I guess you can look at health from both a physical and mential standpoint. Even if you assume it’s bad for your physical health, it’s good for your mental health. For me, it’s a distraction from my day. A place to get lost in. It gives me a break from whatever stresses I may be experiencing. That mental break for mental health is just as important as any physical benefit or lack thereof. With that being said, physical exercise should be had. Just not from pinball.

I feel that when I work on my pinball machines, tearing them apart, cleaning them up, repainting them gives me a sense of accomplishment which I think mentally helps me out.

As far as physically... lifting and move them around helps out too, I suppose. Anything that brings you enjoyment can certainly help with your overall health.

Gotta be good for your memory, hand eye coordination, and focus. Seems I read a study a while back where they hooked people up to heart and brain monitors and some some benefits. So, play more!!

It's definitely not healthy for my wallet, that's for sure. Moving and working on the games provides a little bit of physical exercise and trying to remember all the rules, repairs, modifications and adjustments for each game provides a bit of mental exercise. On the other hand, the beer I consume when playing... well I guess it's healthy to stay hydrated. Right?

Doesn't seem to help my back too much.

I do breathe a lot of solder smoke...

Absolutely not. Pinball collecting has made me gain 20 lbs and broke my leg. First it costs a lot. Second things break and stresses you out, third there is no physical activity involved except for lifting the damn machine which can fall and break your leg, fourth it can cause marriage issues, fifth it takes up room in your house. But I like all the noises, and light effects.

When I was trying to obtain an Alien LE, I couldn't sleep for weeks. No its not healthy at all.

Oh and dont forget about stress of deliveries! They make up their own time, their own convenience, scratch things, break things.. stress!

It's healthy for me as a distraction from all the crap life throws at a person. It is however, not healthy for my bank account.

I think you might be doing it wrong lol

I think it's good for me. For the most part, I play pinball to relieve stress. I am always wanting to do something, not sit still... Pinball keeps me doing stuff, tinkering, and making my games play good. Also, it's cheaper than collecting motorcycles, boats, cars.

I repaired a game last Saturday. Something I do not do for others very often. The lady wanted to fix up the Force II machine that her husband had owned for 20 years as a surprise. Said he would never part with it.

I arrived expecting the worst but the game was in really good repair. Zero damage to any connectors or boards. It just need the rubbers replaced, game put on free play, new balls, and a GI fuse. That was great because it was a secret and I was happy to help out. I did not charge much for the two hours I was there and she gave me extra $ because she said she was a pest, taking pictures of what I was working on as I went along. I actually thought it was cool that she wanted to understand and document what the problems were on the game.

So, yeah... a LOT of healthy positives out there. As with anything, you kind of get out of it what you put into it.

Some people, I do wonder about. Some of them I only know on Pinside...

Was great for a very long time, until I bought a NIB stern maiden from nitro pinball.

Biggest mistake of my life. Will never deal with either company again (for several reasons, but mainly the warped playfield that stern won't replace).

Mentally, absolutely not. Dealing with the absurdity on Pinside caused me to take a huge step back from here and I've only recently started to creep back around. I did the same thing with competitive pinball because I could feel myself getting 'too involved' and caring way, WAY too much for something that was supposed to be a hobby, and fun. I've stopped buying and selling so much, and drastically reduced how much time I spend both browsing Pinside as well as going to tournaments...and I find it's a lot better for me, personally.

Physically....being hunched over a game for hours on end isn't great either. I don't really miss the general repair part of having a bunch of games. When I get my Joker Poker fixed, I'll likely be done with that for a good long while too. I enjoy the process of doing a playfield swap, and I'll get back to doing stuff like that at some point, but I need better space and better tools to do so without causing myself the issues that I have in the past. I'm pretty sure the current poor state of my back and knees is at least partially due to my early pinball 'career', and I've injured my shoulder playing aggressively at least two or three times.

So yeah. All good things in moderation, but there's definitely a line that I have to fight to keep myself behind for this to remain something that's a net positive versus being just an all around detractor, and I'm in a much better position NOW than I was even 4-6 months ago to do that without letting myself be baited into old habits.

Hey...wait a second...that story seems vaguely familiar...

Smoke follows beauty. Didn't you ever camp out?

Not sure healthy hearing from my wife when adding on to collection.
Will keep plunging though!

I can't say it's been any more or less healthy for me. Outside of pinball I'm already a pretty active guy since I'm a long distance runner, I guess when I choose to play pinball instead of video games that'll get me standing instead of sitting, which is a plus.

Mentally I really enjoy tearing down pins, refurbing, and rebuilding them though.

When I'm working on them that is an unhealthy situation. Small cuts, and bruises that show up the next day. Also, 'Don't look up at the TV when reaching for the soldering iron"
When I'm playing them at shows or arcades that is an unhealthy mental situation. Who is watching me? Hope they are laughing at something else, and not me.

But overall Pinball is great.

For me it's good and bad. It's good because I don't like to sit around, I get bored and depressed, so it keeps me busy but I probably have too many machines to really keep up with and when I'm into something I'm all in. Like this last project I took on it's been eating all of my spare time for the past 2 weeks and time I really shouldn't be spending on it but I've almost got it done. I feel like if I didn't do pinball I would just be working on something else and what's more fun, painting a house or fixing a pinball machine you get to play with when it's done!

No wonder you are Oneangrymo.

How wildly do you move around while playing pinball?
Or were you deliberately banging into a competitor to disrupt his game so he wouldn't top your score?

All the nudging gives my nudging muscles a workout. Sharpens the reflexes too.

Yeah right.. I would never do that, and anyone that knows me would already know that. That's just cheap. Nah...it's more like I'm a fan of slide saves, and a few times I didn't think about the fact the game was on a concrete floor with no sliders......which doesn't...ya know....slide? So I jammed up my elbow and my shoulder really bad doing that.

TMI

From what I’ve seen at pinball shows it appears to not be healthy physically for 90% of crowd.

In the Summer, I'm always erecting/constructing something, but here in N.Y., in Winter, I'm not so certain what
I'd do that interest me as much if not pinball, ball bowlers, ect..
After all these years, I can still move the ball bowlers around. Once I stop, I think I'll probably start going down hill.
Thus, I'm favoring that it's been (still is), a huge plus, not to mention the additional Friends because of the hobby
(and even from putting machines out)..
As a matter a fact, one is stopping over tomorrow to grill some hot dogs and have a few pops which 100% would
not be happening if it wasn't for the hobby..

>pinball
>considering it a physical exercise

No wonder why a majority of collectors look the way they do

For me as a vet pinball is a pretty solid form of therapy. I played all the time as a kid, but didn't play while I was on active duty. Playing takes me back to good times. Working on them is another form.

So far it's been great for my stress level. Playing, fixing, cleaning, etc, is all very relaxing for me. I wouldn't consider any of that exercise, but I get plenty of that doing other things.

I'm pretty sure I drink more due to playing pinball.

And then there's my financial situation ... well, who needs a good night's sleep anyway.

However ... I do dance around quite a bit everytime I'm able to start coffin multiball on MET.

So yeah - I have to say that pinball has definitely been healthy for me!

Are you just joshing me because I've mentioned it in several threads, or did something similar happen to you/someone you know?

Standing is mildly better than sitting but neither is really benefitting your physical health... overall standing all day working on a pin just kicks my back for a couple days personally. As others have mentioned already though — probably a lot of collectors could really use some breaks from pinball to get some real physical exercise walking around the block or what not. I don’t think many could say that the hobby has physically benefitted them...

It’s a mentally engaging and fun hobby though

Will continue regardless

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This is how I justify my pins to my wife. They are good for hand eye coordination and mental health, not really physical health(but I do jump around a lot trying to save the ball)

I suffer from MS so it’s hard for her to say no to me when I tell her another pin is on the way, they have helped me stay sharp and a bit more coordinated. I also set my pins up fast 7deg + helps reflexes.

Moving pins is definitely not good for your back, especially when you have a trolley and don’t use it! My back is almost better after two weeks..won’t do that again ha

I’ve met some great friends through Pinball so it’s also good for your social health.

So having a desk job is worse than smoking and filling your lungs full of cancerous chemicals all day long now huh? Yeah ok, i really believe that one!

Healthy as in mentally or physically? Yes. Healthy for my wallet and finances? Hell no

Whatever keeps you moving and away from the snacks and beer (well maybe not beer) is usually a good thing...

My shoulder hurts pretty regularly, but I work on pins full time, so I'm always bent up in one. I think the issue that caused my pain more though was man handling by moving. Now, I wait for help even if it seems like something I can do on my own. Better safe than sorry.