I wouldn't be too stringent on the $1500 thing, that doesn't get you as much as it used to.
But no, a good working 2K machines isn;t going to cost the asme amount to maintain it for a few years. The only major money drain you could have is boards going bad (somewhat unlikely) and if you start modding the thing and throwing monies away.

First thing, go into your user settings are make sure people can see your location. Then maybe we can find some stuff near you. I wouldn't be looking for anything shipped for machine #1, shipping is going to take a huge chunk of your budget,

And also, you might want to call them "machines" and not "tables," some people are anal aboot that

1. stop calling them tables, please, for the love of God or whichever deity you are into.

1a. Prices are all over the map. You won't find better or worse deals on Pinside than anywhere else. Pinball machines are bought and sold every single day through pinside, so it's hardly a "last resort."

2. We can't speak for all sellers, it's all over the map. Some are strictly firm, some have plenty of leeway on prices. Best you can do is make offers you think are fair, and be polite, and try not to become frustrated or rude if your offers are not accepted.

3. Shipping to you door is generally $400-500 by newbie friendly shipping companies like NAVL (Ie: you won't have to pick it up from a shipping terminal, or uncrate a game). A local seller may be willing to do it for free, or charge you a fee. There are no standards here. For a total newbie, it may be worth it. I had a friend help me set up my first game, he knew what it was doing and it was helpful.

4. Once again, there are zero guarantees with maintenance. Your game may break the first day you own it, or it may be a tank that never breaks. In your budget, expect an older machine, and with that comes likely maintanance. The best advice I can give is buy a FULLY working game - don't be tempted by a cheap "project" which may be very frustrating. A fully working game, things will break once at a time, and you may be able to fix it for free with help from us.

Good luck!

That's what I was thinking, but hey i just read a thread that apparently people will just deliver the game to you for free and it's no big deal.
I've been doing this wrong the whole time!

Son of a bitch

CL is a war zone. You gotta be ready all day with the cash in your hand and the car keys in your pocket to get one. Regularly prices get upbidded also.

I'm just saying be flexible with price.

Where do you live?
A/S/L

10 hour day?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/for-sale-whirlwind-56

Head to the classifed section and enter in your location to check near you

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds

Pinball, tables, pinball machines ...everyone here knows what you mean. Call it how you want!!

Don’t encourage table talk!!

TAXI is obtainable for 2K. Great TABLE!!!

Yes, any machine fitting your criteria not involving themes. Some of the greatest machines ever have the dumbest themes.

You're sort if coming into it backwards.
If you have a strict budget, you need to deal with what machines are available to you.
When you got a stack of lawyer cash and can afford anything, then you can cherry pick which machine you can get.
I'm not saying that cant be looking for machines having everything you want of course, just that you have to be a little fluid with the whole thing.
A lot if it is seeing what is for sale near you, then watching videos/reading reviews if you're not familiar with them

All of them. Every table you play will have something to like and something to dislike. Watch tutorials at Papa.org and other places. NEPL meet in your area? League play will have you trying tables you haven't tried yet.

Right, you have a budget of $1500, pick from what's available for $1,500. I wouldn't go "looking" for anything specific.

Almost any game made has a Youtube of game play . I don't know many times I thought I would like a game - went on Youtube and watched - then said " Oh Hell no " .

Only foolish thing is overpaying like I did on my first pin. In general, classic pins don't lose value and go up over time. I recommend finding a game you can afford that you know you like. That might mean spending a little more money but worth it in the end to have something you enjoy. Plenty of cheap games out there but they are cheap for a reason. You can build a collection faster with cheap games but quality better than quantity imo.

This may help your starting point a bit. Unless you find a pretty solid deal, a good clean copy of any of those games is going to run you over $1500. High Speed will PROBABLY be the closest, but it (and everything else it seems) is creeping up in price. F-14 is fetching closer to $2K these days and a lot of the cheaper ones have massive insert wear or lifted inserts. Pinbot seems to generally hover around $2K and TMNT generally sells based on theme alone, as a player's game it's not very well regarded. Obviously YMMV based on who you know and what you stumble on, but if you really are at $1,500 or under you are going to need to get lucky(ish) to find a solid example of one of these.

That said, while all the games you mention have multiball, F-14 has no ramps or skill shot and High Speed has no skill shot. I love the System 11 era, so I don't say that to be negative about these titles (and I own an F-14), but if those are what you desire in a game, Pinbot or TMNT are probably the only ones that really check all your boxes...and none of these games have much depth. Again, not a knock against them, but if depth is what you seek - look elsewhere!

Being able to see your wishlist would help too, but maybe look into something like a Space Shuttle. Not a ton of depth, but a fun ramp shot, fun lock stealing multiball, sweep-able drop targets, rip the spinner shot, and a timless theme...usually right around your price point.

He has a wishlist, but without owning a game I don;t think he has the handy dandy icon to the collection section
https://pinside.com/pinball/community/pinsiders/hydrogenhuman/collection

You budget would be spot on in 2012. Might have to adjust now a days.

Be ready to grow thick skin. Some people here are pretty passive aggressive. Dont let things get to you.

Ipdb.org will let you search by feature and most other criteria you can think of.

Good deals do come up but as previously stated you need to be ready to jump in the car and go. If you find something online (i.e. Craigslist) and you actually are the first one to contact the seller and make a verbal agreement over the phone, ask the seller to remove the listing from Craigslist. All to often other pin enthusiast will call the seller and offer more money. So many stories like this on Pinside where people drove to the seller's place only to find out that someone else offered more and he seller took it!

Not sure it was asked yet but are you willing to learn or know how to work on machines? If so GREAT! If not then you want to consider that you're going to be paying someone to fix it and it can be costly! It's a steel ball bouncing around a playfield full of plastic parts......it's going to break! Heck you can go pickup your first machine and everything is good then you get it home and it's not working! Not trying to scare ya .... it's reality!

That is pretty much the key. Have cash in hand and be ready to go and be prepared to move the game. Deals pop up but you have about 1,000 other people watching for the same deals. If you aren't in a hurry something will come in due time.

It may be possible but there are probably 30 people just like you waiting to jump on it. You should stay ready but honestly you should probably pay a fair price from a helpful hobbyist who will walk you through the basics of breaking it down and setting it up. If you pay a fair price you will probably be able to sell it for about what you paid. It is not about getting the best deal ever all the time (and not on your first pin) IMO.

There are games out there though! If it wasn't a COVID situation I would say to get out and play a bunch and meet some pinball people who often have some machines!

Good Luck!

I think you should get to know the players in your local league. They can be a good resource for finding games.
http://nepl.org/

Based on wishlist, go with Genesis. Checks all your boxes.

Others:

Monte Carlo
Diamond lady
Surf n safari
Cactus jacks
F14
Big guns
Fire!
Raven
Spring break
Arena
Police force
Jokers!
Millionaire
Grand lizard
Road Kings

TLDR; hell yeah buy a game!

Tell EVERYONE you know that you're looking for a pinball machine. The last 2 games I got were word of mouth - someone called a friend, friend called me, I bought the games. They were never advertised anywhere, and were 2 of the best deals I've ever gotten.

Lots of people don't want to bother with the tire kickers and scammers on Craigslist and ebay, and don't want to deal with shipping something that weighs 200lbs.

I am somewhat new to ownership in the hobby, bought my first machine in 2018.

As other folks have mentioned, be ready to jump in a car w/ cash in hand when you spot a really good bargain.

As far as "last resort" ... a lot of the crusties on this site sit on the porch whittling and talk about how they found an Addams Family in a barn in 2002 for $900 and you're a sucker if you pay more. Treat it like the advice from a boomer ... they'll have good info to share but they need to let you know how good they are horse trading for their egos. If you want a working machine I'd buy from a collector, i.e., someone on here. The community is (more or less) reliable and knowledgeable and really cool. Every experience I've had on pinside has been positive. Could I have paid $500 less for my Swords of Fury if I'd bought it in 2012? Probably! But I didn't have to worry about driving to a rando's house w/ $1900 in cash in my pocket because I could check reputation and activity on pinside first.

Buy a working machine. If it's listed as "probably an easy fix" that means it could probably have been done by the seller. Even if you buy a fulling functioning System 11, don't fret, you'll learn how to repair things quickly enough. (I think my first repair was about 3 months in).

You live in a location w/ plenty of pinball machines, so you shouldn't have to drive far to find what you're looking for. Have fun!

You kids are so cute!

What is a "rando", is that an Alabama thing?

"Random person;" it's used in Michgan too.

Huh....first time i've heard aboot it.

See what I did there, TheLaw......

Yeah I’d keep an eye on that as well as eBay pinside and Craig’s.

I would recommend getting to know your local collectors too but seems like there isn’t going to be too many gatherings for a while.