To Trade or Not to Trade...........That is the Question

In the world of pinball collecting, often times an aficionado has the option to acquire a game through trading as opposed to a straight sale. This usually consists of either a "Trade with Cash" or the "Straight Trade." Trading with cash is usually where two machines are traded and both parties agree to adding/subtracting cash on the side to make it even and satisfactory for both groups. Straight trade is when two people trade without any cash outlay on the side. While under most situations a straight trade would be done for two machines of equal market value, sometimes it might not be, especially if both individuals want the game the other person has. This has led to some very interesting possibilities for trades, game swaps that might not normally make sense, unless you factor in where one is located as well as the rarity and desirability of a particular game in that area.

Would you swap a Metallica for a Centaur?

Stern's Metallica Pro

Centaur

That sounds crazy on the surface, a new Stern DMD game from 2013 for a 33 year old machine with limited sound, lighting effects, and more primitive rules. Yet in Florida (where I live) Centaur is highly desirable and almost never for sale. In that light, a trade for a Metallica Pro would not only seem possible, but some might consider it a bad deal for the initial Centaur owner, as getting another Centaur would be a lot harder than getting a new Metallica. Though in the end, if both parties are happy, that's all that matters.

What happens if the trade really isn't balanced? Lets say a collector has a Stern Lord of the Rings (market value around $4200.00 and commonly available) but really wants a Swords of Fury (technically an $1800.00 dollar game but super uncommon, maybe only 2 in the state he resides in and nobody letting go of one, and it never for sale anywhere)? He being a fantasy themed fan, and someone who's grown tired of chasing after the One Ring, has decided he wants a Swords of Fury above it all, none are for sale anywhere within 1000 miles of him, so when he finds an owner with one, that person will only take a LOTR for trade, and so he's got a serious choice to make, take the hit and agree to the trade, or hold out hoping another game pops up. Not all Pinball games get reprints, a rare game that's never getting remade will stay rare, and while most may dismiss a trade offer like that, one man's warm-up machine is another man's grail, and pinball people can do unbelievable things when they get the fiery desire to have a game in their collection no matter what.

It boils down to desirability and what the person or people are after in the trade, and what a person is willing to do to get a game that he really wants.

What do you guys think? Have any of you ever been in the situation where you REALLY wanted a game and were willing to trade down just to get it? Do any of you have any stories you'd like to share? 

Comment Below!


PS. I'd like to take the opportunity to thank Marshall down at 24 Hour Distribution for sending me the flyer to one of my favorite games, Bad Cats!

Meow Meow Meow Meow.................

Marshall is a true Pinball Aficionado!!!! Thanks again man!!!!

The World of Modding! - Part 3: Lighting!!!

Colorful LED's lighting up the ramps in a Black Knight

Last week we looked at the "Modding" scene (pinball... not piercings *snicker snicker*) , specifically the different "physical" ways that pinball aficionados modified their games to suit their tastes. That included adding toys, changing game artwork, and personalizing bits of their games to make them specifically their own.

LED's added to the inserts on a Stern: LOTR

This week we're going to look at another huge side of modding, and that is the LIGHTING side. This type of modification involves the changing of lights in a game, most commonly from incandescent bulbs to newer, more versatile, LED types. This is done to suit the owners taste, and in many cases, improve the look of a game. There is also a huge benefit to LED's, in that they're cooler than older style incandescent bulbs, and they typically last thousands of hours longer. The added color potential of LED's also means one can change the look of the game, as old style bulbs only came in white, 99% of the time. The downside to using LED's is that in many cases they do not look the same as older bulbs, and pinball players like what they are accustomed to and find LED lighting to be ugly or negatively impact play. Also in earlier years, LED's were not as sophisticated and the results were less than promising, resulting in older incandescent bulbs holding favor until now. 

Incandescent 555 wedge bulb on the left, it's LED equivalent on the right (old school flasher up top)...

LED's in pinball machines are nothing new, some games came with them (behind the scenes on pinball circuit boards) as early as the mid 70's on early Solid State games, and visible to the pinball player as early as 1987 (seen there in the shooter lane area on a Premier: Arena pinball game). Stern pinball has been messing with them to replace old style incandescent bulbs since at least 2004, but as you can see in the first 5 mins of that video (courtesy of mdclayton), LED's at the time were not quite as sophisticated as today and had issues, resulting in Stern continuing to use older bulbs until last year.

LED bulbs have gotten better lately, and are now available in many different colors, configurations, and brightnesses that can make older games really pop. 

Data East Rocky and Bullwinkle outfitted with Comet LED's

Metallica with custom LED lighting throughout

This has led to several major LED bulb vendors for the pinball community for hobbyists and owners to really trick out their games and modify the game's lighting. 

Some major LED vendors for the community are:

Comet Pinball (My personal favorite, great prices, great variety!)

Pinball Bulbs

Cointaker

Black Knight plastic with blue LED underneath

Check out that moon! LED bulb ADDED to that spot for extra effect!!!

With improvements in LED design, you now have dozens if not hundreds of different bulb styles and options to get the light and color just right for you. These vendors even provide entire kits so that you can just tell them the game you want to light up and they will send you all the bulbs in all the right colors to make your game look its best. The LED's themselves have been improved and many of the issues that people faced years ago are gone, so that even Stern has now adopted LED lighting as standard throughout all of their models.

LED lighting on Stern's Star Trek: Pro

This begs the question: "Is the old school incandescent going the way of the Dodo???" Not necessarily, as certain players and collectors will always want to remain traditional and not switch their games over, but for most other people and their games, as well as all newly manufactured titles from here on out, LED's seem to be here to stay. I guess you could say that Pinball is now officially in "The LED Era".

Until next time!!!