Merry Christmas everyone. Definitely feeling the nostalgia vibes in this thread. I was about 7 or 8 years old when my folks picked up a nip it at an estate sale. I remember holding on to the machine as it hung out the back of the SUV. Ah the 80s! So my brother and sister and I would play nip it in the basement with all the lights off for hours as kids. I’d love to be able to get us all back together to play it someday. I played In The local pizza shop as a kid but never thought about owning a pinball until many years later in about 2008-2009. I was a special assets officer for a bank in central Illinois. One of my clients had a skating rink we were going to be forcing into liquidation. Turned out to be Gene Cunningham the owner of Illinois pinball and creator of 141 Big Bang bar capcom remakes. I hadn’t thought much about pinball until I met Gene. What a character. He showed me his collection and explained how the BBB project essentially bankrupted him. Rather than increase the price to 7k, he ate 3k per machine. Broke him literally. It was fun playing some special games he had tucked away like the prototype BBB from capcom etc. Anyways, after that experience I was hooked. Bought a road show and took it all apart. I did the worst thing you can do when buying a game. Got it off eBay on my birthday and picked up in the dark. It needed everything and she got it. Took me a year but I had the nicest road show ever. Sold it too cheap before my divorce to just get it gone. Years later I started a company doing atms and pinballs. After a forensic audit I confirmed what I thought. My partner was stealing from the biz. Turned out to be cheaper than paying an employee lol. Still tho the experience was a blast did it for three years buying and selling pins all over the country. Now I just own a few and have a few I’m fixing up. I find it relaxing to clean and fix old games getting them back to their former glory. It also helps justify the crazy prices when I’m in a few grand less than market. Just a few years ago my folks sold our childhood home and they gave me nip it which I immediately had restored by a pro. Clearcoated playfield etc the works. I hope everyone has a nice holiday and a happy new year.
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