I got my first one earlier this year - I had needed to lose weight for a long time and my wife said I could get one (within a $1k budget) if I lost a certain amount of weight.

My best friend who lives in another state spotted a Hook pinball that I remembered from years ago that needed some work, to which he offered to do the teardown/shop for free, I just needed to pay for the pin and parts - hard not to agree to that deal.

Flash forward to now, I just sold the pinball because, thanks to the work done, it raised in value $500 which is allowing me to buy one of my friend's pinball games ( RCT ) -- plus some more cash -- that fits my other hobbies - I am a amusement park fanatic.