What's new
By:
Pinball info

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Wanted Wanted Please LOTR. Fishtales

M

manty

Registered
Joined
May 9, 2022
Messages
8
Location
kent uk
Hiya. I am new to pinball, enjoyed the odd game in the pub, Love the speed and rush of the game. Think my kids will love it too.Sold my Bar Billiard table (boring) and have the space and money for my first pinball. Not knowing too much, but having a read up, these look like fun games for a newbie, open to others of course. Based Kent. xx
 
There is a guy selling a T3 in Kent on ebay , not sure of the price whether its high or not , maybe others will have a better judge. I have his details as he contacted me directly so might be willing to sell off ebay and save the fees .

Mel
 
If at all possible try before you buy.
There’s a couple of pinball places near to you where you can try out a load of different games.
Pinball Republic in Croydon is the biggest but there’s now also Tony’s place which I think is in Medway and the pinball office is also out that way.
 
As you’re in Kent, I would definitely visit Pinball Republic in Croydon, Funland in the Brunswick Arcade near Russell Square station, Mike/Tony’s new Medway Pinball club and The Pinball Office.

I own both Fish Tales and LoTR, and they couldn’t be more different if they tried.

Just get a feel for what you like…
  1. Do you like pins with lots of toys and mechanisms, such as Twilight Zone?
  2. Is a great theme and theme integration important to you, such as in Lord of the Rings?
  3. Do you like games where you mostly cradle the ball and shoot at targets, like Stern’s Jurassic Park, or do you prefer a more ’flowy’ pin, such as Stern’s Godzilla?
  4. Do you like fast gameplay, such as TNA, or something slower like a vintage Zaccaria?
  5. What era of game do you like? Would you like a modern Stern with deep code that takes time to learn? A simple but difficult 70s/80s pin like Flash Gordon? Do you like the humour and accessibility of the Bally-Williams 90s era? Do have any nostalgia for old pins or themes?
  6. Are you planning to play casually with friends or family? Or do you plan to get good, perfect your game and play in league tournaments one day?
  7. Do you like a challenge, with a tough pin like The Walking Dead? Or would you prefer to get to the wizard mode with only a little practice, such as Monster Bash?
I’d just get a feel for how you like to play :)

You can always find out more about pins by watching online tutorials. PAPA used to do some good ones with Bowen Kerins.
 
manty said:
Hiya. I am new to pinball, enjoyed the odd game in the pub, Love the speed and rush of the game. Think my kids will love it too.Sold my Bar Billiard table (boring) and have the space and money for my first pinball. Not knowing too much, but having a read up, these look like fun games for a newbie, open to others of course. Based Kent. xx
Click to expand...
Play more games.
 
Doggard said:
The pinball office has both fish tales and lotr, amongst many other pins to try
Click to expand...
If you're having difficulty getting to physical venues, I'd also recommend downloading the Stern Arcade, Pinball Arcade and Williams Pinball apps - or playing some Pinball FX or Virtual Pinball.

I bought our Fish Tales having never played a full-size pinball machine, after playing it about 1,000 times on the Williams app, and I've never regretted my choice (but Fish Tales isn't for everyone).
 
A fish tales went on eBay for 3k yesterday. It was the 'door bell' special (someone drilled an actual door bell into the front of the cab).

Mad price considering.

There's a skill post LOTR on FB that the buyer would accept 6k on. I could derail the whole wanted thread on skill post vs. normal but just making you aware, skill post means it's had a circular pop out at the bottom under the flippers and imo looks ghastly.

Fish tales should be a 3-3.5k game in good condition.

LOTR commands a lot with people wanting 6k or more. It should be a 5k game honestly.

Want my advice? Wait till the end of the year and the financial cracks will get bigger. People will put them up and you may get one at the price you can afford.
 
s000m said:
A fish tales went on eBay for 3k yesterday. It was the 'door bell' special (someone drilled an actual door bell into the front of the cab).
Click to expand...

Yes, it’s worth mentioning BTW that, if you’re looking at vintage pins, you’ll need to be willing to do repairs and maintenance. Even the best-maintained older pins get loose connections on bulbs, etc. and if there is lots of deferred maintenance, you’ll be spending a fair amount of time with a multimeter, small screwdrivers and a soldering iron.

Luckily, the people on this forum and Pinside are really friendly and you can ask for advice :)

s000m said:
Mad price considering.

There's a skill post LOTR on FB that the buyer would accept 6k on. I could derail the whole wanted thread on skill post vs. normal but just making you aware, skill post means it's had a circular pop out at the bottom under the flippers and imo looks ghastly.

Fish tales should be a 3-3.5k game in good condition.

LOTR commands a lot with people wanting 6k or more. It should be a 5k game honestly.

Want my advice? Wait till the end of the year and the financial cracks will get bigger. People will put them up and you may get one at the price you can afford.
Click to expand...
At risk of starting a pricing argument (at which point it should move to the *official* pricing thread ;) ), the prices are being driven by NIB Sterns and JJPs, which are being driven up by the dollar/pound exchange rate, shortage of parts and cost of parts. As long as those continue rising, the prices of everything else will keep being dragged up :(
 
Last edited:
Evening. I really appreciate all the comments on this thread. It's a good learning experience. I am quite a compulsive guy, Collect art in the main. Love the vibes of this forum. I think to be honest any pinball will do to start with, I can see how i get on with it. I like the way people seem to trade pinballs more than selling.

My thoughts are, if I get one I am on a certain rung of the ladder and whilst playing it, I can play some more pinballs at the new pinball place in Medway and either keep or trade the one i will have or ....buy another

Thanks again... Someone sell me a pinball please x. Fishtales is top of my list from what I have read
 
@manty I've got a Fish Tales which I've been mulling selling at £3.5k
The game is fully working and has less than the usual fade to the cabinet, although one side is more faded than the other
I'm a fair way from you though, and I think as a newbie it would be helpful for you to have someone knowledgeable to hand when you first set a game up (not that it is super complicated, just some basics like how to open them up for example!) - it may be there is someone on the forum lives near you who could help.
I'm taking some games to Daventry, so if you were going there and wanted to see it/take it from there on the Sunday evening I could swap it in
If you are interested I'll take some photos tomorrow
David
 
manty said:
Evening. I really appreciate all the comments on this thread. It's a good learning experience. I am quite a compulsive guy, Collect art in the main. Love the vibes of this forum. I think to be honest any pinball will do to start with, I can see how i get on with it. I like the way people seem to trade pinballs more than selling.

My thoughts are, if I get one I am on a certain rung of the ladder and whilst playing it, I can play some more pinballs at the new pinball place in Medway and either keep or trade the one i will have or ....buy another
Click to expand...
It’s not like a rung of ladder thing, genuinely :) There are people on the forum who don’t have a pin at all :)

I’d genuinely recommend playing multiple pins, even if just virtually, before buying your first. I‘m just afraid you’ll buy something that doesn’t suit you and you’ll end up disappointed :(

Our choice of Fish Tales was controlled by:
  • Price-vs-risk (i.e. we weren’t going to shell out the price of a small car on something we weren’t sure would get played)!
  • A concern about maintenance difficulties. The first pin I was interested in was Star Trek: The Next Genegation, but read it was a maintenance nightmare and decided not to go there with a first pin;
  • Playing it *a lot* on Williams Pinball and finding it the most fun of the non-Medieval Madness/Attack from Mars pins on there. If there hadn’t been a pandemic on, I would 100% have played it in real life before buying one. I was absolutely bricking it when it arrived incase I hated the physical version (luckily, I didn’t).
There are a lot of people who end up with Fish Tales as a first pin. This is because they’re typically relatively reliable due to the lack of moving parts, easy to repair (due to lack of moving parts) and cheap compared to the quality of gameplay. They’re cheap due to some combination of lack of toys, unfashionable theme, loads were made, and that it has a dominant tournament strategy (shoot Caster’s club). Also, the decals fade really badly and re-decalling is a bitch.

HOWEVER, and this is a big HOWEVER, you need to be a particular type of person to truly LOVE Fish Tales. Casual players visiting my house don’t like it. This is because it is regarded as very hard, if set up correctly (Neil disagrees :)). Generally, newer players tend to ‘flap’ the ball around and some pins reward this style of early play - and give you multiballs. Fish Tales… does not.

For this to be a great first pin, you have to REALLY REALLY like practicing shots without a lot of early reward. In the longer term, you need to be the sort of person who holds home tournaments and will shoot the same two shots over-and-over-and-over, every day, with the hope of getting a better score.

As such, I’d strongly recommend - if you have the budget - you go for the ‘safer’ option of a NIB Stern or Chicago Games Company pin. So, Phil @ Pinball Heaven (Pinball.co.uk) has CGC Cactus Canyon available right now (I think). Cactus Canyon is an remake of a 90s-era pin of a similar type to Medieval Madness and Attack from Mars, which are regarded as some of the best pins of all time. CGC pins are regarded as solidly built and have seen heavy use in arcades with limited maintenance, so you can have the experience of owning a pin with zero repair worries.

Alternatively, you could look at a new Stern Pro. I’d recommend a Godzilla, which is very accessible for a pin designed by tournament champion Keith Elwin, and maybe the best pin made in the last 30 years, or a Deadpool, which is regarded as very family friendly. I’d also recommend a Rush or a Mandalorian if you haven’t owned a pin before, as they have easy shots, lots of stuff that is easy to start going, and are really rewarding for newer players. Stern currently has a backlog of machine orders, so it might take a few months for your pin to arrive, but I think the backlog is easing now.

Or, if you want to really push the boat out on price, and like the theme, I’d strongly recommend Jersey Jack Pinball Guns n’ Roses, which has lots of multiballs and lightshows that you can start almost accidentally, in some cases, and is, again, very rewarding to less experienced players. Again, G n’ R LEs are available right now from Phil and you can probably have one at your house, ready to enjoy, within a week.

If you want to try out these pins, Godzilla, Rush and Mandalorian Premium are available to try at Funland near Russell Square. There’s a Deadpool Pro at Chief Coffee in Chiswick and Chris @ The Pinball Office has a Guns n’ Roses. All of them are in demand and will be easy to set a second-hand price for, and sell, if you decide you’d prefer something else 12 months down the line.

Sorry for the long post. I’m always being criticised on here for long posts :oops:

Hope it helps :)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom