Just my $0.02 on a solder sucker versus, say the Hakko 808 that's in the group by. I was skeptical about the 808 but it's glorious! I ended up getting their 888 iron too and it, too, is far and above the Weller I was using.

Do you need a 808? No. Does it make things much easier? Absolutely. I do lots of hobbyist electronics so it tends to get periodic use. If your soldering needs are basically only for X-Men, you can likely spend that money elsewhere more fun things for your pin. A solder sucker will work well enough. If you want a slight upgrade, I used the Rat Shack iron + bulb sucker and it works well for some things.

808 is wonderful, but I wouldn't consider it a must have or anything.

EDIT: Oh by the way, we seem to be having the same problem - I'm picking up my first pin on Saturday too! If you need more info on what I'm doing and what was suggested you can find it here:

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/moving-first-pin-should-i-use-a-pickup-truck-or-a-uhaulenterprise-moving-truc