dtown8532
New member
- Apr 10, 2012
- 1,685
- 0
As many of you guys know I've been wanting a Centaur for years. I was one of the biggest cheerleaders during that first Bally poll that FarSight did, what, three years ago? Though I liked playing TPA's version, I wanted the real thing. I wanted the reverb echoing in my house. BUT, this game, like other Bally SS classics like Fathom, Eight Ball Deluxe, etc has gotten pricey. I saw one at the York Show three years ago and they guy wanted $2,500 firm with a worn playfield and non-working. He DID sell it though. Just nuts how these games are shooting up because some people are willing to pay for it.
Fast forward to this past year's York Show. I go by myself (Dad didn't want to come this year) in my Subaru Forester which I can fit a pin in. With the seats folded down and a sheet of plexiglass, a game will slide in easily. Pile some blankets on and I'm ready to head back up RT 30. Rain, which it did, didn't matter. Game is in the car. It can rain all it wants.
Anyway, I get to the show at opening on Friday. I immediately start running around looking for either a Centaur or a BSD. I see a guy with a project, non-working Centaur inside the building and off to the side from the free play area. I talk to the guy who has a few other games for sale. He said he picked it up from an estate auction and it's sold as untested. Of course it's "untested"! It's missing the freaking solenoid driver board! It's also filthy and smells of piss inside. BUT, it has a fairly unworn, but yellowed, playfield because an operator back in the old days mylar'd it. The mylar had just some minor lifting at some edges but the inserts were fairly decent. Any of you guys that have played older games with the sinking inserts can tell you that it can divert the ball sometimes. But, because this game has a decent mylar on it, it's still fairly smooth across the playfield.
In addition to a workable playfield, the back glass was original and almost 100%. The guy had 2k listed as the price. I just kept staring at it. I had him open it up. I looked if it was a hacked mess. Other than someone screwing with the flipper wiring, it looked pretty original. While I was looking at it, other people were stopping and asking about it. The big negative was some serious damage to the one side of the cabinet. It looked like water or urine that completely destroyed a center section of that side about ten inches in diameter. It didn't go all the way through but eliminated the art and the outer layer of plywood in that area. Nonetheless, people were asking about it. You have to understand that it's getting harder and harder to find some of these games at pinball shows as projects. Mostly, if you see them, they're completely restored and highly priced.
The guy tells me that, before I offer him a price, the lowest he'll take is $1,750 because he knows he's going to sell it. I stare a little more and, eventually say "I do.
" We load it up and I carted it home.
free picture upload
Fast forward to this past year's York Show. I go by myself (Dad didn't want to come this year) in my Subaru Forester which I can fit a pin in. With the seats folded down and a sheet of plexiglass, a game will slide in easily. Pile some blankets on and I'm ready to head back up RT 30. Rain, which it did, didn't matter. Game is in the car. It can rain all it wants.
Anyway, I get to the show at opening on Friday. I immediately start running around looking for either a Centaur or a BSD. I see a guy with a project, non-working Centaur inside the building and off to the side from the free play area. I talk to the guy who has a few other games for sale. He said he picked it up from an estate auction and it's sold as untested. Of course it's "untested"! It's missing the freaking solenoid driver board! It's also filthy and smells of piss inside. BUT, it has a fairly unworn, but yellowed, playfield because an operator back in the old days mylar'd it. The mylar had just some minor lifting at some edges but the inserts were fairly decent. Any of you guys that have played older games with the sinking inserts can tell you that it can divert the ball sometimes. But, because this game has a decent mylar on it, it's still fairly smooth across the playfield.
In addition to a workable playfield, the back glass was original and almost 100%. The guy had 2k listed as the price. I just kept staring at it. I had him open it up. I looked if it was a hacked mess. Other than someone screwing with the flipper wiring, it looked pretty original. While I was looking at it, other people were stopping and asking about it. The big negative was some serious damage to the one side of the cabinet. It looked like water or urine that completely destroyed a center section of that side about ten inches in diameter. It didn't go all the way through but eliminated the art and the outer layer of plywood in that area. Nonetheless, people were asking about it. You have to understand that it's getting harder and harder to find some of these games at pinball shows as projects. Mostly, if you see them, they're completely restored and highly priced.
The guy tells me that, before I offer him a price, the lowest he'll take is $1,750 because he knows he's going to sell it. I stare a little more and, eventually say "I do.
" We load it up and I carted it home.
free picture upload
