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I know that a lot of us didn't get into this hobby by buying a TZ, so what was your first pin? Mine was a Charlie's Angels i bought for my wife's 30th bday for $100 unworking....and then i got hooked finding that machine...so what were yours?
My first was a Tri Zone. I must of played it 20 hours straight the first day. For the first week I just walked around with a big grin thinking....Ive got my own pinball machine! Sweet. Years later I still feel that way. Life is good. 
Silverballer said:
My first was a Tri Zone. I must of played it 20 hours straight the first day. For the first week I just walked around with a big grin thinking....Ive got my own pinball machine! Sweet. Years later I still feel that way. Life is good. [:-)]
Ha! that is awesome...my second pin, which i just got last month is a tri zone, and i like it. its very basic, but fun.
Hey,
I'll put this out in a two-pronged fashion. I bought a non-working Gottlieb World Fair in the fall of 2009; I never did get that beast working, and sold it to a couple who had a basement full of SS pins (well, and a Pinball Magic) who wanted an old EM. The first pin that I bought that I could plug in and play was a Williams Flash. That was in March of last year. Since then, I've bought and sold a really nice Black Knight (sold it to the same couple), and have obtained a Williams Satin Doll, a Gottlieb 300, a Pin*Bot, and a Shadow. The Satin Doll and 300 are awaiting restoration, the Pin*Bot works but I'm planning on doing a top-to-bottom restore on it, and the Flash could use a good shopping and tune-up. But The Shadow plays great.
Luke
futurepinhead said:
My first one was TFTC, I picked it up on 10/28/11.
So you mean to say, you are picking it up tomorrow? If so, Congrats!
Mine was Whirlwind. Drive 6 hours both ways to get it, and paid too much! Oh what a newb I was...
PwninShiznat said:
So you mean to say, you are picking it up tomorrow?
Yep, driving 2 hours to Nashville to pick it up from a Pinsider's brother.
Solar Ride. Bought it non working, but the lights came on, and thought it would be a cool conversation piece if nothing else. I didnt know if parts were available or not but just thought it would look cool in the basement. Paid $50 for it and discovered this wide world of the silver ball collectors and hobbyist. That was about 5 years ago I guess. Havent looked back since!
pintastic said:
Solar Ride. Bought it non working, but the lights came on, and thought it would be a cool conversation piece if nothing else. I didnt know if parts were available or not but just thought it would look cool in the basement. Paid $50 for it and discovered this wide world of the silver ball collectors and hobbyist. That was about 5 years ago I guess. Havent looked back since!
Did u ever get it in fighting shape?
Wow, you guys started with great first pins. I stumbled upon a Stern Disco EM at an estate auction I went to for some sport memorabilia I was collecting at the time. Never plugged it in, paid $200 or so for it and started a hobby that I'm still hook on. The Stern is long gone, but I'll never forget it. Do I want another for nostalgia sake? No, it was a sucky pin.
gottlieb pinball pool. $100 bones. non working and in bad shape.the p/f and back glass were real rough. the boards were in great shape. after i got jet spin/lw3 and Royal Rumble i let a local pin head have it for the parts. he had helped me fix some things on lw3.
TOTAN was my first. It is what really put the pinball bug in me. Lot a cash sweat and tears went into that pin. Also had a blast playing and making it the best it could be. Still remember the excitement in the guys face I traded it with. I knew it was going to a good home.
My first, a williams klondike for 25 dollars at a tag sale. Worked perfectly That was at 14, at 19 (my birthday was 2 days ago) I have had 24 pinball machines in 4 months and have 7 in my collection right now.
The_Dude_Abides said:
TOTAN was my first. It is what really put the pinball bug in me. Lot a cash sweat and tears went into that pin. Also had a blast playing and making it the best it could be. Still remember the excitement in the guys face I traded it with. I knew it was going to a good home.
Wow TDA! That is the most impressive first pin yet. TOTAN is definitely my "grail" pin at the moment. One of these days it will be mine! Glad yours served you well and then went to a good home.
TSPP - Bought it while waiting for my Medieval Madness that was being built by the Pinball Factory in Australia. (Don't want to go there on that story)
For a stop and go type pin, I really loved that pin. Sold it to get my SM. Taught me a lot about pinball. From understanding rule sets to how to work on a pin.
My First pin was Pinbot. Got it in 1994. I think I paid @ $500.00. My nephews has it now, It needed some work, we got her repaired it and now he has got the bug! I took me 5 years to get my second. The rest have been a blur.
jarjarisgod said:
Wow TDA! That is the most impressive first pin yet. TOTAN is definitely my "grail" pin at the moment. One of these days it will be mine! Glad yours served you well and then went to a good home.
I got so lucky with it too. Right when I started looking (and I only wanted TOTAN) a woman posted it on craigslist, she sold the house it was in and needed to get rid of it quickly. It's like the pin found me almost. I got it for like $2600 needed a bit of work but in good enough shape to make it a great deal. Hope one comes your way soon jarjar!
JP for $1300 off of CL. Very nice shape, no topper. Didn't even know what that was then. I had played it in college on location and knew this was a pretty good deal. Not long after I got it the T-Rex broke and other things started to happen. Baptism under pinball fire. Time to get dirty. Thought I was in over my head, but now I am fixing stuff with not much trouble and having a lot of fun with all my games. My JP is now running great (except for a blown transistor I need to replace) and it has given me the confidence to take on bigger problem when they arise. Very glad I took the chance and jumped into this hobby. No more project game for me though. All my game from now on will be working with no broken parts. Anyone have a DE WWF RR plastic ramp for sale?
Well I went down to an old operator's warehouse about thirteen years ago to buy an Eight Ball Deluxe, and while I was there I also picked up a nice KISS, a Fathom, and a Fireball II. Only the EBD was working, but the rest were priced too good to refuse. It was fixing those non-working games that really sparked my interest in collecting/restoring of all things pinball.
There were no thugs awaiting me at the warehouse luckily, but it was in a seedy part of town now that I think about it. 
herbertbsharp said:
STTNG, bought it on a good deal having never played it, and I love it!
Same for me. My first and only right now was my STTNG. I had never played it until I brought it home. Watched a lot of videos and really liked the deep ruleset and always liked the Star Trek theme. I think for my next I will go with multiple B-list pins to bump up my collection.
I actually did get into the hobby by buying a TZ, LOL. I had a buddy getting a divorce who called me out of the blue looking to sell belongings to raise cash. I told him I didn't think he had anything I wanted, and he said "What about my pinball machine, it doesn't work right now but it's in nice shape". I was like, that's a TZ right? I then thought about it for a day, figured it would be cool, and bought it for $1,500 bucks (seems like a good deal, but I had no idea what was wrong with it and no experience with pins). That was back in the summer of 2008, and it's all been downhill since (in a good way).
The only thing wrong with it was a fuse. Yeah, that's cliche, but it was true in this case. After fixing a blown fuse, I replaced the original clock board with a new one that had LEDs, got a reinforced target for the left of the slot scoop, removed the slot scoop to fix a broken weld, rebuilt the flippers, and I eventually removed the ball lock assembly because I got sick of bounce outs. I reformed the upper roof of the lock assembly and had it rewelded, and no more bounce outs. This was all within a year of purchasing the TZ. By then I was hooked on pinball, and the TZ has been pretty much bulletproof since all the above work was done.
The only bad thing about starting with a TZ, is that if you end up thinking that TZ is the best pin ever made, it's hard to top it with any other future aquisitions. It is nice to compliment it with a fast and furious pin like Black Rose did with a BSD, or a HS2.
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