Price check on some early Sterns

[Luna Ian]

Hey all, I grabbed my first machine, a Paragon, about half a year ago and am looking to get another in the new year. I've decided a fast playing standard sized cab would compliment it nicely and the three I'm very interested in all happen to be older Sterns, of which I have no knowledge of value. The three I'm looking at are:

Seawitch
Dracula
Stargazer

I know Stargazer had a very limited run. I'm looking for best guess quotes on all three in average cosmetic condition, fully working and playable. I really appreciate the help! I'm also open to suggestions similar to these three.

PS - If you have a line on one feel free to include that as well but I may not be buying until late Spring. I'm not rich so this is a "save and buy" hobby for me.

[PVC]

On Friday, November 23, 2012 1:34:16 PM UTC-7, Luna Ian wrote:
> Hey all, I grabbed my first machine, a Paragon, about half a year ago and am looking to get another in the new year. I've decided a fast playing standard sized cab would compliment it nicely and the three I'm very interested in all happen to be older Sterns, of which I have no knowledge of value. The three I'm looking at are:
>
>
>

> Seawitch 600-800
>
> Dracula 500-700
>
> Stargazer 1000-?

[seymour.shabow]

Dracula=cheap $300-$425 especially if the BG is very crazed like most are.

Seawitch $300-$900 depending on cosmetics there's one in Levittown PA
right now (not working 100%) on CL for $300 that has a decent looking BG
and PF.

Stargazer $1000-$2500 if you can get one..... very hard to find, but
worth it, very fun game. Too bad F2k had to cut its run short (they
were hot to get out their first multiball/talking game)

Other good classic stern titles are Meteor ($400-ish), Big Game
($400-$700), Dragonfist (all over the place.... even rarer than
Stargazer's with production of 302), Stars ($250-$400).

I've owned almost all the mpu200 games (Meteor and up) and played most
of the earlier games/owned them as well. They definitely have their own
feel to them.

[PapaJohn]

On Nov 23, 12:54 pm, "seymour.shabow" <seymour.sha...@gmail.com>
wrote:

STARS has a fun simple looking playfield but tough to score high on.
A colorful game that you would be glad its in your home instead of an
arcade or you would be feeding it quarters all day long. John

[seymour.shabow]

Especially mine with the removed outlane posts and no 100k on the
specials! I felt really good when I got 350k on it.

[Luna Ian]

Okay, definitely adding Stars to the list. That has a really nice, clean looking playfield with two spinners and drops and I like the sounds of the ruleset. High challenge is a plus/must, it's why I bought my Paragon in the first place.

[PapaJohn]

Scott, I do have the outlane posts there and the specials at
100,000. I just today scored my highest at 425,400 today. I hit two
special targets......happened so fast it was luck, not aiming. John

[main source]

please tell me where to find big game and starz that cheap , unless
totally trashed and not working..
classic sterns have been on the rise, all of them ....
meteor is the only one that can be had under $600 these days.
ive been searching everywhere for over 2 years now for a star gazer,
same with quicksilver, cheetah, etc.
they very rarely surface for sale.

"""Other good classic stern titles are Meteor ($400-ish), Big Game
($400-$700), Dragonfist (all over the place.... even rarer than

Stargazer's with production of 302), Stars ($250-$400 for a star gazer
everywhere for over a year now, same with quicksilver, cheetah, etc.""


--
main source
This USENET post sent from http://rgparchive.com

[seymour.shabow]

PapaJohn wrote:
>
> Scott, I do have the outlane posts there and the specials at
> 100,000. I just today scored my highest at 425,400 today. I hit two
> special targets......happened so fast it was luck, not aiming. John

Yeah, I know it's a low scoring game but 100k is too high, it makes the
strategy "get the stars complete and keep shooting the special" instead
of more balance all over the field.

I really like trying to get the 7k bonus for leaving the center drops up.

[seymour.shabow]

You have to look around for the deals. Those aren't pintailer/greedy
people pricing; if you see a Stars for $900 and it's not NIB condition,
you should walk away from it.

[Big12bus]

Some of the titles are getting hard to find. My current classic stern collection after selling a few off is: Galaxy, Catacomb, Stingray, Seawitch, Nineball, Quicksilver, Stargazer, Dragonfist (restoring).

As for prices. Dracula 500-700; Witch - 600-800; Stargazer > $1500 to $3k restored. Quicksilver $800 There are some others as mentioned that are also great. BigGame, Meteor, Cheetah, Stingray, Catacomb, Nineball that you should snag. I was fortunate to get in early so my examples are pristine condition with some NOS fields, some restored cleared, etc.

[main source]

please point me in the direction of the CURRENT $800 quicksilver and any
of the others. who has them, who has sold them lately and where?
where r u getting these prices from?
maybe 2 or 3 quicksilver even sells a year and thats under the radar..
on the ebay sales summary only 5 star gazers have sold in the past 7
years, and only 7 quicksilvers.
who knows what condition any of these were even in.
you can not accurately guess or price these machines currently as well
as other classic sterns which rarely pop up for sale.

that is too few machines in too many years.

if you look at afm, mb, B title williams, etc... 7 years ago to today
price wise, you can understand my ramblings:)

[Big12bus]

Well I have known of 4 Stargazers that have changed hands and 3 Quicksilvers in the last few years. That is where I am getting the prices from. The ones that I have sold or know of friends who have bought them. I keep a pretty good pulse on the classic sterns since alot of my fellow CS collectors talk to me about them.

Not quite understanding your rant. They are out there. I don't use the internet as my price guide.

Bill

[Luna Ian]

Catacomb sure looks interesting but I know very little about it. Seawitch is very likely my next pin if I can find one that reasonably priced in SoCal (I have my doubts but got fairly lucky with my Paragon so lightning could strike twice). I'd be perfectly happy paying the quoted range for that, including the upper end, if it was in nice shape.

[Big12bus]

Catacomb is fantastic in a larger Solid State collection. I absolutely love the game. Once you figure out the workings and rules...WOW...It is really fun. The game is integrated very nicely with the back box (Bagatelle) and is difficult to get a score much over 1 million. Look up Scott Charles rules explanation on Utube. Excellent and truly the text book on how to video's.

Bill

[main source]

Hi bill-
just dont want to give the OP false hope. i have been looking for a long
time for some of these titles. at pinball shows, rgp, ebay, klov, other
pinball events usa wide, between peeps in the mitten state, midwest,
etc.

trades and prices between buddies local is way different than pricing in
the open market and availability as well.
ive given away games for free to buddies...even nice working games...but
i cant reflect that into the norm as far as overall open market selling
and availability.

the only way any of those certain classic stern titles will be "cheap"
or i guess "fair" range is when you run across a person who happens to
have the machine in a home they bought that was there when they moved
in, or from an ex gf or bf and they inherited it (lol), etc...and the
seller doesnt know what they have.
those games have too limited number production wise to be floating
around and they were made more than 30 years ago.
most have been long trashed and thrown out or are in the hands of
collectors...who know what they have and what they can get for them..
same as the monster A titles that suddenly command double what they did
2 years ago..

even papa with over 400 games doesnt have a star gazer..

[seymour.shabow]

sold my quicksilver which was average for a quicksilver for $500 about a
year ago

Do you live on the west coast or somewhere where there isn't a lot of pins?

Now, a really NICE quicksilver without the beat to shit playfield, yeah,
more than $500. But not much more.

If you're checking for sale ads, you're doing it wrong, once you meet a
lot of people at shows etc. and do some deals, the deals will come to you.

[Luna Ian]

I do appreciate the concern but between records, video games, and pinball I've learned to curb my enthusiasm and take all info with a grain of salt. I'm not expecting to find a Stargazer and probably wont. I just wanted some price guesses. What I would really like to end up with in the near future is a Seawitch in nice shape for a grand or less. If I can't do that then I need to forget about pinball for a while as my income bracket will effectively disqualify me from the club.

As long as I can find fun solid states for 500-1000, I'm happy.

[Luna Ian]

Southern California is a difficult place to find fairly priced machines so maybe gangstarr lives someplace similar.

I'm trying to make aquaintances of local repair people and members of the pinball clubs as I imagine finding reasonably priced machines will become much easier that way.

[Flipper City Phoenix]

I had a Stars when it was new!! great game.
Didnt like Dracula or big game but I had an iron maiden & it was a
blast.
Carrol

[barakandl]

WTB or trade for classic sterns in Columbus OH.

Looking for F2k, Stars, Nine Ball, Wild Fyre, etc. Have classic bally games to trade.

[Brian Bannon]

Andy has a point regarding Quicksilver, and other classic Sterns too. I brought my Quicksilver to Expo for the classics tournament and several people wanted to buy it. The game is in average condition and I could have sold it four times at $700-800, no problem. There were plenty of inquiries about other classic Sterns as well. Like with any game, once there is more and more exposure and the game is revealed to be good, people want to get one. I am seeing similar rise in interest with Cheetah, Seawitch, Nine Ball, and Catacomb. Star Gazer has been a top game for years. Iron Maiden is pricey, but you better play it first as plenty of people don't like it once they get some games on it.

I agree with Bill and Scott that if you know other classic Stern collectors your chances of getting one of these games at any price goes up significantly. Thankfully, Bill has seen clear to sell me a Big Game, Ali, and Star Gazer in the past and they are keepers:) Except maybe the Ali...getting tired of that one.

Brian Bannon

[tompallc]

Restoring a Stars now. Just rapping up the last coat of clear. Will have
it together in a week or so. Was a lot of work but is starting to look
better everyday. I am in Paso Robles. I may consider selling it.


--
tompallc

[bongbro4]

I have a Memory Lane machine. It does light up, but it does not play. I
have been storing it for two years and need to get it out of my house.
Here is the question: I posted it on Craigs list for what I thought was
a reasonable price, ($200). I got 10 texts, i started calling people
back, and when I told someone that I had a buyer on his way to get it,
he said I was asking way too little, and he would give twice that price.
He said my MEMORY LANE was a rare version of it. Can someone tell me if
he is full of Poo. He said because mine has "mirror finish" on the back
glass that makes it rare. Every pict i see of one of these machines have
a mirror finish on the back glass. Help please, I am trying to get money
to buy my wife a nice Christmas present, and the more I get for this
large paperweight, the better gift she will get. Anyone have any info
for me as to what it may be worth in the Ohio area, PLEASE?


--
bongbro4

[Mark Coward]

On Sunday, November 25, 2012 12:00:11 AM UTC-8, tompallc wrote:
> Restoring a Stars now. Just rapping up the last coat of clear. Will have
>
> it together in a week or so. Was a lot of work but is starting to look
>
> better everyday. I am in Paso Robles. I may consider selling it.

So you were the one that beat me to that one! I am in SLO, and I guess I just missed it. I was hoping to put it next to my Meteor. How beat was it? Did it play ok?

Also, sort of on topic... I swear, Meteor has the "manliest" flippers I think I have ever played. Strong and responsive and just so... solid.

[DRDAVE]

I think Catacomb would be a LOT better with a rule change.
That rule change being that the bagatelle in the backbox should only
be active after the last ball in play.
That way no delay of game between balls as it is currently set up.

Possible?

DR

www.pinballdoctor.com

[seymour.shabow]

DRDAVE wrote:
> I think Catacomb would be a LOT better with a rule change.
> That rule change being that the bagatelle in the backbox should only
> be active after the last ball in play.
> That way no delay of game between balls as it is currently set up.
>
> Possible?

Possible but undesirable so you must suck at the bagatelle ;)

It would actually make more sense to NOT play the bagatelle on the last
ball of the game, but also undesirable - in a close match if you can
complete an extra drop bank and bump your multiplier up, you can get
some skill going.

Still don't have the bagatelle shooting skills??

[Dr. Dave]

No. I have the skills. Can't stand the "delay of game" that playing
the bagatelle brings to an otherwise nice playing pinball experience.

DR

[Big12bus]

Dave, As Scott said....You suck at the Bagatelle. :)..Learn to play the game. It is an integral part of the game and having it between balls makes the most sense. You have to learn how to use the left flipper and switch lanes while understanding what is needed in the bonus matrix.

The rule which makes the most sense is if you complete 4 colors on the last ball and you have 2 balls locked it releases them. Outside of that; nothing needs changed.

Catacomb is a great game. Learn to play it.

Bill

[tompallc]

Mark, that stars was beat. Playfield was rough. Connector issues. Board
problems etc.. I got it working then dissembled it did some touch ups
to the playfield polishing all metal and painting the legs and coin box
over the next couple days. You are welcome to come take a peek any day
this week. I just layed another coat of clear on it 5 minutes ago. It
should turn out pretty good.

[Mark Coward]

tompallc,
Does that mean that there's someone around here that can do playfield touchups and suchlike? I have an old Fan-Tas-Tic that could use some playfield work, and I have no clue about that aspect of machines. I have gotten pretty good at fixing and making them play nice, but finishing and paint are... well I ain't very good at that shtuff. I also have a Cyclone that could use some playfield tlc.

[tompallc]

I'm getting into it now. Learning from my mistakes slowly. Color
matching is tough. Here is where I'm at with the stars. I still have to
sand and put on one more cost I
think.178617871788

I have nothing but time on my hands so I would be happy to help out if
you think my work is up to par!

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[Mark Coward]

That last pic looks pretty good to me. Lemme pm you in the next couple of days.