$4000..(3 machines($3300)...tourney cost plus travel).....plus coin-drop on location.............Joey

$100000 plus and (un)countless machines

I currently give myself a $25k pinball budget. If I had more room, I would increase it to $50k.

Around $12k for 36 games and parts

I probably came out in the negative with all the machines I had in the old days. After an almost 10 year break I spent about $10 grand in the last three years.
Opps, make that 15 grand. But the Addams family and Freddy are technically my wives.

Around $8k for my 28 game collection, and that is without profit as I've never sold/resold any games or parts. Due to my low teenage budget I was (and still am) pretty forced to rely on great deals for games which is probably a blessing in disguise. Never paid over $500 for a single game and that price was only once (Williams Comet, last year, working and nice).

At the point now where I semi-frequently end up directly rejecting or passing up good deals because of space and all that. They truly do start flowing to you once you're "in" the hobby.

I'd tell you, but then my wife would kill me.

It's this supposed to be net or just money out?

Yeah, same here and I'll probably never have anything approaching your collection

Too much

1.21 Gigabucks!

Do we subtract the sales?

I've spent a lot but I've sold a lot as well. Most I spent in one year...about 11k (but I also made $8250 in sales that year).

I'm right around 100k on just pins, not counting mods. Maybe around 10k in mods.

With all the crap I've purchased just in pinballs I'd say I'm about $25k into it.

Around $105,000, all within the last year ($90,000 in the past 6 months, $50,000 in the past 3 months). I went a bit crazy.

Favorite go to answer:

"Joined Pinside under the pretence that math was not a requirement!"

$2 a week for 3 years equals $936.00. $2 a day, 5 days a week, for 1 year equals $520.00.
$10.00 a weekend for 4 years equals $2080.00, (most likely more than 4 years).

Since 1974, just putting coins into pins, roughly $3536.00. In just Dimes, Quarters, and Loonies. Give or take. Not including $60.00 for 3 visits to the PHoF.

LOL!!

Times 38 years. I don't even want to know.

LTG : )

Approx 100k-25 games. Includes 25 pdi glass. Lol. Never sold a game yet. Building a third 1400 sq ft game room. All I do is work, restore cars and play pinball.

Ugh.. alot but worth the enjoyment and stress relief it gives me. Ive spent around 40k but thats not bad considering the collection and condition of the pins i have now.

Over the last 5.5 years:

Travelling (attending tourneys and conventions): $2,500
Organizing tourneys and contributing to our regional league: $1,000
Buying non-existing games or T-shirt (Predator) + litigation: $5,000
putting coins into pins (but the local arcade has closed): $500
Price I paid for the games I currently own (including transport, VAT, customs, repair): $23,000
Donations: $300
Renting games: $200
Modding: $500
Raffle: $100

Roughly $33k... approx. $5k a year... $400 a month.
Not counting how much I paid for the games I sold in the meantime (overall balance is slightly positive)

scary thought for sure. too much is the answer. add in time spent getting the pins, working on the pins.... oh my.....

Over the last 21 years I've bought 582 pins but only kept around 75 of those. "Profits" made off the games I've sold have more then paid for all the keeper games, parts, game room décor and then some. So in a sense you could say it didn't cost me anything, in fact I have my "first pinball dollar earned" framed and hanging on the wall and its dated May 24th, 2012.
Thanks to the many that made it all possible !!

John

ugh, why would you ask this question???? I've added up to $35,000 and this is only machines and major mods (color dmd's etc.). Not including any rubbers, parts, LEDs, balls...ugh, gonna go jump off a bridge now. Just one more game before I go...

At 24 I have about 40k into my collection. Probably a tad bit more.

I have a hard time believing anybody takes the time to keep track.

$10k by Christmas

I don't spend money on pinball machines.
I invest money in pinball machines.
Some day, I will have all my money back.
So it's not 'spending'

I could tell you exactly what I paid for each game, when I bought it, where I bought it , who I bought it from, condition (with pictures) and then who I sold it too, how much I sold it for, when I sold it and if there was a profit how much that was as well. It's all documented from the very first game. Believe it.

John

Funny, I'm the same way. Like yourself I've bought and sold way more then I have. And can still remember what I paid for each game and where I bought it. But couldn't tell you what I ate for breakfast yesterday.

What I love about this hobby is there are no annual taxes associated with it........unlike owning a sports car. The pins hold a decent amount of their value vs. the enjoyment you get out of them.

I shudder everytime I think about it.

Between the three I currently have: $16k or so. That's just straight-up purchase price combination. No mods even included.

Remember back in the "good ol days" when that would buy you 6-8 games?

That's a big part of my rationalization of it. I spent a lot of money building my arcade, but it doesn't "cost" me anything sitting there every month. Unlike other luxury purchases, like a boat, or a vacation property, or a car.

Tons of people have those things (likely bought with debt no less), and no one calls them crazy.

Too much.

All together my collection (including sold games at profit or loss) $60K (including all mods) I have around $50K+ worth if I were to sell my games at low normal prices.

Have been collecting for over 12 years so that'd be $5K per year.

$8K of that for mods as I've spent $4K just on Color DMDs

Don't ask, Don't tell.

Hobbies for me are cyclical. 10 years ago it was pinball, then motorcycles, then classic cars (way too expensive), then road racing, then rc cars, then rc helicopters, then diy house upgrades, and now pinball again. Before I had 17 pins, but started my business and moved, so liquidated all except LOTR. I have been way more responsible this time around, and wonder how long I will last. I envy my wife who is obsessed with marathons and running, as it is seemingly free compared to the money I have spent over the years.

I'm very fortunate to have gotten deals on all my games.
However - still a lot

Total cash purchase price for my current collection adds up to $33,500. The hobby has more than paid for itself though.

You spend money when you go out for dinner or a movie or take a vacation. How much of that can you get back in the future?

When you purchase something and then later sell it in the future for the same amount (say), you have spent nothing in the end. This is more than what you can say for most hobbies.

What your hobby actually costs, and everyone should be happy to spend money on their hobby, is what you lose when you sell, maintenance costs, storage costs (for hoarders), shows, etc. If you would have instead invested that money over the long term, this can add up to the largest cost (say $50K over 20yrs - you do the math). If you pass on and your family gets your prized possessions, they will inevitably sell but if they are not knowledgable about your hobby they will sell for a small fraction of what they are worth (non-pin local auction say) - this is another large potential loss.

Overall, this is one of the cheapest hobbies there is so just enjoy it while you can. A new car in one year can depreciate more than what pinball costs over twenty years.

Oh and life is short - enjoy what you love to do with your time.

Shhhhhhh. Keep it down.

Not enough... Never enough.

$39,000.

$6k on my BK, HS2, PaC, Seawitch, and NB.

$33k on my NIB Magic Girl.

9 machines (listed in my collection); under $10K, but most were basket cases when I got them, so lots of time and parts. Most expensive part was the CPR playfield in Mata Hari (it was worth it). But, I'm starting to get the "change things up" bug so the numbers may grow this year...

Disagree on the real estate piece - my beach condo (property at http://vrbo.com/503807 , but PM me if you want to rent it) is net zero as rent covers all expenses each year.

-Rob
-visit http://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or for my Pinball 2000 H+V video sync adapter kit

In the last 2 years I've spent about $125,000.00 I yi yi

45 years, hundreds of pins, millions of LEDs.......I dont want to know!

12 pins
travel to shows nationwide
books
DVDs
Bally pinball wizard belt
Tools,tools,tools,
parts,parts,parts

50K EZ

And did I mention:still supporting pinball on route!!!!