Working for the small amusement business with my dad (I am the second "employee") we have the sense that we actually own these ourselves. The boss appreciates them as much as we do but we actually play them, maintain them, and decide which locations are best to route them. I hope to own one of them some day (White Water) and believe it or not we still have the original (although a little beat up) topper. It's the same machine I played when I was about 6 or 7 and marveled at the speed and unpredictability of the ball as it shot down the Insanity Falls ramp and whizzed around the whirlpool. We are both just about as fortunate as people that actually own these games.

Im broke off my ass and my collection may become the next victim........ so false.

"Please pin responsibly!"

As long as my collection is under 5% of my net worth, I feel like I'm being responsible. I grew up in a poor home too, and I agree that it still amazes me that I can own these machines.

Watch out! Pinball "luxary" tax may be on the way! Fill out that PIN-1040ez form at tax time...

For a large section of this group, that's probably true. I know several people that buy every LE that comes out and doesn't even think it over.
I've been collecting since 1998 and basically bought/fixed/sold my way to where I am today. Sold my collection of bootleg [real silver pressed] Iron Maiden CD's to fund my first purchase: Whirlwind. Never really regretted it.
I feel I'm being priced out of the hobby as far as new machines go. I have a WoZ coming [someday...] and the payment plan helped some and also a Predator.
But these $8k+ new machines are just getting to be too much - not enough value in them to justify selling 1 or 2 from my collection to fund it cause I sure ain't coming up with $8K in cash.

There will be a bubble bust at some point. Star Trek *might* be the one, but probably not. Stern will overreach and be sitting on unsold LE's and have to discount to get rid of them. WHen that happens, the people that immediately lost money in the resale value of the pin might rethink their next purchase.

So, we're not all rich, but I guess compared to a $60 video game that most of them will take home and beat in a day two, we do have it pretty good. What other hobby can you actually MAKE money on? MOst are money pits like cars, etc....
D

I'm here living check to check, playing beaters. You don't have to be rich to enjoy pinball ownership. Not everyone needs CQ machines, don't get me wrong, they are the pinnacle of ownership, but the hobby can be somewhat affordable to people of modest means as well.

I'm totally at the opposite end of the spectrum as the OP. I own 3 games, none newer than 1980 and have no more than approx. $2,000 in them total and they all need work. It has taken me about 4 years to aquire those 3 games. I truley love the pinball hobby, competitive pinball and repairing my games. I knew if I wanted games, I'd have to buy them beat up or not working and learn how to repair them... I won't be buying any A list 90's games or the newest NIB game... I even passed on a $250 Mati Hari that I saw posted today and would love to buy, but thems the breaks. I'm not bitter about it in anyway and certainly don't begrudge the guys that can... I can just befriend them and play theirs!!

I have a feeling there are more paycheck-to-paycheck hobbyists than meet the eye.

-Steve Ridge
Louisville, KY

http://www.raptitude.com/2011/12/how-to-get-rich-without-making-more-money/

Thanks for that link, a good read.

Right there with you. I'm a paycheck to paycheck guy who has wanted a pinball machine since I used to play them coming up through the 80s and 90s. I finally broke down and used my tax refund to buy a Monopoly last year but I could never afford to just outright buy one anytime I wanted. But just like everyone else, I'm happy with the one I bought and satisfied with just having one machine for friends and family to come over and play.

Yes, and they're right! Few things bring out the crazy like pinball. It is a strange--and, yes, likely quite expensive--obsession/addiction. Pinside could provide work for a whole team of psychiatrists.

I enjoy that entire website & often ponder similar thoughts as the blogger

Glad you liked it & I'm glad you have the ability to appreciate the subject matter

Pinball enjoyment can be had at many different price points. You can go buy a Pinbot for $1000 and depending on who you are, you may get more pleasure out of it than the guy with the $8000 LE.
Best of all there is little social status within pinball. The LE owner can talk with the Pinbot owner and say " I used to play Pinbot all the time back in the day and love it, let me come play it and you can stop by and play my LE". If you have a pin you are in.

Some people, like me, just have good credit. Credit is everything!

I think everyone chooses where to spend money, $150/mo on smokes, or hit the bar every night, maybe you have $4000 in tattoos, or have a corvette, a harley, maybe a camper and a boat and spend $150 in gas every weekend. Maybe you are into travel, or collect guns.

Point is, even broke people have hobbies, just have to choose. I might add, some folks may work odd job for expendable cash for hobbies.

Don't get me wrong, there are folks that are well off, but I think many are just middle class.

I am poor as shit

I make a comfortable living but am far from rich. I make enough to cover all my expenses, put some money away for the future and still have enough for my hobbies (my band, arcades, and pinball).

Over the course of two years I worked my way up to three pins and enjoyed working on them and playing them. I was able to sell those three machines and got enough money to buy my Metallica Pro which probably won't be going anywhere ever as I love Metallica and the Dirty Donny artwork.

My goal is to get back to three pins as I think that worked out perfect in my small gameroom. I will never own a hundred pins or any of the B/W A listers and I am okay with that!

And yet there are people who claim they are too poor to buy games so they pirate them. Seriously, just downloaded an awesome HUO Medieval Madness this morning.

We have friends?

Im broke off my ass and my collection may become the next victim........ so false.

Dibs on the LOTR

shark.jpg

Well said, puts things in perspective.

All I know Is that I do side jobs etc to get my money for pins. Also got lucky to get some cheap projects occasionally. Of course i dont have CQ pins to have fun. AS long as they are solid players I am happy.

$35K +/- in games and your broke off your ass? Wish I grew up that kind of broke

no... "we" are not... the group of people who buy nib are a minority in the pin community... unless you really believe there are only a few thousand participants in this hobby... i would wager that the large majority of participants in this hobby don't have $8k tied up in their entire collection, let alone one game...

your post reads like a self-congratulatory, "look at how much better WE are than THEY are" screed... i hope that is not how most people in this hobby think...

edit: this is not a criticism of those who buy nib...

My games come from saving up for months, I think it's an age thing too. I use to play video games everyday until I hit 30, now I rarely play them unless it the pinball arcade. Don't think I'm rich by any means, just like pinball.

Since i started collecting arcade/pins about 1.5 years ago and I have had 3 pins and over 15 arcades. I am now down to 2 pins. I am not rich. This is my hobby and outlet in my life. I dream of having around 6-7 pins then my hobby (collecting) will be complete. I hope to never lose these 2 games but as bad as times are, I may lose them both. I have always enjoyed playing the game more but unfortunately not many collectors in my area to buddy up with. Your last line says we are the "lucky" ones. I am not lucky, I am just hard working saving the dollars for the family and the quarters for my games.

I eagerly await $60 games all the time. Eagerly awaiting NIB pins is out of my league, and I would still eagerly await the $60 games even if it wasn't.

Did you swipe this off my FB profile?

I rob little old ladies, women, children, until I have enough for my next pin.
I thought that's what we all did.

_{Post edited by PorkChopExpress : JOKE POST : this disclaimer is for all the crazies}

Sorry, I make squat, and a nib is way way out of my budget. Nib games don't excite me in the slightest. I do look forward to trying them out though.

Wow thanks Pinballwizard! I have to constantly be reminded about the attitude of gratitude. I have the 1st 4 of 5 requirements down, now I have to master perspective!

Guys..... Broke off me arse due to lack of work, the only thing ive been hanging onto is my collection. I know the numbers, but look at some of the titles then think that most of them ive owned for 8-10 years. Pinflation has priced some of us out of the hobby, and i am not all that proud to say i am one of them people. Games i sell/sold can never be replaced at todays prices. Kids in college instead of elementary, cost of living and again, lack of work are the reasons ive been "pushed" aside. Id love to talk a big game and say look at my 35k collection, but all i have to do is look at the pos i drive and think theres more important stuff to spend money on, and pins arent on that list.

For sure. I wouldn't be surprised if much of my collection is sold off when my daughter goes to college.

I keep wondering if there is something I can do to get myself bumped up a couple of tax brackets so that I can live a little more comfortable, but I don't have any ideas of what I could do to get there. I'm happy with my 4 machines and although there are titles out there I'd really like, I have other areas of my life that come first.

I'm happy for those of you that do have the means to be on the upper end of the hobby and enjoy living through your experiences. This is a fun hobby and full of mostly good guys (in my experience anyway) and I'm glad to be a part of it.

And getting to the OT, it is kind of funny about waiting to buy the next $60 game. I hardly ever buy a brand new video game because I think $60 is ridiculously expensive. (Tomorrow's GTA 5 is one of few exceptions.) But, if I saw a Raven for sale locally for $300, I'd snatch it up.

Well aren't you fucking special.

The next time my working contract sends me to Afghanistan or Yemen, I'll send you a postcard.

Hmm 2nd dibs on LOTR... =)

Wow, I'm surprised at the thumbs-down for the OP.

I think of my life as 2 separate phases. Right now, I'm wealthy in the traditional sense (having some disposable income). But when I retire, I'll switch to a fixed income and will get to savor real wealth: time to read a nice thick book, being outside all day instead of in an office, no anxiety about deadlines...just 8 more years, I hope!

I stay motivated to get my next pin, and the next one after that. I don't make much, but enough to be in this hobby.

I don't see the connection.

Just because someone is really anxious to get their hands on a $60 video game doesn't mean they can't afford or enjoy a more expensive means of entertainment, like a $5k pinball machine. And vice versa. I still enjoy playing video games when I get a chance, in fact I plan to pick up GTA5 around the holidays.

And most people buying pinball machines that I know don't eagerly await the next unproven game release, no matter who it's from (Stern, JJP, etc.). I'm the same way. If I'm gonna spend another $5k on a pin to put in my game room, it's being spent on something I've already played and enjoy.

Some people love having the latest and greatest. That's fine. It's their money. People are free to spend their hard-earned (or otherwise) money on whatever they'd like. Some collect small, trivial things. Some spend it on electronics, from video games to pinball machines to home theatre equipment. Some spend it on cars, from $5k to $500k. Usually it's a mix of things. Just because someone spends $300 at a restaurant one evening doesn't mean they won't pull into a drive-thru the next, and the other way around.

But relating back to what I think was the original intent of your post (buried under some other stuff ), we should all be appreciative of our good fortunes for what we have, no matter what it is. Not necessarily money or possessions we've bought with it either. On a day when 12 innocent people died in DC, it's good to remember the invaluable things that we have, like family and good health. You can always be worse off (or dead).

This is like compairing a person driving a Vespa or riding a bike to someone driving this years limited edition sports car. I understand what you are saying with your points but do not find them valid in this comparison.

Now back to the original ? Yes I think we are all absolutely Bat $hit CRAZY.

My husband is currently wanting a new XBox One, PS4, iPad, and lots of games. (I do fully expect to be a GTA V widow for the next couple of weeks, but honestly that's fine since my pins are in other rooms and I've got some tinkering to do on them.) I give him a hard time about it, because it's a lot of money for electronics that we don't need to be spending, but I'm the first to want to buy a pin if a "good deal" comes along. I've slowed way down, because I'm quite happy with the 6 at my house and still saving up for Predator, but there is a big double standard going on because I feel the electronics are too expensive yet buying pinball machines which cost way more is acceptable. The big difference is that electronics to me don't have a percieved value like the pins potentially do. Not that I'm ever planning on selling the pins, but in my head it makes sense. We've worked hard, scrimped and saved for years to be in the position we're in, and still are by no means rich at all, but I feel lucky to be able to afford either hobby at all. And I know that if need be and we needed money fast, my pin collection is basically a savings account that I could cash out.

Vespas are way more fun than sports cars! But I digress...

I'd rather stand next to my machine for 3 hours fixing/tweaking/playing then sit in a chair for 3 hours in front of my tv playing a video game. As soon as I got my machine to my house from my parents house a couple of years ago I have steadily lost interest in all video games. I havent played or been on xbox live in over a year.....pretty wacky as I used to spend 3-4 hours a day almost every day on xbox.

I thought about getting an Xbox once. But after pricing it, the controllers, the Xbox live, headset, a couple games, a tv to play it on and microsofts left nut - I was at about $2k. Figured if enjoy life more if I spent that money on a pin.....I was right

I used to play online video games and spent around 4k for my gaming pc. I knew others who spent more. Pinball saved me from online gaming which was sucking my life away. So no, we're not crazy.

I think your original post was well put. I think there are a lot of lucky people out there, however I think there are a lot of people that use this site that are not currently in that category and are not able to own their own games yet.

I like this post, sometimes my friends seem baffled that i could afford a pinball machine. However, i practically spend no money on anything else, I dont drink, I dont smoke, I make my own dinner almost every night (as opposed to going out or ordering in), etc, My point is nearly all my expendable income gets saved put towards this hobby. However, I am still super lucky to own the games i do.

I'm looking forward to to having kids some day, and then waiting 18 years so i can get back to spending time with my games as they get college loans

I stand at freeway entrance ramps with a cardboard sign that reads "need money for pins"

LTG : )
Disclaimer : The other side says "will fix pins for food".

Some coworkers of mine drive to work in cars that cost over $50k. A car! I get far more satisfaction from my pins than I'd ever get from a car.