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Hello , have a quick question I have been looking for a Ajax or challenger 3 globe hot nut machine for some time. There is a restored one on eBay now for $2995.00 with custom made stand . Is this a fair price for one of these? I don't mind paying a little more then it's worth . There does seem to be quite a few that come up but a lot are in bad condition. Any feed back would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I haven't paid attention to prices for years, but that sounds very high, I'm thinking it should be in the $350 range for the machine; maybe the custom stand is worth an additional $2600.
I tried searching for the one you mentioned, but could not find it;
can you post the flebay item number or link to it?

The only currently active one on flebay that I found is item number 350952081550 with a BIN price of $600.

It should be item 121286242960

Thanks

Even though that $2,995 example is a nicely restored vender, it is OVER-KILL. That wood base & cast feet, are Bogus.
They never came this way. I would put this one in the $1,200 area, but loose the Phoney base, and make an original
style stand. I have spoke with this seller in the past, about several Slot machines that are in his shop, that have been
incorrectly over-restored, but he can't do anything about it, as most of what he has, are consignments.

If you really want one of these venders, I would focus on the $600 one, on an original stand. If you are handy, and want
to take on the polishing task, this would be a good deal. The glass decals are available, and it needs a new power cord.
The bad issues, are the corrosion areas inside, caused by the salt from the peanuts, and whatever small parts that are
not shown, that could be broken or missing. Your other problem, is that they state "Pick up only", so if you are not near
Virginia, wave bye-bye. The one good thing about picking it up, is you can check it out thoroughly, including the corrosion.

If you are seriously considering the one currently listed for $600, send me a PM; I have a deal for you.

If you have been looking for a while, you are probably aware of what they have actually sold for on flebay recently:
$490; unrestored.
$720; restored with cup holder.
Less tha $400 (best offer accepted); unrestored, no globes, but original stand.
$457; restored.
Less than $1600 (hopefully, much less; best offer accepted); restored with cup holder.

These are a great machine to restore, very simple mech not very many moving parts, can be made to accept nickles or dimes, most important is that you have a complete machine with good globes and minimum corrosion, also worth replacing all the screws with stainless.