related problems with these pins AND don't forget they were designed to fail frequently after a certain point in order to get operators to buy new models.

Quoted from Steph

As for Duane's comment that a newbie shouldn't buy old machines if they can't fix them,
consider that :

1- The game was being sold as fully working by a very reputable seller  (...who still is in everybody's books )
2- The boards had been shopped by Mindstorm
3- It was cared for by Phil before Ian bought it

If that doesn't sound like a "sure thing" , I don't know what does...

I know a 27 year old pin is prone to problems, but given the pedigree this machine was coming from,
I  figured it would be good to play for awhile.

Steph

Steph,

Sparky's over the top reaction aside, what I don't get is:

1) Sparky said in the original ad "But as this is a 27-year-old machine, no warranty is implied, of course, but I can tell you that I play it every evening and it kicks a**!!!" - that doesn't sound like a sure thing, it sounds like a big a** "Your mileage may vary." sticker to me.  
2) the machine was sold May 30, 2007 - When was it picked up?  Have the problems been going on unresolved this long or was it only just picked up?
3) $800 is a good price for a working Firepower (in my humble opinion), maybe not great for one that worked and then stopped working (but better than DOA).  And still good if the source of the problem can be found and fixed reasonably (System 6 arent' rocket science).

Don't mind me, I'm just throwing another log on the fire.  I must be bored tonight.  

WTF?????   Who the hell reinstated me?

OK... clarifications. Because I seem to be forced into it.

1- 5 PMs from buyer over 3 months asking the same question... was it OK when you had it? Also, same comment every time.... I am dissappointed.

2- I have tried helping over the web, giving suggestions, but I am not there in person to check it out.

3- This is not the first time this happens, and ALWAYS with people with little to no experience with pins. My buy-back grand total over 4 years: 2400$. Not from the latest buyer, but I have even been threatened to be exposed as a fraudulent seller on my own goddamn site over a pin that I sold that had a minor breakdown 6 months after I sold it. Honesty doesn't pay. It is why I went from having 2 DMDs and 4 nice SS pins to having a half-dismantled Stern.

4- Yes, the boards had been gone over... yes, the pin worked great the time I had it ... no, the buyer is not a bad guy... yes, mess breaks... yes, I am offering to get the game back just to stop with the PMs and the annoyance, not because the buyer is demanding a refund.

5- No, I am not selling a game ever again. For most that have enjoyed the pins I have sold and know that I don't sell crap, sorry, no more pins, no more resto-jobs, no more mames.

6- I don't want people's money... if you raise any, please do exactly like I have been doing for 4 years, donate it to a hospital.

7- No, I will not delete my account again out of respect for you all since you seem to not want me to leave.

8- No I haven't destroyed any of my machines for the following reasons: My ASction Baseball pitch and bat is a gift to my dad, Lightning is still in pieces so I can't do much more to it, Wizard of Wor is a gift from BZM and I cherish it too much, Atari Football is going back to BZM, Bank Panic is still there because I am just too frickin lazy to take it out of the basement and in the yard. I am going to clear out my shed though. I have 2 vids in there that will be gone by tonight. All pin parts that I have will be either on Ebay or trash tonight.

The President is back baby! Yeah!

Cheers

Quoted from websherpa

Uh, point me towards one of those working ok condition Sys 11 games for $1000 or under please. My preference would be Big Guns, High Speed or Cyclone please.  

I will have a Road Kings fully refurbed in the future, but I doubt it will go for less than $1000 - but you never know.

I'll have a Space Station for sale if I ever get to it for that price. Currently it's working, but blowing a fuse. Just haven't had time to get to it. I will be posting a project Taxi for $650 -- decent cab, not working, had acid damage on two chips (cleaned up acid with mixture of water & vinegar), may only be those chips (works if CPU is switched with working game), blown playfield but I'm including a really nice playfield -- basically selling it for what I have into it. Didn't a NF just sell for $1,000?   Deals are out there.

Duane

Quoted from Sparky

Honesty doesn't pay. It is why I went from having 2 DMDs and 4 nice SS pins to having a half-dismantled Stern.

Sad, and True Sparky....the only people that appreciate the virtue of integrity, are OTHER people with integrity.
For the sake of universal equilibrium, please do NOT buy that game back. Offer him $100 to get it fixed by someone else, I'm sure he'll agree, that's fair. He gets the game fixed, you've helped. period.

Anyone of us who's been at this for 5 years or more has lost $800 EASY...either in travel, gas,dead parts,dying parts, or therapy....Jesus, I hauled $200 to the curb last friday....51 more weeks to go.

Building Mames for people? christ...that's a poster activity for lithium....for whatever reason, people are happy to pay $2000 in pure markup for a laptop that was made for about 22 US dollars by Korean pre-teens, but question why a male to male PS2 cord costs me $5 plus shipping in North America....

I'll put my money where my mouth is, I'll paypal you $55 bucks to tell them all to get bent.
Everyone wins, he gets the game fixed...
You don't sink into financial destitution....
I sleep with a smile on my face knowing someone else who does quality work doesn't get taken advantage of.

See? I'm all DARK

Quoted from Teamatomics

See? I'm all DARK

I'm not sure who pissed in your cornflakes this week,
but your last two posts were unwarrantedly vitriolic ....and completely missed the point.

1- "Newb" never asked Sparky for anything :  No refund, no compensation, no "warranty repair", NOTHING
2- Sparky took it upon himself to make the whole "return" issue public, when that was never the case to begin with.
3- "Newb" is now totally [ ...and justifiably] angered at all the cheap shots he's received on this group,
     is looking to dump the pin as soon as he can, and close his MAACA account

I can't blame him...
Nice work guys...

Steph

Quoted from Steph

Nice work guys...

And for clarity's sake, that comment is NOT directed at Sparky.

(...everybody is allowed to have a tough day. )

No, that dig was for everydody that ragged on "newbies" (and on my buddy in particular)
without ever stopping to get the whole story...


S.

Quoted from TwilightZone

I'll have a Space Station for sale if I ever get to it for that price. Currently it's working, but blowing a fuse.

Duane

I like those kind "working but blowing a fuse" but usually for under $500.  

Quoted from websherpa

I like those kind "working but blowing a fuse" but usually for under $500.  

That's why I have to "get to it". It won't be $1,000 as it is.  That's the working price. Sheesh, this from a guy that sells a Fire Power for $1,200 Just joshing ya...

Duane

Quoted from Steph

I'm not sure who pissed in your cornflakes this week,
but your last two posts were unwarrantedly vitriolic ....and completely missed the point.

1- "Newb" never asked Sparky for anything :  No refund, no compensation, no "warranty repair", NOTHING
2- Sparky took it upon himself to make the whole "return" issue public, when that was never the case to begin with.
3- "Newb" is now totally [ ...and justifiably] angered at all the cheap shots he's received on this group,
     is looking to dump the pin as soon as he can, and close his MAACA account

I can't blame him...
Nice work guys...

Steph

Nobody has taken any cheap shots here Steph, I just encouraged Sparky not to self-inflict an 800 dollar shot, which is more than fair.

Sparky posted about the frustration of selling older games that die easily, I agreed, they're a pain in the a**. that seems pretty relevant.

I've also offered some solutions, see any others?

Sparky is frustrated at the grand scheme of things, this isn't all about your buddy's machine, newb is simply the unfortunate guy who happened to be the "icing on the cake" sale....so I'm just singing along with Sparky about the grand scheme of sales... and the grand scheme is...it sucks.

Sparky mentioned "no more Mames" ......me too!  You ever put 50 hours work into a machine and then have some dude come back and say he's disapointed cause there's a GLITCH that's not even related to the wrok you did Steph? c'mon You've rebuilt enough machines to know, that's plenty of reason to get "vitriolic".

Nobody wants newb to leave, but if he's worth his salt, then I'm sure he and sparky will work something out. If he's going to let Sparky get unjustifiably guilted into giving him a refund? then I hope the door doesn't hit him in the a** on the way out. Not to be a jerk, or take any sides, I've never met sparky or newb, ever.

Craig

Quoted from Teamatomics

If he's going to let Sparky get unjustifiably guilted into giving him a refund? then I hope the door doesn't hit him in the a** on the way out.

Which part of my 4 posts saying that "newb" DOES NOT , NOR EVER WANTED ANYTHING FROM SPARKY, did you not understand... ?

Normally, Sparky would moderate a thread and make sure it does not get out of hand. I agree, Sparky is just expressing his frustration, but I think this issue needs to become private again and let Sparky, Steph and the buyer sort it out. You all seem to be fair and reasonable people and I am sure you can come to a fair resolution. Any other talk here from the forum will just fan the flames and last thing any of us wants is to add to the issues.

My two cents, Enzo

  

Quoted from HP5P

I think this issue needs to become private again and let Sparky, Steph and the buyer sort it out.

  

Well said, and I couldn't agree more.

The situation is being resolved amicably as we speak,

...and as Forrest Gump would say    "That's all I have to say about that "

Cheers,
Steph

     Its now MY Firepower!!!! END OF STORY!!! Oh...BTW..its for sale!!

OK... and I just contacted the buyer to send the boards to Mindstorm. So be it.

Jim, same offer goes to you. Send the boards to Mindstorm and send me the bill, so I can just be done with it.

Quoted from Steph

Which part of my 4 posts saying that "newb" DOES NOT , NOR EVER WANTED ANYTHING FROM SPARKY, did you not understand... ?

This part.....

Quoted from Sparky

1- 5 PMs from buyer over 3 months asking the same question... was it OK when you had it? Also, same comment every time.... I am dissappointed.

If your buddy newb never wanted anything, why would he pm sparky? .....that's what I mean by "guilting" perhaps even newb didn't realize the effect this had on sparky. I'm here to point out that it DOES have an effect....I don't think it's fair to say that newb "never" wanted anything....and even if newb didn't "want" anything, now we've learned that pm'ing the seller and talking about how bummed the machine is, DOES in fact have an effect. Even if newb didn't ask for a refund outright, did he not take a moment to think about how that
would make Sparky feel?  

Since you cavalierly cranked up your "dumb-it-down-o-meter" lol, let me extend the same courtesy:

The statement you yelled at me is false.

Craig

The game will be fixed/working  when it gets to Jim.

Everything has been taken care of.
(..but thank-you to Sparky and Mindstorm for kindly offering to help )

Jim will be the big winner here when everything is said and done...

Cheers,
Steph

Nice! glad to see you guys worked it out, now Steph and I can fight in private, lol

Quoted from Teamatomics

Nice! glad to see you guys worked it out, now Steph and I can fight in private, lol

You've been PM'd !




S.

Guess I missed all the action.

Hell it's only an f'n pinball machine. If one is going to drive you over the bend you really need to take some stress meds.

I'm with Frosken. Have a few beers.


As for MoR. Yeah it's reasonably hard, but once in awhile MB will just give you a really long run that you can pound it off two times in a game. I don't know why but when you get in the groove with MB you can really rack up the shots needed to complete this challenge and at other times it seems simply impossible.

Someone else is being killed here as I can see.....of course everybody was a newb  to start with and made mistakes but everyone forgot.

Now theres a happy ending to a hard story happy it worked out.

Crap, now what am I going to do for my daily coffee-break "soap opera" fix?

Can someone have an affair with someone and post it here please!   "As the world (strike that) pinball turns" needs some new material...

...glad alls good and our prez is back...
Doug.

Quoted from Tuborg

...glad alls good and our prez is back...
Doug.

I am not back. JD, Splitskull and MacPhreak have me tied up in my basement in front of my computer, and they zap me with a tazer strapped to the chair if I don't cooperate.   ...Crap... and I told myself I wouldn't post anymore.  

But my feelings remain. I did part out 2 vids last night and chucked them, and sold 2 project pins I had stashed for a mere 50$ if the guy came to get them in less than 30 minutes and he keeps his mouth shut. Most of my small parts (mostly pinball hardware) are in the trash. And the only reason I didn't chuck my monitors is because I don't want the neighbor's dog to get zapped (he seems to really enjoy urinating on my garbage...).

All I am hesitating on now is Lightning. Still on the fence with that one.

If you ever think of selling it Ian that would be a project I would love to finish.
But would probably end up back at your place once fixed because i know you love that machine.

Quoted from Sparky

I am not back. JD, Splitskull and MacPhreak have me tied up in my basement in front of my computer, and they zap me with a tazer strapped to the chair if I don't cooperate.   ...Crap... and I told myself I wouldn't post anymore.  

But my feelings remain. I did part out 2 vids last night and chucked them, and sold 2 project pins I had stashed for a mere 50$ if the guy came to get them in less than 30 minutes and he keeps his mouth shut. Most of my small parts (mostly pinball hardware) are in the trash. And the only reason I didn't chuck my monitors is because I don't want the neighbor's dog to get zapped (he seems to really enjoy urinating on my garbage...).

All I am hesitating on now is Lightning. Still on the fence with that one.

well with the season in full swing you know through out it there will be some more battles and drama think of it as a reality show in text form. hopefully no one gets hurt from the occasional mob.  as for sparky well he has to stay it says so in the contract that he signed in blood.

Comment Disclaimer: This is a personal statement. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of MAACA.  I am not responsible for the content in comments other than those made by me, or other online content that I may link to. This is not a statement of Rocket Science, it's a pretty easy to understand, simple statement of "If you don't like, please, just don't read it."

Quoted from Sparky

I am not back.

Wish you were  

Put the lightning in the back of the shed and sit on it for a while..  Wait for the anger to disappear then make your decision.

Hope all is well...

Mike

Quoted from Sparky

I am not back. JD, Splitskull and MacPhreak have me tied up in my basement in front of my computer, and they zap me with a tazer strapped to the chair if I don't cooperate.   ...Crap... and I told myself I wouldn't post anymore.  

But my feelings remain. I did part out 2 vids last night and chucked them, and sold 2 project pins I had stashed for a mere 50$ if the guy came to get them in less than 30 minutes and he keeps his mouth shut. Most of my small parts (mostly pinball hardware) are in the trash.

sok Ian, you're not alone, I'm also hosting my own parts toss olympics   a few events so far include:
-Ms Pac PCB discus distance toss (watch your fingers on the solder side! wear gloves!)
-Midway cab downhill roll ( I live on a bit of a hill)
-(last week) Data East pin 20 meter drag-a-thon

and coming up----

Data East playfield VS Caterpillar C-12 contest
and man, I am holding off....but spending 1400 on the KISS "real flames sideart" instead of crating it is tempting

twisted, but therapeutic!

Craig

Quoted from Teamatomics

Data East playfield VS Caterpillar C-12 contest

Anybody wanna see what a 420E backhoe can do to a playfield?

OK... I feel better...

BRUTAL!!!!

SUPER COMBOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

FINISH HIM!!!!!

FLAWLESS VICTORY!

It's official. The backhoe wins.

PS: I made a movie of the whole thing. That was extremely stress-relieving! Relax people... it'sd just a scrap playfield.