Which Pinball Machine to have in my Vacation Home?

I would like to ask the Pinside community for advice on which one pinball machine I should get for my vacation home. This home is about 1,000 miles away and is visited fairly infrequently, 2-4 times a year for a few days and as much as two weeks only. I would also take suggestions that having a pin just sitting in a mostly unoccupied home is silly.

I have a mix of post 90's Williams-Bally, Data East, Stern, PPS and JJP games in my main home and would not mind having a duplicate for the vacation home, but would rather mix it up a bit.

List of games in my permanent home:
- AC/DC Premium
- Iron Man
- TSPP
- WOZECLE
- MMRLE
- Star Trek Pro
- Family Guy
- LOTR
- DESW
- Indiana Jones (Williams)
- Twilight Zone
- Addams Family
- Revenge From Mars
- Funhouse
- World Cup Soccer '94
- TOTAN
- Monster Bash

#2 8 years ago

ACE

jcpinny

Silverballs Amusements

Durango, CO

11y 34,050 58 27

I would opt with a theme. For example, if my vacation home was on a lake in Wisconsin, maybe Gone Fishin', at a ski resort, Wipeout, at a beach Baywatch, or on a turnpike, Roadshow.

#3 8 years ago

ERW

chuckwurt

Pincinnati

10y 193K 31,356 16 13

WCS

#4 8 years ago

K R

koen12344

Pinside member

Schagen

10y 56,650 324 8

Vacation America

#5 8 years ago

AST

Astropin

Pinside+ Member

11y 125K 8,905

Being played by one person or multiple people at the same time?

#6 8 years ago

???

Don44

Pinside+ Frequent

Newton, NJ

11y 70,800 1,741 5 1

I would put the family guy there.

#7 8 years ago

JOE

BestShot31

Inactive member

Quoted from Astropin:
Being played by one person or multiple people at the same time?

The game would mostly be played by me, as is usual in the main home too, but I do have to keep my wife and kids (late teens/college) in mind.

#8 8 years ago

K R

koen12344

Pinside member

Schagen

10y 56,650 324 8

Anyway im not sure of the situation, but I wouldnt risk putting an all too valuable pinball machine in a vacation home that is unoccupied for most of the year...

#9 8 years ago

JOE

BestShot31

Inactive member

Quoted from Don44:
I would put the Family Guy there.

I was not thinking about transporting a game out of my collection, but that could be a possibility. I was thinking about buying another game to be placed in the vacation home.

#10 8 years ago

KMR

Phatchit

Pinside member

I actually do this for part of my business . I live near Disney world and put arcades into luxury vacation rental homes . Out of the list I would recommend the , StarTrek pro , Iron man or the Family guy set with the adult settings off . These 3 games would attract all ages and are newer . They also have minimal parts to break or go wrong . I would add LEDs if not already to keep down on heat and power and also have a small sticker or sigh that says to turn off if anything seems wrong . I do a lot of service on pins and arcades and the newer Sterns hold up well . If you have any questions please feel free to get ahold of me . Good luck

#11 8 years ago

ERW

chuckwurt

Pincinnati

10y 193K 31,356 16 13

OP
Quoted from BestShot31:
I was not thinking about transporting a game out of my collection, but that could be a possibility. I was thinking about buying another game to be placed in the vacation home.

Oh. Well then. Possibilities are endless. I would pick a friendly game that is great of causal and experienced players. Star Trek might be the perfect fit.

#12 8 years ago

MJH

TimeBandit

redshiftLED.com.au

Sydney, Oz

10y 159K 5,511 3 65

OP
Quoted from BestShot31:
I would also take suggestions that having a pin just sitting in a mostly unoccupied home is silly.

Having a mostly unoccupied home is silly.

But hey, nuthin wrong with silly. I think the fgy too.

#13 8 years ago

JOE

BestShot31

Inactive member

Quoted from koen12344:
Anyway im not sure of the situation, but I wouldnt risk putting an all too valuable pinball machine in a vacation home that is unoccupied for most of the year...

Good point. The home is very secure with a monitored alarm system, but it's in an extremely safe town and cul-de-sac neighborhood on the water in a Southern warm/hot state (on the saltwater). It's also climate controlled throughout the year, so I'm not worried about temperature fluctuations per se.

#14 8 years ago

JOE

BestShot31

Inactive member

Quoted from Phatchit:
I actually do this for part of my business . I live near Disney world and put arcades into luxury vacation rental homes . If you have any questions please feel free to get ahold of me . Good luck

I'm not too far from you actually and would be glad to talk to you about getting another pin.
However, would you or anyone else, recommend a game that I don't already own?

#15 8 years ago

FXS

sulli10

Pinside member

Morristown, NJ

13y 129K 2,573 33 61

How about an EM? not as much money and pretty durable.

#16 8 years ago

CAT

DCFAN

Pinside+ Frequent

Chantilly, VA

12y 148K 12,776 34

OP
Quoted from BestShot31:
I was not thinking about transporting a game out of my collection, but that could be a possibility. I was thinking about buying another game to be placed in the vacation home.

SMVE

#17 8 years ago

JRP

320Gigabytes

Pinside member

11y 47,050 874

TWD or Metallica or Tron

If I could only have 3 machines and money was not a factor, those would be my first 3 picks without hesitation.

If you're looking for something that plays and feels different from your current collection get an EM or a Bally/Stern SS.

#18 8 years ago

RRV

rviguet

Pinside member

Lewisville, TX

12y 41,150 231 15

I went with Gilligan's Island and Williams Indiana Jones in my vacation home in Orlando. The Gilligan's Island is a game that casual players can figure out and the theme goes with Florida. Indy provides more depth for the better player and goes along with being near Disney World. I am moving my Jurassic Park down this summer to make more room at my main home. My vacation house is about a mile from Universal Studios so the JP theme fits. I also have a Rockola jukebox and pool table at the vacation home to have something for everyone. I don't rent out my house, so maintenance has not really been an issue. Marco usually is able to get parts to me during the weeks that I am there if I diagnose the problem early in the week.

#19 8 years ago

JOE

BestShot31

Inactive member

Quoted from rviguet:
I don't rent out my house, so maintenance has not really been an issue. Marco usually is able to get parts to me during the weeks that I am there if I diagnose the problem early in the week.

Another point is that I also do not rent out my vacation home, but I do have friends and family that use it occasionally. The house is not big enough for more than one or two pins, it's just over 2,500 square feet without a basement, single story, modern great room open concept.

And yes, price is not an obstacle, I'm more concerned with keeping engaged with only one pin, since I'm used to a variety of pins.

#20 8 years ago

DAN

goatdan

Pinside member

Wauwatosa, WI

20y 91,800 5,217 2 20

If you like Family Guy a lot, how about Shrek? Same game, more family friendly theme. If I was going to own two games of the same type in different locations, I'd like to do something like that.

#21 8 years ago

JOE

BestShot31

Inactive member

Quoted from 320Gigabytes:
TWD or Metallica or Tron
If I could only have 3 machines and money was not a factor, those would be my first 3 picks without hesitation.
If you're looking for something that plays and feels different from your current collection get an EM or a Bally/Stern SS.

I'm seriously considering TWD Premium or possibly GOT Premium, but I would rather have them in my main home versus the vacation home. This is part of the dilemma. If I had one of these newer pins in my vacation home, I would be forced to visit it more often...

#22 8 years ago

MEL

scylla

Pinside+ Frequent

Toronto, ON

11y 74,900 749 10 8

Quoted from sulli10:
How about an EM? not as much money and pretty durable.

Not sure how true this is, but I've been told EMs don't do as well when left off for long periods of time.

#23 8 years ago

YAW

Lethal_Inc

Pinside member

Westminster, CO

11y 88,300 4,933 7 34

Sounds like money is no issue for you. I'd get The Hobbit and enjoy the ride.

-2

#24 8 years ago

ODB

Gryszzz

Pinside+ Frequent

Indianapolis, IN

10y 120K 13,263 9

White people problems
Hope you get your dilemna worked out soon....oh, the horror

#25 8 years ago

KMR

Phatchit

Pinside member

I think that Ripleys is a great great pin for a vacation home . It has deep rules for the player and has a good overall theme. I have put a few Ripleys , a shrek , Star Trek le , woz rr , demo man , Pirates and a nascar into the houses . Pirates is a good one . I did a complete shop job on a pirates over a year ago and the only thing I've had to fix was a broken sling rubber and shooter tip along with the trough opto boards . Other than that it's been a champ . I would buy something that you don't have in York own collection or buy something you want for you and then put one of your less played games into the house . If you want an arcade to go with it I would recommend a arcade legends 3 or a multicade . If you need one I can get those as well . They are reliable and fir in well for the older players .

#26 8 years ago

KMR

Phatchit

Pinside member

I forgot I also just put 4 new pins into a home . Wwe ,walking dead , kiss and Metallica .. Along with 14 arcade games . I'll see how well each one holds up in the next 6 months once the house is ready to rent .

#27 8 years ago

ROX

T7

Pinside member

10y 73,150 2,002 20

Fish Tales or TWD

#28 8 years ago

MSC

Flake

Pinside member

Dawsonville, GA

13y 62,650 452 9

OP
Quoted from BestShot31:
The house is not big enough for more than one or two pins, it's just over 2,500 square feet without a basement, single story, modern great room open concept.

I would just like to point out that our entire house including the garage is less than 2000 square feet. You just have to pick your priorities. Who needs seating?

That said, I'll second FT

#29 8 years ago

AST

Astropin

Pinside+ Member

11y 125K 8,905

#1 - TRON. Super fun game....has some depth but is also a great game for multiplayer.
#2 - STTNG. Tougher game but has fantastic theme integration (even better than IJ's) but an achievable really fun wizard mode.

Put TWD Premium in your current home. Deep code with a ton to explore so better to play it often than rarely.

#30 8 years ago

whisper

Inactive member

Melbourne

11y 80,550 1,680 6 67

Monopoly is a great family friendly game which most people get into because of the theme and great artwork.

#31 8 years ago

JOE

BestShot31

Inactive member

Thanks for all the advice so far. It's validating my thoughts that the pin I put keep for occasional play should be something different than what I have in my collection, but not something new that I (or one of my family members) would rather play whenever I/we want to.

Fish Tales would be an excellent choice.
POTC & STTNG are other good ones.

#32 8 years ago

KMR

Phatchit

Pinside member

STTNG has way to many issues that could go wrong unless you have one that's been gone through and bullet proofed . I only say this out of experience I've shopped and fixed at least 3 of them and as much as I love it it has a ton of things to go wrong . Just my two cents

-1

#33 8 years ago

AMS

barakandl

nvram.weebly.com

12y 132K 10,417

OP
Quoted from BestShot31:
I'm seriously considering TWD Premium or possibly GOT Premium, but I would rather have them in my main home versus the vacation home. This is part of the dilemma. If I had one of these newer pins in my vacation home, I would be forced to visit it more often...

TWD and GOT themes could become stale and dated within a few years. You might want something generic if you plan on leaving it there for a while.

#34 8 years ago

RUM

yoshootme

Pinside member

11y 60,900 1,115 6 13

my vote is FT

#35 8 years ago

BUS

srmonte

Pinside member

17y 56,800 764

why don't you just buy a few of the games already on your wishlist?

#36 8 years ago

JOE

BestShot31

Inactive member

Quoted from srmonte:
why don't you just buy a few of the games already on your wishlist?

Great reminder. NGG, Pinball Magic or TOM are definitely in the mix. I would rather have the other pins on my wishlist in the main home.
I will see what will be available during my X-Mas trip to Florida. A Pinball Magic would be ideal for the family, and me too.

#37 8 years ago

RUM

yoshootme

Pinside member

11y 60,900 1,115 6 13

my second choice would be NGG! have both, often get requests to sell both. doubt it will happen.

#38 8 years ago

HJB

Hjbondar

Pinside member

10y 57,550 481 8

Must have a Metallica somewhere in the mix!

#39 8 years ago

HWR

taz

Pinside member

12y 91,400 1,689 9 17

I also suggest POTC. I gave one to my Sister so that I could play pinball when I visit (she lives in the boonies) and it hasn't disappointed. Plus, it sounds like you aren't that far from Disney.....so why not. Also, I agree with make it something you don't have at home, so that you'll be pumped to play it during your visits.

#40 8 years ago

2+2

Jgaltr56

Pinside+ Member

9y 76,350 1,200 15

Baywatch!

#41 8 years ago

MUG

FrostyMug

Inactive member

8y 24,900 387

Quoted from jcpinny:
I would opt with a theme. For example, if my vacation home was on a lake in Wisconsin, maybe Gone Fishin', at a ski resort, Wipeout, at a beach Baywatch, or on a turnpike, roadshow.

I rented a ski lodge years ago for a weekend.It had Wipeout there, that was super cool. I live by a beach now and have a Baywatch here (amongst other pins). So I guess what I am saying is you wre right. Matching themes is way cool and usually goes over well!

#42 8 years ago

DIK

davewtf

Pinside member

Madison, WI

12y 84,400 9,740 1 114

OP
Quoted from BestShot31:
I would like to ask the Pinside community for advice on which one pinball machine I should get for my vacation home.

Do you plan on inviting us over or something?

#43 8 years ago

JAM

TxJay

Pinside+ Frequent

Allen, TX

9y 61,300 926 10

Quoted from Gryszzz:
White people problems
Hope you get your dilemna worked out soon....oh, the horror

You mean successful people problems, color of skin has nothing to do with it!

#44 8 years ago

JOE

BestShot31

Inactive member