Oops - this turned into a longer post than I expected - but I was in a similar place a few months ago....
I only recently rediscovered pinball in February this year - used to play as a student 30 years ago.
First place I looked was HLD as they come up on Google search, and not knowing much, I was considering a Black Knight 2000, which I later found was very over-priced.
Fortunately, like you, I found this forum before making a purchase, and subsequently was able to visit Flip Out in Croydon for a great afternoon playing on their collection of over 50 machines - old and more recent. Whilst it was fun playing their BK2000, there were other games I liked and came away wondering whether to go for an early 90s machine like
AFM, MM, Whitewater, TAF, or a much newer one.
After thinking about it a lot, I came to the conclusion that a newish machine would probably be a good idea as the interest was in playing rather than fixing. I didn't want to go NIB mainly due to the price and associated depreciation. So I ended up making a really good decision - to buy from someone on this forum. The big advantage of doing this is that people on here generally really look after their pins, and if someone comes on here and tries to sell something over-priced, or in bad condition, they are very quickly called out. Same goes for potential scammers. It's not totally risk-free but it's a lot safer than the likes of eBay.
I didn't follow the often mentioned advice of playing the machine before buying as I'd kind of been attracted to a specific machine that there aren't that many around (I think 8 in the country), and ended up with
TNA (which was originally released in Sept 2017). I couldn't be happier - the game is brilliant, highly addictive, and in great (like new) condition. In 2 months I've put around 1200 games on it and still love it. Having said that, if you don't get on with a particular pin, there is nothing stopping you moving it on and replacing with another, especially if you bought pre-owned and looked after it, you're not going to lose much money (if any).
Even with a modern pin, there have been a couple of issues which have appeared:
The top flipper stopped working - one of the wires had come adrift, but it was easy to re-solder it (and I hadn't soldered for years).
One LED started lighting up the wrong colour - connector just needed re-seating.
The flipper rubbers needed replacing - I ordered a full set and did the whole machine with Titan glow ones, which also was an opportunity for a good clean as I needed to remove most of the plastics to fit the new rubbers. It was also fun to do.
Cleaning is something you need to do regularly as although the glass prevents general dust, black dust is generated by the flipper coils/solenoids, and bits get worn off the rubbers. Usually good to clean every few hundred games (when a black mark starts to appear in the middle of the most-used lanes).
It's quite nerve wracking opening up the machine for the first time, removing the glass and lifting the playfield, but you very quickly get familiar with it, and I think now I'd definitely consider an older machine, as some maintenance doesn't seem that intimidating any more.
The final thing, I guess, is that you can't have just 1 pin. I was convinced I'd stick with just the one, yet it seems I've just bought my 2nd (co-incidentally from the same guy on here). If/when I can make room for a 3rd, it's likely to be a 90s Williams machine.
Summary:
- If buying NIB, go to Phil at Pinball Heaven
- If buying pre-owned, buy via this forum
- Modern machines can need fixing, as well as older ones, but it's not as daunting as it seems
- All machines need cleaning regularly
- You WILL end up with more than 1 pin
- You can change pins for very little loss (especially if not bought NIB).
Good luck.