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Wanted First Machine for New Addict! £3.5-4k Budget

M

Matt Waters

Registered
Joined
Feb 27, 2021
Messages
3
Location
Birmingham
Hiya. First of all, thanks for allowing me to join your community.

I am a recent pinball addict. Having visited the Pinball Museum in Krakow, I am now hooked. I had never played a machine before and when I landed home I wanted to scratch that itch!

I have since built a virtual pinball machine (it fills a void, but it's not the same) so I am ready for the real thing.

I am looking for a great playing machine with an interesting theme. DMD is preferable, but all machines I am happy to consider.

I have a budget that can stretch to 3.5-4k, so I'm hoping that should open me up to some decent first machines.

Also open to any advice, but I guess I can get that from other areas of the forum


Thanks :)
 
Getting a Classic layout like SpiderMan with some 3 flipper action is the way to go.
They pop up regular on here although prices now seem to be around 4-5 mark.

I sold this super nice one around 3 weeks ago which I did myself to a member in here for £4.5k
It was his 1st ever pin and he absolutely loves it and reckons he would never sell it as the Famalam are now also hooked.

 
Hi and welcome. I was in Krakow in December and loved the Pinball Museum and also the Arcade Museum which was a few miles out. Probably most games you played in Krakow will fall in your budget. The only ones that wont are the ones that were in the row as you walked in just in front of the bar as they were Medieval Madness, Attack from Mars, Cactus Canyon and Addams Family. Pretty much everything else in there you could get so its probably a case of saying which ones you enjoyed playing while you were there and people can gauge from that what sort of thing you enjoy and make recommendations.
 
We have a shrek for sale here..... pretty good first game.
Family friendly.
Straight forward rules.
Fair ball times for beginners. See here for details.....


Sold - SHREK

Stern Shrek. Very good player’s condition. Fully operational. Recently fully serviced. Stripped, cleaned and polished , with the following new parts: 1) flippers rebuilt. 2) comets (g.i. And inserts.) 3) Rubbers. (Titan and superbands). 4) low voltage red dmd. No missing dots. 5) leg bolts (with...
www.pinballinfo.com www.pinballinfo.com

Welcome to the forum 👋...... 👊🏼
 
Happypin said:
Your be wanting a 2nd not long after the 1st. That’s when you realise the addiction has got you.
I have help line number when your ready 🤓

Enjoy the journey.
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Welcome

Pure poetry

I’m not long here either and already on my 5th
Just be prepared to pay a bit more than you budgeted for and don’t let it worry you as they don’t loose money if you buy from the right place
 
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Welcome 👍
I defo second the Spider-Man and Dark Knight suggestions; great games.
The Shadow is another great game if you can get one (Judge Dredd is also a great affordable game imho, although not sure if it's widely thought of that way)
I think there's also a transformers LE currently up for sale here which looks like a bargain, although IIRC it's above your budget.
 
Andy.S said:
I have a high speed 2 that I’ll be selling soon it’s got lots of mods and has had lots of maintenance done so will be good for years to come
pm me if interested
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Now this would be my pick for a beginner budget pin I've had a few and the Last one I sold resides about 4 doors away in my street so I get my fix every time I visit.
HS2 is a great game to none your skills and a very similar layout to SM too but not as complex in rules. Simple yet addictive you cant go wrong.
 
Pins for 3 - 4k.

Bram Stokers Dracula:

Pro's:
One of the best stacking multi-balls of any game I've played
One the best video modes of the 90's era
Satisfying shots

Con's:
Lacks 'traditional' modes
If it comes with the standard 'lightning flippers' its considered one of the harder games of the era
Playfield artwork is dated and looks funky

In all honesty its such a great game, I wouldn't sell mine.

FIsh Tales:

Pro's:
Makes a great family pin with great music
Great atwork and call outs
The second best video mode of the 90's era :D
Satisfying shots
Fast and Simple rule set

Con's:
Lacks 'traditional' modes
If it comes with the standard 'lightning flippers' its considered one of the harder games of the era
Lack of 'Toys' in the game, the fishing reel ball lock is great though.

My wifes favourite, she won't let me sell it.

Judge Dredd:

Pro's:
Satisfying shots
Suprising flow for a widebody game

Con's:
Some odd modes
Multiball music is just plain weird and out of place

Not many peoples favourites and can be hard to sell on as a result


High Speed 2: The Getaway:

Pro's:
Fast paced game, great flow
Changing gears (gear shifting) adds that extra something and provides an extra level of gameplay
Music is pretty good (ZZ Top)

Con's:
Pretty brutal for a first timer
Not many toys in this game (the hyperloop looses its 'jazz' pretty quick.

Not much to the game depth wise you may bore of it quickly (we did)
 
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This is all really helpful. Thanks all. Certainly lots to consider!

I think I'm starting to narrow down to the following:

Stern SAM era - Spiderman, Pirates, or Indiana Jones
Space Jam or Stern NBA
Fish Tales
Demolition Man
High Speed 2
World Cup
Whitewater
 
SeikoKid said:
Just be prepared to pay a bit more than you budgeted for and don’t let it worry you as they don’t loose money if you buy from the right place
Click to expand...

Be careful of comments like this. Pins are currently very expensive and like everything else are subject to a range of factors that determine prices.

Personally I’d budget on losing cash but then ask yourself does it matter? If prices dropped by say 20% you might lose £800-£1000 which sounds dreadful but stick it into context. Will it have given you more fun than five meals out? How much do you spend on a day at a theme park? Etc

You might get lucky and prices stay roughly the same. Possibly prices might still increase but beware of banking on getting all of your cash back. Also they do break down and that can be expensive in terms of board repairs etc.

You’re highly unlikely to lose all your cash but I’m sure everyone who’s been into buying games for a while knows a couple of people who got burnt.

Don’t overthink it. Buy something, Play it. Swap it for another game.
 
johnwhitfield said:
Be careful of comments like this. Pins are currently very expensive and like everything else are subject to a range of factors that determine prices.

Personally I’d budget on losing cash but then ask yourself does it matter? If prices dropped by say 20% you might lose £800-£1000 which sounds dreadful but stick it into context. Will it have given you more fun than five meals out? How much do you spend on a day at a theme park? Etc

You might get lucky and prices stay roughly the same. Possibly prices might still increase but beware of banking on getting all of your cash back. Also they do break down and that can be expensive in terms of board repairs etc.

You’re highly unlikely to lose all your cash but I’m sure everyone who’s been into buying games for a while knows a couple of people who got burnt.

Don’t overthink it. Buy something, Play it. Swap it for another game.
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Sensible comment- prices have shown signs of softening for less popular games. Ask in the what it’s worth thread if you get inundated with PM’s and you need a few opinions before pulling the trigger. I dithered for ages before settling on a pin I hadn’t previously considered- this was before covid made prices go mad. I’d be paying nearly double for the same game if I was getting into the hobby now. Tread carefully and ask well known members to vouch for a seller- most people on here are mint; unfortunately we’ve had a few Rosscos and crazies trying to pull a fast one.
 
johnwhitfield said:
Be careful of comments like this. Pins are currently very expensive and like everything else are subject to a range of factors that determine prices.

Personally I’d budget on losing cash but then ask yourself does it matter? If prices dropped by say 20% you might lose £800-£1000 which sounds dreadful but stick it into context. Will it have given you more fun than five meals out? How much do you spend on a day at a theme park? Etc

You might get lucky and prices stay roughly the same. Possibly prices might still increase but beware of banking on getting all of your cash back. Also they do break down and that can be expensive in terms of board repairs etc.

You’re highly unlikely to lose all your cash but I’m sure everyone who’s been into buying games for a while knows a couple of people who got burnt.

Don’t overthink it. Buy something, Play it. Swap it for another game.
Click to expand...
Like anything written down there is a chance of misinterpretation which is a classic on forums

It hasent been my experience to loose money, and what i meant by that is i haven’t lost hundreds of pounds from buying to selling when switching out a game. I have found i either love or not love the game once it’s at my home. Different to when it’s on location. I’m fine with that.

I am prepared to loose some should the case arise given that i’ve had the privaledge of a machine in my home for my use whenever i please . I think rental is around £300-500 a month or something like that

So a couple hundred here and there really isn’t anything to worry about - for me

Basically don’t get yourself in a state thinking your gonna go bankrupt

Most people on this forum are amazingly helpful, to a point your wouldn’t believe. And their combined knowledge base is fantastic so if in doubt just ask prior to a move. I had a member help me purchase a machine. We met and without his knowledge I would have either paid too much or walked away and lost out due to the high price
 
Sorry SK, my post wasn’t meant to be a go at you but a general warning against the idea of pins as investments. Much like housing there’s a limit to what people are prepared to pay. At some time a tipping point occurs. I used to buy 6+ pins a year. I’ve now not bought one for 2 years simply because they are priced higher than I’m prepared to go. I loathe the idea of paying 4 times what I previously paid for a game I’ve sold.

Collecting is a hobby with pretty high initial barriers to entry and then it’s very cheap to trade games. Getting totally off the roundabout though could be very profitable or very expensive depending on when you do it. 😀
 
Sadly for us new members these machines are expensive in whichever bracket they reside compared to what most seasoned owners are used to paying

My GZ was £11.5k - i don’t tell anyone who visits because it’s utterly ridiculous and 1 neighbour commented on that but for me it’s worth it as i really really enjoy it

I entered this hobby with first experience of seeing the prices of machines and chose to continue , albeit somewhat stunned and apprehensive when purchasing
 
Matt Waters said:
I think I'm starting to narrow down to the following:
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I wouldn't worry too much about the title. Tastes change rather rapidly with your first few pins, and it's not like there's a lot on the market to choose from.

I would say get whatever you can which is reasonably priced. The titles you mention are great examples but don't limit yourself to them.
 
Matt Waters said:
This is all really helpful. Thanks all. Certainly lots to consider!

I think I'm starting to narrow down to the following:

Stern SAM era - Spiderman, Pirates, or Indiana Jones
Space Jam or Stern NBA
Fish Tales
Demolition Man
High Speed 2
World Cup
Whitewater
Click to expand...

I'm excited for you mate.

For what it's worth . . . . . on a single game for my first pin I'd probably go for High Speed 2 or Spiderman.

Fish Tales is amazing but if you end up playing hours of pinball every day then you might want a bit more depth.
 
I didn’t get Spiderman until late into my collection. It’s definitely one of the better pins. Nice layout, good shots and fast. Bear in mind everything has gone up in price so if it has a colour DMD that’s 500quid alone!
 
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