I'm looking to buy my first table and need some help.

[Samdalous]

I'm looking at a Nightmare on Elm Street Freddy table by Gottlieb. The person selling it lives about an hour and a half away and is willing to let potential buyers try it out. If I go try it out, is there anything in particular I should look for? I'm thinking stuff that wouldn't be obvious while playing for a few games but would surface upon deeper play. I've never played the game before so I'm not really sure what to look for. If I do buy it, what precautions should I take when bringing it back home? Would it be ok as long as its stable or do little jolts in the road throw things out of whack?

 

[SilverBallFiend]

Definately make sure you are able to play the game without the glass on so you can touch and activate all switches, targets, slingshots, jets/bumpers etc to make sure they all work. Check all lights are working etc.

Read the rules for the game so you understand what is what, and what activates what - so that when you push all the switches, targets, etc with your hands/fingers, it reacts the way its supposed to based on the rules.
If lots of little toys and what not on the play field, make sure you do what you can to "activate" them (as you would when you play) so you can see them move around or light up or whatever, so you can see they are in working order.

Make sure he allows you to look "under the hood"- playfield and behind back glass.
Pull the playfield up so you can see the electronics underneath. Even if you are not able to make sense of all if it, you will be able to see if it looks like its been cleaned and taken care of, look for "burn marks" under the play field and if anything appears to be "unplugged" (as far as you can tell with an untrained eyeball glance).
Also look out for any corrosion or burn marks on the electronic boards themselves - not just under the playfield surface (look out for black marks, or white flaky marks etc).

Don't be shy to ask questions. Ask if he as done any repairs or touch ups or replacements. Keep a log of what he has done to it for your file.

Take lots of pics. Playfield, under the hood, behind the backglass.

Then I would just share your findings with people in the forum if you don't have any friends who are "into pinball" - maybe a little feedback would help out.

Then take it from there!

Moving a pin can definately rattle some bits and pieces - not for sure, but it can happen and may be unavoidable (wire may dislodge or something, who knows. It happened to my Haunted House pin when I moved it and discovered I just had to replug an audio wire back that wiggled loose from the move). Make sure its packed securely and try not to drive too bumpy if it can be avoided.
This is also another good reason to take lots of pics, pics, pics.
When you move the pin and are back home, you have pics you can use as "schematics" to know where to plug what into what when re-assembling the body to the headboard etc, and to see if anything may have "unplugged" or got jostled under the playfield.

Hope this helps.

 

[Samdalous]

Thanks for the response! I probably wouldn't have thought of taking pictures of the board to check against if it wasn't working right after transport.