Without knowing a few more specifics, it’s basically impossible to make useful suggestions. If you can share a general sense of where you are and what you’re trying to get, people can provide targeted suggestions that might actually help rather than broad suggestions that you feel aren’t applicable in your case. Unless you’re trying to hold out for a price range that’s disappeared, Pinside loves to connect games with potential new owners.

The only other broad suggestion I can make is that if you don’t have anything near you, do a little “Pinball Tourism”. Take some of the $$ that you mention having on hand to buy MSRP, and go to one of the festivals or large locations and spend a solid chunk of time playing a wide range of games. Speaking from experience, if you aren’t getting a lot of playing time now, your tastes will evolve quickly once you start getting to play more. That’s probably the biggest risk you face buying “cold”.