Fond memories of T2 from when i was younger convinced me that i eventually wanted a pinball machine one day. By the time i had the spare cash and space though, i did a bit more research and settled on a wh2o instead. No regrets on that choice, but i still consider T2 to be the machine that technically got me into pinball.

Gorgar and Centaur

Black hole, black knight, and eight ball each one got me closer to my addiction and then every one after that

Sea Ray and Fireball weren't the first, but were the first that left a lasting impression.

Bally took off and took over after that.

The best Pin of it's time.. Firepower

Gorgar.

I can still recall the heartbeat going up in tempo and the fantastic end bonus sound. Good times

Bally Special Force. A buddy of mine had it in his basement when I was in high school. Must have played that pin a thousand times.

RBION. There used to be one at a rest station halfway between where I live and where my parents live. I would stop each trip for maybe 30 minutes and play a few games. Did this for a few years before they put some shooting game in its place. I loved playing, though, and it eventually led to me moving away from video games and more into pins. I'd love to get a RBION some day, but they jumped in price lately and have left me behind!

TBH probably Space Invaders (pin) back in the early 80s, but I was kind of scared to play it I'd watch the cool dudes with shaggy hair, silk shirts, bell bottoms, zipper boots and aviators play that. Then they'd go drive away in their Camaros

But playing, definitely Addams Family. Early college days... early 20s... bowling alleys, wherever I could find one. I thought back then "I wonder if a person could BUY one of these..."

Cyclone was the one that drew me in. I used to play it a lot at The Machine in Crystal Lake, IL. I was fortunate later to score a gig at Williams. Those were fun days!

Traildrive by bally

TOM at the University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana on Green Street

Triple Action and Space Mission in the 70's. Loved the add-a-ball of TA; just keep hitting those drops, and the giant spinner that could also send the ball down the huge side drains. Space Mission: light the spinner, rip the spinner. Get those auto kickers to time it so they keep hitting the swinging target.
Beauty!

1989 - 1999

Taxi for me. Played many other pins before that growing up, forgot most of those titles. Taxi was a game changer for me and got me into the hobby 25 years later.

I do! I had one and sold it a few years back

Firepower. Had to wait in line to play it at the local arcade. Pumped many quarters in it!!
First pin I purchased over 15 years ago. Still got it.

Creature From The Black Lagoon! Somewhere around 1999/2000 at a local resort I worked at. I would get bored on my lunch break and go down to the gameroom. I kept going back to play it even after I had quit but then one day it was gone.

Funhouse

1967 Williams Shangri-La!

In the corner candy store, this brand new game appeared.

I was 7.

To play, it was 3 games for a quarter. 10 cents per game.

Id have to give up my candy money.....a whole quarter!, to Play!

No Wax Lips, or Candy Necklaces...even my beloved Chunky Bar had to go.

I fell in love with this game!

It was the Magic of getting the gate open, and the ball back....or getting a free game via special.

All new things to me as reading and rules started making sense at 7.

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damn that's along time ago, around 1978, i was 12. i guess all of them in that period.

I grew up in a small town and there was a pizza place with a little arcade and one pin. They had T2 and then Hook and while I liked those it was The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle that really hooked me and my buddy.

never liked Pinball as kid , was an arcade "80's" guy ....... Double Dragon was my game .... then in "2014" my brother bought an Apollo 13 & I got hooked/ addicted to Pinball now that's all there is

Growing up through the 90's nearly every arcade I could remember had at least a machine or two. I can remember playing a T2 at a local roller rink. However as I got older and played more video games I was blinded by the decline of pins. A couple years ago I was sitting around searching for a place to play when I ran across a local coffee shop that has six games and I was hooked. Specifically on the fish tales machine. I now own a fish tales and have dreams of others. Now if only my wife shared that dream

You're lucky -- I wasn't doing the inspecting of the games

Attack From Mars.

My wife and I (girlfriend at the time), were walking out of the movie theater (roughly 28 years ago) when we heard "Return To Battle, Solider!" We turned to see an Attack From Mars pinball machine sitting there... calling out for us to drop some quarters into it.

Kings and Queens, Capt. Fantastic and Eight Ball. Local laundromat, local submarine sandwich shop and local bowling alley, in that order.

Ebd at the Langley 7-11
Where else could you play pinball any time of night.
Second for me was pinbot at the arcade

Definitely, PINBOT. Amazing pin for the time!

Games that got me in...

Several games I played with my dad at the local roller-rink but was too young to remember names. First I remember was Whirlwind at chuck e cheeze as a kid, I think my younger brothers birthday.

First pin I bought was F-14 Tomcat.

Earthshaker & Whirlwind side by side at the arcade I worked at. Free play definitely helped fuel my love of pinball. Before that job I dropped my quarters mostly in arcades.

Another one for Firepower. Drove to Dallas from Houston for it in the early 90's.

Here's a picture of my son (now a young man) with it:

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Revenge from Mars. Used to go to BW3 (back before they changed their name) and plug a few bucks in while waiting for my food. I used to watch my dad play pinball when I was growing up, but it never drew me in. But the story modes in RFM sucked me in.

Then I got hooked on Pinball FX2 tables on the Xbox. I actually write reviews of a lot of them on neowin.net. It's a little different than a physical machine but still fun in its own right.

I bought my first pin a couple of weeks ago: T2! I have a LOT to learn!

I mentioned a couple machines I remembered, but what really got me into pinball is that they were every where. Donut shops, grocery stores, bowling alleys, amusement parks, etc. I was drawn in by the flashing lights, the bells ringing, and the crowd of cool kids that gathered around them. It was only natural to join the fun.

The chicks! It's all about the chicks!

My dad owned a Space Odyssey and it was the first game I spent many hours playing.
The first pinball I bought was a Firepower (at a local auction), and that game got me hooked for life.

TZ was the first pin that really hooked me. Played it over and over again. Sorry I'm showing my age with this one haha.

'Welcome race fans to Banzai Run !'

That bass line when you start a game is forever tattooed into my sub conscious.

EATPM got me hooked on Pinball.
STTNG got me in to repairing Pinball Machines.
LOTR got me in to REALLY understanding deep code.
MET got me in to modding.
Jungle Queen got me in to EMs.
Fathom got me in to early SS.
Quicksilver got me in to early Sterns
BM66SLE got me in to debt

I was held at gunpoint and forced to play Bally El Toro and never looked back...

My first pinball was also my first coinop game. Bally Star Trek.
Here's the write up form my old web site which tells the story.
This was my first coin op game. I bought this game in 1982-83 at the only auction I have ever seen in this area. The place was full of mainly electromechanical pinball machines and some electronic pins (back then I didn't know the difference) and a couple of black and white video games like Boot Hill. I have always been a big Star Trek fan and when I saw they had 3 Bally Star Trek pinball machines I knew I had to have one. Well, I was the first bidder on the first Star Trek machine but got out bid. I think it went for around $300.00. It was a wile before they got to the second Star Trek and I started the bid on it too but it also went for over $300.00. The third and last Star Trek was one of the last pin's to be auctioned. I think everyone noticed I only was bidding on the Star Trek machines and felt sorry for me because the third and last one was mine and It only cost me $125.00. I loaded it up in my pickup truck and brought it home. It gave me years of service without a problem until 1997 when the MPU succumb to battery alkaline damage. It stayed broke for almost a year before I decided to repair the damage and replace the bad components. It was my first MPU repair and was an easy fix thanks to the Pinball Repair & Restoration Guides on the web at http://marvin3m.com/fix.htm. The play field has some wear but it's not to bad. Like most of my game's it is set up to use both quarters and . 984 tokens and you get 5 ball's for one credit. It's a simple game but still a lot of fun and holds a special place in my collection.

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Popeye!
I had a startrek 1978 before that,me and my friends did not understand why it wasn't any fun?
We played pinball here and there as a kid and we figured all pinballs were fun like that.
After some research we discovered we used to play dmd pins on location.
Went out and bought a popeye for 650.
We had a blast on popeye,played the crap out of it.
Wish i could go back to that period,we were insanely happy with a freakin popeye.

Bally Kiss. local bowling had that and James Bond