That’s not bad advice. May be worth trying to save an additional $2000 to get to $4500. A lot more reliable options at that price point.

or just rent him 1 machine for 3 months and if he still plays it sell it to him.Or find Him 1 like it.

Yes lots of options!

I know the Times have really changed!

Any early Bally SS. Easy to play and fix.

Wait a second. OP has 41 machines and wants our advice on a $2,500 game cap that's fun, but not an EM. Seems like OP would already know the answer to this.

You could sell any of these and help out a friend when something breaks.

Screen Shot 2021-05-17 at 9.32.32 PM (resized).png

Haven’t read any other posts yet, but I have to chime in and say Lethal Weapon 3.

Obvious choice. It’s really a no brainer.

No matter how cheap or tempting they may be, do NOT have your first pin be a Gottlieb EM.

Space Station!

If I was in your shoes, I would let them play all my games and let them pick which one they wanted in the 2500 range.

Fishing expedition...

Yes, we all have friends (not ourselves that have been in the hobby for awhile) that are looking for $2500 or less games.

Mods, can one of you please move this thread to the "Buying and selling advice" sub-forum?

Nobody respects anyone's opinions in this hobby! You know that

You have about 6 games you could sell him (or rent) for this price range and not miss yourself since you have about 20 A+ titles.
Be a true friend to your friend.

Sharkey's shootout is a fun game in the price range.

High Speed 2 for $2,500 in GA.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/273337744539355/?ref=search&referral_code=marketplace_search&referral_story_type=post

Recently sold a really nice unfaded NF for $3250. I was on the market for some time and people would ask a lot. Guys calls me and I said "just come look at it and decide" - cash was on the glass and game sold. Don't be afraid to go and look at games as you'll never know what you find.

I would go with a DMD with an easy to achieve multiball. Some system 3 Gottliebs would fit this bill like the Wipeout you have. Data East has some good DMD games in that price. It’s been mentioned before but Lethal Weapon 3 is an absolute blast to play, very approachable rules but actually has multiple scoring strategies that can lead to some big exciting games. All uzi awards and stunt scenes are active and can stack along with multiball and the multiball has some pretty good risk reward rules like changing the jackpot to a double or trying to shoot it quickly twice to get to a quadruple after you lite the double.

Stern Striker Xtreme is probably the newest game that you can get in that price range. It has easy to understand rules and an easy to achieve multiball, most people hate the theme though.

Maybe ask him if theme or gameplay is more important, plenty of games with junk themes that play well and plenty of games with great themes that play like junk, usually if it’s a great theme and a great playing game it’s going to be out of his price range.

I just knocked the dust off my F-14 pin, hadn't been powered up in a couple years. Got me to thinking I wanted another pin so I went to Craigslist and FB Marketplace. All I saw local was "Will buy your working or not working pinball machine" type ads.

Guess a cheap second pin is not going to happen.

My advise would be to have him make a list of games that typically sell for $3,000 - $4,000. My list would include games like Baywatch, Last Action Hero, Demolition Man, Stargate, Terminator 2, Black Rose, Black Knight 2000, Johnny Mnemonic, Batman Forever, NBA Fastbreak, Who Dunnit, Jurassic Park, World Cup Soccer, Judge Dredd, The Getaway, Dirty Harry, Tales from the Crypt, Road Show, Doctor Who, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Fish Tales, Road Show, etc. The more games he can add to that list of acceptable games the better his chances. If anything comes up from that list be ready to run out the door with cash in hand.

If he really wants something now, I'd try to track down a Stars, Meteor, or Flash. They are currently the best bang for your buck, IMHO.

holy shit, even a f14 is commanding a $2500 price tag nowadays??? good lord, we're in trouble.

Second this. If he's not a "pinball guy", it would be a good idea to acclimate him to what he gets at that price point. He might be happy with what's there or decide that he needs to save more to get what he wants, or just taps out altogether.

You could probably get a Breakshot for about that, or go for earlier SS games in the $1500-$2500 price range (I would recommend Mars God of War). Will a noob appreciate a more simplistic early SS game though? It might get stale quicker for them. Also you own 41 games, do you not have a grasp on the current market?

If I had 41 games, and a friend of mine had expressed the desire to get a pinball machine, I would probably just give him/her one of mine. I wouldn't even take any money for it. What difference would it make to me if I had one less game? Where does anyone even put 40 games? It also seems as if you aren't willing to sell your friend a game. Sad.

You sound jealous.

High Speed, Pinbot, F-14 Tomcat, Firepower, or Big Game. High Speed might be the least brutal, short ball time of those for a newby.

I guess the entire fun of these "what's the best game for $X?" threads is spending other people's money, but you've taken it to a new level!

I see you've got two pinball machines yourself though -- the average human has zero and would have no idea where to put even two of them, so maybe you could offer OP's friend one of yours. At no cost, of course, as you're a generous fellow.

Yes, I have two machines. Their value combined would barely reach $2500. I don't think you can equate my two machines to the OP's 41. You are right about one thing, though. I am a generous fellow. If a friend of mine expressed a genuine interest in one of my machines, I would let them have it. They are my friend, and the machine is just a machine. I do not know the OP's friend. I would not give a stranger one of my machines.

Let's be friends! I assure you that I have no ulterior motives!

I am jealous but in a good way.Maybe Im lucky I cant fit more games,I would be broke.

Me either I'll loan you 2 of mine ebc & ebd please return them fixed and working

Why not? OP is obviously more "pinball rich" than you. But you yourself, with $2500 worth of oversized toys sitting in your house, are likely richer than at least 2/3 of the people on earth. Wealth is relative, and these are only luxury goods, not life necessities.

And good on you. Virtue is its own reward, as they say, and you can take pride in being so generous with your friends. I'm not sure why you'd expect OP to adhere to your specific code of generosity though. And given that you have a "no freebies for strangers" rule, I imagine you've got some cut-off between casual acquaintances (small appliances only), work friends (free Sharpshooter if they express interest in pinball), and the inner sanctum that's Space Shuttle worthy. OP hasn't told us anything about his relationship with the "buddy" in question or whether the buddy is more well-to-do in general than he is. So it's probably premature to imply that he's a stingy bastard for refusing to pony up $2500 worth of hardware to his buddy.

A friend of mine just sold an F14 for $3.6. Super nice, PF swap. Didn’t take long to sell... buyer paid for it to ship

Exactly.

It is not pride I feel, it is humility. The few I call friends are like family. I am fortunate to have them. I guess I have a different definition of friend than you.

I might pay that if nice enough. Can't have playfield damage though and has to be working fine.

I thought we were talking “buddies.”

As for friends though, I divide mine into two categories: pool and pond.

5A607413-FEB4-4B72-A465-A8A3536FA542.gif

he is!

Very helpful thread,my local pinball gallery just added a Lethal Weapon 3 to their arcade. I'd like to give it a try,since I never played one before.
Sounds like a game I'd enjoy.
I've also seen a lot of games mentioned in this thread, that I'd like to give a try.

He said 2500 not 25,000. Your pin prices are insane.

ebay.com link: buythru

what could justify these prices I dont get it.

+1 for Bill and Sherry. They just added that and T2 to the floor; both are playing very nicely!

A bunch of the 90s Gottlieb DMD games can still be had for under 2500. In spite of the all the hate, I still think SF2 is still a fun shooter. Plus System 3 electronics are rock solid for beginners.

They would be hard to find, but Getaway and Baywatch are probably the two best games I've seen around that price. I think Hook is a really good he for newbs. It's really under appreciated and can usually be found pretty cheap compared to others.

If it is still possible to buy a Baywatch in the United States under 2,500$, go for it, this game is really great when it is well tuned. Here in Europe its rating is starting to soar, it has long been put aside because of its theme but over time players have realized the fluidity of its game and the variety of shots on its very complete field. We can easily recognize the Data East design behind this SEGA game. A must.

Have agree space shuttle may be your beat option. It's my favorite game.

Get Black Knight and that will wet your whistle for the next 1

As noted you'd have to get pretty lucky to get anything dmd for under 3k these days, that said occasionally can get lucky.

I sold my Popeye in decent shape for 2k awhile back; granted that was before prices spiked even further. I had been trying to get 2500 or so and got a bunch of flakes and lowballers so ended up going ahead with a 2k offer where person was serious and showed up and no bs

Damn Man, You've got 42 games in your collection, can't help your buddy out? I see a couple that would fit the bill.

Big Guns or Gorgar