Buying pinball machines (1 Viewer)

I have a couple questions about buying pinball machines. 1) What are some good things to consider when shopping for a pinball machine? 2) Are there any good Internet resources for pricing and places to buy pinball machines?

I've always wanted to own a machine or two but had to wait until I had the room to put them in. I believe I've narrowed the list down to these older personal favorites:

Gorgar
Black Knight
Terminator 2 Judgment Day
Star Trek: The Next Generation

Gorgar and Black Knight are two machines I played the most as a young teen. The Black Hole is another machine from this time that I would consider as well. Terminator 2 and Star Trek are two awesome machines that my friends and I would play at the local bars. We would either play for bucks or beers and the play would usually last well into the early morning hours.

I know a couple of these machines will be expensive but I'll gladly pay the price if it's something I really want and it's in good shape.

Thanks,
Wade

Wade,
Say Hello to Mr Pinball

My friend has bought and sold around 30 machines and has about 10 in his house including the Star Trek you mentioned. I've seen them go for $1,500-$2,000 on average depending on condition. I had a chance to buy a dirty one for $800. I would have had to clean it thoroughly, rebuild the flippers on top of replacing a few other things. I passed and I'm regretting it.

The best place to look is around locally. Check with local operators and find out whats not being used and what they want to sell. We've found awesome deals this way. There are also pinball auctions in various places all over. There was one in Dallas and Kansas City a while back. They also have random gaming auctions all over the place if you check the newspaper.

Good luck its an expensive yet fun hobby to get into.

Shane, Thanks for the link. It looks like there's some great information there. I'll check it all out a little later. I'll start by looking locally. I would rather buy a machine this way rather than some online auction place or classified ad. I know these can get expensive but I think it's well worth it. I've always been into pinball more than video games so I know these would get a lot of use.


Evan, I did search before posting. The only topic that came up was this ONE. That originator of that post was specifically asking about machine recommendations. I did bookmark some of the links posted by Lary for future reading.

Wade

Wade,
If you buy online, there is a service called Forward air that will ship them if you crate them up or it gets crated and sold to you. I think they sell crates too.

The price is roughly $100 for a 350-400 lb machine. The Star Trek is a wide body so its extremely heavy so get a few friends

I know I've built alot of muscle helping a friend move them up and down his stairs

A machine you might find and should buy if its cheap enough is Adams Family. That game is awesome!.

Shane,

How easy are these things to move up and down stairs? I'm thinking about putting these in our upstairs loft but I'm concerned about our stairs. The stairs aren't a straight shot. They go up half way to a landing then turn 180 degrees for the other half. are these shipped in pieces (legs and back removed)?

I do remember the Addams Family machine. This one has a lower playfield if I remember correctly. There is another one from the 80s that has a lower playfield that I used to play every day at lunch. For the life of me I can't remember the name of this machine. I really want to find out to because I remember it being pretty addicting and fun to play.

Thanks,
Wade

It has one playfield. This is probably one of the best games and it is regarded as the machine that gets the most play. I personally prefer Star Trek over it but my favorite is Medieval Madness($$$$). These are all Williams machines or Bally. Stern makes them now and has made an awesome Lord of the Rings game. It runs about $4k.

Check Ebay. Last year a friend of mine got a mint condition, sit down Spy Hunter (admittedly not a pinball machine) for $300. The seller was in the same town as us (Seattle) so shipping wasn't an issue (we rented a truck and picked it up ourselves).

http://search.ebay.com/pinball_Pinba...sortpropertyZ1

Cool link! Is there a DB of pre-Space Invaders/computer generated arcade games? I remember, before there was Space Invades, there were "video games" at my local grocery store. Some were driving games similiar to Pole Position but not computer generated, ditto a cool submarine game.

Medieval Madness appears to be a popular game but I don't ever remember playing it. I'll have to make it to the local arcades and give this one a try.

That is a cool link. Xenon is another machine I forgot about until seeing it in that database. I still can't find that one from the 80s that I played every darn day. It's bugging the crap out of me.

Shane, Thanks for the moving and setting tips.

Larry, There are a lot of machines listed on Ebay, but I've never purchased anything from there before. I would be worried about making such a big purchase there and end up getting screwed. Not to say that wouldn't happen to me here locally.

Wade

My last fav when I was into pinball was Twilight Zone. It was a wide body and was a great machine IMHO.

Spy Hunter, another fav when I was growing up. $300? Man, I'm jealous. Wife wants a Centipede machine so when we build onto the house, the search will be on.

Larry:

Such a database for video games does exist:

The Killer List of Videogames

I've never failed to find info on arcade games I've researched there. It goes all the way back to Computer Space.

It's actually part of the International Arcade Museum, which has a Pinball section as well.

Twilight Zone is easily one of my favorites. The game is extremely amazing(and freaking heavy!).

Another neato game is Circus Voltaire. Its one of the few games with a warning label on it because of the strobe multi ball. The playfield turns black and the lights go out except for strobe lights. It's a circus theme game and its pretty amazing as well.

The new Lord of the Rings is pretty amazing too.

Since may last posting I've been living on rec.games.pinball, ebay and Mr. Pinball to find out all I can. Also been going to the Internet Pinball Database quite a bit. I've realized there are a lot of games that I had forgotten about and some I wish I could play.

I'm tempted to buy a new machine to start then possibly buy an older shopped one later. The LOTR looks like a winner along with the Simpsons Pinball Party. I need to find a place in town that has both of these machines so I can give them a try. I don't think I would be disappointed with either one after all the comments I've read regarding them.

I could see this being an expensive Hobby. Some of the older machines that I want go for top dollar on ebay and Mr Pinball. I need to get hooked up here locally. Maybe then I'll be able to get one of the older machines for a reasonable price.

Wade

Here's a good question!

What would you consider the most fun pinball machine that you can get (relative to other machines) for cheap?

As much as I'd love to have a star wars, or kiss or Twilight Zone, I'd like to start my basement off with something thats not gonna cost me $3k....

Sam

Posten,
What's cheap($$ wise to you)?

As I've seen about 30 or more machines float thru a friends house, I've played most of them and have a decent idea of what they are worth and which ones will get you the most excitement.

I know WhiteWater is a nice machine and can be had for $1k or less(if you want to clean it up). There are a few more machines in that price range that are of the same vintage.

Bride of Pinbot is a nice machine. My friend paid $400 for his and cleaned it up for less than a hundred or so in parts. As long as you stick to Bally, WIlliams, and Stern(bought Williams) then you are safe for the most part. 95% of their games are great IMHO. Sega OTOH are mostly trash.
LOTR is pretty amazing. Simpsons isn't so good.

PIVOT!

Under $1k or so, cant see spending even that on one machine.

Been reading through the Mr. Pinball classifieds, looks like I could get something like Sorceror or Dragon for well under $1k, even cleaned up, and that would suit me fine theme wise but I've never played either of them...

Sam