Quoted from fosaisu:

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.

Quoted from fosaisu: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.

Quoted from fosaisu:

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.