As mentioned before, I miss the oldtime members who eventually left the site for various reasons. When I first joined the hobby, I knew enough to respect & learn from others who had been in the hobby far longer than me. I enjoyed the comradery that was clearly apparent in threads. I came here for discussions of games & the wealth of repair knowledge available. I still feel that the knowledge contained here is still Pinside's greatest strength.

I couldn't care less about endless fanboy arguments, value debates, narcissistic podcasters, collector dick waving, obsessing about LEs & owning every new title, or those new members who have collections consisting entirely of games made after 2010. I don't understand any of that stuff. They're being obtuse & missing out on so much that the hobby has to offer.

To be honest I didn't know a damn thing when I started buying games either. I started small with older titles & tried to work my way up, learning & fixing along the way. The lightbulb really didn't go off until a couple years later, when I finally connected with local pinheads. Then started playing their collections, discussing rules & strategies, learning about the great qualities of EMs, the wonders of 1980-81 early solid states, overlooked Gottliebs, the innovations of system 11s, alphanumerics, and the classic DMD era. Then started restoring games, which became almost more enjoyable than playing them. Then I even impressed myself & built a Quicksilver from scratch, then was happy to share that knowledge with the community. Now I'm working on a mod side business. Hopefully someday I'll build a custom game. And on it goes.

None of that would have been possible without this site.

I feel like I've come full circle as a pinhead where there is still an endless amount of pinball to learn & enjoy. For me the chase isn't about owning & arguing about every new title, but finding the right balance to my evolving gameroom that showcases everything the hobby has to offer. But most importantly, I've made some really great friends, which is really what this hobby is all about. Leagues & pinball shows can't come back soon enough. Cheers!