Now that I have a few games - more than will comfortably fit set-up in may garage, and with my decision to be more careful about my public contacts through Craig's List, I thought I might set up a booth at the flea market and sell some games out of there. Maybe it could double as a "Pinball Museum" or something and people can pay to play them, and if someone wants to buy one, that'd be just ducky. By the way, my games are of the early solid state variety. I think my newest game is 95. So it's not like I'm not thinking of taking a bunch of $5,000 pins to the flea market. Thought I should clarify that.
I went to one of the local flea markets this last week, and a booth with an AC, and enough power to run maybe 5 pins and maybe a 60-in-one. Might be about $300 a Month. I like the temporary aspect of the flea market, that is you aren't required to sign a long term contract. Heck, I can set up for a single day, then pack my stuff up and go home! But they have security, and I thought I might make a go of it for a month to test the waters. I'm in a unique position with my day job where I can get my job done in the first part of the week, and then be available for this Fri, Sat, & Sunday. Apparently they require you to have your booth open on the days they are, from 9-4. That seems reasonable I guess. Looks bad to have a bunch of booths not open.
My girlfriend and I disagree about the popularity of Pinball, and the current zeitgeist surrounding it, but it seems to me that antique pinball machines are just the sort of antique things they sell at the flea market. Just a little bigger. The people one sees typically wondering around these flea market are on the average - not all ways, but there are many older people in this group, and my premise is that now they have retired, this will give them a chance to relive some of their youthful pinball days - like before all those video games came along. And, maybe something for some of the husbands to do while their wives examine the depression glass.
Anyone else do anything like this? I mean, I know there are lots of storefronts as arcades, but I mean a sort of Sales/Arcade mashup. I asked them and they said at this particular flea market they didn't know of anyone having any pinball machines, video games, etc since they opened some 50 years ago. I find that a little hard to believe, since my recollection was that the things were fairly ubiquitous in the 70s. I KNOW the flea market I went to as a kid had an bunch of pins. Whenever we'd go to the flea market I'd spend my time in there while mom shopped.
Maybe it's just me wanting to live MY glory days. My girlfriend may be right, I might be projecting. It's sort of a nitch thing, these aren't the multi-level zillion-mode games.
-B