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Wanted My first pinball table

C

coastal

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Joined
Jun 15, 2018
Messages
30
Location
Orkney
One end of the shed is the workshop of my marine electronics / general electronics repair business
the other end of the shed is my friend's vintage audio & records business.
in the space between is a sort of lobby area which has become a black museum of "I remember that" stuff, including CRT radar, scrolling paper-trace echosounder, enormous radiotelephone sets, CB's etc.
I would love to put a pinball table in there.

I am not too sure what to get but I'd like these elements:

moderately essential features
1. it's going to be played by all comers (not very many!) and kept going by us, so pristine collector's condition is not called for in this case. The inevitable repairs probably won't be with all authentic parts.
2. therefore a "players pinball" (I hope I am using the term correctly) with staying power would be good.
3. the ability to take money for plays (50p a go? £1 a go?) would be good. this might keep it from getting absolutely caned if it took off, and it might make a bit of pocket money for the urchins.
4. family friendly - children/mothers are sometimes around, and would be encouraged to play it.

nice-to-have's but not deal breakers!
5. An automaton toy feature would be great - I guess this goes with point 2 - seems to add the X-factor to a pinball table, specially for kids.
6. DMD with exciting animations
7. a marine or otherwise aquatic theme
8. Bally. I love the Bally logo for some reason. probably from the association with The Who 'Bally table king' lyric.

Anything considered, including EM tables - though EM potentially precludes points 2 and 5,6. I realise that EM machines are somewhat less expensive and often 'charming', which is obviously an attraction.
budget - £2750

I would appreciate comments on the above as to what particular table might be "right" for us.

Given our somewhat remote location, I need reasonable time (weeks - possibly months!) between securing a purchase and arranging pickup. Any pinball clearly needs specialist carriage therefore I would prefer to pick up myself (though I gather there is a very accommodating fellow by the name of Martin who might well be engaged to get the machine closer to me within the UK mainland)
 
White Water, Fish Tales, Black Rose, Pirates of Caribbean... are all water/nautical themed. Black Rose probably the cheapest?


You can add a coin mech to most machines aftermarket so its not essential to get a machine that already has one.
 
Fish Tales is the machine I keep going back to for more.
It has a great mix of easy gameplay and “just one more go” but it’s a beast to get all three of the master fishing modes.
One of my cheapest, but a real favourite.
 
I was thinking of Fish Tales too - so appropriate and just.... FUN., I loved it at Daventry. I can well see that its popularity will keep it too high in price for us.
Black Rose looks absolutely great though. Pirates of the Carribean, meh. too mainstream for us.
Gilligan's Island is a nice theme, what is it like for playability?
is there a Dukes of Hazzard table in existence? not really a "wet" theme but was very popular and strangely appropriate for our area. (country culture, car worship, gentle anarchy)

theres a very nice-looking HS2:Getaway table on here within budget, it's just a bit too macho in theme. what is it like for playability?
 
interesting about the coin mech, no idea about coin-op eqpt but this is good advice, so thanks.
I wonder if we could start retrofitting coin-op function to existing equipment (such as radars) onboard fishing vessels. might make the numpties turn it off when not in use..... !
 
You could get a decent FT within your budget.
It’s very popular with pinheads, but the theme doesn’t have mass appeal and tends to keep the price reasonable.
 
Fish tales for the win as should be well within budget . However if a rosie comes up at the right price go for it . I too love the top speaker bally design .
 
You can get coin operated power timers which are fully programmable . Mainly used for the lights above snooker tables in the amusement trade
 
Dukes of Hazzard table in existence? not really a "wet" theme but was very popular and strangely appropriate for our area. (country culture, car worship, gentle anarchy)

No Dukes of Hazards but it would make a great theme.

You missed the bootlegging!

FT is a good pin but as an owner of a Rosie (BR) I'd go with that. ?
 
coastal said:
I was thinking of Fish Tales too - so appropriate and just.... FUN., I loved it at Daventry. I can well see that its popularity will keep it too high in price for us.
Black Rose looks absolutely great though. Pirates of the Carribean, meh. too mainstream for us.
Gilligan's Island is a nice theme, what is it like for playability?
is there a Dukes of Hazzard table in existence? not really a "wet" theme but was very popular and strangely appropriate for our area. (country culture, car worship, gentle anarchy)

theres a very nice-looking HS2:Getaway table on here within budget, it's just a bit too macho in theme. what is it like for playability?
Click to expand...

HS2 is a great game and if I had enough room I would be looking to get one, another absolute corker of a game for the money is The Flintstones a really good game still available at a low price.
 
That's a decent budget that only rules out recent Sterns and a few A list Bally/Williams.
 
do Pinball tables "hold their value" so to speak, like - for example - a piece of antique (but utilitarian) hardwood furniture might, or are they always depreciating?
 
coastal said:
do Pinball tables "hold their value" so to speak, like - for example - a piece of antique (but utilitarian) hardwood furniture might, or are they always depreciating?
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Most have been increasing in value for about the last 10 years or so. Past performance is no guarantee of the future and all that.
 
Generally at the mo they don't they increase,, so long as you buy at a sensible price, but IMO, I don't buy as an investment. If I have a game a few years, and sell it and if does lose a bit, no biggy as I've had years of fun
 
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There's a bit of a silver ball resurgence at the moment which has led to a relatively steady increase in value, especially of certain more sought after machines. But who knows what might happen in the future.
 
I have a decent collection of pins and rate FT pretty highly. Probably best bang for buck. It's a fun fair game, easy to understand but hard to get those supers. Attached a vid of Bowen playing it at PAPA. Watch his second game at around 8mins in. He's explains how to get those supers and build your score.

 
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coastal said:
What's Hook like for playing?
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Greatly improved with the recent code updates, a fun game popular with non pinheads and can be made a real looker. Too shallow though for rule heads.

disclaimer: I own one so am biased :cool:
 
coastal said:
What's Hook like for playing?
Click to expand...

Fast and fun like most Data East games around that age, though as @astyy says the rules aren't particularly deep. On the plus side that means you don't need to learn a ton off stuff to have an idea of what to do, and to me it sounds a pretty good choice of game for your location!

I haven't played Chad's new version of the code, but if it's like his Star Wars code update it should certainly add to the gameplay as well.
 
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