I'm a newbie to the hobby, but my roots go way back. I used to play pee-wee hockey at a rink in Ohio back in the 80s. It doesn't exist anymore, but I think the owner had a thing for pins. They always had one or two over in the corner by the other arcade games. Off the top of my head, I remember them having The Addams Family and T2, both of which hooked me. I remember begging my parents for quarters every single time we went. I didn't care so much about the hockey...
Recently, I'm in a big enough place and financially stable enough that I bought my first machine from a fellow Pinsider: Firepower. It's not in perfect condition, and after looking at the average price here on Pinside, I'm fairly certain he overcharged me, but I don't regret it. It's a great machine and now I want more! I'm worried this is going to be a slippery slope.