So today I see a Firepower for sale on eBay...in Tempe AZ. The price is good and the auction is almost over. PROBLEM IS...I'm just north of Omaha. 1320+ miles away! Winning bid will likely be $150-200. Yet I still want this thing and immediately started trying to figure out a way to get it picked up and delivered. "Hmmm I know a guy in Minnesota and I think his parents live in AZ. I wonder if they are close to Tempe and would pick up and store and maybe meet me on their way to Minnesota some day. This makes sense. This could work. I bet I can get this figured out!"

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? It's a broken, worn and scratched up Firepower that the seller says doesn't work! He put a bunch of crappy pics up and I can tell even from them that this machine is pretty tore up. I am restoring one for myself right now and want another one???

Answer me this. Will I get BETTER or WORSE the longer I am in pinball?

#2 11 years ago

LTG

Pinside member

Hopkins, MN

12y 191K 56,967 24 7

OP
Quoted from Pafasa:
Will I get BETTER or WORSE the longer I am in pinball?

You went through all this, and then posted it here.

I think you are already past worse. You have a long future of worse ahead of you.

Ain't pinball great !

LTG : )

#3 11 years ago

DAJ

Pafasa

Inactive member

Oakland, NE

12y 58,900 3,955 1

Good to know. Should I tell the wife now or just let her figure it out?

#4 11 years ago

LTG

Pinside member

Hopkins, MN

12y 191K 56,967 24 7

OP
Quoted from Pafasa:
Good to know. Should I tell the wife now or just let her figure it out?

I'm sure she already has it figured out.

Yet she loves you anyway.

You have a win win going.

LTG : )

#5 11 years ago

PDJ

blizz81

Pinside member

Omaha, NE

12y 72,800 1,170 5

I just made an offer on a table for more than what I bought the car I drive around day in day out. Different tangent but same question. No wife to clear it through, though!

#6 11 years ago

JAC

Fatsquatch

Pinside+ Frequent

Harrison, TN

14y 76,900 1,394 8 1

I agree with Lloyd, unless you're a somewhat new collector and still in the initial "honeymoon" phase.

When the fever first hits, most people go a bit crazy and start trying to score any machine that they can. This often leads to collector's paying too much for stuff, buying machines that they probably shouldn't have, and just generally investing A LOT of time, effort and money into setting up purchases that ultimately have no staying power in their collection.

After someone's been collecting long enough, though, they usually tend to start picking their battles a bit more carefully; only really pursuing games that are truly worth the trouble. I think the details related to the acquisition of games tends to get more sensible for the seasoned collector as well.

#7 11 years ago

ERJ

tracelifter

Inactive member

12y 80,300 6,318

OP
Quoted from Pafasa:
So today I see a Firepower for sale on eBay...in Tempe AZ. The price is good and the auction is almost over. PROBLEM IS...I'm just north of Omaha. 1320+ miles away! Winning bid will likely be $150-200. Yet I still want this thing and immediately started trying to figure out a way to get it picked up and delivered. "Hmmm I know a guy in Minnesota and I think his parents live in AZ. I wonder if they are close to Tempe and would pick up and store and maybe meet me on their way to Minnesota some day. This makes sense. This could work. I bet I can get this figured out!"
WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? It's a broken, worn and scratched up Firepower that the seller says doesn't work! He put a bunch of crappy pics up and I can tell even from them that this machine is pretty tore up. I am restoring one for myself right now and want another one???
Answer me this. Will I get BETTER or WORSE the longer I am in pinball?

#8 11 years ago

TOM

Tomcat

Inactive member

Weitersburg

11y 27,150 203 2 14

Move to an european country. Your problems will stay the same, but distances are shorter. Well, unless you discover pins used as chicken coop in some backwater town in moldovia...

#9 11 years ago

DAJ

Pafasa

Inactive member

Oakland, NE

12y 58,900 3,955 1

LTG: You are so right!

Tomcat: Got any pics of that "chicken coop"?

Blizz81: You're in my area. Play much at Bene'?

Fatsquatch: So you say logic and reason will start to appear again?

Tracelifter: Funny.

#10 11 years ago

JAC

Fatsquatch

Pinside+ Frequent

Harrison, TN

14y 76,900 1,394 8 1

OP
Quoted from Pafasa:
Fatsquatch: So you say logic and reason will start to appear again?

Well, to some degree. I think we can all agree that us pin collector's are pretty much bat-shit insane.

#11 11 years ago

JJZ

toyotaboy

RandOM Pinball

Allyn, WA

12y 184K 11,937 3 14

I'm currently shopping one out, have another in queue, yet I still look at craigslist everyday knowing there's no way I could buy another one right now. I think I finally understand how some people eventually have 20 pins sitting in a shed collecting dust. If this ever happens to me, I'm hoping I let some go knowing someone else could be restoring them and enjoying it.

Before I bid on an ebay auction or contact someone on CL, I ask myself "How serious am I about picking this up? Am I really ready to drive that far?".. usually works to talk myself out of a bad decision. I also never search further than 250 miles on Ebay.

#12 11 years ago

PDJ

blizz81

Pinside member

Omaha, NE

12y 72,800 1,170 5

I appreciate Bene's selection of pins, turnover/addition of new pins, replay values, condition of the tables, even live a few mins away...but I don't make it up often - little kids drive me nuts! I'm miserly.

#13 11 years ago

DAJ

Pafasa

Inactive member

Oakland, NE

12y 58,900 3,955 1

Quoted from Fatsquatch:
Well, to some degree. I think we can all agree that us pin collector's are pretty much bat-shit insane.

That's how I am starting to feel!

Quoted from blizz81:
little kids drive me nuts! I'm miserly.

I understand and probably contribute to the problem. I am planning a b-day party for one of my kids there soon.

Quoted from toyotaboy:
I'm currently shopping one out, have another in queue, yet I still look at craigslist everyday knowing there's no way I could buy another one right now. I think I finally understand how some people eventually have 20 pins sitting in a shed collecting dust.

Same here! That's what prompted me to start this thread.

#14 11 years ago

JIM

ebjimmyg

Blocked

12y 1,072

no doubt lol... i got two projects in complete pieces, but i still look for other pins i want??? wtf am i thinking????

Reply

Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

Donate to Pinside

Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!

This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/does-pinball-make-you-do-the-same-stupid-stuff-as-me and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.