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Best starter machine?

Carl Spiby

Carl Spiby

Registered
10 Years
Joined
Feb 24, 2013
Messages
2,707
Location
Kendal, Cumbria
I know this is going to hinge heavily on budget, but for example, say you can afford around about £1k for your first machine, what options should be considered? Should you go for reliability over everything else? Something a little rough? Or an older but shopped machine?

Bearing in mind I don't have a huge amount of electrical knowledge but as its something that really interests me I'm willing to learn.

Answers on a postcard.
 
I would say whatever it is .... working solidly would probably be most important. General cosmetic issues can be dealt with if so desired . Dirty is fine if you want to have some fun, cleaning it up, rerubber etc. Broken plastics and parts can be simply fixed or replaced.

Certain electrical issues can be very simple - wire has come off a switch for example and just needs resoldering. But some stuff can be tricky to even diagnose for a complete noob and can rendewr a machine unplayable. Not saying you shouldn't try, we all have to learn stuff and its good fun ....but good fun can quickly become frustration and what can seem like a mind boggling maze of circuit diagrams, online tech advice etc if you cant get it sorted out. And you dont want yr first experience of owning a pinball to be too painful.
 
I was new to this game just over a year ago and my first machine was one I lusted after and I bought one that needed a bit of work but it was playable. The forums and groups are a great help but if the noob doesn't have trouble shooting experience it can put them off and thus ruin the introduction.
So I totally agree with the Sargent, it has to be playable. It is better to get a working machine than a project and also not to focus on a minter or top title as most games have something interesting to offer and if you but something cheaper you can get two for the price of a top title. A lot of us enjoy shopping a machine and it doesn't mean we think the machine is worth more after we do it. Some people do it for a living so it will obviously increase the cost of buying the machine.
This has been said so many times but it needs bringing up every time. Go to a local league meet and play some titles, then ask if someone has a machine you like for sale on the group or forum. Then go and play the one you intend to buy.
 
If you are lucky enough to have a pinhead with a bit of experience living nearby, then use and abuse them :D I mean this in the best possible way - they will be able to give you really useful advice/pointers on so many aspects of pin owning.

When I first got into this madness my 2nd pin was a bit of a mess and needed some electrical issues sorting. I was pretty clueless but luckily thru UKPinball got to know Dave Roberts who lived locally, he was a star and came round - showed me a ton of stuff, took boards out, fixed things for me ....all stuff that was at that stage waaaay beyond my abilities. Dave Roberts - unsung hero of South Coast pinball :D ...he's not as active these days on the pin scene but I salute him none the less.
 
Calimori said:
This has been said so many times but it needs bringing up every time. Go to a local league meet and play some titles, then ask if someone has a machine you like for sale on the group or forum. Then go and play the one you intend to buy.
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I play in a league, a lot of the machines are 'top titles'.

Is it not easier to say what budget you have to work with and then see what people have to offer on the group? Whatever I get, I wouldn't be able to collect it because I'm told my car is 'impractical' by my friends :p
 
People are rich up north and do tend to collect the top ten titles. ;)

After only a year of watching the forum and the group, there has been a lot of "What have you got for sale for £1k" messages and I don't think they get a great response.
Messages that say "Looking for a South Park, have £1k" either get your budget attacked or a quick sale. It is hard as Noobs don't know what the prices should be and hidden price adverts don't help people know what things were sold for. General rule is, by the time you read about a machine you want going for a good price, it will have been sold so if you want something you have to actively search and react quickly. Again, both of these are hard to do if you don't know what title you want.
 
Carl, what games have you played that you've enjoyed? Also, what games have you not played but like the sound of?
 
GrizZ said:
I would say whatever it is .... working solidly would probably be most important. General cosmetic issues can be dealt with if so desired . Dirty is fine if you want to have some fun, cleaning it up, rerubber etc. Broken plastics and parts can be simply fixed or replaced.

Certain electrical issues can be very simple - wire has come off a switch for example and just needs resoldering. But some stuff can be tricky to even diagnose for a complete noob and can rendewr a machine unplayable. Not saying you shouldn't try, we all have to learn stuff and its good fun ....but good fun can quickly become frustration and what can seem like a mind boggling maze of circuit diagrams, online tech advice etc if you cant get it sorted out. And you dont want yr first experience of owning a pinball to be too painful.
Click to expand...


Ain't that the truth! :0(
 
ronsplooter said:
Carl, what games have you played that you've enjoyed? Also, what games have you not played but like the sound of?
Click to expand...

I haven't really played anything I flat out dislike, but for home use, I feel it needs some good re-playability, so I think I'd be after a DMD era machine with multiball and modes (stackable if possible) as that makes for good strategic play.
 
Carl Spiby said:
I haven't really played anything I flat out dislike, but for home use, I feel it needs some good re-playability, so I think I'd be after a DMD era machine with multiball and modes (stackable if possible) as that makes for good strategic play.
Click to expand...
What did you reckon to Roadshow? Very underated IMHO. You could probably get one for around £1100.
 
Maybe useful to work backwards from the features you like best? Speed? If so then probably not a widebody? Ramps? Magnets? Bash Toys?

Don't want to rain on your parade but whatever you buy WILL breakdown sooner or later. Some machines are more prone to breakage than others. For a grand there are still some good machines out there. Pretty much any SEGA or DE machine (Except GnR) should be less than a grand. I'd keep away from the big SEGA display machines though unless you like living dangerously (BW, Frankie, Batman and 1 other) due to the difficulty in sourcing a replacement display.

Any Bally/Williams machine should hold it's value and be relatively easy to sell on provided you don't pay too much (even Popeye....).

DMD pins are going to be an easier sell than earlier machines.

Don't get too hung up on hunting for any specific machine. Whatever you buy will give you fun at first and then you'll get the itch to move on. Even if you bought a TZ/MM/AFM you will eventually tire of it.

Probably better to try and buy from here or the UK group rather than ebay if you are worried about reliability.
 
Is Pinpedia a good idea of a pins worth or not really?

I do enjoy a fast machine, T2, Wh2o, JM, HS2 etc are all great (and I know, out of my price range). But T2 for example is a bit of a one-trick pony. T2 and Wh2o I have access to onsite, along with TZ.

Its a hard decision to make!
 
Not really due to rapid pin price inflation! However, it does give you an idea of how easy it will be to get hold of a specific title. If it comes up every few months (FT, DM) then you can hold out for a better price. If it's the only one that's been on ebay in 5 years you might have to dig deeper (Note: This does not mean it is goign to be worth the extra money, Lost In Space and Waterworld don't come up but there's a reason so few were made in the first place)
 
johnwhitfield said:
I'd keep away from the big SEGA display machines though unless you like living dangerously (BW, Frankie, Batman and 1 other) due to the difficulty in sourcing a replacement display.
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Its true the big displays are expensive to replace. However I think the 'danger' is exaggerated. As long as the display is showing no signs of outgassing and the (simple) power mod has been done they are no more risky a proposition than a normal DMD. And I have never had an OK normal DMD just die. I have certainly inherited games with tired dmds, lines missing ...and I would be wary of that with the Super size Sega screens.

And the BIG screens rock ! Plus Frankenstein and Baywatch are cracking games still going for reasonable prices.
 
I would pay a bit more for a good, well looked after example as you will end up wasting valuable gaming time waiting for parts to arrive as you diagnose lesser machines issues/problems. That for me is that most frustrating thing about getting a new machine. Not the fixing, the god damn WAITING!!!!

Lots of info out there on bally williams machines if they go wrong, but having a machine in front of you that you cant play because it needs parts is pure torture.
 
Haha, well that's what i'm planning on telling 'she who must be obeyed' at a later date.

For now i'm happy to have managed to get one in the house. Next up i'll be doing some work on it which means it will be 'out of action'. I'm thinking if I can get her hooked on Pinball first then it will make my argument a much easier proposition......
 
Something cheap, that works, and needs cleaning.

A machine that works, so you don't have a nightmare experience with your first game, potentially killing the collection before its begun.
Cheap, to get you on the ladder rather than diving in at the moon bucks prices. ronsplooter is a living example of "trading up" Started with a WW and a WCS, now has an IJ, a TAF and BSD.
Dirty, so youll get experience of taking it apart, working with playfields and cleaners, touching up and redecalling areas, changing bulbs and dealing with mylar without having to break out all the tools, circuitry and schematics.

I think the absolute golden rule that people are nuts to ignore is to buy off a friend or a well known community member, so you can get feedback, advice and help, as opposed to a sink or swim situation that can arise buying off ebay or Gumtree.
 
Either should be realistic at around that figure. Not sure if Matt Vince still has his I500, might be worth a shout. HS2 seem to come up on a regular basis
 
You should be able to pick up a HS2 in your budget as John has said. Not so sure about an I500 though, they seem to go for a little bit more these days (1200 - 1300). I'd definitely recommend a World Cup Soccer which was my first pin which you should be able to get for under a grand no worries. A few others you might want to try out:
  • Flintstones
  • Demo Man
  • Dirty Harry
  • Jackbot
  • No Fear
  • Stargate
  • Star Wars
  • Last Action Hero
  • Tales from the Crypt
 
Star Wars can often go for more than your budget as its a collectible theme by non pinheads, plus with the release of the new ROMs has renewed interest.

Don't neglect the standard DMD sized DE (and sega) games as most tend to be cheaper than Bally/Williams games ...
 
My first and so-far only pin is my FT which I had always wanted from playing so much in my younger days. As an electronic engineer I wasn't too fazed about repairs and I picked one up for £850 in good cosmetic condition. The seller assured me it worked 100% but there were a lot of problems but I had fun fixing them all and learning as I went. It now does work 100% but I had to rebuild a lot of it.
 
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