Quoted from Russell:Recently, I seem to have fallen out of love with the hobby. I can’t decide if this is just temporary, represents a new phase of my pinball hobby, or if I’m just done and in denial.
I think maybe I had accumulated too many pins (was up to 14), and the fact that they are basically unplayed except for myself and the occasional party seems wasteful.
Maybe it’s just the cumulative effect of multiple small disappointments with the hobby lately.
For example:
I recently bought an Escalera, which was super expensive, and it turns out I can’t use it for my stairs, so that was disappointing.
I didn’t get into Pinburgh, which was becoming a fun ritual each year, that is sort of disappointing.
Other stuff...no interest in recent themes. Bailed on Houdini, no interest in POTC, lukewarm on Alice Cooper, and trying hard to balance my interest in KME’s first design and the terrible theme. No interest in any of the upcoming rumored themes (Toy Story!?!) Just not excited.
Whatever, maybe these have nothing to do with it.
I find myself not even getting excited about upcoming events, I haven’t even gotten a ticket to our local show, which I normally go all in on.
Even the local monthly tournaments don’t have the appeal they once did.
I actually sold pins to make room for a foosball machine. (Kids and wife loving it, so that was a win.). I’m thinking about selling more to make room for ping-pong or something else.
Anyone else gone through this? My current plan is to reduce my collection quite a bit, maybe down to 5-8, then reassess.
Curious, do you work on games? I find that when I am burnt out on playing or competition, that tearing down a game is a great way to rekindle my spunk.
When I get tired of tear down then I go play more.
When I get tired of that I shift to events.
I find the thing I like about this hobby is that there are actually lots of different avenues to embrace and by embracing them all I can shift.
1 thing that has also really kept me going is starting Mad Rollin Pinball as a charity event. This gives me something positive to channel and makes all the effort worth it. It feels really good to do something positive with pinball.
You are a very organized dude. Maybe think about starting a big annual event down in your area? Make it at least part for charity and I bet you really dig in.
