So the past couple weeks I've been tweaking and changing my wishlist, researching machines, and trying to decide upon whether I should include looking for machines from the early to mid 80's.

I've finally concluded that while machines from the early to mid 80's have some amazing designs, they weren't the machines I grew up with. Not only that, but when I compare many of them to my Surf 'n Safari, the rulesets and things to do seem a little too basic for my tastes.

I realize now that the machines I'm attracted most to are the ones that started to evolve in complexity and design when I was growing up during the very late 80's into the early 90's and beyond. Some examples of such machines are Funhouse, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Bride of Pinbot, etc.

What I'm trying to do now is come up with some potential candidates that would feel equivalent or be an upgrade from my Surf n' Safari. I do have some machines I'm very interested in that are DMD, namely Jurassic Park and Getaway. However, I know there are a lot of other DMDs that could be more affordable than them that are also fun.

But are there any alphanumeric machines from the very late 80's that I should consider as well? Some machines I'm thinking of are Swords of Fury, Black Knight 2000, etc.

Again, my goal is to try and find a machine that will compliment my Surf n' Safari and not feel like a downgrade for a 2nd machine.

Suggestions are welcomed! Thanks!

UPDATE 5/29/2020:

I posted in the Northeast for Sale an updated guideline for my budget range, and this is what I wrote:

I'm basically looking for a fun, solid machine from the 80's for around the $1000-$2000 price range depending on the machine and quality. Examples of machines I like from this time period are:
High Speed
F-14 Tomcat
Space Shuttle
Space Station
Pinbot
Genesis
Road Kings, the list could go on and on!

Alternatively, I'm looking for slightly more advanced Alpha-Numeric and DMD machines with a budget range of $2000-$3000. Examples of machines I like from this time period are:
Jurassic Park
The Getaway: High Speed 2
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Jack*Bot, the list would go on and on as well!

The main thing is my budget range is including shipping, if required.

I've seen that Whirlwinds are starting to really ramp up in price unfortunately. It really looks fun and interesting. I agree that Bride of Pinbot, while super cool looking in design, is incredibly simple.

Back when I was younger I mainly played BoP, Funhouse, Attack from Mars, and I know I played another but I can't remember which one it was unfortunately.

Apollo 13 is one machine I'd like, but it doesn't come up often.

Black Rose I'd really like to get as well, but it's also uncommon and its price has been going higher.

Let me explain: Surf 'N Safari has a lot of variety on the playfield: It has two ramps, a spinner shot, targets up the middle, left side, and right side. 3 bumpers that bounce the ball around nicely. The layout is solid and doesn't feel like a one trick pony. The goal of the game is to make the different ramps and targets to fill up this vertical grid. Basically, there are lots of things you have to do on the machine.

So what I'm looking for is another machine that offers a similar kind of complexity, as opposed to a machine that offers one or two ramps and not much else to achieve jackpot. For example, Pinbot is a really cool table and I love the design, but gameplay wise, you really only are shooting the ball towards a couple areas and that's it as far as I know. I feel like if I were to play a game like that, I'd just want to go back to Surf 'n Safari.

In other words, Pinbot wouldn't feel equivalent to Surf 'n Safari in terms of gameplay and features.

I think at maximum I can fit 5 machines with my current setup. So it wouldn't be a big collection.

That's why I want to try and carefully choose which machines to get.

I actually was thinking about buying that one when it came up recently. For some reason pool theming turns me off and I don't know why cause I like pool.

High Roller Casino is very cool looking and is on my wishlist!

And yes, there are definitely some Whitestar machines I like: Apollo 13, Goldeneye, Independence Day, Starship Troopers, Godzilla off the top of my head.

Yep, that did look like an appealing machine and is on my wishlist.

It's not so much I'm looking for something similar, just something that doesn't feel too simple. For example, I was looking at Road Kings for a while, but realized there isn't much to really do in it. Same with a game like F-14 Tomcat, which presentation wise is amazing.

But don't get me wrong, I'd certainly own F-14 Tomcat, High Speed, or any of the mid 80's games if the price is reasonable. Right now their pricing feels a bit too high for what they offer.

There are definitely a lot of machines from the entire decade of the 80's that I really thought looked fun, Xenon being one of them. TX-Sector is one I absolutely love to get, but not if the price is too high from its average. That's the current challenge I'm facing is even machines that used to be sub $1000, like Road Kings or Special Forces, now are selling for $1500+ or more.

I vary my budget according to the machine I'm looking for. Because I know there's no way I'll get a Jurassic park for $1500 for example, at least not in this day and age now. So I scale my budget accordingly. If I had to give a hard cap on my budget it would be $3000, including the shipping if I had to do that.

Revenge from Mars I'm torn on, because some people love the Pinball 2000 system, and others hate it. Star Wars Episode I for example, doesn't seem to be well liked among the community, but Revenge From Mars is liked for the most part. If I were to buy a Revenge from Mars though I'd replace the CRT screen with an LCD.

Medusa did look really mind blowing in design when I watched gameplay videos of it. Really impressive for its time!

Basically, I do have a lot of machines on my wishlist that I'd certainly like, but only if the price is reasonable for that respective machine. As I said before, the market is insane right now for pricing. I've been trying to get a High Speed or F-14 Tomcat for around $1500 and it is not happening right now haha.

I definitely agree. It's just right now they generally have not been at their usual price, haha.

I appreciate the Dale Jr link. I personally don't like the theming of Dale Jr. compared to the Nascar. I'm not a big Nascar fan to begin with, but I liked the cars on the translite for the Nascar one.

I'll have to keep him in mind when he puts other machines up for sale! I'm just not a fan of having to look at Dale Jr on the playfield personally, haha.

It's too bad the monte carlo was beaten up, but I thnk there are more interesting casino themed machines out there like Jack*Bot and High Roller Casino.

Unfortunately that is likely gone by now. Great price though!

I just realized a challenge I will face is I'm not familiar with proper transportation of a machine. I don't have any equipment really that can move it aside from a standard hand truck.

They are on my list, yep! I wasn't considering them at first cause of the movies they were based on, but I hear the machine designs are solid and fun.

That's a way cooler Translite! Very nice lighting as well!

Damn, that's awesome...

I gotta remember that I can always replace the crappy translights for some of those cheesy and terrible Gottlieb games like Raven and Hollywood Heat.

STTNG is definitely high up on my list, but way out of my price range currently!

I posted in the Northeast for Sale an updated guideline for my budget range, and this is what I wrote:

I'm basically looking for a fun, solid machine from the 80's for around the $1000-$2000 price range depending on the machine and quality. Examples of machines I like from this time period are:
High Speed
F-14 Tomcat
Space Shuttle
Space Station
Pinbot
Genesis
Road Kings, the list could go on and on!

Alternatively, I'm looking for slightly more advanced Alpha-Numeric and DMD machines with a budget range of $2000-$3000. Examples of machines I like from this time period are:
Jurassic Park
The Getaway: High Speed 2
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Jack*Bot, the list would go on and on as well!

The main thing is my budget range is including shipping, if required.

Glad you rescued it! Getaway looks very fun!

Maybe I'll have to figure out a "trading up" strategy to eventually reach a dream machine. Who knows if that's feasible anymore though.

High Speed is way up there on my wishlist. All the offers I've received have usually been $2200+ though, which is too much in my opinion.

Beaten up though and will need work. Also it would have to be shipped where I am.

It's in very nice shape with a new hard top and plastics. I've just seen similar sold for less on average.

Oh, I was not aware of the sub $3000 thread! Thanks! I'll keep an eye on it.

"The game plays but some switches are not registering. Playfield has some pretty good wear around flippers. Some cracked plastics and sling plastics are broken. Cab is solid with wear consistent with the age of game...definitely needs a good cleaning and to be shopped"

Sounds like it's fairly beaten up and needs work. Not currently interested in machines like that as a newbie.

Certainly not a bad price. It looks like it needs work and would have to be shipped.

Shackler does have some really nice stuff to sell and at good prices! And Space Shuttle looks like a ton of fun, along with Space Station.

Nice! If I was more experienced working on machines I would have certainly grabbed it!

That is definitely what I'm doing unfortunately. It's mainly due to two factors:

1. Not being experienced enough to touch up and repair or fix a pin
2. Not being totally comfortable or familiar with picking up a pin and avoiding damaging it during transport and setting it up in the basement.

That's why in some ways, I'm almost looking for a pin that's "cheaper" so if I do screw up during pickup and transport I won't feel completely awful.

That's actually one of the few pins I have zero interest in, haha. I'm just not a fan of hockey.

So far the game i'm possibly looking at is Firepower, or a Road Kings a person on facebook offered me. It had some nasty wear on it though.

Thanks for letting me know. Unfortunately I have no interest in that machine.

I've watched the gameplay from Papa and it just doesn't look appealing to me. I can see how some would love to have it though.

I definitely would like to work on a machine someday to then re-sell it, but it would be nice to have a machine I'd have fun playing too as a reward for the hard work, haha.

The temptation to buy it is insane for me right now! But I realized I need to get more comfortable with maintenance and repair with machines to stop being reluctant with buying another one.

So as much as it pains me to skip over TX-Sector, I think being able to work on my Surf 'n Safari is ultimately going to be more beneficial for me. I haven't even taken the time to count the bulbs so I can change them out to LED yet!

I agree with everything you've said! I would like to get to know a local pinsider in the future. For now, I'll gradually work on tweaking and fixing things on Surf 'N Safari. Earlier today I was looking at what tools I need to get and made up a list!

The game I have is a Gottlieb System 3 I think (Surf 'N Safari) which should hopefully be relatively similar.

Interesting. Well, the good news is there aren't any significant problems with it. It's mainly just replacing rubbers, putting in LEDs, and possibly replacing the flippers or just pieces of the flipper mechanism like the coil.

That will likely be my next machine, or F-14 Tomcat. Swords of Fury also looks awesome too. Lionman! Lionman!

I expanded my criteria, and I got a nice Sky Jump followed by a Whirlwind project.

The Sky Jump Em is incredibly addictive and fun. It just makes you want to play and play and play.