This is probably the best thread I've ever read. All great advice here. From the standpoint of an obsessive personality, I can tell you that if you have it in your head that TAF is your grail pin, you will not stop wanting it if you spend $1,000 on a cheap pin to work on. It is rare in this hobby that somebody gets 1 pin and stops there. It definitely won't happen if it isn't a pin you love.

You can't go wrong following the advice of the people above. If it were me though, I would just get my grail pin at any cost and go from there. Once you have that, you can obsess over it while it's in your house. Otherwise you might obsess over how much you wish the pin you bought was TAF and be unhappy with the cheaper one you got. Also, TAF is an easy pin to re-sell if you have to. Much harder to flip a cheap EM or early Solid State, it might sit around for a while.

I also think if you are going to drop 4k + though, there are a lot of good NIB options from Stern that have all modern parts, uniform fuses and are generally easier to work on that the older pins. Plus parts warranty and generally guarantees no problems for a while.

I'm a complete newbie and having a blast with my Metallica Pro doing the simple fixes and LED work. Taking care of a 90's machine is a bit more complicated I think, but someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

But because of my aforementioned obsessive nature, I also had to get a Shadow or I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. So I can't even listen to my own advice when it comes to something that gets into my head.

If you are like me, just get TAF and don't try to deny your obsessive nature. If you want the best option for someone in your position, my personal suggestion is a NIB Stern pro in the 4.5-5.5k range. If you want to limit your risk and dip your toe into the hobby to test the water, find a sweet firepower, pinbot or high speed, pay a bit extra for a good condition one and enjoy.