I've been kicking around the idea of buying a pinball machine, but all the articles I've been reading aimed at people new to the hobby seem to have been written years ago and consistently lowball how much I can get a relatively well-known machine for. Even the people at some of the shows I've been to seem to live in this world where a Black Knight 2000 is easily obtainable for 1500 dollars or a Funhouse shouldn't run me more than a couple grand.

I was under no illusions when I started looking to buying a machine, but it really seems that prices are so high that there's no way I can get anything other than some throwaway 1965 EM clunker for the price I'm wanting (or able) to pay. Everyone around here posts picture of their rooms full of machines, and I have to think that all of you either have six-figure incomes or started collecting machines years ago when they were falling off the backs of trucks.

Should I just be content with my Steam Pinball Arcade and local dollar-a-play hangouts, or is there still room for new collectors?

Wow, thanks for all the responses. It sounds like the general consensus is that prices are notably higher than they used to be (even when adjusting for inflation) but for the most part, you guys are pretty encouraging. That's good to hear. (Though, I'm not too sure about the guy who accused me of being a troll as evidenced by the fact that I have a but single post. Is he always that grouchy?)

Anyway, I have a lot of fond memories of Black Knight 2000 and Funhouse, which is why I cited them as examples. I live in Seattle, so there are quite a few Microsoft Millionaires around here keeping prices higher that it looks like the rest of the country gets to enjoy. To that end, I'll have to factor in the 300 or so bucks it'd take to ship something to me, which blows any potential savings out of the water, I guess.

I certainly have the patience to get something worthwhile for my money, though. I don't need one right now. In fact, I kind of have an unofficial agreement with my wife that if I'm still excited about it in another couple of months, then she'll pretty much give me her blessing so we don't have to have An Argument. I've been poring through this book on electricity to learn about volts, amps and ohms and I have my eye on a couple of general pinball repair books on Amazon. I've watched pretty much every video by TNT Amusements, PinballHelp, havepinwilltravel, S Verlander and a few others.

When UvulaBob decides he wants to get into something, he gets into it.