No

If it’s keeping you up at night,just load em up and bring them to my garage.Problem solved!

I’d say after 4-5 games your addicted to materialism.

It’s not that I feel like I have too many as much as I feel like I don’t have enough room.

I look at the glass half full....or in this case, we’re going to need a bigger glass.

(ps have one of those mags ready to send you just not home right now)

My collection fluctuates quite often. Sometimes 2 feels like too many. Other times a room full feels like not enough.

For me its anything over 10 really. I don't have time to do 100 hour shop jobs on more than that. What also ends up happening is when I do get stuff working I trade/sell it which leaves games I'd like to keep languishing. Keep debating getting 4-5 machines done and trading/selling them for something like a jjp pirates, tbl, or an elvira 3 just to cut down on machines.

At the moment I have a long queue:
Sell/Trade projects: Checkpoint, Nightmare on Elm Street, Laser Cue
Keeper projects: Banzai Run, F-14, Alien, Atlantis, Radical, Mousin Around, Jolly Park

Too much machines are when you don't remember the names of the models have you got.

I probably have too many. I play them 90/95% of time. Games played between cleaning and waxing about every 4 to 5 months is around 100-250 per pin. I have eleven. Thought of selling then I play the pin and change my mind.

Just cleaned and waxed 8 games last 2 weeks and I keep track of games played. Over 300 plays on Wonka got game in June .

Too many pinball machines? You must have been talking to my wife.

If I had space, I'd still have almost every game I've owned, which would put me at around 50 over 20 years in the hobby. Right now I have 3, all working and in good cosmetic shape. My last restoration project took me a year and I sold it before I completed it. Time is the issue right now. I'll be retired in 10 years, maybe I'll get back up to 50...

Yeah right..like too much sex

As far as I know, wives are the only ones with "space issues" when it comes to too many machines. I own a 3640Sq foot house and I have room for about 100 pins if it wasn't for things like furniture, dining room tables etc... But since I am "a happily married man" I have 7 machines, 6 real and 1 virtual VP cabinet I built out of an old Roller Games cabinet. The VP cabinet was my way of having more than 7 machines without wife baiting a pinpocalypse within the household.

I have room comfortably for 6 machines. 9 is pushing it. I currently have 10 set up with 2 projects in the queue. The game room is cluttered and it's starting to stress me out. 5 of the 10 set up are in need of a shop job, if not a total teardown. One is in the process of a total teardown. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I have too many games. The stress level of all these projects is starting to outweigh the enjoyment. I'm going to downsize back to 6 and try to keep it to one project. Just kidding, I'm going to check the marketplace for deals.

PINPOCALYPSE! I'm familiar with this. It's happened several times. Ha!

With regard to pinball (or any other hobby for that matter), when the "A" word (anxiety) begins to enter your consciousness it probably IS a good time to take a step back and self-reflect. Hobbies should be 100% escapism from the madness of normal life; when a hobby becomes a burden on any level at all, it is worse than worthless in my opinion, and it's time for a break at that point.

Getting nervous about sufficient space?
Do you have so many games that you experience "analysis paralysis" and have difficulty settling on a game to play?
Feeling overwhelmed because there are too many projects, not enough time, and you don't know where to start?
Does the creeping anxiety diminish your enjoyment of playing/tinkering? (Or lead to loss of motivation to play at all?)
Worried that someone else in the house is getting fed up?
Worried that you might be neglecting other important activities and/or have difficulty stepping away when appropriate?
Feeling like you want to divest of some games in order to free resources for other pursuits, but can't quite bring yourself to pull the trigger?

Many of these questions are similar to those alcoholics ask themselves when doing a "self-inventory" at the beginning of the "recovery" process, and I actually think they can apply to any hobby/pursuit. You need to honestly ask yourself: "Do I still own my games, or do they now own ME?"

Yes, and realized it when I first setup all my games in the new loft.
Built the room to hold 50 machine, but have since decided to keep it to 40 or less

I got to the same spot you did. I set them all up after having been in storage for a few years and 6 or so of them had a fairly major repair need
Since I started collecting, I never had more than one machine that was not working, but now with 40+, I was staring at a ton of work all at once ...

That convinced me to do a few things:
Continue to upgrade the collection to the best condition machines I can find (keep maintenance low)
I've dramatically slowed adding to the collection count, (especially projects) and giving myself more time to play them
With a large collection, you will need to keep a running list of all the small issues that need attention - and as the machine count grows, so do the number of major repairs
I'm using any extra time to go deeper into restorations - where I CHOOSE the depth and level of work (working a Harlem GT now)

Once I have a 17th game, that’s too much for me. 16 is my magic number.

Ease up on the projects and treat yourself to a nice working example every once in a while.

Projects are nice because they're usually good deals, but they can take time and these days I'd rather just get something in mostly working order. Unless of course it's something hard to find and worth working on.

Or maybe shake up your collection and trade out a machine you dont play as often.

Yeah my key to staying happy is to keep it to 1 project or less at all times.

I always thought 5 was my perfect amount. I'm at 7 right now and it's more than enough for me.

Rob

Too many projects do weigh heavily on the mind.....

I guess it depends on the room. How many can you put in there without looking ridiculous? I have a huge finished basement, but can only truly put 5 or 6 down there before it looks over the top.

20200625_203717 (resized).jpg

That's likes screaming for more games.

cait001
You are answering your own questions here. You are at the stage of your life where your most valuable asset is time. Make life easier and turn down the fix it pinballs that you aren't able to complete and relax and enjoy some pinball. If you are balancing work-life and family-life balance pick a number that feels right. I know with 7 machines I want some more but I went through the OCD phase with comic books and sold collectibles.

You don't want to be an archivist who spends more time caring for the machines then playing them if you can help it. Taking care of our wooden, electrical part filled children takes work and they are fussy at times .

That being said:

Doctor6
You can fit an EASY 15 down there without looking a pool hall or bowling alley. Looking like a barcade is another story

Right now I have 12 sat up in my main gameroom. That's about enough for me at the moment.
The rest of my games are stored in 2 other rooms until I get my other building finished.

^^^^ this.

I do enjoy projects and working on games ( sometimes more than playing).So I always like to have something to work work on. Too much to work on becomes stressful and not fun for me. It’s difficult to find a balance at times, I have been eliminating certain types of work and that seems to help and keep the projects enjoyable. As for playable finished games I have enough space for 10 , I currently have 11. Need more space , or get rid of something , or just keep doing what I have been doing ( which is something, not quite sure). Sometimes there is no definitive answer when the variables are constantly changing. For example if a game you like comes up at the right price, you will find room for it even if there isn’t.

I resemble this conversation......damn.

For me it's somewhere between 4 and 6 (never had more than 5). However, I've only been in the hobby 2 years. My experience with pinball has been much more enjoyable since I decided all of my pins are temporary acquisitions that can be bought/sold/traded with ease and can be replaced with a like machine within a few weeks without a problem. I am lucky to live in an area with tons of pins though. I only have 1 "Forever Pin" right now and that's ST:TNG. It is only a forever pin because: 1. It's so heavy I never want to move it. 2. It's so finicky and now that I got it fully working I never want to repeat the process. By frequently rotating pins, I always have something relatively new to play, and the variety of pins keeps things fresh. For the most party I try to keep pins that I don't have at the local arcade (Crabtowne USA rocks!) and if I have the itch to go play an old E.M. or want to get my pinbot on I can just go there. I eventually plan on expanding the gameroom to include a few arcade like a pair of San Francisco Rush's and a couple rail shooters, but for now I think I am in just about the right spot.

If you just like the ambiance of the arcade I have found that you can have a ton of fun just decorating your space and making it the coolest little arcade possible. I found that some of my desire for early E.Ms was not that I enjoyed playing them that much more than modern games, but that I really just liked the art. Solution? I've been collecting back glasses and hanging them above my games for a while now. All in all this is a great hobby that you should only be into if it brings you joy. If you feel like it's too much to maintain and you are putting too much into storage, let it go. Sometimes letting something go so others can enjoy it can bring you as much happiness as it would keeping it yourself.

I barely play the 8 I have set up , let alone the 5 stored elsewhere or tombstoned ......so I think it's time I had a good talk with myself

Have 6 now and feel that 10 is the magic number for me. I do like fixing pins but not too much work, so more than that is probably a hassle.

Disagree. I'm a dude and I don't want my house filled with nothing but pins. I enjoy a decent looking house.

Personally, I want about 25. I currently only have room for 5 but that's going to change with my addition which will give me plenty of room, and then i can pick up project machines when they become available. It'll take me a long time to get to 25.

If you're renting storage space to house projects, then you have an issue.

Agreed. My wife said she never wanted games above the basement and I fully agreed. Maybe a cool old pre war game for my office, but that’s it.

4 is my limit, 5 is too many, for pinballs.

Now if I could only talk the Wife into letting my sell my Starblade cockpit.......

-Hans

The sole reason why I have a bunch is I love to run tournaments and I bring lots of games to Pincinnati.

I landed on 16 so I can have a good mix from each era which I think is essential for every tournament.

Also allows me to setup mini events like pinburgh where each group plays a bank of games from all eras.

I think the highest I’ve had was 36...I’m “down” to 23. I recently moved, in retrospect, I kind of wish I had sold most of them. Moving all these games was a nightmare. I packed most of them in a PODS container, didn’t strap it right, and half of them tipped slightly...and pinned the door closed! I had to remove the roof, jump in, and adrenaline strength them upright 1 by 1 so I could open the door. Then, since the rooms my games are going to go in aren’t ready yet, I’m storing them wrapped in my dining room...and because of some hinges...I scratched my new floors

My plan with the new house was to have a few in my home office, a few in my movie/gaming room, and then the majority in the garage (once drywalled & finished)...but I’m actually tempted to just use the garage as a garage & simplify my pin life. We’ll see. It was easy to let my video games go, as there are still easy ways to play them. With pins, if I let a really nice pin go...that’s it. I gotta be OK with probably never playing it again.

I wish we built basements down here. That's a great looking room!

Hi I'm DaveH and I have too many pins (Hi DaveH).

How do I know I have too many pins? Because I can't play them all. I've cut down, but I still have too many. My big issue is that I try not to sell pins I enjoy playing. Once they bore me, they are out the door. But it takes me a long time to get to that. The time it takes to get bored is also longer in a bigger collection because you play it less often, so it always feels new.

Three dozen was too much.

Now that I'm down to one dozen, it's much more manageable. (I haven't even gotten all those working, FFS.)
Plus I have room now for my big ball bowler once I get that working!

(#13, Rick and Morty, should be coming in about a month! Psyched!)

Still might knock out a couple walls to expand the rec room someday. When the previous owner built it he never imagined it full of games. Beautiful bar, but too big, and solidly built in one piece, no sections, no way to shrink it really.

I definitely feel a little nutty having 8 games right now. I think I would feel a little less funny if they were all in one place, but since I don't have more than 3 in one location it sort of makes me feel like "ehhhh it's not that many".

And once you hit 8 or 12 or 18.... depending on age/condition, you'll notice a cross over point where you spend more time fixing/repairing and less time playing the games.

I don't think I could ever have too many, but I have had too many projects at once...which took up a lot of space and time. Also, at one point, I couldn't even actually get to my playable pins. That was frustrating.

Yeah definitely not fun to move a lot of games, but I learned from the best in Phoebe and Larry of the Cincy pinball group. They show up big to so many shows each year. Once you have the system down, it’s not too bad.