AFM seems to be fetching the highest amount of money out of those so if you already have it, you will possibly get the most value of the money put into it. If you are buying one already restored then all the others can be had for less than an AFM. Not sure if this answered the question.

Pretty much any of the ones listed would be a great candidate to be professionally done. But my personal choices would be TOTAN, AFM and TOM, in that order.

I personally think TOTAN has some of the best all around artwork on a pin besides Big Bang Bar and Monster Bash. Not only eye candy but a great player as well.

I think AFM is good but the playfield artwork doesn't do it for me, kind of dull. TOM cabinet looks sweet but the girl on the playfield and backglass looks abit out of place and not as well drawn as the rest of the pin.
But of course they play great too. TOM gets kind of old quick with the repetitive trunk shot.

Cheaper pins with awesome playfield art... Fire!, Silverball Mania, Xenon. among others.

If your going to look at it for a long time 10 -15 years
you better make sure you like it,
as we all know they take up room and are a bit heavy

The main thing is to get the game you enjoy the most. Who is to say if anyone will want to buy old pins in 10 years time? If you buy the one you love the most, you can't go wrong. If you buy to 'invest', well, who knows?

+1

Infact im so crazy about my love for my personal number 1 pinball that i would seriously love to own 2 of them in the future!! A nice looking players Indy and my very own restored collector quality Indy!(for me only lol)
Is that crazy or what??

I would not recommend you buy one so much as an investment. It is really more important which you like the best especially if you will have it for so long. All those machines are considered classics IMO. I think you may be able to get a TOTAN and WH20 for less than most others on the list and those are very fun pins with a good chance of an increase in price in the future. However, I would not advise getting a pin strictly as an investment.

In ten years time something like Totan will be 24 years old

Eh, you want to get a pin restored and then use it, but don't want to lose money?

Let me know how that goes in 5 years, because lets face it a five year old restored pin is a very nice albeit used pin.

if you're looking to make money over a long term period, pinball isn't the right hobby. getting a nice machine restored increases value but by being played alot it becomes unrestored. getting a big money pin just means you'll have a big money pin. most don't nose dive in value but most don't climb either. out of your list though WH20 seems to be rising the most in value of late. low production machines are already pricey just for that reason. don't get in to make money, enjoy whatever pin you buy and look to break even (or take a bit o profit) a few years down the line. who knows where the markets will go?

Whatever you do, DON'T get a WH20! All great games, and all are collectable you really can't go wrong. Except with Whitewater! Haha, nobody buy another one of these until I can find one for myself okay?

+1 on that

if you are looking for a solid investment buy gold.
pins are a poor investment if your only goal is to make money. just like comics and sports cards they got popular, prices went through the roof and then they crashed. a pin is gona loose value the more its played. and if you dont play it and it sets for a long time. thats also not good. get a pin you love because you love it. plain and simple.

I have only tracked the pinball market for six months or so, but I think you might be better off trying to flip super cheap pins from those that don't know what they are worth if you wanna make money. Let's take AFM for example: say you bought it in 1995 for $3500. Good pin good price. Right? Then let's say you sat on it, HUO for 15 years. Kept it in GREAT shape and wanted to sell it now. With the rate of inflation ( assuming 3% ) you would break even @ $5300 today. High, but not a totally unreasonable price, but your money has only broke even. At that price it is not truly profitable. And that is one of the most sought-after machines. If you wanted to own it and make 2% over inflation a year you'd have to sell it @ $7000. If you bought a cheap machine, that is desirable, didn't count your restoration as an expense, and enjoyed the pin, you could probably make a profit. I'm not trying to tell you I know more than you or that you're wrong but this is how I look at things. Really, I'm not trying to be a dick, if it makes you happy it is worth it.

According to the Pinpedia.com data base of sales. If you bought a WH2O 10 years ago you could have gotten it for about $900.

You could sell it now for $2500 unrestored.

10 years from now if you have one in good shape...who knows. It's not like they are making any more. As a matter of fact they didn't make enough for the home collectors who are flocking to get one. It's about supply and demand. How many WH2o's will be working in 10 years?

I predict the top 10 machines, including WH2O, will all be worth between 7k to 10k in 10 years. Those are the ones everybody wants.

Not sure where you are getting 2500 for unshopped wh20. Also keep in mind they break a lot of things in that game. So your 900 dollar pin suddenly making 1600 profit is bs.

TOTAN they are getting harder to find because of the production run and no one wanting to get rid of there's. The art, game, sound, and lighting make it a piece of art to have. This clip sold me just click through to skip along the video

Pins are as predictable as real estate - and as useful as income property. Whether you keep the nice one or two (or more) for yourself, or rent (route) them out you will have to take into consideration much of the same upkeep and upgrade decisions (relatively speaking) with the same certainty of appreciation potential.

Buy it because you like it (in either case, for either purpose). In the case of a keeper, sometime down the line the market might present a buyer that appreciates the care one puts into something they like and will pay the premium. But I'm not sure you want to bet your retirement on it.

As for a collector pin, don't build it because you think it'll be an investment. I'm not sure I'd put a whole lot of capital (at least all at once) into a pin upgrades as an investment. If you have a pin you like, and you maintain it so it plays as it should, I can't think of a day that someone wouldn't be willing to pay at least what was paid for it. Unfortunately, like real estate, while upgrades will improve resale, the full amount of the upgrades are rarely realized at sale.

Out of curiosity, who are you hiring to restore the pin for you?

gweempose I went to the house of pinball, only because he was local for me and I wouldnt have to ship it. www.houseofpinball.com.

I have had my MM and TOTAN restored, and I am having my MB, AFM restored. It will be a very long time, if ever, I will get what I put into them.

So here is what I suggest, pick the pin that is your favorite and that you will never sell unless you absolutely have to. Out of the pins listed, only you can answer what is your personal favorite. I would not have somebody answer that for you.

MM has gone way up in price and I am still way upside down on it even though my base machine cost me 6000.

I do not look at my machines as an investment. I don't think most people realize the cost of labor and parts on a restore is often at least double the base price of a pin, unless it is a cheaper pin then the restore can be almost 3 times the base price. (Think 2300 Whitewater = 7500 restored pin) Too hard to ever "flip" a restored pin. So it is not a good investment, but rather a really fun purchase.

Perhaps WOZ?

Maybe a NIB WOZ LE but really should already have it at the discounted price. I am seriously thinking of getting in early in JJ's second pin.......has to have monsters in it!!