I am sort of a combination of these two. I am a total newbie with money. I am a very mediocre player and try to fix what I can but I have been in on this hobby for less than a year and am trying to improve. I have used the Pinside top 100 to help decide which games to look into but have typically at least tried them first. I played and loved both MB and LOTR on location--and purchased LOTR--before I was even aware of Pinside. I have new games like my WOZRR, TH Smaug, GB Pro, MMR and sometime to be DI LE that I plan to mod to varying degrees and keep in as pristine of condition as I can. I have a used TZ and Avatar LE that others with more time and skill than I have already modded out and restored and I also plan to do my best to keep them in great condition, in honor of the time spent by the previous owner. Then I have player's condition games that I might put protectors, Color DMDs or LEDs in but mostly care that they are playable and functioning correctly.

In the end, even though I have spent quite a bit on games in a short time, I feel I am more a player than a collector. I want nice looking and fun games that will be PLAYED. I play them, my kids play them, their friends play them, my friends and family and my wife play them. I even invite acquaintances over if they express an interest in pinball or arcade games. We have frequent large parties (20-70 people or so) and the entire arcade is on and being played.

I am a bit about "consumption and showing off as a hobby" but my ultimate goal is for people to have fun and get excited about pinball! I have already had four friends who are either looking or already purchased their own machine based on visiting my house and playing my pins. My interest and "curiosity about the game, its history, or a collection" are growing day to day but I do have very little interest in any games made before about Funhouse/DMD time era.

Stern did take a page from Harley Davidson.

You do know who Dave Peterson is don't you?

Sounds like me too. The only people I disdain in the hobby are the disdainers. Arrogance is acceptable in very small doses in very few things in this world IMO. So what if the only types of games someone likes are 90s era DMD? Their money and their interest help the hobby too.

I don't seem to run into these mythical people that have collections they don't want people to play. Everyone I know with games loves to have them played. When I have people over, the only games that can't be played are the are the ones I didn't have time to fix yet.

Anyone with a pinball machine they don't want played is definitely in the wrong hobby.

I don't want to be labeled a "collector" just because I have some pinball machines. Pinball is just a hobby I enjoy, but I'm not out to "collect them all"; build some grail collection; or show off restored examples that can't be played.

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Like every community, no matter how small, instead of reaping the benefits of coming together we rather insist on fragmenting into smaller groups who are "just like us".

So many posts on the hierarchy of pinball hobbyists - why can't we just enjoy the hobby in different ways and be happy that we all love the same thing?

Good point... everyone's opinions matter and can be incorporated into making decisions or understsnding the hobby more. I guess my comment about tournament players vs casual players was more about having a better understanding of how to weigh comments and various opinions on a machine. The fact is a tournament player definitely approaches a game way differently than a non-tournament player... doesn't mean one way is right and one way is wrong. Just different

Collecting pinball machines is just like everything else.

Take classic cars for instance.

There are those who like drivers and there are others who like trailer queens.

There are those who like restoring cars and there are others who would rather buy one already restored.

There are those who only like unmolested survivors and others who like pimped-out pro street cars.

There are those who are only in it to flip cars and there are others who put more money into one than they could resell it for but don't care because they plan to keep it.

Nothing new here.

Just like pinball you will have jealous people with "drivers" who attempt to belittle the rich guys with trailer queens or Supercars.

Of course then you will also have the snobby people with rare and expensive cars who look down upon someone who isn't as privileged who owns a less-desirable car.

....and on and on...............................

You can basically pick any hobby and it's all the same. Nothing new here. The OP was simply stating the obvious.

I didn't assume anything. Each man chooses what to do with his time. Unless he is letting someone else choose for him.

I can't quite tell if this is serious. I suppose technically yes, I choose to goto work, I choose to commute in a congested area, and I choose to pay my bills. I gotta say OP, its good to hear that pinball is not the number one priority.

And I chose to sit on the phone half a day with at+t yesterday. Glad that's out of the way.

How you enjoy pinball is often determined by where you are in life and this changes over time. It's often a trade-off between money, free time and how you prioritize aspects of your life. Are you married, have kids, career that requires 60hrs per week or 40? Are you retired or a student?

My point is before we judge others too harshly for the manner in which they enjoy pinball perhaps people are enjoying pinball in what could be the only way they can right now. And perhaps if circumstances were different you would enjoy pinball differently as well. So we're all the same really in the end. We just love pinball.

Before someone complains that he has limited time to play or work on pinball, he could prioritize his time so he could have more time to do so. The other option is to be happy with the path he has chosen and quit complaining.

+1. I usually get out in the garage around 4am to get a couple of quality hours of quiet pin repair Zen time to myself.
Best two hours of the day, a lot gets done.

I think I would rather hear someone complain about not having enough free time, rather than hear about how they placed pinball ahead of work or family

I fall in the 1b category. Love to play pinball but have to scrounge for money while purchasing machines that I can afford. My machines don't need to be perfect or have to be the machines everyone wants. Most of pinside probably wouldn't purchase one of my machines. I settle with what I can afford. I have got my grandchildren into really loving pinball. My pinball playing love is for me but the enjoy I get out of the them seeing a new pinball come home is great.

I guess that's where we differ my friend.

I can't imagine my post would get a lot of up votes if I lost my job because I kept arriving late trying to sneak a few games in beforehand or my kid missed his little league game because I was having the game of my life. I don't see someone wanting to play more pinball but having other responsibilities as a bad thing.

I was thinking something similar. Over time my collection has changed significantly from "I have some pinball games" to "I have pinball games in beautiful condition that are favorites for some reason"

Early on cost/value was more important than physical condition (not counting MM which I bought NIB - and thought I would never buy another game new). I bought games to play and sold many. I bought games to fix (some I did, others I just resold), but at one point decided quality was more important than quantity and decided that if there was a game I was going to keep long term, it was going to be in great condition.

Now I have about 1/2 as many games, but they are all either purchased new, fully restored, Collector Quality or very nice HUO or similar games. Not only do they look great, but every one is a family favorite for one reason or another. (Except the EMs - I'm the only one that likes them). Now, I'm constrained by space. Can't add a new game unless something else goes. And I'm no willing to bring in a new game unless I'm pretty sure it's going to be a keeper. If you had told me 20 years ago this is what my collection would have evolved to, I would have thought you were crazy.

I think you miss categorized this in your use of "collector first player second" Term.
Since I consider myself a collector first, player second type of person. I can say The 50 pins I own have nothing to do with the value or prices of any other games. How are we the ones that drive up prices??? Please explain?
Are we the ones buying every pin that comes up for sale then throwing LED's in them and flipping them the next week with a $1000 markup? No we buy our games and keep them for a long time. Key word is "FLIPPING" not collecting. Sure you can say well your hoarding games. Yeah I am. Don't think my Flash, Jungle lord or TAF with a combined of over 30,000. machines made has any effect on prices what so ever.
What's this drama you mention about LE's and SLE's and what are we stirring up? I'm totally lost how being a collector first player second has anything to do with it. You either buy one or you don't.
Yes I have HUO games with very little plays on them. Why? Well with so many games it's hard to put a lot of plays on one single game. Not because I don't want it played. You have your "Honeymoon" stage where you play a bunch of games every night but then there are others that need played. I even invite my friends from my league over to play.
For those of you that don't know this. Stern, JJP and now PPS make runs of games (for the most part) You want one, you order one. As long as there are orders they will keep making the game.
And I'm really not sure how we can possibly make buying and selling games more of a hassle. Again, if you want a game, buy it. If you want to sell it, sell it. Want to keep prices down? Don't buy games that are overpriced. That simple. Want to keep more availability of games? Buy more NIB games so manufacturers build more.
PS: I'm really thick skinned so not offended by anyone or anything. I know we all have different views of what we like.

Completely agree. I was in a tourney with a BttF. The real hardcore players were bashing the ramps to get delorean millions. Understandable, it is the safe way to get points but so very boring. I was going for the drops and locks for multi. . .ehem. . .tri-ball. It is a little bit more fun. Now ask me if I got even close to winning my group LOL.

A lot of divisibility in the hobby in the last few years.

Lots of people having all the answers, not heeding sound advice and not being responsible with their money.

Funny, when I read the first post in this thread, I found it to be negative.

I really don't understand why the OP started taking things personally here. Editing the thread title and editing out his posts is a real toddler tantrum move.

Don't hold your breath. Lots of punks and cowards in this hobby.

I've taken this same approach, even going so far as to inviting perfect strangers over to my house for pinball one evening.

Most people that go to the shows have little insecure clique groups that they stay in and never leave.

Long story short, very, very, very few took me up on my offer.

Live and let live.

If you ever decide to come to the SFGE, shoot me a PM.

Better to just walk away, I agree. I'd say he's just under pressure and needs more support from Pinsiders than they're accustomed to giving. I can respect that.

This dude is... interesting. When I was doing my podcast, some guy somewhere else said "I can't stand what you're doing" and agodfrey plussed him! I thought that was odd, like... you're passionate about pinball, I'm passionate about pinball, why have beef? But it seems like guy is a bit too sensitive to have a normal conversation. Which, I know, is breaking some of your domepieces coming from me, but...

Anyways, dude. I hope you come back 30 days from now. Passionate people are always good.

Wow......I don't even know what to say about all of this. Who the hell posts a pic of themselves on the internet and says "come and fight me"? I've read through all the post and don't really see anything to be so mad about. Am I missing something here?

I'm at a loss on this one myself???? Thread and title were about different types of collectors and players. Then do a complete 360 and change it? Anyway what a lot of noobs and younger people need to realize is there are many different types of people in this hobby for many different reasons. We all make a little chunk of it even if we don't see eye to eye on everything.

+1

It's probably best not to question or be presumptuous about what else might be going on in the OP's life.

For sure, but I'm also not too keen on the whole "now this is why we need the great purge!". Just because someone said something in your thread that you don't like? Respond, ignore it, put the person on ignore, or move on. Getting rid of people who offend you will eventually equal nobody posting on Pinside.

I don't think anyone is questioning him about anything but we are all here to talk pinball because we love pinball, maybe even make some new friends along the way. I think there are some jerks on This forum myself, but I'm not about to come on here and ask someone to fight me. I'm pretty blown away by that and speechless just to be honest with you.

Unless I'm missing something, dude said "come see me and we'll talk", I don't think that is necessarily synonymous with "come see me and we'll throw down".

Maybe I took it wrong but that's kinda what I got out of it and then the next poster said yeah I've even ask strangers to come over and play some pinball and very very very few took me up on my offer. Maybe I'm wrong but that's sure the way that I perceived it. Oh well whatever, doesn't matter anyways I guess.

Is there a category for spending more time on Pinside than playing, fixing, restoring, modding pinball machines?
Kidding.....
I got into this hobby because I love making custom mods. However, that has become secondary because this hobby has created some new friends for me.

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Yo, if I'm ever in Hotlanta, I'd love to play some pinball at your house. People opening their collection up to strangers is the most beautiful thing about this hobby.

That was... odd. Not sure what else I would say.

Game on!

Uh. What the hell just happened?

Been following this thread since it started and was enjoying it. Didn't see this coming.

Ok I gotta ask since I couldn't figure it out before. HOW THE HELL DO YOU CHANGE THE TITLE OF A THREAD?
I tried and couldn't figure it out before????

If you posted it to begin with, just go in and edit it. Click the little pencil picture lower right corner.

LTG : )

No crap, I found it. Yeah I was talking about a thread I made. Didn't see that little pencil icon. Thanks. Now if you could just hop on over the the "how to install a shaker motor in a LOTR" thread and answer my question there that would be great! I know you do tech support for JJP ?right? Yeah it a stern but what the heck.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-to-install-shaker-motor-in-lotr-standard-edition

LTG : )

Is there a setting to turn it on ?

LTG : )