First, join your local league so you are in touch with the natives that might have some games to sell you.

Next, save up what you want to spend, let's say save $3500.

Once you have your budget, you will have great clarity as to what games you could buy.

Having a fixed budget will keep you from overspending.

You should also sell all the crap you have sitting around your house. Sell the RAM from your old computer, sell the car amps & speakers from your old car, sell that bass guitar you have sitting in the closet.

The OP should also be aware that there are no broken pins just sitting around bars anymore waiting for you to come buy them.

As of last year, they have all been bought.

Even working pins in bars have signs on them NOT to call the operator inquiring about buying them, because operators get 20 calls a day from idiots thinking they are going to sell it to them for $1000.

"Heyyyyyy, I saw you have an old pinball machine at Harry's in Cinci. I was wondering if you......" Those get deleted instantly.

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You should offer to buy those "old pinball games" for $1000 each!

Yep. Last year.

You never know.

James "King of Cranes" lost a few Crane games when a movie theater went out of business.

8 years latter, a new owner bought the theater, and called James to "Get these things out of my building!".

The new owner made him take his two cranes but also forced him to take a few pins and a photo booth.

We joked that the extra machines were interest on the cranes that were not earning.