Thats cleaner than the one i had and i thought mine never saw any play!

Now you die die die!!

Yeah if someone wants to sell me a JM or No Fear for under 4K please message me

Prices are ridiculous and it’s tough. Every Mousin’ I’ve seen lately is north of 2.5

The right answer is High Speed.

You gotta put yourself in your noobie pinball shoes. You need a very basic, easy to fix game, that has some cool features like multiball and a beacon on the top!

Very low priced, super fast, and it really doesn't get old.

Baywatch all day. The unofficial update does a good job polishing it up.

Way more bang for your buck than an early solid state, and much more attractive to guests & casual players.

For a first & only pin I want a game that has more than 1 or 2 objectives.

Nobody is selling these for 2500 anymore unless they are total basket cases. “I got one last week for 2200 from my dentist/old lady down block” doesn’t count we are talking realistic, readily available market value.

STRICT $2500 budget like the thread title says, you can rule out any 90s games besides premier/gottlieb stuff. That’s realistic life in 2021.

Again, LW3 is a fairly easy buy today for 2500 and non-pinheads love it for some reason.

Purchased Jurrasic Park for my son who is a dinosaur freak growing up. What game did he play the most when on leave? LW3. I was utterly baffled and deeply annoyed considering how much trouble my reimport JP put me through getting back on its feet.

Hack city.

Brother in law loves it too, plays game after game when over.

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My vote is a system 11, especially Pinbot or taxi.

And I seriously doubt you’ll find a wcs for 2500.

True, it was on the OP's list, but it's not that far above $2500.

Space shuttle
High speed
F14

Best for $2500? An EBD in at least fair
Condition

This is the $2500 sweet spot these days!

What’s the world coming to?!

Was it that long ago that this list would've included Shadow and Ripley's...even Demolition Man?!

They haven't been 3k in awhile. 2750 ain't happening

1 Space Shuttle
2 High Speed
3 Black Knight
4 Firepower
All are 3 ball multi ball

61F34708-40F2-4FF3-87CE-268B0C2E2E1E (resized).jpeg

I would go with Pinbot or Taxi

Tee’d Off
Bally Atlantis
Sorcerer (or Comet and Space Shuttle)
Jokerz
Just a few I used to own that should still be under 2500. All fun games. Wish I’d kept Jokerz, believe it or not. It was a very nice example.

For now I would suggest you borrow him a game as it looks like you have a big collection and see how long they play the heck out of it before they get bored with it and then see if he still wants to buy one

I know a handful of people have mentioned F14 but it gets old really fast. It’s definitely within the price range but I think there are better options for a one pin collection.

Yes. Gets old fast as its pretty one dimensional.

And its brutal for guests and new comers. They pretty much never see multiball.

Everything under $2500 is gonna “get old fast” if “deep” games are your thing.

I agree and disagree. F14 is particularly shallow. Compare that to Mousin Around. There’s more than one way to play Mousin Around. It has ramps... A diverter. You can debate whether Mousin Around can be had for $2500, but maybe you can see my point.

Truth.. its all just a matter of time.

On the other hand, id say data east is the sweet spot for a one game starter title. Sure its not as deep, but it has the licensed themes, goals are easy to understand, the multiball ready on ball 3, and you wont have to fight off pinheads to find one. I find their titles have more frills that appeal to home use.

Tell him to invest the 2500 into crypto and buy a pin once it gets to 4K+

Last Action Hero!

Eth is dipping sharp right now. Catch it on sale

I vote Maverick, unless those have jumped over 2500 and no one told me.

Maybe our definition of "player's condition" varies. I think you could find a playable DE JP/LAH with cabinet fade, some dings, some playfield wear, and no mods/upgrades at or very near that price point. However, if you want either of those titles in a well maintained (forget perfect condition and/or with upgrades) then I would agree with you.

Most of the suggestions here were solid $2500 games before covid. Now I don't know what a good price is on some of these games. Just this past week I seen a f14 go up for sale at $3900 and pending in a few hours. Also seen a space station bring $2800.

I'm just so confused

I spent months looking for a JP, $3000 and up is the floor on that one around here.

LAH is better but not by much.

Wait till u see canadian prices.

Rocky and bullwinkle, $4500
Tx sector $6000
Wcs94 $5500
Flinstones $5300

U guys need cash? Sell to canadians, they even pay the shipping and lose on the exchange!

It will need to go higher than that. Capital gains tax are a bitch

This...

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/114278

Or this R&B https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/114273

Most Gottlieb system 3 games are in this price range. You get a decent bang for your buck, reliable DMD game. Shaq Attack, Waterworld, Teed off all come to mind here.

Lethal Weapon 3 is also a great bang for the buck as well.

Depending on condition. Maybe a nice $2K pin and $500 to bring it up to speed ?

LTG : )

I say it's the large wire ramps and Joe Pesci that suck people in.

I wish I could had XX title, but all I have to say is good luck finding anything good for $2500. Old price thoughts are out the window.

You have an amazing 41 games in your collection. Such a personal decision as to what someone values in a pinball machine. Which of your 41 games does your friend like? Some of your games sell on average for less than $2,500.

Rollergames

It doesn’t make sense that you were able to find your games but can’t decide on only one low-cost title suitable for a friend. Seems more like a secret WTB post.

Would you really miss Volcano or Fire! if one was loaned out to a friend for a few months?

+1. You might be able to find a deal on a B/W dmd but chances are at that price it will need work. Not really a fan of the cheaper Data East/Sega pins. Same for the Gottlieb/Premier stuff. Ok I guess but you could do so much better with just a little higher budget. If you can find something like Nascar, Monopoly, or RCT at that price range definitely go for that. However, I think prices of those games have moved up as well.

His friend I'm sure would be happy to pick GnR CE or MMR Le for $2500 I'm sure

I think only a prototype was made of this game and immediately discontinued. It involved putting 2 cats inside the cabinet with the play field glass on top. Did not go over well with the ASPCA.

I would not recommend Gottlieb System 80/A/B to a newbie, they are challenging pins to keep running and troubleshoot.

People rag on Data East but the only issues I see consistently with them is GI connectors. Even then that is a 50/50 chance of an issue. My Williams Space Shuttle had the exact same issue as DE, the GI connector smoked on the power supply so this isn't just a DE issue.

A full LED lamp install, replace the crappy IDC 9 pin connectors on the power supply and PPB and you have a very reliable game. NVRAM is a snap, already socketed. The Data East MPU 1/2/3/4 is virtually the same as Williams System 11, indeed some of the DE3/4 boards can be swapped with 11C boards. If you can work on a System 11, you would be very comfortable working on a DE.

I’ll say it again, this time with a pitch: Last Action Hero.
After falling off the cliff into the Hobby, if there was only 1 game I could have and that was my budget and I wasn’t the only one playing it, Last Action Hero.

This game is derivative of Adams Family in its rules, has lots of cool toys, a full topper, full Arnie Voice Acting, A dinosaur, moving crane, 6 ball multi-ball, 2 captive balls, 3 magnets, a DMD, A GIANT MOVING CRANE, and, above all, an UNBELIEVABLY BEAUTIFUL PICTURE OF “THE” ARNOLD SWARTZENEGGER!
The only reason the game is still a budget game is due to the “polarizing” art.
Look at all this stuff! They still go for under $2500 (1 on the market now).
If you are looking for your first pin and are on a $2500 budget, want something family friendly, and some neat stuff this is for you.
I got one of these as my first “fix up and sell” pin on a deal. Should have kept it longer. Here is some stuff from my old machine.

a (resized).jpg

b (resized).jpg

c (resized).jpg

d (resized).jpg

And there is updated coded that balances out the game and plays additional sound clips.

I wouldn't recommend ANY pin in the $2500 range to a new buyer/owner. Too many variables to figure out.

LAH is a great game but it is getting harder to find one at 2500. Seems like everyone now wants 3K or higher.

To the OP, you have been on Pinside for 9 years, own 41 games and write a pinball blog. I think you are completely qualified to suggest a game for your friend. Or even better, sell your LAH to him for 2500 with the stipulation you can buy it back for the same price later on. This way he has a nice starter game and you can get it back.