Found a guy at the Coin Show in Dallas who restores old pinball machines in his garage

I went to the Dallas Coin Show last Saturday for the silver dollars, but I spent 45 minutes talking to a guy who rebuilds 1970s pinball machines as a side hustle. He said his best find was a 1976 'Playboy' machine he got for $200 and sold for $2,200 after restoring it. Anyone else run into random restoration nerds at places you least expect?

2 comments

2 Comments

price.tyler15d ago

Damn, that's a hell of a flip.

bethcarr16d ago

Jumped into a similar rabbit hole at a flea market in Denton last year. Found a guy selling old VHS tapes who turned out to be a pro at fixing up vintage arcade cabinets. He had this 1980 'Pac-Man' machine he picked up from a closed pizza place for $150, put maybe $300 in new parts and a fresh paint job, flipped it for $1,800. We ended up trading tips (my dad taught me some wiring tricks) and he even showed me how to fix a stuck solenoid on my own machine. These random finds are the best part of shows like that.