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What you buy if you had a budget of.....?

Nickbs

Nickbs

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Hi all

Appreciate there's a 'what is this table worth?' thread, but approaching the question from a different angle & in the context of having agreed in principle that the 'ideal' 50th birthday present would be a pinball machine, the next probing question was 'how much will it cost'. Having countered that this with the question 'what's your budget', where the debate has currently stalled!

Hence the question - if you were looking to buy your first 'proper' home machine, which you'd plan to keep a while (being a present for your 50th!) what would you pinball afficionados buy if your budget was:

£1000?
£2000?
£3000?
 
Would depend on the type of machines i liked..... if dmd then could be 3k, if EM then 1k....
 
My 50th is a long time yet but hopefully I will have managed to save enough disposable £££ for a BBB by then or even better a remake appears.

I am WMS biased and base these on pins owned:

1k maybe a FS if still available for a K (sold a nice one not that long ago for a K)
2K SS, should still be able to snag one for circa 2K
3k is easy due to my LOTR post earlier today, I would spend my dollar on a really nice IJ, think that machine has it all if working A1.

Expect loads of different views, such is the beauty of pinball.
 
Last edited:
Nickbs said:
Hi all

Appreciate there's a 'what is this table worth?' thread, but approaching the question from a different angle & in the context of having agreed in principle that the 'ideal' 50th birthday present would be a pinball machine, the next probing question was 'how much will it cost'. Having countered that this with the question 'what's your budget', where the debate has currently stalled!

Hence the question - if you were looking to buy your first 'proper' home machine, which you'd plan to keep a while (being a present for your 50th!) what would you pinball afficionados buy if your budget was:

£1000?
£2000?
£3000?
Click to expand...

Which games do you remember playing when you were younger - and whichever one you liked, that should make a good first game. For me, that was a Dr Who - £1k at the time, but going for a bit more now. At the end of the day, they're all good for different people, and its difficult to make a wrong choice. If you stick to something relatively popular e.g. from this list http://pinside.com/pinball/top-100) then you should have no major problem selling it for approximately what you paid for it, so it's a simple matter to change it if you do accidentally get one that you're not that keen on.
 
Thanks for the responses/suggestions and invites guys - much appreciated.

I'll definitely have to avoid and EM machine (lack of time/patience/expertise!) and I suspect many of the ones from my earlier days are either very hard to come by/rare (e.g. Fathom) or at the higher price end (e.g. Funhouse/Addams Family).

Salisbury sounds like a good idea, but some 'negotiation' and re-arrangement of family plans may be needed! Discussion on the Easter Bank Holiday and a visit to the Slam is currently going along the lines of "so you're probably working on Good Friday, going to the Rugby (Exeter Chiefs) on Saturday (with option of Stag Do meal on the Saturday Evening), going across to Worthing and back on the Sunday, with the Football (Exeter City vs Torquay in a local Derby) on the the Monday? That should make a really good family weekend?"

So currently working on making the trip to Worthing a 'full family trip'..... (But that may not leave enough room to bring a pinball machine back in the car!)
 
1k should see you with a nice example from the system11 era. Or maybe even a, not so loved WPC.

Personally I wouldn't bother with price brackets. Make a list of what you prefer and work from that. It's a 50th bday present, it should be what you want at price, not price dictating what you want.
 
Nickbs said:
Hi all

Appreciate there's a 'what is this table worth?' thread, but approaching the question from a different angle & in the context of having agreed in principle that the 'ideal' 50th birthday present would be a pinball machine, the next probing question was 'how much will it cost'. Having countered that this with the question 'what's your budget', where the debate has currently stalled!

Hence the question - if you were looking to buy your first 'proper' home machine, which you'd plan to keep a while (being a present for your 50th!) what would you pinball afficionados buy if your budget was:

£1000?
£2000?
£3000?
Click to expand...

@JT. probably has the best advice here - Most of the machines I wanted for my first machines are those I played in my youth in pubs and clubs, so you'd do best tailoring the machines the recipient recalls playing to the budget available.

If you're looking to get a present for someone who has only just discovered pinballs, wants one for reals and has no rose-tinted memories of playing a specific machine down the student union bar, then the machines I immediately think of are:

£1000

- Fish Tales. a fun, awesomely addictive machine. One of the best buys you can get for around £1k imo.

- Demo Man/ Getaway. 2 other undervalued machines that are easily worthy of consideration for a first machine in the 1k-ish bracket

£2000

- ST:TNG - Great example of how to do a licensed pinball. Theme has been very well done to match in with the STTNG series but its a bloody good table even if you never saw an episode. A decent example should be obtainable within budget (just).

- Creature From the Black Lagoon. A retro feeling fun-to-play game with an awesome humour level. Should be obtainable with a very decent wedge of change from a £2k budget.

£3000

- Addams Family/ Twilight Zone. There are loads of great machines you could get for this price and you'll get a different answer from most people you ask. However as a broad recommendation I don't think you could go much wrong with either of these 2.


If you pick up a machine at an event such as the Slam, there's a half decent chance you could get someone with a vanload to drop it off for some petrol and beer money, so long as they're going back your way anyway and you're not too far from a motorway junction or other drop-off point. Failing that, Martin's always an option for around £85.
 
I'd pretty much go with @roadshow16 list with the addition of Addams Family at the £3k price point.....and maybe some 81 Bally's in the lower price range (Centaur, Flash Gordon, Fathom) :D
 
Always welcome to come play a few games at mine if you're in the area, as I have a few 1K to 3K machines so you get an idea what you get for the money. Otherwise get to Salisbury or the Slam
 
ronsplooter said:
I'd pretty much go with @roadshow16 list with the addition of Addams Family at the £3k price point.....and maybe some 81 Bally's in the lower price range (Centaur, Flash Gordon, Fathom) :D
Click to expand...

Agreed, if it was my money, I'd be trying get a pair of early 80's Bally's for around £1k (preferentially Flash Gordon and Paragon) but would settle for Xenon, Centaur, Fathom, Eight Ball deluxe, Medusa ;)

Saying that though it's taken trying out 100+ machines for me to reach that conclusion! We certainly do seem to have a similar penchant Chris!

That said anyone moving on a Flash Gordon, please get in touch :)
 
JT. said:
Which games do you remember playing when you were younger - and whichever one you liked, that should make a good first game. For me, that was a Dr Who - £1k at the time, but going for a bit more now. At the end of the day, they're all good for different people, and its difficult to make a wrong choice.
Click to expand...

well said sir. i always hankered for years after a STTNG so that was my first game. and i always remembered enjoying AFM as well, so i hunted one down and never regretted it, it's still my favourite.

so Nick, what games do you remember enjoying? and we can all tell you what we think you'd have to pay to get one. no point getting a game we all say is the dog's ********, so you get it home and don't like it. as Hannibal said, we covet the things we see.
 
Just starting out ,you have so many to enjoy.
Do just that , and enjoy every minute.
No matter what you go for there are so many more to follow so take your time and have fun. Start with the cheaper ones and work your way up the ladder, it's more fun that way.
 
I avoided TZ in the 3k section as this really does split opinion, TAF @ 3k (should be possible) don't think anyone can go wrong with a really nice TAF.
 
A belated follow up on this to say thanks again for all the answers & suggestions - much appreciated! I've started a'long list' whilst trying to work out how to get to play a many of the suggestions as possible, and move down to a short list.

I had to miss the Salisbury event at the beginning of March due to an unplanned (aren't they all.) visit to casualty with the youngest daughter, but coincidentally we've got a family weekend booked in Bournemouth at the beginning of April, which neatly coincides with next event there, hence I think we'll be planning a family trip to historic Salisbury on the relevant day to ' see the sights'


Nb: where do folks rate/price 'Elvis' machine (noting that pinball heaven have one on ebay for a £3295 'buy it now'? I get the mores sign it's a 'marmite' machine?
 
ianw said:
Always welcome to come play a few games at mine if you're in the area, as I have a few 1K to 3K machines so you get an idea what you get for the money. Otherwise get to Salisbury or the Slam
Click to expand...

Thanks for your offer Ian - much appreciated. I may well take you up on it in the not too distant future!
 
Nickbs said:
Hi all

Appreciate there's a 'what is this table worth?' thread, but approaching the question from a different angle & in the context of having agreed in principle that the 'ideal' 50th birthday present would be a pinball machine, the next probing question was 'how much will it cost'. Having countered that this with the question 'what's your budget', where the debate has currently stalled!

Hence the question - if you were looking to buy your first 'proper' home machine, which you'd plan to keep a while (being a present for your 50th!) what would you pinball afficionados buy if your budget was:

£1000?
£2000?
£3000?
Click to expand...




It aint all about the money.
Admittedly I have owned some of my pins for a while but I now,finally really like my MOP that was well over £6k.
But for that money,it would easily pay for the following of mine eg -

GnR,MGOW,TX,BH,FG and LOTR

TX is one of my faves,and was well under £1k

If I work on the assumption you would want a DMD,get a cheaper one - ie sub £1.2k

This will leave £1.8k left of a £3k budget,to buy the inevitable second,and third pinball you HAVE to have.

General rule in pin ownership is the right amount of pinballs to own is......

However many you own - PLUS 1 :rofl:
 
Good advice there from @TYHO , there are some great machines out there for around the 1k Mark. Start at the bottom and work your way up.
It's way more fun that way plus you get to play machines you might have overlooked and they can be the hidden gems.
Have fun, which is the most important thing about this hobby, having fun.
 
Thanks for the advice guys - much appreciated! (and noted - although domestic negotiations over the location and space for a 2nd machine will probably have to wait until the first machine is fully entrenched!)
 
A piece of advice that I think is useful when dealing with the added issue of wife/partner is to chose a theme that they like. This works really well on 2nd and 3rd machines and once you are at that number you can just sort of make it up because who is counting. ;)
 
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