(Topic ID: 64245)

Are you a Boomer, Gen Y or Gen X? What generation drives the hobby?

By RTR

10 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 308 posts
  • 71 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 10 years ago by o-din
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

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    Topic poll

    “What is your generation?”

    • The Silent Generation 1927-1945 1 vote
    • Baby Boomer 1946-1964 75 votes
      15%
    • Generation X 1965-1980 302 votes
      62%
    • Millennial/Gen Y 1981-2000 104 votes
      21%
    • Gen Z 2001 and after 2 votes
    • GI Generation 1901-1926 1 vote

    (485 votes)

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    There are 308 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 7.
    #1 10 years ago

    Just curious. Seems like more collectors and enthusiasts are entering the hobby. I started thinking it was driven by retiring boomers looking for a hobby in retirement (I am Gen x, but a pretty senior one, lol), but then I was surprised by the number of gamers on the forum. I assume they are millennials/Gen Y

    There are about 400 pinsiders today (I think), so if most of us took the poll and then we re-run it in a year or two, it could start to show some trends. Thanks for participating!

    #2 10 years ago

    Wow, 5 non boomers and 1 boomer so far. I wouldn't have guessed that. Could be that boomers go to bed early....

    #3 10 years ago

    I'm actually buying pokemon X and Y.

    #4 10 years ago

    I would say the amount of Gen Y increasing makes sense. All of the kids of the 90's are big kids now and can afford the sweetness that pinball had to offer back then.

    #5 10 years ago

    Born in '77, so I'm on the tail end of Gen X By the looks of it.

    #6 10 years ago

    I think what you are forgetting is that when arcades were "in" was during the time of the late 1970s until the early 1990s. This is when many if us were introduced to pins. Along with then being in small diners, roller rinks, bowling alleys and the such. This timeframe is predominantly during the Gen X timeframe.

    #7 10 years ago

    #8 10 years ago

    We Gen X'ers are also in the phase in our life where we have more income which we are free to use as we want.

    #9 10 years ago

    I am an old Gen X (1966), pinball was still pretty big in my high school days, but pacman, space invaders, missile command, defender, etc were definitely muscling the pins out of my arcades.

    #10 10 years ago

    Funnily enough, even though I grew up on pinball machines in the late 70s through early 80s, I couldn't give a flying f$%# for owning those machines now (maybe Nugent, It's awesome in my memories). I need the lights and sound and music and strategy for it to be interesting now. Chasing a little ball around a field?? sheesh..might as well be golf!

    #11 10 years ago

    We even have a GI Gen in there - awesome!

    #12 10 years ago

    #13 10 years ago
    Quoted from RTR:

    We even have a GI Gen in there - awesome!

    I wonder if its this dude!

    Old_fart_pinsider.JPGOld_fart_pinsider.JPG

    #14 10 years ago

    #15 10 years ago

    I used Wikipedia's definition of Boomer. There are plenty of opinions on when each generation starts/stops.

    Some people split the boomers into two groups. At any rate, the poll has groupings set, even if artificial.

    O-din, I will put you in the uncategorized category...

    #16 10 years ago

    Birth class of 77, its no surprise to me that majority is GenX so far, most of us were late teens to mid 20's when B/W was cranking out the awesome pins and we were all hanging out at the bar/bowling alley playing it up.

    #17 10 years ago

    #18 10 years ago

    Interesting thought, but you have to remember that Pinsiders don't "drive" the industry. Far from it. There ae lots of vendors and operators out there (domestic and foreign) who collectively have more sway than the very recent home "collector" market. And most of these ops, etc. are probably older than you suspect, boomers or older gen-x'ers...

    #19 10 years ago

    Gen X (1969). Pinball ruled the '70's. Got sucked in by the Kiss pinball machine. Atari 2600 & video arcades dominated my middle school years. Arcades were just beginning to fade when I graduated in '87 (started disappearing from the local malls). SNES in the early 90's. MAME sparked my passion for old arcades, ended up collecting a few. Pinmame made me fall back in love with pinball. TPA on my iPad has fueled my pin obsession exponentially. Unloaded most of my arcades, have a modest pin collection which will grow.

    #20 10 years ago

    Someday I'll sit around the campfire with you younguns and tell you stories of the Sixties.

    #21 10 years ago

    #22 10 years ago
    Quoted from o-din:

    In-betweeners would be nice. And could you throw in a little bacon please.

    I will throw in a rafter of bacon!

    #23 10 years ago

    Are the Gen Y people calling themselves Millenniums now? Which term is more accepted for them?

    #24 10 years ago

    Born the year the Doors were signed to Elektra Records. Doors.JPGDoors.JPG

    #25 10 years ago

    I <3 Billy Zoom...

    l.jpgl.jpg

    #26 10 years ago
    Quoted from Kelly1978:

    Are the Gen Y people calling themselves Millenniums now? Which term is more accepted for them?

    I will poll the three that belong to me and get back to you on that.

    #27 10 years ago
    Quoted from o-din:

    Generation X

    Billy Idol did pretty well for himself.

    #28 10 years ago

    Im am also an in-betweener I have never considered myself a boomer nor a Gen-Xr. but I sure am glad I was able to enjoy pinball when it was available in almost every corner store or arcade.

    11
    #29 10 years ago

    I grew up with these guys:

    image.jpgimage.jpg

    #30 10 years ago
    Quoted from Kelly1978:

    Are the Gen Y people calling themselves Millenniums now? Which term is more accepted for them?

    The term is 'Millennial' (an adjective), not 'Millennium' (a noun), which many use as a synonym for Gen Yers. And besides, the plural of millennium is millennia.

    At least we Boomers were taught proper English in school!

    #31 10 years ago
    Quoted from PinB:

    I grew up with these guys:

    Loved watching those guys!

    10
    #32 10 years ago
    Quoted from PinB:

    I grew up with these guys:

    I grew up dreaming about this.

    Farrah.JPGFarrah.JPG

    #34 10 years ago

    And things you wanted to forget.

    TT.JPGTT.JPG

    #36 10 years ago
    Quoted from PinB:

    I grew up with these guys:

    I still have my JYD!

    #37 10 years ago

    How many of you had to put him in the freezer when he burst open?

    image.jpgimage.jpg

    #38 10 years ago

    To extend this meme: what was the #1 song (in the United States) the day you were born?

    Personally, I was born under the reign of The Beatles _Hey Jude_: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Hot_100_number-one_singles_of_1968

    #39 10 years ago
    Quoted from Finrod:

    To extend this meme: what was the #1 song (in the United States) the day you were born?
    Personally, I was born under the reign of The Beatles Hey Jude_: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Hot_100_number-one_singles_of_1968

    #40 10 years ago

    I'm gen x although that has nothing to do with why I'm genex

    #41 10 years ago

    #42 10 years ago

    Okay, which one of us is pushing 90? You need to be celebrated as our elder statesman!

    #43 10 years ago

    #44 10 years ago
    Quoted from Pin-it:

    Born the year the Doors were signed to Elektra Records.

    Born the year the Beatles' White album was released.

    Quoted from Finrod:

    To extend this meme: what was the #1 song (in the United States) the day you were born?

    Hello,I love you - The Doors

    #45 10 years ago

    I picked Z instead of Y opps ignore one of those give it to the other. Side note wish pin side would let you retract votes and change if need be and also if you post a poll and you forgot to add something or spelling mistake to edit it.

    #47 10 years ago

    #48 10 years ago
    Quoted from o-din:

    The year I was born. I guess it all makes sense now.

    yep,got that EBD 1981.

    #49 10 years ago

    Actually,

    the pre wars are not Silent, they are "The Great Generation" and from 1975-6 should be Gen Y or Gen MTV.

    I was born in 1979, child of Baby Boomers, and definitely not a part of Gen X, they have different, bleaker, perspective on life, less education etc....and my generation is somewhat less f*cked up by Baby Boomers. I was definitely raised by MTV, Star Wars and in the grasp of 80s marketing... Those are the sole reason I even understand English, because those previous generations had different upbringing, less TV influences and in school you can't learn a language anyway.

    That's why I voted for Gen Y. No, sir, I don't want to be associated with doomed Generation X in any way.

    In my country there are fairs in most towns several times per year. These are based upon major Christian holidays (red dates in Church Calendar) that in modern age have grown into travelling Luna Parks or Amusement Parks or whatever they are called in your neck of woods. They used to have four or five arcades on the regular basis. I was enchanted by video games since the 1986s, but in those times there were always more pinball machines than video games there. However, for my poor allowance, video games offered much more fun time per coin than pinball, so I didn't play it then. Tried on few occasions, I remember my five balls on Centaur lasted less than a minute. However, it was always impressive to me (especially pinballs that talk!), so I remember: Mata Hari, Flash Gordon, Flash, Fathom, Vector, Electra, Centaur, Haunted House, Pantera and from newer Mousin' Around, Fish Tales.
    Our next fair is tomorrow, they have set up already. Sadly for the last 10 years it's only one arcade. I'm looking forward to playing some Scared Stiff. They also have Fish Tales with one working flipper which I don't care for as I have a Fish Tales at home, and non-working worn-playfield-and-"restored"-with-sharpie Stargate and non-working Johhny Mnemonic with so much plastic bags stuffed into its outlines that I suspect the poor chap is seriously hypoxic. And the owner doesn't want to sell for a remotely reasonable price, even the broken ones, he has seen your prices and hopes to one day sell his beater Johnny to one of you for 5000 eur despite the fact it isn't worth a jack in that condition and it has already earned him ten times that over the years and no one is putting coins in it anymore.

    #50 10 years ago

    I object to being lumped in with those toddlers born in 1980. I was in High School by then.

    There are 308 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 7.

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