Hey All, i'm new to Pinside and i'm loving the forums. A little about myself. I'm a 36 year old father of a 4 year old girl and a 3 year old boy. I spent a lot of my youth in arcades and grew up playing Cyclone and then my favorite pin, Phantom of the Opera. I played other pins back then like Comet, High Speed, Adams Family, and others but none of them really captivated me like Cyclone and POTO. During college I drifted away from pinball and really got into Fighting games. Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat took up all of my time.

I have been a Correction Officer for NYS Dept of Corrections for 13 years now and once I started that job I got sucked into MMO Gaming. Everquest, Dark Age of Camelot, Star Wars Galaxies, and WoW managed to suck me in for about 12 years. My wife has always been a computer gamer and played with me, but she has never touched a pin in her life.

This past year I really got sick of MMO gaming and dealing with most of the people that come with that type of gaming. Lots of kids or just plain rude adults that find the internet as a place that they think they just be a douche and get away with it! Early this spring I decided it was time to find a hobby that let me get away from my computer more and do something productive. I started buying mid 80s-90s Jukeboxes that were beat after decades in a bar, gutting them, restoring the cabinets, and converting them to digital widescreen or touchscreen jukeboxes. I just sold my first one yesterday which has actually lit a fire under me to finish my 2nd one and get working on some others.

My search for a new hobby has actually brought me back to my old love of pinball. My best friend from childhood is one of the few I still keep in touch with and he has remained fully rooted in his love of pinball. He has a small collection of 4 games and has been trying for years to get me back into it. I wanted a hobby that would actually let me socialize with my friends again and could include my wife and kids, so here I am.

My jukebox projects are going to fund my Pin collection and I plan to pickup my first pin within a month or two. POTO was my favorite growing up. I loved the theme, the music, the fast multiball play. It was just a fun game. My fear now though is that after playing my friend's LOTR that it will just pale for me. I love everything about LOTR. I installed Visual Pinball so I could try out a couple tables to get an idea for their play and I already know that I WILL own Indiana Jones the Adventure as well as LOTR.

So what approach have you guys taken to collecting? I am near Syracuse NY so I have been scouring upstate NY craigslist as well as Vermont where my brother lives. I have seen pricing all over the board so I really don't know where to begin. I know the pins I really want (IJ/LOTR) are going to run me 4-5k so would I be better off just picking up games I can find under 1k and beginning a collection? My friend picked up his LOTR last year for 2k and last time I played it (a year ago) it looked great to me. I wasn't looking at it as a collector then but it played fine and I don't remember any issues with it. So is it possible to find deals like that or was he just extremely lucky? Also what is a good going rate for a decent POTO?

Anyways, sorry for the wall of text. Just wanted to introduce myself and say hi.

Oh I don't mind them multiplying at all. In fact i'm looking forward to it. Thanks for the link, I actually had it in my bookmarks. Those prices are fairly accurate though? My concern was that you see people throw up some absurd prices and that just throws off the stats for the averages.

Not in New York State. I have no idea what other states do but in NY they are very restricted in what types of "entertainment" they have. Computer access is restricted to the computer repair class and any type of internet is a no-go. TVs are only available in the rec yards. Their choices for recreation consist of playing basketball or soccer on blacktop, playing cards or dominoes, or lifting weights. NY is very liberal when it comes to how they are treated but at least so far, they aren't living in luxury yet.

Its been submitted now. Thanks.

Martijn, i'm following your Marvel vs. Capcom build and can't wait to see it finished. I'm planning to do a similar build in the future with my PS3 for SSFIV and MK9. Really nice work on your old SF build.

The one I just sold yesterday was a Rowe CD-100a from 1989. I have run across a lot of older ones. I have a 1963 Wurlitzer that I need to pickup. A guy from work is giving it to me for free. I will probably clean it up and make sure it works, then just sell it as is. I really don't like the idea of gutting or "re-purposing" a good working older jukebox. The Rowe CD-100 jukeboxes were made in such quantity that they were in every bar back in the 90s. In working condition you can pick them up for as low as $150. Here are some pictures of the one I just finished.

IMG_4489.jpg IMG_4491.jpg IMG_4499.jpg IMG_4505.jpg

The one i'm currently working on is a lot different. This one is actually going to be a touchscreen jukebox in a 1938 Philco radio cabinet. I was given the cabinet for free. It was quite damaged and had no chassis. I had never done any wood restoration before so I have been learning as I go. The veneer was separating in places so that had to be fixed and the 73 year old lacquer was beat. After some trial and error with stripping lacquer, this is where it sits. The wood repair is done and the cabinet is ready for new lacquer.
IMG_3060.gif
IMG_3559.gif
IMG_3071.gif
IMG_3562.gif
IMG_3566.gif

Wow I assumed this was you. http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=112721.0
His name is also Martijn and his profile says he is from Netherlands. I even checked his profile first to make sure. I assumed you were one and the same. Hehe sorry.

My biggest concern about buying off Ebay is that i'm taking a risk on something sight unseen. I buy off Ebay all the time but since i'm brand new to this, I would prefer to buy within a couple hundred miles. Then I can grab my friend for a road trip and let him check the machine over until I really know what to look for. Playfield wear, broken ramps, etc are easy to spot. I guess until I get a couple machines and see what goes wrong with them its hard to know what i'm looking for.

If its cheap enough I will buy anything because i'm confident I can repair it. I just don't expect any "killer" deals on Ebay. Maybe i'm just looking at it all wrong.

On a side note, I have to deliver this Jukebox today and set it up for the guy. After that i'm headed back to the operator that I have been dealing with to get my jukebox cabinets. They used to be big with arcade machines, pins, and jukes. These days they pretty much focus on Dart machines for bars and Touchtunes units. They have a lot of old jukes but most have been parted out. They also have a lot of arcade cabinets. Today I plan to raid the warehouse and see if there are any pins left in any condition. I didn't notice any last time I was there but I also never asked. Wish me luck.

Well I called the local operator today that I have been dealing with. I didn't know but they still have Pinball routes going. He said he might have one old Williams machine but most everything they have is Stern. I got the impression from him that i'm not going to find any type of deal there. He invited me in next week when he gets back from vacation but i'm not too optimistic. I guess if nothing else, if I can get a LOTR or SM from him for average cost, I know he will deliver it for free.

On a side note, is anyone willing to recommend me on KLOV? Same name as here. I have been reading all along and didn't even realize until today that I couldn't post there. Thanks in advance.