Novato, CA
Well here I am about 4-5 months into this hobby after realizing "hey I can own a pinball machine now". Slippery slope really it is, I know I am not alone in this. You have heard the tales too, you been warned son/mam. What did Granpa Pinside tells you "you can't buy just one you will see" is so true. I thought I was stronger than this and was always proud of my will power. But after getting one in the door it was like I found my new drug of choice and my only cure is more pinball.
So I did not follow the above and I thought I can stop buying at anytime, just one more and I will be content. So you build a room to hold your hobby under the ruse of a little nostalgia a arcade game here and a pool table there, oh and a row of pins against that one wall should have no problem fitting what I have in my living room and have room to spare! Oh but wait what is this I see if I don't put the MAME cabinet or my 720 in the "pin room" I can fit MORE PINS!!!!! Than you start staring at your other hobbies your surfboards and mtn bikes begin to annoy you the mere thought of that pool table brings chills down your spine. Sort of like a disease you start turning into a pinball zombie, you play pinball, dream about pinball and most talk to anyone that will listen about the idea that "they can have a pinball machine too", you start speaking pinball gospel constantly. So much so your family members begins to worry and ask you to please refrain from so much pinball talk.
Eventually the inevitable happens you end up forgoing things like dining room tables and end up with pinball machines eventually invading the space you said was not for them but yet they are there and more are coming. Than you realize wake the f up you bought to much and went a bit crazy and now it's time to curve your habit a bit and as my mom once said "get a grip on reality".
Well the above is a bit sarcastic and a little in jest it is a bit true but truly where I sit right now, I over did it. As much as I love this hobby there are only so many machines one can own at one time. So yeah regardless of my absolute love of pinball you be careful if your just starting out in this hobby, things can sort of domino fast. Would I prefer to have that new car I was planning on buying for cash and instead shot my load on a pinball collection,HELL NO! I have a blast playing almost daily, playing most of my collection but i bore fast and some games are not being played enough to warrant the space, and having machines dominating my house is a no no in my book. Games that I don't seem to just want to master will go. Playing pinball I hope will always be a part of my life and since I got the first one home has exceeded all other hobbies including video games by far.
Only thing positive I can say is no I did not sell the Pool Table. Did not turn my home gym/office into more pins or ever contemplate bringing one upstairs into my bedroom.
If I could give a few tips for new people to the hobby I would start with be more selective than me. Do not think just because you love a theme/art package or the playfield looks cool that you will love the game. You liking theme has zilch to do with gameplay when the ball is in play, so I know its hard to play every game before you buy but it's truly the only way to go on a older title. I got lucky with WH20 I love it, family loves it and I never played it before hand, true luck here. X-Men which I took a bath on was a game I was positive I would love. Love the comics, movies basically my favorite comic book by far nothing was close. I played it less than 50 times in three months and no code was saving the fact that I hated the game, the shots for me just felt odd and nothing clicked, was hard for to me admit that no code would change the fact that game annoyed me. You take this risk on any NIB purchase or a game you have not played, I know the worth thing is you have to sell but not always easy. Taking a loss to move this game was one of my better moves.
My last tip on buying and you will learn this the hard way. This will also sort of defeat the last paragraph but it is that important. Act quicker than Speedy Gonzalez on a pinball deal you want. It does not matter pinside, craigslist or ebay or your dad's friend people will always be there with cash and a truck without asking for discounts if a pin is a good deal. If it's a good deal to you and it's public you can bet your ass someone is jumping all over it while you are thinking about it and scratching your nads. I lost a few deals because I was slow and learned the hard way and than later I acted super duper fast and ended up with my holy grail "Tron LE" a game I never thought would be at home.
So in short, don't over do it, not wise or necessary a few machines is better than ton. Sorry to anyone with 10+ machines do not mean to offend but unless you don't work or grow a few extra heads and limbs I am not sure how you do it but I envy you all the same. Anyways enough rambling going to go play some Tron and LOTR and I hope this helps someone out there who is falling down this rabbit hole. Feel lucky to have taken this ride of course and learned a few more life lessons along the way.
p.s. Pinside is by far the best community I have ever been a part of and a few people on here told me to slow down a long time ago. I needed to learn my lessons in my own way but it still was cool of people even selling me games to say you are overdoing it son.
Kamloops, BC
Weitersburg
). Playing in an arcade would cost money, so playing at home kind of saves money. Spending a lot of money on a pin is only reasonable when I get something back for the purchasing price.
