I'm at 2 a year but should be 1 a year it depends on NIB or Second Hand. I get one of each.

I'm currently adding about 2 a year. If I find a machine I want and have the money there then I get it. For me there is no reasonable amount of time before I add another one.

No set time. Just whenever one happens to be available that I want and I have cash for.

I think I need to slow down.

Bought my first machine(EATPM) in April 2017. Bought a project machine (that's still a project) in August 2017.

Didn't buy another until March 2019 (GOTG).

Bought my first NIB in September 2019 (EHoH). Another machine (Star Trek) less than a month later. Now I've got another (FH) coming next week.

My wishlist games keep popping up at incredible prices and I just can't seem to pass them up.

I need help.

Every 20 minutes.

Whenever the price is too good to pass up.

I’m good for one or two per year. It really all depends on what comes out new and what is available and priced right on the used market. Surprisingly, it also depends on what my wife would like. Unfortunately I am at the point of when one comes in, one must go out.

Not often enough.

LTG : )

Depends on life....I went without adding a new one for 15 years, then I bought 2 newer ones this year and looking at another 1 or 2. I wish I'd bought more back in the day now...I thought they were getting expensive in 2003...imagine my surprise now...

1-3 a month on average

That ridiculous o-din!

Every TRUE pinhead knows that the officially approved pinball addition interval is one every 16 hours and 37 minutes!

About once every year I sell and buy a machine

This is an almost impossible question for me to answer. I buy pins, fix them up, and sell them or replace something in my collection if I really love them. There is no certain "set time."

As long as you are paying your bills and taking care of your family first, your discretionary money can be used however you like. I wouldn't fret over it.

I've averaged ~8.7 games/year for the past six years (about one games every 42 days!).
Always adding, not selling or trading.
2014-12
2015-5
2016-5
2017-4
2018-11
2019-15

Pinbot is a steal of a machine. I have noticed they are creeping up to (I think people are discovering how great of a pin it is). I own one.

I used to own a funhouse. A great pin option at the 4k price range.

I have bought 3 in one year, but I have not bought any in the last few years

I think it becomes more space than time question. If I had the space, I’d have twice as many as I have.
Presently To get any more I either need a storage space, or a divorce .

/\This.

If I had room for 20, I would have 20.

I was picking up about one a month until space became an issue.

You will get there man. Just buy the ones you want when you save enough for them. As long as you're having fun playing your machines that is all that matters.

18 per year over the last three years.

I try to change something up at least once a year by either adding an additional machine, or making a trade. It used to happen much more frequently back in the 00's when pinball used to be less popular and quite a bit less expensive.

I’ve been over capacity for a few years. My buying is now only opportunistic. If a game I want falls into my lap, I’ll buy it. But right now I’m trying to go the other direction to move some out. I’ve reached the point where I will usually only play 4 or 5 different games, and the rest of them just sit there between parties.

Do what makes you happy. What kept me slow was not buying lots of projects. I turned down lots of awesome deals simply because I didn’t want to have multiple non working games around.

Before buying another make sure your current games are in perfect working order and are in tip top shape.

But if you got the room, knock yourself out! You’ll eventually run out. Haha

Also, once you have more than 8 games or so, the maintenance and upkeep starts to grow and grow. I have 16-17 now and it’s a decent amount of work to keep them all working great.

I add 1 game per year and rotate two........That being said, I am only buying great deals and no NIB.

No idea. I walk into the gameroom and there's another one I hadn't seen before. It's the craziest thing.

A reasonable amount of time would be the time it takes you to save the cash to buy one. As long as you're not borrowing and going into debt to buy them, I say buy at will.

Have fun!

I bought my first in 1982. Bought another six months later. Sold those when I went to basic. After I was out of the Air Force I bought another 2 within a year, had those for 4 years. Sold those machines, Got married and got rid of wife. O how I missed them. Bought a machine about 2 years later, another within a year, another a year later. Got remarried and bought 3 more machines within a year, added 1 to 8 per year while buying selling trading. Several years after getting married my wife started playing. I traded and sold games to get ones she liked. Turns out she has expensive pinball tastes. She has been buying games with me the last couple of years. I sold 2 games to buy her a MBR for her 50th birthday. My buying and trading has slowed considerably, but I think I have the perfect collection for my wife and I.

About 2-4 a week as of late

I went through a spurt in the early 2000s when I was getting 4 or 5 a year, when the A list Bally/Williams games were still "affordable". I'd just save up and get one. Now, it's mostly opportunistic - if something cheap and close pops up, I'll snag it, whether to fix up/sell or keep, depends on the title. After 20+ years I've pretty much got my core games, and rotate others in and out. I average 2 a year now.

As stated above, once you get over 8 games or so, maintenance and upkeep become a consideration too. Personally, our games don't get played much. We only have a couple parties a year, and then it's just myself and my wife, basically a game here and there. With 20+ machines, I'd be surprised if any particular one gets 6 or 8 hours of actual play annually. In fact, every few months I try to go from one end of the lineup to the other just to keep them loose. Consequently, if I shop one and get it working 100%, it's not gonna need much more than wax for a long time.

Long story short - don't borrow to buy, and get as many as you want whenever you want, as long as you're taking care of real life first. Don't overpay, take care of them, and you'll get your money back.

More like day not week!

I started 25 years ago and purchased 15 pins in the first 12 years. My wife feels that is more than enough.
I have since added only Mustang Premium NIB in 2014 and Elvira's House of Horrors LE NIB in 2019.
Which makes my current rate one new pin every five years. But actually I may never buy another pin.

When it’s time

I started out and bought I think 4 in the first 6 months. Then I sold one to fund another purchase, then sold another one and bought two projects. Currently I have 3 operational, two projects (one of which is almost done). Plan to sell the project and probably look for another project.

I've gotten to where I really like the three pins I have (LOTR, WW and STTNG) and will look to buy maybe one a year that I REALLY want. Otherwise I may cycle some projects in and out to fund the keeper purchases.

Breeding like rabbits I tell ya.

20191207_114400_resized (resized).jpg

I have room for six games in my collection and prefer to have at least one EM (Gold Strike), one Digital (Hardbody), and one 90s DMD (Attack From Mars / The Shadow). The other games are typically newer. Currently they those spots are filled with Lord of the Rings and Metallica. For the most part I try to rotate at least one or two games per year. Sometimes it's tough, because it's meant letting go of games I love, but there are so many games out there I want to rotate in and out.

As often as I can.

There is no “reasonable” amount of time. It’s all about time, space, value and money.

How much time is it going to take to get the game working?
Do you have space for it or does another game have to leave first to make room?
Is it a wishlist/holy grail game and/or one that’s a such a great value you can’t pass up?
Can you afford to bring one in?

It also depends on where you are in building your collection. I went through periods of significant buying/selling as I decided which games I liked and which I wanted long term. For some games I would buy better copies to “trade up”, others I would buy just to fix/resell to generate funds. After 20+ years, my collection is pretty set (and I’m out of room which means that a favorite has to leave for another game to come in).

Any new game I’ve brought in in the last few years has been new-in-box because there aren’t any older games I want more than what I have (or have had) And that seems to be every two years. But it’s getting harder and harder to justify bringing in something new and there are very few themes left that would get me to consider selling off a favorite to gamble on.

Looks like it bred three spinners.

I'm a bargain hunter and generally gravitate to project games. It's a bit less expensive to go after those, rather than fully shopped and working games.

Only two games were added this year. I need more space. Working on it. Already have a spot picked out.

image (resized).jpg

They come and go often. 3-5 per year in and out. As my “keeper” numbers increase, it will lead to a clean out at some point. I enjoy the variety too much.
I’ve had 10-12 fr the last 3-4 years.

My wife isn’t an issue. I am way more frugal then her.

Focus on house and family before worrying about building a huge collection
take the time to figure out what type of games you like, how to maintain them

This ^^^

Once or twice a year but it arrives in a 20 foot container.

Then it's just a matter of deciding which goes into the collection and which gets set aside in offsite storage for sale.

I add a machine to my collection every time I buy one.