I sort of fell into this pin. I have always wanted a Medieval Madness,
but the reality of its outrageous price made me think that I would
never actually own one.
Well I trekked out to the annual Auction Game Sales auction in
Timonium, MD. This year I had no plans on buying anything. I like to
go, well because, I find gaming auctions fun. To my suprise there
were 3 Medieval Madness pins at this auction. One was in the
regular auction area and the other two in the buy it now area. The
one in the auction area was ok but the playfield had some serious
issues. The 2 in the buy it now area (buy it now pins would be
auctioned off if they went unsold) were in much better condition.
One was listed at $6500 (ouch!) and one at $5200. The $5200 one
was in much better shape. I played it on the preview night of the
auction and it was in great shape (not even a credit dot).
The day of the auction this pin was acting goofy. It would constantly
reboot and sometimes it wouldn't boot at all. Well it was working
perfectly just the night before. After a little while I noticed that all of
the vids that were plugged into the same circuit were having issues
with their monitors. The images on the screen were erratic. I had a
feeling that I now knew what was wrong with the pin.
Remember I had no plans on buying anything. Especially since my
arcade room only fits 5 pins. I need to sell something before I buy
something and I hadn't sold anything. I decided to hang around to
see what these Medieval Madness pins would go for. (the one with
the bad playfield was a buyback at $4600).
When they got to the nice one (that was having all sorts of
problems) the seller wanted to withdraw it. The auctioneer spoke to
the seller for a minute and convinced him to let it go and see where
it would land. Well they started the bidding and no one was bidding.
The bid was at $2000. Well, I couldn't let this go so I bid. The seller
bid back, so we kept at it for a little while. (Just me and the seller)
He stopped at $4400. Holy moly...I now own a Medieval Madness.
After the auctioneers left the area I decided to see if I got burned by
buying a problem pin or not. I unplugged all of the vids and turned
on the pinball machine. It came RIGHT UP!!!! My hunch was that it
was low voltage that was causing the issues. No one wanted to bid
because it was acting erratically and it was actually just fine.
This pin turned out to be such a jewel. (not even in the rough as it
was in great shape)
The playfield was in excellent condition. No wear, anywhere!!! Every
plastic was perfect. The ramps were like new. The cabinet was
almost perfect. With one or 2 small nicks. The only issues were that
the Merlin Wire Gate was missing. ($3 part) and the backglass was
plexiglas instead of glass. That's it.
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