So, it's been about a month. A few friends of mine had been begging me to go with them to a friends house and play pinball...

I'm 29. I've grown up with consoles, and PC gaming... I kept making up excuses to not go, and blowing them off...

I finally go... and I played for 10 straight hours... I then begged to go back every weekend since then...

I'd have to chalk it down to the guy hosting... first, he's just a really cool dude... he has a TON of similar hobbies/interests, and just a genuinely interesting guy...

He had 6 pins set up ready to play for us. 2 Indiana Jones (Old and New) Star Trek: TNG, Star Trek (Newer Stern), Tron, and Star Wars. I was in nerd heaven... the theme of those pins got me very excited...

I started off, not even breaking a million. I was terrible. (I'm still bad) but I was able to wizard Star Trek the other night. I think I'm in love with that machine the most... it's just pure great. (I think his is the Premium edition).

I'm sure it leads to the same place for everyone... now I want one...

I want to buy that same Star Trek machine... but I feel like it would be redundant since he has one... He and a few of his buddies have put together a pretty great Pinball/Arcade club locally, and I've got to meet a lot of great folks, and play on some cool machines!

I've got around $2000 I can spend right now on one, so obviously that knocks Star Trek off. I could save and get it in a couple months though.

I've been looking at a few others, and I just wanted to post here and get some input from some folks that probably know a lot more than I do on the subject...

I've been looking at Stargate, Goldeneye, and Hook... There's a local guy with a Jurassic Park but he's asking $26xx for it and I didn't particularly enjoy playing it (nor do I have that much to spend at the moment)...

I'm strongly considering taking out a loan and just getting the Stern Star Trek... (If I can find one!)

Oh, probably should give geographical location... Gulf Coast (Mississippi, Alabama, NW Florida area)

TLDR: I wanna buy my first pinball machine! I need advice!

Thanks for the replies! So fast!

Meph, thank you for the welcome! Glad to hear that there are some good ones in my price range! I've been playing a few... I think I've gotten to play about 15 different machines in my first month?

Spiderman, Gorgar, Jurassic Park, No Fear, Johnny Mnemonic, Junk Yard, Big Guns, Demolition Man, Getaway, Indiana Jones (old), Indiana Jones (newer), Star Trek: TNG, Star Trek (new stern), Tron, Star Wars... That's all I can remember right now...

Richthofen, yeah I'd like to avoid the loan... and that puts my budget at $2000. I'll have to look up what "System 11" means... I'm still quite new to this. I got to play a NoFear this past Saturday! It was a very fun machine!

I've just gotta find one in my price range, somewhere decently local!

Thanks also Arcade, and Taxman!

Arcade, I've heard the Pro model is quite lacking compared to the premium... Doesn't matter anyway, I can't afford either heh.

Wow, thank you all for your replies!

I just finished reading them all!!!

Based on your advice, I will not be taking a loan to pay for a toy. I am almost debt free as it is. I owe on my truck we just purchased in February, but otherwise, nada.

I'm married (6 years now) and I have two kiddos (5, and 1). The 5 year old actually came with us this past weekend, and got on Big Guns for a couple minutes haha.

I guess patience is what will serve me the best... but it's tough. I've been lurking craigslist and others, but so far, no luck.

I'll keep looking. I have a couple of the guys in the local pin club informed that I'm hunting one as well.

Thanks again for all the wonderful comments and insight! Time to lurk/read a ton more!

Thank you everyone!!!

I'm looking at a local pair for just about my price range... It's a Blackout and a Wipe Out. He sent me some pictures.

And he also said:

"On the Blackout: I tore the playfield completely down automotive clear coated and reassembled. Some touch up. Rebuilt driver board. Beautiful game imo."

"On the Wipeout: Really fun game! Missing a small plastic but you don't really notice when Playing. I've been meaning to make one. Trying g to find pics I may néed to take more..."

20150528_200350.jpg
20150601_205506.jpg
20150601_205506.jpg
20150720_183646.jpg
20150805_194933.jpg

20150613_202249.jpg

Thanks again everyone for the replies!

I love that you guys explore both sides of an option!

I've been playing Pinball arcade on my phone and tablet, and I love a few pins. I enjoyed the Harley Davidson, Starship Troopers, Elvira, Bride of Pinbot just to name a few...

* Yes, it was $2150 for both wipeout, and blackout together.

I could probably afford the Stern Star Trek around February if I saved until then... I'm going to go to the freeplay Florida (In Pensacola) in November. So it's in Orlando... probably not going to get to make that trip

I could technically afford the Stern Star Trek right now, I just don't want to take that large of a chunk out of my bank account. That's why I was going to finance it. A) It would build credit, and B) I could pay for it slowly instead of one huge chunk...

I've got the cash to cover the loan in case of an emergency... and good insurance

Well, I could technically afford the Stern Star Trek right now, I just don't want to take that large of a chunk out of my bank account. That's why I was going to finance it. A) It would build credit, and B) I could pay for it slowly instead of one huge chunk...

Also, I've been searching... Craigslist, eBay, and the Market here... I feel like I'm in the desert...

See, that's

That's exactly what I'm thinking...

I've got a reward card that I use in a very similar fashion... We actually put a significant down payment on our truck and I used the card to get the reward points, and paid it off immediately on the next billing cycle.

Is this a service that banks offer? I've never heard of an interest free loan... but I'd love to do something exactly like that (if it helps build credit further)

It's pretty unlikely I'm going to take out a loan. I'm pretty excited about being 100% debt free when we pay off our truck (Presently our only debt unless you count monthly bills [Power, Water, Trash, etc])

I've been saving a while now in a separate account for just such a toy. A few months ago, that toy was going to be a new motorcycle. I've owned a few and I miss them, but I just can't see myself on one now. A pinball machine would be a better decision I think. I don't have to insure it... I'm not going to fall off of it and die... It's not very likely someone won't be paying attention and hit me with their car while I'm on it...

We've got quite a bit more than 2000 saved, but I thought it would be a safe starting point, as a lot of the pins we were eyeballing were around that price range... honestly, we pulled that number out of the air... The 2000 was going to be the down payment on a motorcycle, with a 3 year loan to cover the rest in monthly payments. I guess my logic was that I was just getting a different toy.

I'm grateful for your advice. I sincerely am, and I'm probably not going to take out a loan for this toy, I was weighing my options though.

I'm still not 100% sure what I'm going to do at this point, but I'm strongly leaning toward building my own virtual pin machine... They can be built for much less than $2000. I have a few "spare" computers laying around, and I'm pretty good at building stuff myself... I think that will scratch my itch until I can afford the Star Trek (Stern) and by then it might even drop in price!

In the mean time, I'll still have what I've saved so far, and if a Stargate becomes available, I'll jump on it!

Still new, so learning what EM is.

I have a friend that is selling a Star Explorer for $100... It's not a full size pin, and it doesn't have a coin door... not sure what people think about it...

Pinny, im about 20 min east of Mobile, AL.

Crsdawg... I have no words... Thank you for your post! Insightful and informative!

Atlanta is only 5 hours. I've dug around on their Craigslist and searched pinside but haven't found anything that grabs me yet...

About 20 minutes East of Mobile, AL