Where does Don in Verona keep finding games?

Pinball Discussion, Location Games, Etc.
User avatar
Chris K
Posts: 836
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2015 11:18 am
Contact:

Re: Where does Don in Verona keep finding games?

Post by Chris K »

QuyN wrote:My wife and I are still eyeing up your Gorgar!
Tee-hee!

Oh, we're still talking pinball. :D

I have to admit, Verona Don's tables do always look really nice in the Craigslist ads. Maybe we should all get together and buy him a DSLR so we can see the horrors being inflicted upon these poor tables!
Our pinball table breeding stock:
Star Trek: The Next Generation, Scared Stiff, Black Hole, Roy Clark, Monster Bash Remake, Future Spa, Big Deal, Top Score, Baywatch, Rick and Morty, TMNT, Sinbad, Guns N Roses
Methos
Posts: 837
Joined: Sat Jun 22, 2013 10:15 am
Contact:

Re: Where does Don in Verona keep finding games?

Post by Methos »

I have noticed he does not refer to clearing them...or hasn't in a while. I wonder if he still does it. His games do look nice. He has a IJ4 and POTC that are up I have to admit they look really good.

Does anyone know if he is firm on his prices? I always heard he does not reduce his asking price by much.
Hilton
Posts: 3270
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2013 7:18 pm
Contact:

Re: Where does Don in Verona keep finding games?

Post by Hilton »

Methos wrote:I have noticed he does not refer to clearing them...or hasn't in a while. I wonder if he still does it. His games do look nice. He has a IJ4 and POTC that are up I have to admit they look really good.

Does anyone know if he is firm on his prices? I always heard he does not reduce his asking price by much.

Don will deal on prices or at least has in the past. The typical issue with Don is he does all sorts of crap that most would never do.

Flame Polishing can = Slightly melting or boiling
Cleaning = wipe down the easily reached pf areas
LEDs = the cheapest junk you cna find and color bombed on the game
Clearcoating = rattle can spray on the whole pf (commonly on top of mylar and without depopulating the pf_
Fixed = wood screws

As I said before many times, Don is a very nice guy. Just does not treat games the same way as many collectors would. He also does not detail everything and leaves it to the buyer to discover.

Quick example is the StingRay he has had listed for a bit. He does not mention that it has extensive touchups and hand painted art with text decals stuf down on it. Thing is quite rough upon closer examination. I have found that every Don game is typically lots of surprises.

All said, he does find some nice games and those mean less bastardizing so they can be nice. i.e. the IJ4 and POTC are likely nice but probably dirty underside games. I would be interested in IJ4 for route but it is overpriced IMO.
QuyN
Posts: 275
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 7:31 am
Location: Madison, WI
Contact:

Re: Where does Don in Verona keep finding games?

Post by QuyN »

20eyes wrote:
QuyN wrote:
20eyes wrote:You can still find deals but you have to jump quick. I snagged a nice project Mars God Of War off this very site.

I'm starting to think I should have kept that awesome $150 EBD LE Verona Don super special model I picked up like 6 years ago. It came with sweet drywall screws holding the back box together and gold spray painted great stuff to fix the blown out corners on the back box. Clear coating the rubbers was an extra nice touch too.

As long as we are talking about where to find games I am planning on selling Flash, Gorgar, and Space Shuttle.
Mike! My wife and I are still eyeing up your Gorgar! :) I hope you don't sell it off too soon!
Its not going anywhere other than MGC.
I'm waiting on some stuff from great plains to fix special solenoid problems on Flash and Gorgar. Should be good to go before MGC.
Awesome. We genuinely want to make the trip up to take a look at it. We just gotta find a weekend that works. Most likely, it'll be a Sunday trip, if you can make time one of these weeks.
QuyN
Posts: 275
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 7:31 am
Location: Madison, WI
Contact:

Re: Where does Don in Verona keep finding games?

Post by QuyN »

Chris K wrote:
QuyN wrote:My wife and I are still eyeing up your Gorgar!
Tee-hee!

Oh, we're still talking pinball. :D

I have to admit, Verona Don's tables do always look really nice in the Craigslist ads. Maybe we should all get together and buy him a DSLR so we can see the horrors being inflicted upon these poor tables!
Let's keep it G-rated now ;)

I met Don when he had a TFTC for sale. Pricing wise, it wasn't too far out of the ball park I don't think. He moved $100 less for me. It looked nice. He told me he flame-polished the plastics on it, but i couldn't see any damage to them. It's possible that he damaged some plastics on other machines, but on that particular machine, they looked fine. I would take Hilton's list and make sure to keep those in mind if you're going to look at a game from him. It shouldn't be something that would keep you from looking at a machine though. He let me look at the boards and underneath the PF and didn't try to hide anything from me. I think if you approached him like any other seller and kept a keen eye out, you should be able to weigh the pros/cons. I would worry more about the irreversible things like the spray can clear, or the touchups, or wood screws, but the reversible things like LEDs, and poor cleaning aren't a make-or-break for me.
AlexF
Posts: 75
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 2:20 pm
Location: Edgerton, Wi
Contact:

Re: Where does Don in Verona keep finding games?

Post by AlexF »

I sold a cheaper EM to Don last night. He told me he has owned 385 games in 5 years. That ought to get Hilton fired up. :lol:

To be fair he was very pleasant and easy to work with.
Hilton
Posts: 3270
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2013 7:18 pm
Contact:

Re: Where does Don in Verona keep finding games?

Post by Hilton »

AlexF wrote:I sold a cheaper EM to Don last night. He told me he has owned 385 games in 5 years. That ought to get Hilton fired up. :lol:

To be fair he was very pleasant and easy to work with.
Don is a solid guy for sure! Always had good interactions with him. He is a machine.
User avatar
Chris K
Posts: 836
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2015 11:18 am
Contact:

Re: Where does Don in Verona keep finding games?

Post by Chris K »

1825 days / 385 tables = One table turned out every 4.7 days, assuming he doesn't keep a giant arcade of his own.

I hope he's exaggerating a bit, cause that's well over a table a week for five years running.
Our pinball table breeding stock:
Star Trek: The Next Generation, Scared Stiff, Black Hole, Roy Clark, Monster Bash Remake, Future Spa, Big Deal, Top Score, Baywatch, Rick and Morty, TMNT, Sinbad, Guns N Roses
AlexF
Posts: 75
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 2:20 pm
Location: Edgerton, Wi
Contact:

Re: Where does Don in Verona keep finding games?

Post by AlexF »

Who knows? He said he had a picture board his girlfriend made with 250 of them. Hard to know how well he documented his purchases beyond that? He also said the cheap projects were starting to dry up. Well yeah, he bought them all. He has room for eight, so he turns 'em and burns 'em pretty quickly it seems. Anyway he didn't come across as a bs'er to me. I guess I'd question the timeline more than the game quantity.
20eyes
Posts: 59
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2014 9:42 pm
Location: Sturgeon Bay
Contact:

Re: Where does Don in Verona keep finding games?

Post by 20eyes »

https://madison.craigslist.org/vgm/6060627584.html

This is a pin I sold a few years ago. He left the license sticker on the apron. Seems that its made its way through a few collectors and back to don. So obviously some collectors must be dealing with him.
In any event the playfield was decent when I owned it so hopefully he hasn't mangled it with a clearcoat.

My pic of the same machine:
IMG_2208.JPG
JimS
Posts: 54
Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2016 6:42 pm
Contact:

Re: Where does Don in Verona keep finding games?

Post by JimS »

Yep. I bought that from you. The geeks made me an offer I couldn't refuse, and then they traded or sold it to don. Fun seeing that machine move up and down the food chain.
BrewNinja
Posts: 73
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2015 12:03 am
Location: Fitchburg, WI
Contact:

Re: Where does Don in Verona keep finding games?

Post by BrewNinja »

I can give some new insight into things. Bought a fish tales from the guy in Rock Island who flips games. I know some people dont like him, but whatever. He is fine if you know what to expect going in. Anyways, apparently he has done a few deals with Don. He mentioned that a few times he has split big lots of games with Don. Basically he gives Don what he didnt want for a decent price. He also mentioned that Don is somehow involved with Geeks Mania somehow. Explains some of the "fixes" on the machines there.
Black Hole, F14, Dirty Harry, Walking Dead Premium, Fish Tales, Comet, Metallica, The Shadow, Whirlwind, Black Knight 2000, Deadpool
Post Reply