Hey, let's go to a pinball auction

Those words, in March of 1997, have led to numerous pins (well, not compared to many of you!), the need for a walkout basement, and a ton of fun and enjoyment from this great hobby.

My first recollection of playing pinball was in a Sears somewhere near Houston, Texas. We were visiting my aunt and uncle and we went to the Sears where he had a second job. I'm not sure exactly when this was, but it must have been the mid-70s. I'm pretty sure there was a home edition of a Fireball Classic. I remember my family having to pull me away from it.

A little later, I discovered that a local department store that was within bicycle-riding distance of our house had a pitch and hit and a pinball machine. I don't remember the title, but I think it was an early solid state.

In high school, I got sucked into the video game craze, along with most of my friends. A couple of us always managed to play pins when we found them, though. If there was an Eight Ball Deluxe around, chances are we would find it.

Other than Pinball Construction Set, life got busier and I didn't play much for the next 10 years or so. However, when a friend asked if I wanted to go to a pinball auction in 1997, I decided to tag along. The fact the auction was on my birthday seemed like a sign. :-)

I ended up purchasing a Mata Hari that one of the auction guys managed to get working during the auction. Of course, as soon as I got home, it wouldn't fire up. That's when somone pointed me to RGP. If it hadn't been for the fine folks there, I probably would have given up on pinball. Instead, they patiently answered my numerous questions, helping my finally fix what I found out where the typical early solid state problems.

Like most of you, one pin wasn't enough. I switched jobs and started talking with the first "collector" I found at my new job. I was dumfounded. He had lots of newer games. And a kegerator. I almost left my wife and moved into his basement. ;-)

Soon I got another friend interested. He was always looking for a way to turn a buck, so we ended buying a few machines off of routes or from businesses that didn't know how to fix them, to turn them over to make money to buy more pins for us. The problem was, we didn't REALLY know how to fix them either. We figured out what we could, and reached out for help when we couldn't figure it out. We flipped a few machines. Very slowly.

He hooked us up to the closest thing I've had to a warehouse raid. It was a "holler raid". We drove down to the hollers of West Virginia, and came back with two trailers worth of video games and pins. The prize was probably a cocktail Defender vid that I sold on eBay.

I finally was able to buy my first newer machine, a WCS94. A great machine for us, as we're a big soccer family. Eventually, I was able to save up for my first (and so far, only) NIB pin. My friend, the collector, and I both bought a LOTR. It was amazing.

I've traded games with friends, flipped a handful, but I still have the Mata Hari, WCS94, and the LOTR. That may change soon, though...I have had the LOTR for about 9 years. I'm thinking about trading it for something different.

Oh yeah, I bought my first EM the other day. I should get it moved into the house next week. I think EMs are going to be a whole 'nother problem!