Pinball is very personal.

The BEST ANSWER is for you to play a lot of different machines, and invite home the one you fall in love with.

Don't let anyone tell you what you should love.

Pinballs break. They break a lot. Usually they break in ways that are simple and easy to fix. Frequently they break in ways that require specialty or hard to obtain parts. Rarely, but often enough that you should take note, they break in a way that requires a skilled pinball technician to fix.

There are vast areas of the country where the nearest technician is hours away, and getting an appointment might be months out. BEFORE you buy a pinball, it would make sense to have a path to getting your machine repaired if the problem you encounter is more than you personally can fix. Don't presume that 'somebody around here' will fix your machine. Don't presume that the technicians that DO pinball repair will do it for you, in your home. Make sure you've got a path.

After that, it's easier to find broken pinballs than working ones.

Older pinballs are more likely to have problems, or have problems pending (bad capacitors, bad connectors that allow the machine to work... for a while...).

Make your pinball purchase 'cash on the glass'. Which means to go to the machine you are buying, and be in it's presence. Play THAT machine, don't just say "I like the way Addams Family plays, so this guy will send me a machine I've never played, and it'll play just like this other Addams Family".

Particularly for older machines, condition is king. Examine the machine closely. If it is a machine that has batteries, ask to see in the backbox and check if there has EVER been battery acid (alkaline) damage. You can still buy the machine, but it's useful to know what kind of problems you might be buying into.

I'm a Stern Dealer, so OF COURSE I'm going to recommend you buy from someone reputable, who has been around for a while. You may value having someone who can deliver the machine up the stairs in your home (because there is always a flight of stairs...) and install the machine and go through all the things involved in pinball ownership.

I pull the new machines out of the box and fix everything and 'dial the machine in' for best play before I set them on my showroom for you to come in and play a a variety of machines. In my showroom the volume isn't too loud or too quiet, and you can get a good appreciation of what the machine is going to be like in your home. Pinballs on location are often set punishingly loud, punishingly hard (gotta get another player every 2.5 minutes!). It's helpful to find a machine that is set up properly for you to play before you purchase.

New out of the box, Stern pinballs have 30 days parts only warranty (a little longer on the display). A retail sales dealer might be willing to extend that warranty for you (I do for my customers). Most of my pinballs have some little problem after bouncing them down the road in a truck and up a flight of stairs in your home. This is usually a loose screw, a bulb that pops loose, sometimes some other small adjustment. I always tell people that it's common to have some little problem in your first week of ownership, and I'm glad to come out and make sure everything is working perfectly.

But not only retail sales dealers do good customer support.

A lot of the great people on pinside are more than happy to help you get your machine moved, willing to help you if you have problems.

Make sure you trust the people you work with, make your purchase 'cash on the glass', and you'll be fine.

1. Where are you located?
2. Most of us started off on a fully working machine, or what we thought was fully working and fixed it up.
3. Are you looking for dings and chimes? A DMD game? An Alpha Numeric Game? A Game with an LCD?

My first game was a World Cup Soccer 94 (long gone).

My top first pins depending on budget going from lowest price to highest right now would be:

High Speed
World Cup Soccer 94
Stern Star Trek
Deadpool Pro
Godzilla Premium

If it's primarily to play, don't get involved in an older or fixer-upper machine.

The best way to go is near-new. Not exactly NIB, but HUO (home use only), someone else who bought it NIB and took care of it at home, and resale prices on that are typically 500 to 1000 less than NIB.

A near-new machine will work to play, and require just enough tweaks to get your feet wet a little bit in maintenance.

Have you played any recent Stern machines in arcades, and are there any you particularly like? Good starter machines for a first time home buyer include Deadpool Pro, Jaws Pro, Mandalorian Pro (very cheap), Godzilla (although most people insist on paying up for a premium on this one.)

Get a newer working machine. You don't need a tweaker as #1, that will come in time.

Dont over think it. I cannot express to you how unimportant the first machine is at this stage of your life. Start making room for the rest.

Crazy Levi approved this message.

Good time to be a buyer. Don't buy NIB save your money there's plenty of HUO used pins with low plays where you could easily save 500 - 1k.

Take a day trip down to Past Times Arcade in Girard, OH. Spend $20 to play all day and see which one of their 500 machines speaks to you.

Not sure if this was mentioned, but get the Pinball Map app or go to https://pinballmap.com/ and find a location near you and play them all. Good Luck

Definitely not new in box.

Check out the pinball map to see what's close to you to play. How technical are you? Comfy soldering on circuit boards? Comfy soldering wires to posts? Completely different feel between those two. I dont like to solder boards, but I'll replace almost anything under the playfield. This - may drive what exactly it is you buy, and how old.

Houdini may not be a great choice for first time home ownership. The shots are tight and difficult, the voice is grating, and it's from American Pinball which is one of the smaller manufacturers and may not be great with support.

Newer machines have boards as well. But in theory - less of them, and will be obviously newer / less used and less likely to run into issues. Can always ship out old ones if they incur issues too. A few people on this forum are adept at repair. May be local people that can assist as well in the community. Dont want to scare you off - just something to consider.

Go out to local arcades and try out many different titles.

Once one has been brought home, prepare thyself for many more.

There's a webpage/app called PinballMap that can help you find more machines to try out, good luck!

I will be selling a few here in pinside soon. Most my pins are home use only and mint! Only a few are older however, in great shape!

Ok here is something to consider: Buy a newer used game like this James bond Pro:
https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/179158

In your area and at this entry level you will be able to sell this machine for around your entry in a few years if you need to move on. Code really has made this game something else, and there is nothing too "dauting" inside from a first time owner perspective. Would be a great entry into ownership!

Sopranos is a lot of fun, and I think that helps give an idea of the type of rules you like. I'd say Stern's in that era weren't yet to the level of rule complexity that they've reached today. So besides early 2000's Sterns, I'd bet you enjoy 90's Bally/Williams machines as well.

I'll also be one to say, nothing wrong with picking an OK to good machine as far as gameplay/rules goes, that has a theme you absolutely love. It's going to be in your home, you're going to want to not only get joy from playing it, but looking at it as well.

Based off of this answer... do not buy a pin until you have tried 50+ different pinball machines. You can have ALOT of fun just picking out a pin. You may be surprised by what you like. I always try new (to me) pins when I see them and the biggest "this looks stupid" pins that I tried out just for fun turned out to be some of my favorites. Elvira and Torpedo Alley fit solidly in that category. I know you are excited but bring your first pin home no earlier than September 1st. Good luck and have fun!

Check this pinball map out to see what is near you.

https://pinside.com/pinball/map/mapbox

I second this great recommendation; play games, enjoy, explore, and be open to surprise.

My first was a Stern Star Trek Pro, new (vault edition)... A game I'd played many, many times on location and knew I loved coming back to it again. Two key considerations that helped me:

1) I had a great local dealer, with solid service pre- and post-sale
2) It's a generation of Stern that I could learn how to mod, tweak, and repair as needed. New enough to be reliable, yet few tricky bits to make servicing it difficult.

That was the top of 2019, and I still own it. Zero regrets.

Watch some videos on the PROPER way to set up and transport a machine. There is a RIGHT way to do it. Who knew right?

NIB typically comes with a warranty. If you do buy NIB PLEASE BUY FROM A STERN DISTRIBUTOR AND NOT FROM A RESELLER.

Also, DON'T GET SCAMMED.
If you can help it, PLEASE do not ship your frst machine. Buy one from someone on Pinside IN PERSON with cash.

A project that needs serious work is not something I would ever recommend you buy as a first time machine.

A machine that needs tweaks does not really exist. It is very likely be the exact same price as a fully working machine and ANYTHING you buy will need tweaks. HELL, NIB machines need tweaks.

Completely agree to not overthink. Just buy whatever game you like playing right now that is in your budget. Definitely try to get a game in good working order. Sucks to have only one game that is unplayable because issues. Newer Stern pro is a good place to start imo. You shouldn't have to fix much compared to a 30+ year old game and will be reliable.

Best advice? Find a different hobby. Machines tend to reproduce like rabbits ... But in all seriousness, I echo the comments from all others. Good luck!

Cleveland pinball show is next month and it’s in Independence, right down the road from you. You can play a bunch of different machines to see what you like. Plus there will be pins for sale and people traveling in that may be willing to bring pins they have for sale in the marketplace.

Lot’s of good advice here. My thought would be enjoy the hunt for your first game. Go to a show, play the arcades near you, check out pins from different eras. Come back here and ask questions about games and other’s experiences. Would agree to get a solid, working pin first. You can always look at projects later if the hobby sucks you in. Pinside is a font of help when you need it.

Once you narrow it down to a few titles that you are seriously considering locating to purchase, take your wife / partner, kids or best friend along to play. See what they think after playing a few games of each.

Well, luckily the pinball scene in the Cleveland area is pretty large, with a ton of collectors. I won’t rehash all the advice here, but check out some places with pretty large selections and see what you like:

Past Times (already mentioned)
Kidforce Pinball
Pinball Planet
Pins Mechanical
Superelectric

The 2024 Cleveland pinball show is about a month away also. Tons of local players and collectors to meet, tons of games on free play to play, and lots usually for sale if you want to talk to the sellers in person. People will be more than happy to help you out:

https://clevelandpinballshow.com/

A lot of it will come down to what your budget is also.

If you have any questions or need anything in the area hit me up via PM.

What ever you do. Don't get caught up in bringing home the first game you see. A bad experience can ruin a good hobby for you, and be a money pit.

Do a little homework, research, find a good collector to guide you.

You'll be glad you did.

LTG : )