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Pins for Pubs

P

Phil

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Joined
Aug 17, 2015
Messages
35
Location
South Yorkshire
Hi all,

I am looking to buy a pin (or two) for a new games room in a pub. I am after suggestions for titles that would sit well in a commercial setting. i.e. have wide appeal, not too fragile and fairly easy to get replacement parts for and fix myself.

I have been lurking a while and keeping tabs on ebay etc but it all seems a bit of a minefield and the professionally refurbished machines from Liberty Games etc just seem to be extremely expensive when compared against the valuations threads on here. I would like to be able to trade games up at a later date so I can change the line up and increase the quality but cant do that if I lose thousands on each pin on every change.

My pinball knowledge ceased in about 1991 when I was forceably removed from the education system and pushed into the workplace so the last pinball I became intimate with was a Bally Party Animal. Would love to get one of those but that would definitely be a nostalgia buy!

Budget wise I can spent 2k, maybe a bit more if I can get 2 pins. Obviously they don't have to be collectors specimens, just 100% working in a 'players' condition. Would much appreciate suggestions and what a fair price would be for them. Or offers if you are thinking of moving something on.

Thanks.
 
A Getaway (High Speed 2) and a Fish Tales might be gettable for £2k ish however I would suggest trying to find a more modern Stern for that sort of pricepoint. Whatever you buy, you will want it to be site ready (LED's new rubbers, cleaned, everything tightened) and to at least be prepared to get your hands dirty when it comes to having a go at fixing.
 
South Park is always a good earner on location.

Rather than buying your own to start with have you considered getting an op to install a couple for you and then split the takings? Although your share of revenue will be lower it's got the big advantage of being able to change the machines on a regular basis and allows you to see what the demand will be in a risk free way. I'm sure there are a couple of people on here who can sort you out. Phil at Pinball Heaven could also probably help here.

My understanding of having machines is that the take is generally great for the first couple of weeks and then drops off quickly when the novelty wears off, so you do need to change them. The exceptions to this rule seem to be The Addams family and Medieval Madness.

Good luck with it and it's great to know there will be another couple of machines out in the wild:thumbs:
 
John is spot on there, you provide the venue, the op supplies the pins and keeps them fresh and maintained and you split the dosh. Simples. :)
 
Thanks for the replies and suggestions.

@mufcmufc I intend to keep them in good condition and getting the lid up is just part of the fun, not had the pleasure yet but I am mechanically minded and didn't have too many problems when I had my head in the guts of a Time Crisis machine recently. I am amazed that faulty pins on location is such a common problem, especially now they are quite rare. I recently came across the X-MEN in Newquay and it looks like its had the same problems for months judging by reports on other threads here, having a faulty machine would just annoy the crap out of me!

@johnwhitfield @J.C.Rox We have a couple of AWP machines on a split revenue arrangement and it works fine but for the pins and other machines we have (foosball, air hockey, video games) the flexibility to put them on freeplay is essential. We have already had enquiries about hiring the games room for an all-in price when its done and the ability to host theme or league nights where we control the cost is something I don't think an operator will entertain and that's perfectly understandable, they have to make their margin too.

The Adams Familiy and Medieval Madness are out of budget for now but its very interesting to learn that they don't seem to drop off in popularity. Maybe I can sacrifice the bouncy castle and extend the budget! decisions decisions.
 
A local pub near me in Belfast had an arcade upstairs with pool tables, arcade machines and pinball tables. Every tuesday the machines where set to free play even though the machines where provided by an op.

Im sure an op would be more than happy to come to an arrangement if he can get machines out and making money, maybe fixed fee when the machines are on free play or so many freeplay nights a month.
 
cooldan said:
You can put a pin on freeplay mate, it takes two minutes in the menu when you know where to look
Click to expand...

What I meant was that it would not be fair to the operator to put their pinball on freeplay while sited on my location. I would still make on increased drink sales and the like while they would not make anything for the use of their machine. We don't even have a key for the AWP's on site here so cant change settings unless we call them out. I would expect the same sort of set up from a pin operator.
 
@BigIan for the other machine we purchased outright as it just made much more sense, pins are much more expensive though so a straight rental option could be worth investigating further. Thanks.
 
Maybe an op or local pinball collector could rent on a set weekly fee then you could keep the keys.
 
I have no direct experience of this. But i understand that you may need to think about some sort of rotation policy too. When I used to play them in the wild in the early 90s, the ops in London would rotate the games every few months. It was always a bright day in my student existence for the operator guy (who i got to know and who would give me free credits) to arrive with a new game

This favours a drop share (about 50-50) with an operator. Paisley pinball is a nice guy i have met for instance, or a pinhead on here who might act as operator for you

Unless you have a home collection and can rotate yourself like tilt cafe in leicester. I would consider getting an operator in to start with to see how it goes. It is the classic "risk share" model. It may be it works well - your venue gets pinball players and the drop does not fall off over time as they get used to the games. It may be that it doesn't. But a lot less hassle for you to try it out like this

This could fly and be a welcome release of captive pinballs into the wild. But it might not go that way

Risk here that you buy games. Then spend much time and effort sorting problems you did not identify before purchase (even seasoned buyers can get caught here). They keep going wrong as they were in need of partial or total rebuilds in the first place. Folk start playing them. But interest drops away. Then need to flog them
 
There was no interest in a profit share where I held keys and could put them on freeplay, even though they would only be on freeplay during hours that the pub was not open to the general public. Trust issues I guess. So I looked into the rental option and that was going to cost too much to make sense. 26 week contracts at £60+ per week and VAT on that, that buys outright a £1800 pin every 6 months. I am just not their target market, which seems to be corporate games rooms and event hire.

In the end I bought an already fettled one, it arrives next week, a Super Mario, which fits nicely with the room and should appeal to the young-uns who's parents hire the room for parties etc. The amount it takes during normal pub opening hours is now not the primary concern as I don't have an operator to keep happy and that should mean rotation is not as important too (hopefully). I will see how it goes for a month or two and then start looking for a couple more cartoon based pins, Simpsons, South Park, Flintstones, Popeye. fingers crossed!
 
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Super Mario nice! Have you considered Hook? I read that was popular on site with the public but less so with the pin fanatics hence cheaper to pickup. There is one for sale on here at the moment with an ownership trail from this forum, coincidentally as I'm writing this the price has dropped too!
http://www.pinballinfo.com/community/threads/hook-£1100-ono.26947/
 
I hadnt considered Hook, I saw it come up for sale and it looks pretty nice, cheaper than what I paid for Mario too. don't really have the cash to buy another one just yet though as I am also committed to buying a Robotron 2084 video game next month (cant wait for that!!).
 
If you want family friendly pins then also consider Rocky & Bullwinkle - Dave Willcox has one for sale - as well as Family Guy, Funhouse, No Good Gofers, World Cup Soccer, Junkyard, Jurassic Park, Star Wars .......
 
I probably shouldn't consider South Park family friendly either! That Rocky & Bullwinkle looks interesting, but I just cant atm.
 
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