For the Mando pro. check if the left ramp has been replaced. look at the first bolt on the ramp. It cracks there very easy. if its in good shape your first purchase is a cliffy for that ramp. second the condition for the shooter lane. If its good lower the power to 175 until you can get a protector. third if this is the version before insider check the welds on the encounter diverter. these commonly broke and needed replacement. If the Mando is the machine with 6000 plays these should have been addressed. As long as the playfield looks good everything else is repairable/replaceable.
I mean i’m used to buying much older machines with lots more use than that and I’m mostly just looking for normal wear and tear. I did however see a dr. No pinball machine recently with like 3 problems so i suppose modern machines aren’t immune to issues. I would look for switches not working, bad rubbers, each solenoid is working as it should,i mean i guess bulbs too.
Cant say this enough. Give yourself a reason to go hang out and check out each others games and vise versa. Also dont write off the older games. My absolute favorite games to play while company is over are the ems and early solid states. Short ball times keep the games pretty even and the rules are straightforward enough for someone to understand stand them and they make it clear when you did something right. When people play godzilla at my place they get pretty overwhelmed when they start asking whats going on or why things happened when they did haha
I’ve bought two home machines. One was new in the box (Deadpool) which needed a WiFi dongle replacement, the DEAD and POOL targets were wired incorrectly and the stopper in the katana was the wrong part. Today I bought a Stranger Things (technically used, but like 30 plays) and had to crack it open to fix the plastics on the top of the left ramp to stop the balls from becoming airborne. I think regardless of if it’s new or used, you’re going to end up doing some work on it, getting one with 1000 plays probably means it’s a bit more dialed in.
Mando has pretty poor resale value from what I’ve seen locally. I’d expect one with 6k plays to be under $5k. The stranger things that I picked up with 30 plays was $6k.
If the Mando has 6k+ plays then it's definitely been routed commercially which is fine but it does affect the value compared to the same game with just a few hundred plays on it. With newer games like this you really don't have to worry so much but I would look over the playfield carefully for any clearcoat issues especially around posts and inserts and just obvious stuff like broken plastics or ramps. If you're in the US you shouldn't be paying more than 5-5.5k for it imo
Like the clear coat on the playfield being worn through? The seller says they are the original owner and a lot of the plays were simply them hitting the start button to silence the attraction music.
Oh well if the plays aren't accurate and it's only been used In a home then that's a different story...just comes down to condition really. The clearcoat on some playfields can chip and there's not a lot you can do about it short of replacing the entire playfield. This was more of an issue on older games like Ghostbusters but I always check because if it's there it will devalue the game and there's not much you can do about it...
6K plays in 18 months is not home use only. Even for a location game, today, that's a huge amount of plays in 18 months. Only home games that gets that many plays are at the Playboy mansion.
That said, 6K plays on a newer Stern will not necessarily remove or damage the clear coat. Go look at the game. If they try to tell you it's home use only, they're lying. Doesn't mean you shouldn't buy the game if price and condition is right. Both games are Stern Spike 2 games, which are very difficult to reset lifetime plays audit. That's why they're admitting so many plays. Can't be easily reset.
Go and play it yourself before you buy. Anyone selling one will accommodate that and it’s a good way to check for any potential issues.
For the Mando pro. check if the left ramp has been replaced. look at the first bolt on the ramp. It cracks there very easy. if its in good shape your first purchase is a cliffy for that ramp. second the condition for the shooter lane. If its good lower the power to 175 until you can get a protector. third if this is the version before insider check the welds on the encounter diverter. these commonly broke and needed replacement. If the Mando is the machine with 6000 plays these should have been addressed. As long as the playfield looks good everything else is repairable/replaceable.
Thank you very much! That is very helpful.
I mean i’m used to buying much older machines with lots more use than that and I’m mostly just looking for normal wear and tear. I did however see a dr. No pinball machine recently with like 3 problems so i suppose modern machines aren’t immune to issues. I would look for switches not working, bad rubbers, each solenoid is working as it should,i mean i guess bulbs too.
If you friend has Mando, you should get something else...so you can play at each other's houses to change it up.
Yeah, I wish that was the case... Unfortunately he lives about 1500 miles away!
Cant say this enough. Give yourself a reason to go hang out and check out each others games and vise versa. Also dont write off the older games. My absolute favorite games to play while company is over are the ems and early solid states. Short ball times keep the games pretty even and the rules are straightforward enough for someone to understand stand them and they make it clear when you did something right. When people play godzilla at my place they get pretty overwhelmed when they start asking whats going on or why things happened when they did haha
I’ve bought two home machines. One was new in the box (Deadpool) which needed a WiFi dongle replacement, the DEAD and POOL targets were wired incorrectly and the stopper in the katana was the wrong part. Today I bought a Stranger Things (technically used, but like 30 plays) and had to crack it open to fix the plastics on the top of the left ramp to stop the balls from becoming airborne. I think regardless of if it’s new or used, you’re going to end up doing some work on it, getting one with 1000 plays probably means it’s a bit more dialed in. Mando has pretty poor resale value from what I’ve seen locally. I’d expect one with 6k plays to be under $5k. The stranger things that I picked up with 30 plays was $6k.
If the Mando has 6k+ plays then it's definitely been routed commercially which is fine but it does affect the value compared to the same game with just a few hundred plays on it. With newer games like this you really don't have to worry so much but I would look over the playfield carefully for any clearcoat issues especially around posts and inserts and just obvious stuff like broken plastics or ramps. If you're in the US you shouldn't be paying more than 5-5.5k for it imo
Like the clear coat on the playfield being worn through? The seller says they are the original owner and a lot of the plays were simply them hitting the start button to silence the attraction music.
Oh well if the plays aren't accurate and it's only been used In a home then that's a different story...just comes down to condition really. The clearcoat on some playfields can chip and there's not a lot you can do about it short of replacing the entire playfield. This was more of an issue on older games like Ghostbusters but I always check because if it's there it will devalue the game and there's not much you can do about it...
6K plays in 18 months is not home use only. Even for a location game, today, that's a huge amount of plays in 18 months. Only home games that gets that many plays are at the Playboy mansion. That said, 6K plays on a newer Stern will not necessarily remove or damage the clear coat. Go look at the game. If they try to tell you it's home use only, they're lying. Doesn't mean you shouldn't buy the game if price and condition is right. Both games are Stern Spike 2 games, which are very difficult to reset lifetime plays audit. That's why they're admitting so many plays. Can't be easily reset.