At my work we have a Houdini and 2 Oktoberfest. They have been error free, so I’m not sure about availability of replacement parts but American and Spooky both have excellent play field quality.

Parts are plentiful and based on established coil designs, etc. I wouldn’t be too concerned. The stage mech is fairly unique but AP has surplus, so I’d say you’re pretty good

Josh Kugler aka rosh is active on pinside and you can always find help in the American threads. If you want a magic based pin Houdini is a great one. I have had no issues with mine.

Bingo. Great shooter, fun tricks, absolutely packed to the gills with code

Read through the owner’s thread a bit. There are a couple of adjustments you want to make to really get it dialed in

You'll be fine. Support is good. If you can't figure something out yourself, or with pinsider help you just open a ticket with AP and the tech will help you out. I have had no troubles with my Houdini. Excellent game.

I would not overlook Hot Wheels either - it's priced right and a NIB is readily available.

They’re nothing to be afraid of. Many of the parts are off-the-shelf. Anything game specific is or will be added to the API webstore. https://store.american-pinball.com/collections/all

If buy new or used, I’m your guy for support: [email protected]
833-API-HELP
Or [email protected]

Other than the motherboard and a couple of other custom pieces it's all extremely serviceable. WPC mechs for flippers, pops, slings, etc. and P3-ROC boards for coils, switches (no matrix!), and LEDs. The power supplies are simple and modular so those are easily fixed / replaced. As others have said having so many A.P. peeps active here on Pinside is a major bonus. Houdini is one of the most under-rated games ever IMO, I still play it more than any other game in my collection.

7 hours one way is quite the drive. You could wait on finding a Houdini closer to you - in the meantime you could get a brand new Hot Wheels shipped to your door.... AP does a great job boxing their games. Probably the sturdiest shipping and packing for a NIB game. Probably the easiest no fuss, no muss way to add an AP game to your collection. Good luck in your pursuit of a Houdini.. Just mentioning Hot Wheels as I think it's a very good value and you should have no problem getting one fairly quickly if you want an option.

Don't hesitate when considering AP games!

Tech support is the best out there. Dave takes all the time you need to go through an issue with you, in the unlikely event that you have an issue.

I bought a Houdini a couple of years back and sold it after a while. I missed it so much that I recently bought another one, NIB!

Brilliant game and no regrets!!

I have Hot Wheels and it’s documentation is really bad, so far. Not sure why, perhaps it’s due to Covid-19 issues.

Houdini’s documentation and parts availability is much greater. Though there are almost no parts available on Marco. So, if you need parts the factory is your best solution.

https://store.american-pinball.com/search?q=Houdini

https://www.american-pinball.com/support/

If you have any questions, contact me. I live in San Ramon.

Robert

If you haven’t found someone to ship yet, try Chris Fox at sly fox shipping (209)403-8871. He moves Pinball‘s north and south in the state.

I haven’t used him personally, but a lot of people have and seem to always have a great experience.

Robert