55, and thanks for the 51-60 grouping. Usually it's 55-Death, and a it's little depressing to have to check that box.
First pin was Sweet Hearts as a Christmas present when I was about 12. $25 and the operator shopped it and delivered it for that. Funny, it seemed old even then, but doing the math it would have been less than 10 years old.
What's depressing was that I clearly remember that one entire wall of his building was stacked with old machines two deep against the wall--two giant rows of cabinets with the heads sitting on top, and a mountain of legs in the corner. There had to have been close to 100 machines there, and the deal was $25 got you your pick. Oh to go back in time . . .
Second machine was a shuffle bowler I found in a junk pile behind a restaurant that had just closed. When my parents came home and found that down in our basement, I think they realized they had created a monster by buying me that pinball machine.
Fernie, BC
