Hi everyone my name is Frank and I found the Pinside just over a month ago and I really love the site and how helpful the members advice is by reading the forums. A little bit about how I got into pinball was when I was about 11 years old at a local arcade; I saw and played Black Knight for the first time and knew instantly I was hooked on it. Over the years I have dropped quarters in various machines whenever I had an opportunity to play, about 5 years ago I started seriously considering owning pins for myself and wish I had money at the time because prices were considerably lower. In the future I want to have 20+ pins for myself and all to enjoy, but right now I can only have room for 1 or 2 until I have my own house. Thanks to the Pinside I was able to visit a place called the Silverball Museum in New Jersey and have been visiting quite frequently which also made me make up my mind on which machine I would like to own first after playing roughly 30 games on it.
The first Pin I would like to own is a 1980 bally's "Xenon". My only hope is it has both the sound cards with a decent trans lite and playfield, I wouldn't mind rebuilding the machine from the ground up because I know it would be one that I will not part with in the future. I'm a bit weary to search now for a Pin because this is the holiday season and I was going to wait until after it's done but after reading many posts one thing kept showing up and that is whenever you're after a particular machine it disappears off the face of the earth or when it show up its triple the price. I'm prepared with a second choice and that is a 1992 Bally's "Black Rose" but that is at the max of my budget I feel for right now. I hope my wall of text is not too bad on your eyes and would like to add that I feel that an introduction topic would help the site. Thanks

Hi northvibe, your advice makes a lot of sense and I was curious does the condition of a pin affects the price people sell it for? or that if it works or not?

Hello wizzardz, that's a good sign they are popping up, and I don't think I mind condition but the only thing that I'm afraid of is the artwork on the playfield really. Hi pinmike do you know any pinsiders near the New York City area? I'm technically New Jersey too and feel that I could cover the surrounding states too. Hey practicalsteve I agree that waiting will be the best thing but I'm hoping that other members might have one for sale or even spot one if they aren't searching for one themselves. Do you think the guy that is selling that one "Xenon" really wants $4,500 pinmike? Is there some people on ebay that you guys know I should avoid and are way overpriced? Also thanks for the warm welcome everyone.

Yes Pinmike but I'm not sure if they just want someone they do not know first, contacting them?, and I'm brand new here. I figured that was extremely high and thought maybe it came with solid gold pinball's I'm glad I know now, and what is the RGP?

I see wizzardz I will definately go through the pinball owners registry list then. I haven't used search tempest before too, now I know. I did look through a pinball price book from 2009 was that too outdated now?

Is that the google group pinmike?
I'm also curious what you guys think of acquiring parts before you have the machine? is that a good idea and how do I know what is a decent price for certain parts?

Yep that worked, So would there be a specific part that would be really hard to find other than Xenon's speech board, more so like would there be a list of general parts and tools that I should have for a specific brand like "Bally" so I'm prepared.

Yeah I actually saw that one but not sure if that is too far for me to pick up. I would drive 5-6 hours away from NY.

Hi, yes I do recognize your avatar guymontag451 . Do you have a Xenon yourself?

Hi JDub1006, I can tell it definitively is.

Damn was it that bad that you couldn't save it? I hope you find one, do you at least have one in the area you can play?

Should I list a wanted ad in all of the sites you guys mentioned or just 2? I'm a little confused how to list it on Mr. Pinball Classified site, I'm not sure if I should make another email just for it, what have you guys done for it when placing a wanted ad?

Yes pinmike I just posted on RGP, I also listed an wanted ad on pinballowners as well as on pinsiders as well. now comes the fun waiting game...