Drove from south louisiana to atlanta, GA 8 1/2 hours each way. I did it in one day. Oh yeah and it was for a Gottlieb Hot Shot. Absolutly love that game. I gues if you want it bad enough you will make the sacrifice!!! Much cheeper the shipping and faster!

twelve hours round trip to pick up a $300 gottlieb Dimension out of a barn.

That was a wise move.

Probably the two Fast Draws (sold one, still have the other). They were pretty close to each other in Canton, OH. Unfortunately, I bought at different times. So about 600 miles round trip. Most of other EMs were Detroit (240 miles r.t.), Chicago (300 miles r.t), Grand Rapids (120 miles r.t.) and Kalamazoo (20 miles r.t.).

Compared to getting my Safecracker at 1,600 miles round trip...pretty close I'd say.

Yeah 10 hours is a stretch. But sometimes the fun of this hobby is the time spent driving with a friend to get a game. Sometimes it's about the journey and not always the destination.

10 hours to pick up two projects i never should have picked up...

but at least one of them is in a good home now...

i would spend a weekend if it was one of the "short list" machines in good condition...

About 100 miles round trip and it was well worth it.

Southern Connecticut to New Hampshire. About 3 hours each way. But not round trip since I stayed the weekend in a friend's cabin.

But it was for a Jive Time. So it was not worth the trip.

About 750 miles round trip.

For an EM... Drove to Ann Arbor Michigan for my Fireball. 500 miles round trip in one day. Drove a lot further for other arcades and SS pins.

I drove to Oceanside to pick up Magic Clock. About an hour from here. Very nice machine. Sometimes you really have to put yourself out to get the rare ones.

it constantly amazes me the suffering that you manage to survive...

If life get's any harder I may have to resign.

About 800 km round trip for EM.

About 3500 km round trip for modern.

When I was truly insane, I drove for 26 hours round trip to buy a Strange World that was not as described. 1500 miles. Came home with an empty car, and a vow to never do anything so stupid again

Drove out past Pittsburgh once to pick up a "Diamond Jack" I won on eBay. About 875 miles round trip. I stopped at a McDonalds before getting on the PA Turnpike and got a bag of cheeseburgers and a large coffee to go. Later that night, I got pukin' sick. Got about 1 1/2 hours of sleep at a cheap hotel, then completed the drive out there. The guy wasn't home when I got to his house. Then it started raining, and the when the guy finally showed up, we had a cloudburst just when we were carrying the game outside. I felt nauseous the whole way home. To this day, I won't have pickle slices on any fast food burgers. I think the pickles combined with the coffee is what made me sick. But, I came home with a "Diamond Jack"!

before you hand in your resignation, please ensure that all em pins are appropriately ready for shipping to nj....

pinball collecting is the very definition of insanity... at least to "non-collectors", who can't even begin to comprehend owning pinball machines, let alone the amount of time and money "we" spend tracking them down and making them work...

my old man still thinks i'm nuts, even though over 40 years ago i was begging him for one...

No shipping. You are going to then find out about driving 3000 miles for a pinball machine. You won't have to worry about the other 3000 miles because after you see our weather here, you may never go back.

1700 miles (and 1500) are my two longest trips, but its like a power vacation and do not regret.

fly, rent big truck, drive home... i'll get bert to come with me to keep me company...

why do you think i'm so reticent to visit socal? i KNOW once i'm there i'd never want to leave... as much as i love jersey, your weather trumps all...

It rained all night and is now sunny. Chilly but sunny. The tomato plants are loving it!

I had a similar experience on my longest trip. Although it was my wife who was puking. 12 hour round trip. Never again. These days it's hard to get motivated to drive more than an hour.

About 4 hours each way is my record for an EM. I've considered going at least a couple hours more than that for EMs, and still would for the right game at the right price.

exactly the same weather conditions here... except the rain was freezing upon contact with the ground... all gone now thanks to mr. sol though...

memo to self: no pickles mixed with coffee on road trips...

y'know, i hate to say it, but i kinda agree with the last sentence... as noted, for a short lister i'd make a really long drive if needed, but i'm not dragging my carcass very far just to get "any game thats a good deal" any longer like i would a year ago... i think a big part of that is that i'm essentially full... if i had more space, i'd probably still have more stamina...

604 miles round trip for the u-haul full of EM's (10 machines or so - whole and in parts)
Just under 800 miles round trip for a similar uhaul load of Bingo's-

Both times drove down in my car and rented a U-Haul in a town nearby. Drove the truck home with my wife or son following in my car. . .

I drive 5 minutes to get to work that starts at 9:00 AM. It takes two mugs of coffee to get me up for that. And it is an easy job. I'm there right now.

When you live in So Cal, the idea is not to drive any more than you have to..

800kms or 9hrs each way Fishermans Bay to Brisbane to pick up my second machine- a High Hand. On the way back at night I mistakedly relied on my navigator which took me down a dirt track for about 60kms. But it was worth it - it is a great machine.

Picked up a Playmatic on the way back from a 5 hour each way drive to pick up a Dalmatian puppy. My first choice would have been a Williams EM which would have added a couple hours... but the seller never responded.

13 hours one way. Bought a nice 2001 on ebay in Cadillac, MI. But I did time it to when I was going to be up there for vacation one summer a few years back.

I had a pin for sale awhile back and got a call pretty quickly from a buyer who was very interested. After answering some questions and sending him some photos we agreed on a price and he asked if he could send a shipper to pick it up. He then called back and said his in-laws lived about 20 miles from me and that they would get it and he would pick it up from them the next time he went to visit. I received a call from him the following day and he told me he decided to come pick it up himself the following week end as he could not wait to have it.

I live in southern California
He lives in Canada
1300 miles each way!

The pin he had to have:1973 Williams Gulfstream

by the way I asked him if he planned on visiting his in-laws while he was in town and he answered no

Well, Great game to have although for me that kind of mileage would be out of the question.

Ken

I would drive 400km one way, then back, (roughly 8 hours) for the right pin.

The longest distance for an EM pin I have drove is 30 minutes, across the city.

At Thanksgiving I traveled with my wife on a 1,400 mile trip from Minneapolis, MN to Sugar Land, South Texas. What a beautiful week end. Experienced the trees autumn colors change in reverse. Lovely clear, crisp fresh air with a low temp of 23 F between Minneapolis, MN and Cedar Falls, Iowa. It was 37 F in St Louis, Mo Saturday afternoon, and finally 75 F in Houston Texas next afternoon.

Picked up some cool games and met some cooler people. Rod aka "DirtFlipper", Jason aka "Leckmeck" and Dennis Dodel. Meeting these guys was the highlight of the trip. They have great collections and are super to meet in person. - PRICELESS!

Steve J.

jrpinball and cosmokramer - great stories!

I drove 13 hours from Illinois across Iowa and over to Omaha, Nebraska to get a really nice Jacks Open 12 years ago. At the time I was new to the hobby and just liked the artwork and theme of the game. I didn't realize it had one of the bettter rule sets of the wedgeheads.

I was on the road from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m. - about 17 hours - going from Illinois across Indiana and over to the Detroit suberbs to pick up a game, and then down to Ohio in the Cincinatti area, and then back across Indiana to Illinois.

And then there was the trip to Arkansas...........

10 miles so far

Quite an adventure!

both of my EM's I bought at a show that I was already at, and happened to fall in my lap. I've driven 2 hours each way for games before. If its' a game I really want, i'd drive 6 to 10 hours each way if the price is right and one i've been looking for, for quite some time.

Probably 900 miles round trip for an EM, to Peoria IL and back in one day. To Toronto ONT Canada and back in one day for a HUO Medusa, roughly the same. Had to get an express passport for that trip.

Gonna do 900 miles round trip for a trade, for a wedgehead and triple strike.

I'd be willing to travel for a nice NAGS......anyone....key word here is NAGS..... NAGS anyone? Midwest region.....the password is NAGS.

For 1 machine and my 1st, a 1976 Williams Space Odyssey. Nampa ID to Lacy WA. 17 hours round trip but did an overnight in 2 days with the wife so it was a fun trip. No regrets even though I no longer have the machine, but I still have the fond memories of my first.

Ken

About 8000 miles to pick up my Charlie's Angels EM from Chile to France, by plane, not with my car !!!!

----------------------------------------------------

Wanted : Dead or Alive - In any condition
Gottlieb SPACE WALK
You find, you win : REWARD USD 500

http://www.facebook.com/kangourou.flipper?fref=ts

We have a winner! That is a lot of pinball dedication there Kangourou. WOW..

It really depends on the game title/how much you want it to what extent you will go. I drove to Rhode Island (9 hours round trip) for a nice price project Eldorado, but won't bother with something local if the price and title are bad.

WOW!!! That desreves a congradulations!!! Thats a long ways away.

1560 miles round trip by plane. Rented a van to pick up the game and take it to the airport. That was another 25 miles. Getting it in the plane was fun. With the crummy weather it was a bumpy ride, but worth it.

Chicago to Clay's outside Detroit, day trip for Fireball