Finding my dream Pinball Machine "Gottlieb Spirit of 76"

Well, it finally happened.  Through the wonderful people on Pinside I have now obtained my dream pin, the Spirit of 76.

The journey to this machine started when I was 9 or so when Dad got me Microsoft Pinball Arcade for my birthday.  He and I used to play on that for hours, and our usual favorite was the Spirit of 76. 

As I grew up, and started working in high school, I kept hoping to own my own machine.  Sadly whenever a Spirit of 76 would appear I eitehr could not afford it or had nowhere to put it.  This dream kind of came and  went as I got older, family priorities changed and my dream pin was put on the back burner.

This started to change in 2021 when I suddenly found myself single and with ample room for things.  Pacifc Pinball Museum had a playable project Royal Guard for sale. While not a popular machine or a Spirit of 76 I was happy to take a step in the right direction and have a machine I can play and learn to work on. 

Fast forward to March 2022, I and the Royal Guard moved to Nebraska.  Suddenly after updating my location, a local member introduced himself!  While exchanging information, I casually mentioned that one day I hope to find my dream pin, the Spirit of 76.  Lo and behold, he had one he was willing to part with!  Now, I have fulfilled a lifelong dream and am extremely happy playing pinball almost every night with my family and hope that my son will love it as much as I did.