I built a mini pin mostly out of spare parts six years ago. It's not full sized by any means -- I think it's got like a 22 or 23 inch monitor as the playfield and a 15 inch monitor as the back box. I used an old computer, so the main costs were wood, paint, a mini coin door, an ipac controller and arcade buttons. It was pretty cheap to put together if I recall.

I like it. And the mini size fit in my gameroom in a slot that a full sized machine would not fit. But I remember a lot of guys building full sized machines pretty cheaply. TVs are even cheaper now than when I built, so I'm guessing you could build your own for way less than what guys are selling them for at retail. Especially if you found a donor cab to start with.

Check out the vpforums.org and hyperpin sites for ideas and more up to date info. And good luck. It was a fun project.