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help i want a pinball but im clueless & confused !

L

lmtc

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Joined
Aug 24, 2017
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Location
Norfolk ,near hemsby.
Hi everyone im looking to buy a pinball for the first time but have now spent so much time looking ive confused myself , opps ,
so i found a couple of machines i like the visual look of but have no clue as to if there good game or a proven reliable brand . the game is HOOK and the other one is FISH TALES everyone thoughts are most welcome.

Aso how much should i expect to pay for reasonable examples ,im not rich so need to be carfull.

Thanks in advance
 
Hi imtc
Out of the two you have suggested ,fish Tales is the better one of the two
@DRD may have a Fish Tales coming up for sale soon :thumbs:
Good luck in your quest;)
 
Fish Tales.

When I was looking for my first pin it was one that was recommended to me by a fair few people. A lot of game for the money and although the fishing theme might be a little 'out there' for some i've played it a fair bit and it's great fun.

I'd love one for myself in the future.
 
lmtc said:
Thats great thank you, are there any other suggestions other that than the 2 i mentioned that are good starter games ?
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Hi,

If you're set on a game with a 'dot-matrix' (pixel) display, maybe The Getaway, High Speed II. There were plenty produced and imported here, and still lots of them running. An update of a top (many think the top) 80's game by a designer with many top games to his credit. Also one of the first Williams games with solid-state control of the flipper solenoids, a bigger point than it may seem at first.

Of the earlier games with alpha-numeric segment displays, EarthShaker was nearly always popular with the punters while I was working as a serviceman. One boozer hadn't taken to pinball until we tried it there. I regard it as a good cross-over game, with appeal for both the casual player and the enthusiast. The designer later produced THE most recognised pinball, The Addams Family, which still commands a premium price 25+ years later.

But as others have said, try before you buy, even in simulated format.
 
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Im not really set on anything im very oen minded, but i only have 2k to play with so all suggestions welcome , The feedback i got about play expo was there was only the igh end/price machines available there ?
 
lmtc said:
Im not really set on anything im very oen minded, but i only have 2k to play with so all suggestions welcome , The feedback i got about play expo was there was only the igh end/price machines available there ?
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There aren't usually that many machines for sale, maybe 3 or 4, but they tend to be reasonably priced. The cheapest I remember last year was a really lovely Fish Tales for £2k which I still regret not buying. Personally I'm not put off by buying on eBay. I bought my first machine on eBay and would have no hesitation doing so again. Your best bet though is to just have a bit of patience and wait until something you fancy comes up on here.....or just post a wanted ad.
 
RobZombie said:
There aren't usually that many machines for sale, maybe 3 or 4, but they tend to be reasonably priced. The cheapest I remember last year was a really lovely Fish Tales for £2k which I still regret not buying. Personally I'm not put off by buying on eBay. I bought my first machine on eBay and would have no hesitation doing so again. Your best bet though is to just have a bit of patience and wait until something you fancy comes up on here.....or just post a wanted ad.
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Yep !
You should have ,I would have delivered to yours straight after the show :)
 
lmtc said:
Im not really set on anything im very oen minded, but i only have 2k to play with so all suggestions welcome , The feedback i got about play expo was there was only the igh end/price machines available there ?
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Northern Lights Pinball at Play Expo has all kinds of games and the ones for sale can be from both the high and low end.
A couple of good starter Games to look out for , try Black Rose and The Flintstones, both great first games.
 
There are a lot of very good games for under 2k, these are my personal faves:

Fish Tales
Johnny Mnemonic
The Shadow
World Cup Soccer
Indy 500
The Getaway (High Speed 2)
Dirty Harry
 
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Personally I agree with Rudi, I find Hook boring and Fish Tales too hard. 2000 is a lot of starting capital, my recommendations for that money would include World Cup Soccer 94, Dirty Harry, Popeye, Star Trek Next Gen, Data east Star Wars, Judge Dredd, Goldeneye...... loads of them.

Before spending you should ideally at least have an idea how a table feels to play, so my advice would be to go to local league meets and shows (big show in Manchester in October) and try to play as many different ones a you can. We are all different and all like different things. Maybe Hook and FT are the ones for you.
 
Imtc if your not wanting to wait till Play Expo you can try an app called The Pinball Arcade, it has a load of real pins on it that you can play. The games aren't exactly like the real thing but it'll give you a good idea if you'd like the game or not.

The best place to buy from is here and if you don't like the game you'll be able to move it on again very easily the same way.
 
Great advice everyone, really appreciate it all, im not a messer and have the money and the enthusiasm going foward and all your help really focuses me. Great forum so glad i found it,
 
Good luck with getting the table imtc, I'm sure whichever one you buy you will be happy with it but be careful because you probably won't stop at one machine.
My first was a Fish Tales and I was happy to just have the one machine, now six years later and I have five of the buggers!
 
Update,for those who are interested, i went for a party zone, dont exactly know why but needed to start my journey somewhere, got it of a gent on here,he delivered it to my house ,we had bacon rolls and a chat,Very helpful guy , fantastic in fact.
Im Loving pz as is my wife and 11 year old son , Im now on the hunt for a second machine,oh dear i feel a addiction coming on,watch out bank balance !
Gutted i cant make Manchester
 
Great choice for a first machine, that's what my first was it's now got another 4 keeping it company.
 
My second was Black Rose, both have red and white GI's. I think there was only one other pin that had 2 colours for the GI's. (Until modern LED's came along)

That's what I was told anyway.
 
Cmor111 said:
My second was Black Rose, both have red and white GI's. I think there was only one other pin that had 2 colours for the GI's. (Until modern LED's came along)

That's what I was told anyway.
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Space Station has two sets of playfield general illumination, ordinary uncapped bulbs and ones with Green covers on, for 'Condition Green' multi-ball play.
 
Heh, that's the fun of Pinball; such a cruel mistress.

You can go from a fantastic game to a terrible one in a heartbeat.
 
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