I couldn’t find the right combination of search terms to provide a citation, but I’ve heard stories of plane crashes where locals took the flight data recorder or other critical pieces of evidence from the scene before officials arrived. Rewards had to be announced and paid out to get people to bring back parts so that investigations could proceed.
Aww I'm glad it helped! I wanted to illustrate the amount of upkeep it takes to even keep a machine that was already about 99% working from disrepair.
I think you could give the offer a shot, but it looks like the market is a good bit higher - the bigger the discount the more you're probably going to have to work to get it operational. It looks like you've already got a headstart on that, so if none of this is scaring you off, I say do it! My two machines are Whitestar and Spike2 systems, and are from Stern, which is still operating. My concern going for Party Monsters would be that System 11(B?!) boards and replacement parts may be in short supply, and I can't comment on the quality of documentation for it all.
Watch out though - I see posts about mods in the game thread. My newer machine came with 6-7 already installed by the first owner, which got me hooked. At this point I've added another 25 or so... I think I spend as much time working on these machines as I do playing them (but my goal is to make my own machine, so every piece of work comes with learnings and better understanding of what's in store for me.)
Post back here later and let me know what you end up doing!
I picked up my first two last year - they require a decent amount of maintenance -- more the older they are.
Home use only machines will be in better shape - my 2018 Stern pin (3rd owner, home use only) has only really needed replacements of the coil stops and sleeves for the the upper flippers.
On the other hand, my 2002 Stern machine (3rd owner, but first was on location in a Century theater where it saw thousands of plays) required in just two months of ownership:
- diagnosis and replacement of a bad bridge rectifier for the controlled lights,
- new plumb bob (machine info showed it had never reported a tilt before - looks like it had been removed before ever been played),
- clear mylar patch on the playfield near the plunger lane exit,
- replacement of the main power cable -- someone had ripped out the third/ground prong (which is apparently very common),
- redoing the connections inside the power box -- someone had decided all the connectors should just live in giant solder balls.....,
- replacement of the coin door lock mechanism,
- replacement of a flipper return spring
and it has a few cracked pieces of protective plastic that just aren't worth trying to find replacements for.
In total all together that's still less than $50 in parts, but figuring out the lights issue took weeks, and some of these required soldering. (And desoldering! I strongly recommend the Hakko FR301 desoldering tool instead of mucking about with copper braid.)
For the prices you listed, I would guess you're looking at older machines, which will probably have more issues sooner than new (but not brand-new!) pins. I suggest pinside.com for the classifieds and also the "_X_ Machine Owner" forum threads which might have game-specific info for you. Stern has very detailed manuals, and pinballlife/marcospecialties have just about every part you might need when you do have a problem.