Put them on location, make them earn their keep.

Flip the odd pin.

Win poker tournaments.

Have an understanding partner.

I feel your pain. I have 2 basic late 70s pins, (which i love), but i want to buy a really nice one in the near future, i try to put away $25 every paycheck, to fund this hobby. I have a 2 yr old and also one on the way. Just takes time. Hopefully at the end of 2012 i will have my first DMD.

its all relative to what your materialistic needs really are. some people buy 60,000$ cars and 15,000 leather couches. some people like us buy used pins . the question is, whats more important? new cars and b.s., or having something that you 'really' can enjoy? a car can get you from A to B, whether its a beamer or a pinto. pins are either there..or they aren't . hahah

Steve, depending on what you're looking for, you can get "in" with some decent EMs or 80s SS games for not too much money (under 1k).

If you're really a pinaholic you can move to the bay area. Between the two pinball museums alone I have 125 games to play. Might balance out with the high cost of living depending on your addiction!

BAM! Mistake.

We make lifestyle choices based on expendable resources, you made your choice. Whatever makes you happy is always good (although throwing hookers in the back of a white panel van will get you arrested).

No kids, don't spend much, only buy pins I can get %20-%50 ROI, I live REAL lean and my rent is REAL cheap, I justify my spending as investments..... I wish I could put 1 or 2 on location but it doesn't seem 'economically viable' at the moment... incidentally I wish they made a 'Falling Down' pin.....

economicallyviable.jpg

I wonder what a pin actually earns on route. I seem to be the only one around interested in playing them when I see them. I'm curious how long it would take to see ROI on a pin on location, or does that come with the sale of the pin after its been beat up, and then shopped?

Dude, with that baby on the way....take that $20 and put it the bank for the kid! Seriously, there is plenty of life left for pins....

Strict diet of Ramen, Ramen and more Ramen!

Single bachelor, decent salary, and have not raided the savings account to go to Vegas for the last 8 years. Have recently raided it to fund a couple of pins though!

I sell my body to women. After the laughs and loose change thrown at me I keep a pinball budget. Understanding wife, scan for sale listings and been collecting over last 8 years - be patient and wait for the right deals.

Cocaine distribution.

and embezzling

This is my approach as well.

I mostly fund my pin addiction with my Army Retirement check I get each month which I get for serving 32 years Active and Reserve duty. I'm also much older than most on here and I have managed to make a decent amount of money over the years and own some businesses. I could not have afforded pins when I was in my 20's, 30's or 40's. We had 3 children to raise. Hell, I could only do it after I turned 60 and HAD to get out of the Reserves. That's when I took the checks and went f'ing crazy!!!
Mike

The Greeks tell of Tantalus, the man punished by the Gods to an eternal torment of having succulent grapes just out of reach, that's what it like to live two hours north of the Bay area! Gas ain't cheap

I'm a DINK (Dual Income No Kids). If I had kids, I would probably only have 1 pin. Probably still spend too much on this hobby.

Save up the weekly paychecks and keep living with your parents.

I deprive my wife of the funds she might otherwise spend on stuff I could care less about.
the other Skip

i sell my body for pins

I sell furs, pelts, skins, tusks, antlers, horns and the occasional roadkill.

No wife. No kids. No responsabilities.

I'm a DINK (Dual Income No Kids).

Dink-dink, dink dink dink, DINK, DINK, dink...

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I bet you could sell a Snow cone to an Eskimo !! Does it Ever get Dark there ? By watch-n the Sara Palin show.. 4am it looked like 1/2 dusk..

yep no kids here and a good job, the only slowing down is cause of the wife saying no more

Just don't eat the yellow snow

Buy bulk from operators, spruce up and sell the games you don't want, and if all goes to plan, you end up with a couple of pins for free!

Married a woman that makes a ton of money and is a pinhead also.

Now that's a better find that a reasonably priced BBB !!! Way to go tpf!!

i have no kids. My dealer allows me to make weekly payments towards my purchases.

That was the summer when we have a lot of light. Right now we are in the middle of a lot of dark. Sunrise today is 9:57am and sunset is 3:44pm. Solstice right around the corner and we will start gaining again.

On the pins, buy low and if you sell sell for what you have in it or more. Need to do a lot of your own work to really make it count.

I think most people, including myself try to buy them needing some good tlc to help drive the cost down. Then you put in all the labor and once you are finished with that title sell/trade up. Do it enough times and you will end up with a very nice collection and possibly some extra cash

Don't be afraid to buy a machine just to make a few bucks. If it is a good deal and you have the money, buy and then sell to help build the pinball fund.

PS...keep that pinball fund in cash hidden from the wife so #1 you can act fast on deals that put up on CL and #2 the wife doesn't know how much you spend on your machines!

And very importantly, #3 the wife doesn't know how much you sell a machine for so she doesn't get the urge to spend that money one something trival, like a new hair style... or food

Yes, very important addition to the rules. My wife will justify a profit as a good reason to buy something for herself

I used to be into musclecars which was an expensive hobby. It was kind of a bad hobby to be into, especially in Michigan, where due to crappy weather I could only drive them about 6 months out of the year. I then lucked into my first pinball, a TZ, and I found I enjoyed that all year round. I then started wanting more, and I started to think about selling my Camaro SS and getting more pins. I sold the Camaro and got an IJ and MM, and more and more pins as the years went by.

This has been a great hobby so far, I can have friends over for pin parties, go to other friend's houses for pin parties. I enjoy this a great deal more than the car hobby at this point, and am happy I got out of it. However, once in a while on a nice summer day, I miss the ability to take the top down on a nice car and drive through the country.

I also have an affordable house that's almost paid for. I'd like to buy a newer house, but I think I'd rather just keep what I have and build up the game room.

I also tend to buy routed games and restore them myself. That helps somewhat, but it takes a lot of time and money in parts.

I just steal them off of locations.

It seems that the operators near me want more than private sellers. There was a JD that just got off location, I knew about it and emailed the operator, they said they wanted $1,850.. I never emailed back, I thought a machine like that in the sort of condition it was in may be able to be had for around 1k or so, no such luck..

Geology is the study of time and pressure. With enough time an enough pressure the landscape of your garage, livingroom, basement can be completely changed.

Frugality and opportunity.

Simple, you just need to prioritize your expenditures. A little financial discipline and patience goes a long way in today's economy.

For instance this past spring I was thinking that I really need to re-insulate the attic. Instead of compulsively running right out to getting quotes, I calmed down and thought about it for a while. "Lets see, there is insulation there right now... its just not doing as good as job as I would like, but its not like they aren't making heat anymore and I can always just run the furnace more." So is this a need or a want? I'm thinking that its more of a want.

After thinking about this carefully for several seconds the obvious choice was a Twilight Zone. I mean 3k for insulation, like how many years is that going to take to pay off? And they arent making TZ's anymore.

LOL oh man you guys are killing me with your answers

Great topic. Really it's all about savings for my family. I put a couple hundred away each month for my pin fund. The fund includes LED's and repairs as well as a new pin savings. I found after you have a couple of pins you mostly trade out or up. Craigs list is a good site to get the occassional great deal.

If you could learn a little about basic repairs and playfield touch up you could possible make a little more money on your trade in's.

Pins are not so bad when you're used to collecting vintage movie posters. A nice Day the Earth Stood Still half sheet can set ya back $15,000. War of the Worlds half sheet with ships $50,000.
Just picked up a King Kong lobby card (11x14) $6,000.

I must say careful planning is in order. Im 30 one house paid for and buying a second house own a BMW and have another child on the way. Im not rich or loaded but i manage my money well. Wife has a good job at the hospital and i own a snow removal business and farm about 4k acres. Not trying to turn this into an argument or a pissing match but blaming a child for lack of pin collection is just harsh man.

That was directed at someone else. Now understanding the question you asked in more detail as in adopting,people should not be so quick respond with something so harsh.

That is a very stand up thing to do. To take someones child they had to make the ultimate decision to give them a better life is just WOW, thats all that can be said about that. Good luck and hope everything works out for you through the whole process. Congratulations!