My first pin was a LOTR that I bought a little over 6 months after becoming addicted to the silverball.

Fully restored Addams Family, go big or go home I thought

My first one was TFTC, I picked it up on 10/28/11.

My first was a Tri Zone. I must of played it 20 hours straight the first day. For the first week I just walked around with a big grin thinking....Ive got my own pinball machine! Sweet. Years later I still feel that way. Life is good.

Hey,

I'll put this out in a two-pronged fashion. I bought a non-working Gottlieb World Fair in the fall of 2009; I never did get that beast working, and sold it to a couple who had a basement full of SS pins (well, and a Pinball Magic) who wanted an old EM. The first pin that I bought that I could plug in and play was a Williams Flash. That was in March of last year. Since then, I've bought and sold a really nice Black Knight (sold it to the same couple), and have obtained a Williams Satin Doll, a Gottlieb 300, a Pin*Bot, and a Shadow. The Satin Doll and 300 are awaiting restoration, the Pin*Bot works but I'm planning on doing a top-to-bottom restore on it, and the Flash could use a good shopping and tune-up. But The Shadow plays great.

Luke

So you mean to say, you are picking it up tomorrow? If so, Congrats!

Mine was Whirlwind. Drive 6 hours both ways to get it, and paid too much! Oh what a newb I was...

Yep, driving 2 hours to Nashville to pick it up from a Pinsider's brother.

Evel Knievel for me, still have it and it has never missed a beat.

My first was a Data East Star Wars, beautifully shopped with no detectable playfield wear. I'm new at this; I bought it last month and I am HOOKED!

WH2O 6 weeks ago. Now it's in a million pieces and I have nothing to play. Desperation is starting to set in.

My first pin was south park. About 3 years ago. Now I have 17 pins.

Data East Jurassic Park. My Son loved to watch that T-Rex eat the pinball.

Solar Ride. Bought it non working, but the lights came on, and thought it would be a cool conversation piece if nothing else. I didnt know if parts were available or not but just thought it would look cool in the basement. Paid $50 for it and discovered this wide world of the silver ball collectors and hobbyist. That was about 5 years ago I guess. Havent looked back since!

Blackout was my first about a year ago. I probably paid too much and relied too much on others reviews but it got me started. dont play it much anymore but I still would have a hard time selling it.

STTNG, bought it on a good deal having never played it, and I love it!

Mine was a TZ / WH2O combo purchase.

Wow, you guys started with great first pins. I stumbled upon a Stern Disco EM at an estate auction I went to for some sport memorabilia I was collecting at the time. Never plugged it in, paid $200 or so for it and started a hobby that I'm still hook on. The Stern is long gone, but I'll never forget it. Do I want another for nostalgia sake? No, it was a sucky pin.

First pin was/is Waterworld.

my first pin was NIB IM, on May or June 2011

T2

gottlieb pinball pool. $100 bones. non working and in bad shape.the p/f and back glass were real rough. the boards were in great shape. after i got jet spin/lw3 and royal rumble i let a local pin head have it for the parts. he had helped me fix some things on lw3.

TZ Jan 2010. Now I have 5

TOTAN was my first. It is what really put the pinball bug in me. Lot a cash sweat and tears went into that pin. Also had a blast playing and making it the best it could be. Still remember the excitement in the guys face I traded it with. I knew it was going to a good home.

D.E Star Wars

my first was a space mission when I was a teenager and sold it after a few years. 15 or 20 years later I picked up my whirlwind and been addicted ever since.

My first, a williams klondike for 25 dollars at a tag sale. Worked perfectly That was at 14, at 19 (my birthday was 2 days ago) I have had 24 pinball machines in 4 months and have 7 in my collection right now.

Wow TDA! That is the most impressive first pin yet. TOTAN is definitely my "grail" pin at the moment. One of these days it will be mine! Glad yours served you well and then went to a good home.

Pinbot

TSPP - Bought it while waiting for my Medieval Madness that was being built by the Pinball Factory in Australia. (Don't want to go there on that story)

For a stop and go type pin, I really loved that pin. Sold it to get my SM. Taught me a lot about pinball. From understanding rule sets to how to work on a pin.

My First pin was Pinbot. Got it in 1994. I think I paid @ $500.00. My nephews has it now, It needed some work, we got her repaired it and now he has got the bug! I took me 5 years to get my second. The rest have been a blur.

I got so lucky with it too. Right when I started looking (and I only wanted TOTAN) a woman posted it on craigslist, she sold the house it was in and needed to get rid of it quickly. It's like the pin found me almost. I got it for like $2600 needed a bit of work but in good enough shape to make it a great deal. Hope one comes your way soon jarjar!

1973 Travel Time given to me by my Godfather. 1st one I bought was GnR.

Mine was The Getaway, one month before I was closing on my first house. Picked it up the week after we closed. The wife, not so happy. I now have 5. Update: Wife, still not happy.

TZ was my first. Bought it for my 30th birthday last year.

another nice first pin! and an even better bday present!

Still looking for my first.....

A Bally Gameshow, pretty rough but worked well.

I'm yet to own my first machine. What in the blue hell is that all about?

JP for $1300 off of CL. Very nice shape, no topper. Didn't even know what that was then. I had played it in college on location and knew this was a pretty good deal. Not long after I got it the T-Rex broke and other things started to happen. Baptism under pinball fire. Time to get dirty. Thought I was in over my head, but now I am fixing stuff with not much trouble and having a lot of fun with all my games. My JP is now running great (except for a blown transistor I need to replace) and it has given me the confidence to take on bigger problem when they arise. Very glad I took the chance and jumped into this hobby. No more project game for me though. All my game from now on will be working with no broken parts. Anyone have a DE WWF RR plastic ramp for sale?

Sega Space Jam. Was very ropey but I had the time to fix it up before moving it on to a good home. It's still the pin my family misses the most - me, not so much!

Non working Meteor I got for free.

Yep! Thats what got me into the hobby! I think I like tinkering on them as much as playing them.

Well I went down to an old operator's warehouse about thirteen years ago to buy an Eight Ball Deluxe, and while I was there I also picked up a nice KISS, a Fathom, and a Fireball II. Only the EBD was working, but the rest were priced too good to refuse. It was fixing those non-working games that really sparked my interest in collecting/restoring of all things pinball.

There were no thugs awaiting me at the warehouse luckily, but it was in a seedy part of town now that I think about it.

Same for me. My first and only right now was my STTNG. I had never played it until I brought it home. Watched a lot of videos and really liked the deep ruleset and always liked the Star Trek theme. I think for my next I will go with multiple B-list pins to bump up my collection.

Lucky Strike....an old EM and ever since I have been addicted to finding pinballs!

I actually did get into the hobby by buying a TZ, LOL. I had a buddy getting a divorce who called me out of the blue looking to sell belongings to raise cash. I told him I didn't think he had anything I wanted, and he said "What about my pinball machine, it doesn't work right now but it's in nice shape". I was like, that's a TZ right? I then thought about it for a day, figured it would be cool, and bought it for $1,500 bucks (seems like a good deal, but I had no idea what was wrong with it and no experience with pins). That was back in the summer of 2008, and it's all been downhill since (in a good way).

The only thing wrong with it was a fuse. Yeah, that's cliche, but it was true in this case. After fixing a blown fuse, I replaced the original clock board with a new one that had LEDs, got a reinforced target for the left of the slot scoop, removed the slot scoop to fix a broken weld, rebuilt the flippers, and I eventually removed the ball lock assembly because I got sick of bounce outs. I reformed the upper roof of the lock assembly and had it rewelded, and no more bounce outs. This was all within a year of purchasing the TZ. By then I was hooked on pinball, and the TZ has been pretty much bulletproof since all the above work was done.

The only bad thing about starting with a TZ, is that if you end up thinking that TZ is the best pin ever made, it's hard to top it with any other future aquisitions. It is nice to compliment it with a fast and furious pin like Black Rose did with a BSD, or a HS2.