The crazy thing is I live in Central PA and have for over 30 years and I buy more machines out of state then in PA. When I was buying off craig's list 6 or 7 years ago most of the great deals I got came out of Maryland or the Washington DC area.

I love having two of the best shows on earth within a couple hour drive time but rarely do I pick up machines in PA. I don't remember ever picking up a machine I didn't have to drive at least an hour each way for!

Dan has is referring to is Dan Heatherly for any of you guys that don't already know that. Dan's brother Bill is also a great restorer but he does mostly very early arcade stuff these days. Both of these guys are huge assets to the pinball community that seem to be hidden in the shadows most of the time. Another HUGE asset to the pinball community is Jim from JTamusements (Gott Lieb? over on RGP) - he helps more people in a day than most guys do in a month!

And we also have the EAGLES but sometimes I wish we didn't. Phila sports teams always seem to choke when it comes to big games! Somehow the Eagles didn't last year but they are back to normal this year!

"Deals" are something that happened in the past. This hobby has grown to the point over the past few years that the days of finding a GREAT DEAL are pretty much long gone. From time to time you can get an OK deal if you work your ass off at it but for the most part deals are in the rear view mirror.

That is why I have a hard time understanding all the negativity here on Pinside when someone offers machines for sale at fair prices? No one is buying dozens of machines a year at 50 cents on a dollar except for someone like Lloyd at Coinopwarehouse. But even Lloyd has started paying crazy high prices for pins just to keep his international customers happy. I know guys that have sold Lloyd machines for more then they could have sold them for here or on RGP so Lloyd isn't even buying pins like in the past.

7 or 8 years ago you could still get a deal on a pin from Lloyd from time to time. Now he is paying close to average selling prices for better titles.

Passing on the shoulder also seems to have become a new sport on some of the PA Interstates. But if you don't like PA drivers try spending a few days in Miami, Florida. Last time I was their I told my wife all the New York drivers that didn't know how to drive when they lived in NY retire in Miami and now they can't see or hear so it is really interesting driving their. I made a 75 mile trip past Miami and passed 11 accidents in an hour and a half. And that was the good trip - on the way home I sat in traffic almost 4 hours while they cleaned one up!

I think NY is worse then NJ but North Jersey might as well be NY. I grew up in Central Jersey and moved to Central PA about 30 years ago. These days I hate to go anywhere East of Harrisburg PA. It seems the further East you go the worse it gets. NY, NJ or Eastern PA are all about the same in my eyes. But at least in PA the rest areas are still open!

The State Police!

Seems like this Topic has gotten way off topic.

In all honesty I think the reason you see so many machines in this area is pretty simply. Within about 200 miles I can be in New York City, Phila, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington DC & Allentown, PA. Probably one of the most populated areas in the country from 1940 to around 2000 when pinball was at its peak. So it stands to reason more machines would end up here then anywhere else in the world.

The problem we have here now is there are a ton of pinball collectors & hobbyist in the area fighting over those machines. So you might see a good deal on a machine in a local ad but in 15 minutes a dozen people have already contacted the seller.

Bottom line is PA is a great place to live if you are in the pinball hobby but it still isn't easy scoring a deal here in PA these days!

Two can play this game! HELLO!

Have a Great Christmas & Happy and Safe New Year Colson. Any progress with your custom machine? I made good use of that backglass and it helped me save yet another machine.

Thanks,
Skip

New York tags for people who use both lanes at the same time!

At least here in PA most people can stay between the lines. Sadly most people still don't know how to drive pretty much anywhere in the Northeast but Miami makes people here look like experts.

Colson,

It is always tough to find time to do your own stuff when you have a family. Enjoy Christmas with them - there will be plenty of time for pinball stuff once you little girl is all grown up but you will never get these years back again. I learned the hard way with my two boys. I was always too busy for family stuff when I was 'young and dumb' now I think back on how much I missed over the years and it makes me want to cry. On a positive note I have a great relationship with both of my boys and my two daughter-in-laws also so all is good in the end.

Later,
Skip

Lloyd has created the "perfect storm". When I first met Lloyd about 10 or 12 years ago I was impressed. He just seemed like a class act who worked his ass off to get where he was in life. The more I followed what Lloyd was doing the more I realized what a smart business man he was.

Now that he is collecting warehouses and filling them with machines while sell stuff faster then he can list it I am even more impressed.

Now for the negatives: I hate the fact he keeps shipping containers of machines out of the country taking them away from our local market. I hate the fact us locals can no longer buy from Lloyd because his prices are insane. And I hate the fact he is just basically a flipper.

In any event - like Disney - he has perfected the art of picking peoples pockets and having them say thank you. The reason I compare him to Disney is we just spent a couple weeks in Orlando and the Disney business model is insanely impressive. Charge people over $100 a day to get into a park to stand in line to pay almost $10 for a hot dog! Have people waiting in line for an hour or more to go on a ride that is basically advertising for Disney. And so on!

We just got back from delivering a machine to HEP and I parked next to a pick up that had a front tag on it saying "IM 5ORRY" using the 5 instead of am S for the sorry. My wife loved it and told me I should see if that was taken here in PA. Kind of sums up my life for sure!