Why I could never do pinball as a business (long)

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

I've had a Dealers Choice for many years and enjoy it a lot.
Glen

<rwkeown@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1122560338.961661.106760@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> I'm moving my gameroom to a slightly smaller space with a much better
> layout. The only 'problem' is that the projects that were sitting in
> the corner of the larger room have now outgrown the allotted space.
> Can't leave them in the old room, as the ping pong table comes in a
> couple of days.
>
> The game without a space is a MAJOR project 1974 Williams Dealer's
> Choice. Actually, 'project' is kind. I can't imagine that many people
> who regularly post here would look at it and say anything more than
> 'Parts. Burn the rest.' The game was rescued in January from a guy
> who left it on a screened porch in north FL. Faded glass, faded and
> crumbling cab, filthy playfield, a little rust, white latex paint
> dribbled on the side rails, it had become a sawhorse. When I tipped up
> the playfield for the first time, all of the inserts fell out. The
> plastics are the best thing the game has to offer. With only a slight
> yellowing in the clear areas, they are intact and bright after
> cleaning. If the guy had just thrown a tarp over it.... And yes, it
> was free.
>
> When I first acquired it, I cleaned the score reels and plugged it in,
> figuring what the hell, I can't do any more damage. To my great
> surprise, the score reels reset. There are still issues as the motor
> keeps running, but the game is definitely mechanically repairable.
> Knowing this was a long term project, the game moved to the corner
> where it sat until last night.
>
> So here I am with a game that will take a year (working in 1 and 2 hour
> snippets) to bring back to an acceptable level of playability and
> aesthetics. I have no room for it. I have other projects that are
> higher priority, both inside and outside the world of pinball, so it
> may be a year before I can begin, and even if I DO get it back to that
> point, it will not have a place in the gameroom unless I suddenly
> choose to get rid of a game that I already consider a keeper. At
> midnight, I was sure I would be posting the game as available for parts
> this morning. That is the logical thing to do.
>
> By two am, I'd decided that space or no, I just couldn't part out a
> game that had any chance of living again. So, the faded glass will go
> up on the wall, I'll stack some lawn equipment, hang a bunch of shelves
> for the paint cans to sit on, and create enough space in the storage
> room in the garage for the cab and head, and one day, Dealer's Choice
> WILL live.
>
> Geez, what an addicted, sentimental idiot.
>