Pinball Machine II (TOM)

[FireTiger]

OK, I can get a Bally

 

TOM (Theater of Magic) for 3,100 + new balls, + plugs + new bulbs + new glass + palyfeild wax - (unshopped)

 

Or the same machine in like a month and a half fully shopped for 3,400.

 

Good deal?

[SRGilbert]

It's hard to say as pinball machines can be a very personal thing. One of the cool things about them is that there are so many themes of machines available that it can also enhance an existing collection. My Bride of Pinbot machine fits in great with my sci-fi and robot collection, in addition to being a great table.

 

Have you ever played a Theater of Magic table in real life? How about in VPinMame at least? From the playfield it reminds me a LOT of the Addams Family, which is one of the best modern tables. I've never played that particular table, but it looks like it has a lot of cool playfield toys. While this can make a game a lot more interesting, they can sometimes be a pain and expensive to replace specialized parts.

 

Price seems reasonable but does that include shipping? What are they promising to do for the extra $300 to "shop" it? Will they gaurantee it either way?

[FireTiger]

We have been playing the table for the last... oh.... 2 hrs, Hubbie was a professional Magician.

 

30 day guarantee on Shopped machines

 

delivered, set-up free

 

the Shopping is - replace all worn/corroded/burned :rubbers, coils, bulbs, glass, balls, plugs.... clean it/ wax it .

Edited April 12, 2008 by FireTiger

[SRGilbert]

We have been playing the table for the last... oh.... 2 hrs, Hubbie was a professional Magician.

 

30 day guarantee on Shopped machines

 

delivered, set-up free

 

the Shopping is - replace all warned/corroded/burned rubbers, coils, bulbs, glass, balls, plugs.

Cool, it seems to get good reviews on IPDB, looks like a fun table, and if you like magic (or sexy girls in lowcut tops) I'd say it's a winner.

 

Tough call about having it shopped. I got my BOP machine for about $1800 delivered, but it's not exactly pristine. The rubbers are all pretty new, but the bulbs mostly look like they might be original from 1992, kinda dim and dusty and brown. I'd almost pay someone 300 to go through and change them all! It also needs some other adjustments and tweaks that I'm not looking foward to at all. Don't get me wrong, I love mine, but when there is a bulb out that's below about three tiers of plastic accessories, it's a little frustrating!

 

I'd say if you can afford it, go for it. Just be careful, I've heard that they can be addicting. Someone local has a Star Wars table that would go perfectly with my collection........must fight.......no room.........

[CudaSales]

We have been playing the table for the last... oh.... 2 hrs, Hubbie was a professional Magician.

 

30 day guarantee on Shopped machines

 

delivered, set-up free

 

the Shopping is - replace all warned/corroded/burned rubbers, coils, bulbs, glass, balls, plugs.

Cool, it seems to get good reviews on IPDB, looks like a fun table, and if you like magic (or sexy girls in lowcut tops) I'd say it's a winner.

 

Tough call about having it shopped. I got my BOP machine for about $1800 delivered, but it's not exactly pristine. The rubbers are all pretty new, but the bulbs mostly look like they might be original from 1992, kinda dim and dusty and brown. I'd almost pay someone 300 to go through and change them all! It also needs some other adjustments and tweaks that I'm not looking foward to at all. Don't get me wrong, I love mine, but when there is a bulb out that's below about three tiers of plastic accessories, it's a little frustrating!

 

I'd say if you can afford it, go for it. Just be careful, I've heard that they can be addicting. Someone local has a Star Wars table that would go perfectly with my collection........must fight.......no room.........

 

If you can save a lot of Money by purchasing an un-shopped but working machine, it is the way to go. They are actually quite easy to restore and if you are not comfortable with doing it yourself, you can usually get it done for around $300 - $500. If you are a colle tor and want to buy it for collecting purposes, I would get it shopped out but if you want a nice machine to use and enjoy, save a lot of money and buy it un-shopped.

 

Just my opinion but either way, HAVE FUN with it!!!

[Shawn]

Jamie if your gonna drop that kinda cash on a pin it's worth the extra bucks to get it shopped. Nobody likes dull bumpers.

[moycon]

My personal opinion (in spite of the fact TOM is an awesome pinball) is $3k is nuts.

Unless you plan on placing it in a location and re-cooping a lot of the cost it's way too much.

[CGQuarterly]

I voted for the $3400 option. Theater of Magic is one of my all time favorite pins. $3400 is less than 10% more to get it fully shopped. if you are going to spend over $3k on a pinball machine, spend a little bit extra and get it taken care of. That's like asking if you should spend $10,000 on some cool old sports car that's in really nice shape, or $10,900 for the same model car also in great condition but it's had an engine overhaul. The choice is obvious.

 

I kinda agree with Moycon in that I wouldn't spend that much on a pinball machine unless I was practically rich, but then I have a TOM machine here in the small town in which I live, and it's 40 cents per 5 ball game, so I would have to play 8500 games before it would pay for itself. That being said, that's about the going rate for Theater of Magic, and as long as you take good care of it, it isn't going to go down in value. It constantly shows up near the top of any "best pinball games" list.

 

Personally I'll stick with Pinball Hall of Fame and Epic Pinball here at home and leave the machines for the arcade, but if you have the discretionary income for it, you should totally go for it (and post pics).

 

Chris