I've heard Capcom have the most solid cabinets.

Good question, but I think you're going to get a bunch of varied responses from people who've been exposed to only some of the many great machines out there (myself included). In general, the more complex a machine is, with more toys, flippers, ramps, etc on the playfield, the more problems and breakage usually occur. These are mostly newer games. I've seen some MMs that always have a broken plastic or two, and simpler, older games like Skateball and Blackhole that have only ever needed coils replaced.

Bally/WMS seem to have the best playfields. Even compared to new Sterns, the Bally/WMS playfields from the mid-late 90s generally show little wear- something in the sealing I bet, but there's generally not nearly the level of cracking or dimpling that you see in Gottliebs or Sterns.

Roadshow and Cactus Canyon seem to be perpetually breaking their complex toys. Who Dunnit's ramps (elevator), stand-up targets and roulette wheel are all frequent target of abuse also, that have lowered game quality and price. And while I love Haunted House's design, parts of the lower playfield seem to stop working.

I think the best thing to do is post a question on here about what problems to look for when purchasing an ______, how easy it is to fix that and are the parts readily available. For instance, make sure the Balrog works in LOTR, the upper playfield works in IJ, the Thing works in TAF, T-Rex in JP, etc... Probably all machines have at least one thing which is troublesome.

I agree with SC. Its probably good to know which machine you had on your radar (don't see any on your wishlist).

Every machine has some sort of nuance (even the DMD Gottlieb tanks); usually associated with it's toy.

The DMD gottliebs were built like tanks for sure. They were the only UL listed pinball machines which is somewhat impressive. They are built really, really well. too bad they do not play as well as they were built.

All I will add is stay away from a Gottlieb Haunted House (I own one) unless you are quite experienced at repair. It's very complicated for it's time and breaks down more than any machine I've ever owned. But I love it.

In that respect stay away with older machines with tons of toys.

Williams system 11 and Gottlieb sYstem 3

Are you looking for older or newer machines? I think that would narrow your field down if there's an era in particular you're interested in.

I can speak to Theatre of Magic somewhat, since I'm an owner. It's not the easiest game to operate, but other than the trunk, few parts break often enough to really piss you off. The trap door / ball return is the prime target for damage, and is easily broken - I'd recommend buying at least a couple of replacements if you planning on owning ToM for 10 years or more. The trunk is prone to breakage and misalignment through play. Additionally, the eddy sensor that detects ball hits is notorious for falling out of calibration and needs to be continually re-tuned with a screwdriver and blobs of epoxy. Replacement boards are now available for users who are sick of this problem.

Other than that- great game to play and mod.

As far as the listed games by gweempose, from personal experience, White Water is pretty solid AFTER you put in the cliffy protectors for your machine.

The boulder dash pieces tend to break, even after you change out the old broken pieces (so make sure to put in protectors WITH new boulders). The edge area near the disaster drop ramp get banged up real bad with the airballs and missed shots. And of course, the upper playfield drop-off point for the VUK gets a nice nickel sized dent in there if you don't stop it from continuing via cliffy protector.

Cleaning the game isn't as bad as people make it out. It's definately more complicated than a Terminator 2 if your trying to clean out some of the corners with all those plastic pieces though. Of all my games, WH2O uses the most plastic.

My friend has a Monster Bash. That machine isn't that bad to take care of since he runs it from his house. We've seen Monster Bash catastrophes on location though. The main culprit is not cleaning the playfield, which causes buildup over the little "reveal area" for the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Not a real problem for an owner giving his machine TLC. The scoop, like in most games, should have a protector placed on it (ditto for STTNG's neutral zone). The other is just making sure to maintain optos and sensors (though not an exclusive problem since its the same with STTNG & TZ). The game employs lots of them from the bash toys (Frankenstein & Dracula) to sensors used for Phantom Flips.

There are a lot of pinsiders on here that can explain the problems they have had with Indiana Jones (Williams).

I think even the mighty most taken care of tables 'fall' every now and then,
-just the nature of the beast

Indiana Jones. - Make sure the optos for the Miniplayfield are clean and working and the motor is good. The original ball trough and trough circuit boards are prone to failure which will cause all sorts of multiball and game over crazyness. Even though there are a lot of moving parts on my IJ, it seems pretty robust. The plastic mountains are made of the same cheap, thin plastic as White Water.

Monster Bash - Franky and Drac seem to be the most troublesome. The drac slot in the playfield can cause the PF to warp. There is a fix for this but I don't remember who makes it.

Yea, i have some trouble with Franky.
Can't blame him though, the velocity that ball travels when it bashes into him is incredible.
I am interested to see if the Balrog has similar problems in LOTR, over the coming years.
The clock millions on TZ can also be a problem, but there are mods available to help.

The Balrog has issues, mainly with the target not registering hits. But the figure itself is made out of a hard rubber and seems solidly built. Not sure how long the motor lasts on route but shouldn't be an issue for a long time on a HUO.

I agree with SC. Bashable toys last quite a while if your operating the machine from your home.

Certainly none of the old bingo-style pinballs, they are prone to all kinds of mechanical problems due to their complexity and age alone - Although said, I have a 54 year old Bally Big Time and you can beat and kick it around and it just keeps on truck'in...........

The newer solid-state bingos are very rugged and reliable - Most of the Belgium machines built with the wooden cabinets are very dependable - The only real limitation/concern is the firmware that is interlaced with the coindoor, backbox door, and tilt mechanisms - etc. Once tripped, if you don't have the service box and know how to clear and reset them - They're dead for life.............

Regards,

Danny

http://danny.cdyn.com/Misc%20Bingo.htm

I asked the manager at Pinball HOF in Vegas which pinball was his favorite! His reply?
"ALL OF THEM ARE A PAIN IN THE ASS!!!". ha!

I would believe him tbellamy.

Each game has one specific thing, on that one particular machine, that is a pain in the butt.

I agree completely, they all break, just like cars/trucks.

My DE Time Machine has been my most solid machine in my collection, but that's just plain luck. I just sold it though, hope it's as nice for the new owner!