Colorado Springs, CO
Quoted from jacksparrow0112:I really appreciate everyone’s opinions as it helps me decide the best point of entry into this hobby. I do have an engineering degree focused on biomedical computer programming that did involve some basic soldering and board work. I am by no means an expert but am hoping that through YouTube and pinside I can develop a decent set of troubleshooting and technical skills that will carry me into hopefully a long future of collecting and ownership. What intrigues me about the hobby is the value the games maintain over the years. Seems like I can invest in a pin today for HUO and if I maintain it can recoup most (if not all) of the cash in the future if needed. What really helps my case is that my wife (who is usually very frugal) is all onboard the idea of going all in on a TOM pin. Hoping Mike at Fort Wayne pinball can give me some great pointers about what to look for above and below the playfield so that we get a decent game that will play well for years to come.
TOM is a great first pinball. I bought my first one in 1998 . The right ramp never gets old the "Spirit Ring" shot .Just look for out as some one mentioned already for ghosting/ Delamination of the inserts . As far as recouping your investment on pinball it is a very mixed on each machine released NIB. I made thousands on some and lost thousands on others . Here are some images of mine with a brass beauty armor kit I installed And LED's hand picked . And an Image a ghosting TOM(Lock) insert that has cracked due to ghosting/ Delamination I copied from a TOM I saw on Colorado Craigs List. $5,800 is a good price for a nice example IMO . Good luck .
