Quoted from SantaEatsCheese:The best advice I can give you is to check out the awesome local scene there is in pinball near DC. The 3 places I go to (that are closes to me) are Crabtowne (30 ish mostly 80s-90s machines with a few new Sterns), MOMS organic Market (50 machines mostly newer), and VUK (15 machines mostly very high end). Between these sites there are 4 of the top 5, 8 of the top 10, 14 of the top 20, 26 of the top 50 on the Pinside 100 I can think of right now... all within 45 minutes of Baltimore. Most of these places have pinball leagues as well (I've never done them but they are there). Go play a lot of pinball machines and make a list of your top 5 or 10 and then wait for a really good deal to pop up local. Check Facebook Marketplace, Pinside, and Craigslist.
The other thing I'd highly recommend doing when exploring these locations is play the same vintage machine in different locations. By that, I mean play the World Cup Soccer at Crabtown, then play the World Cup Soccer at MOMs. This will show you EXACTLY how much difference condition can make in the playability and fun factor in a machine. Another great example would be the Adam's at Crabtown and the Adam's at VUK. As a side note do your self a favor and eat at Crabtowne. You can also play the "would I rather" game at Crabtown and decide something along the lines of, "would I rather have this Deadpool NIB for 5600, or this Fish Tales and Word Cup Soccer, or this Pinbot and Black Knight 2000 and Getaway. It's a fun hobby. If you would like an in depth tour of the underside of a Jurassic Park and/or Attack From Mars Remake let me know, I'm local.
Great advice here, especially if you're in an area that has many locations to play. Wish I could give SantaEatsCheese a couple thumbs up for the time taken to write all that out.
My 2 quarters worth:
Get 2 games: an older one and a NIB or very gently used late model HUO. That way you will have something to play when troubleshooting the older machine.
Also, if you like many types of play, get two different styles. Maybe one that is an epic adventure with a very deep rule set and long ball times (from what I understand, looking at you The Hobbit ), and one with shorter ball times (it can still have a lot of things to accomplish).
I was in a very similar situation as you from December through February. My wife and I decided to get a pinball machine in November, 2018. We did a lot of research playing games at many of the great arcades in the Seattle area. I leaned toward a NIB because even though I'm handy, I didn't want to spend a lot of time fixing the 1st game. In the end we got a Lord of the Rings (built in 2003) in good condition and played the heck out of it for 2 months. Little things started to wear out or need adjusted, and I've handled them on my own and with some help. However, we decided to add a NIB - and after more research, decided to splurge for a NIB
The Beatles (Gold Edition) .
Good combination for us because we love both themes. LOTR games can last 20-30 minutes with up to 10 minutes on a ball (cough cough, we have set to 5 ball), whiles Beatles balls last just a few to several minutes at most (this one is still set to 3 ball).
Our similarities may end late this year or early next year. My wife decreed that if there is a Willy Wonka (1971) machine from Jersey Jack (I expect the rumors are true), then we will have a 3rd machine.
Oh, and I'm going downstairs tonight to re-solder some connections on LOTR so that the Balrog will hopefully stop jerking and return smoothly. While I'm working, I can take a break and play the Beatles!
Iowa City, IA
