Buying pinball machines (1 Viewer)

[Joseph Bolus]

Hey!

If you guys would like to "try a pinball game out" before purchasing, there's a way to do that! (Well, sorta')

It's called "Visual Pinball". This program, by itself, can emulate almost any table made prior to 1991.

For post-1991 tables, which include the dot matrix displays (DMD), it needs a boost from VpinMAME, a program from the MAME team that "hosts" the DMD. These two programs, working together, can emulate any popular pinball table from 1991-1999. In order to get any kind of decent playability from the Visual Pinball/VpinMAME combo, you'll need about a 2Ghz machine.

Here's a page where you can get started downloading all this stuff:

http://www.vpforums.com/vptables/tables.php

EDIT: This page also includes some of the best emulations of popular tables that have been mentioned in this thread.

 

[Wade]

Jim_F,

Did you ever get The Getaway pin you were looking into?

I can see why people like Medieval Madness so much. I've been having a blast playing the emulated version. I don't know if the real thing is worth the 6-7K asking price but it sure is fun. I've also been having fun playing the emulated Bram Stoker's Dracula pin. The multiballs on this machine are pretty cool. I could see owning this one due to it's dark nature. It's also a fairly cheap pin to pick up as well.

I've given up on the LOTR for now. Star Trek: The Next Generation is the one I want to go for.

Wade

 

[Zen Butler]

Addam's Family was easily one of the funnest machines.

Other Favorites:

The Machine: Bride of Pinbot (My all-time favorite)
Johnny Neumonic
Star Trek: TNG
The Simpsons
Terminator 2
Fish Tales
Getaway

 

[Shane Martin]

All 400 lbs worth eh? IT's VERY heavy. I've moved it several times.

Medival Madness for 6 to 7? NO way. New they were 4k.

 

[Jim_F]

Wade,
Yeah, I had my Getaway delivered about a month and a half ago. I'm having a lot of fun with it, both playing and tinkering. It's a good middle of the road machine. Not too: cheap/expensive, hard/easy, high tech/low tech, etc. Good sound (esp. if you can tolerate "La Grange" ad infinitum) good light show, amusing gimmicks, exciting wizard mode and gratifying super jackpot.

Now I want another pin! Maybe next year.

I played a little MM at the dealer's shop the other day. It's more fun than the emulation. Had to laugh when I blew up the castle. Didn't ask the price, pretty dear I assume.

 

[Jefff]

Greetings!
Wade,The machine w/the lower playfield you used to play might be "Haunted House" or "Black Hole" look 'em up on IPDB

Also without a doubt-http://www.marvin3m.com/fix.htm is the
essential info on repair.
These might help as well:
Steve Young at Pinball Resource http://www.pbresource.com/
http://www.foramusementonly.to/ FAO is another great place,
www.actionpinball.com Ray Johnson for ROMs and goodies.
http://www.coinopcauldron.com Clive for board repairs and good help
[email protected] Rick at Bay Area Amusements LLC is a good source
www.centsibleamusements.com
http://www.marcospec.com/merchant2/merchant.mv Marco is nice too.
www.competitiveproducts.com
http://www.greatplainselectronics.com/ Ed is great too.
Bob Ellingson [email protected] Is a super person
http://www.pbliz.com/index.htm The Liz for TZ and other goodies
http://www.mantisamusements.com/ Kerry makes lots of good things
http://bigdaddy-enterprises.com/ Steve Kulpa
http://www.thekingofpayne.com/ Roc for plastic washers and other good things
Halted Specialties Co., Inc. http://www.halted.com
3500 Ryder St. (408) 732-1573
Santa Clara, Calif. 95051 USA (408) 732-6428 (FAX)
http://www.passionforpinball.com/ Cliffy for protectors
http://www.mantisamusements.com/ Kerry for stuff too
www.wicothesource.com
www.happcontrols.com

I own a "CFTBL" lots to learn,fun and exspensive hobby/habit!
Also a very good book to check out is Pinball Machine Care and Maintenance
by Bernard Kamoroff, Bernard B. Kamoroff

Let me know if I can help further,The pinball community is full of friendly and helpful people,I have learned much,
and am willing to help others,if possible!

CHEERS! jefff

 

[Vincent_S]

I owned one called The Black Pyramid until a few years ago. Reading this thread has got me wanting another machine:b

 

[Sam Posten]

I'm still lurking at RGPin and Mr. Pinball too, looking for a bargain =)

Sam

 

[Jim_F]

Addiction has set in. I went shopping again today. CFTBL was high on my want list, but I saw a really sharp Scared Stiff (one of my favorite emulations) while I was out. I just might make an offer on that one.

 

[Jim_F]

...not to mention what's come to pass in the subsequent months.

 

[Shane Martin]

Jim,
If it makes you feel any better, you are not nearly as bad as my friend whom purchased around 30 pins in a period of 12-18 months. He sells a few that he doens't like and has kept the ones he loves which also includes Twilight zone. I think he is finally down to around 9-10 pins in his house. The biggest boon to him has been him learning how to refurbish them. He's able to buy ragged out ones for cheap and turn a fast profit once he has done the work.

 

[Jim_F]

Shane,
Wow, that's an lot of machines in such a short time. I'm learning to make some of the repairs, there's certainly a wealth of help and information available online. I wouldn't say it's half the fun of owning them, but it's definitely part of the fun getting them fully 100%. Even these "shopped" games I've purchased form 3 different dealers have all needed a fair number of hours invested to be tip-top. I don't usually have the patience to wait for a tech to show up for a little warranty work on something I can figure out myself.

Funny thing is, if I'd known how much I'd end up doing myself, I'd have been totally intimidated and never even gotten started. Now I'm (obviously) glad I did.

 

[Don Solosan]

There's an event in San Jose called California Extreme that's basically a convention where pin and video game owners bring their games down to a hall, set them to play for free, and you can go in and play everything for a modest entry fee (around $25 for one day -- the show runs 3 days, I think). There are hundreds of games to play. Some are for sale.

I went last August and played a bunch of games that I'd played in the past and enjoyed (Gorgar, Getaway, Scared Stiff) and a bunch I'd never heard of before (Orbital, Atlantis, Flip-Flop).

Or you can check with local video game dealers. The place I went to had a small selection of used pins in the back. The benefit of buying from them was that the game had been fully shopped (I've had it for several years now and the only work I've had to put into it is cleaning the playfield, minor adjustments, and changing bulbs) and they started inviting me around to their yearly sales events, including luncheons. And it wasn't that expensive.

 

[Shane Martin]

Don,
They have a similar deal like that in Dallas.

 

[Jim_F]

OK, I've reached my pinball quota:

Twilight Zone and Theatre of Magic

Scared Stiff and Getaway

then, there's my most recently purchased
Bally...

 

[Colton]

I'd love to get an Addam's Family pinball game!

- Colton

 

[Thomas Reagan]

What? No love for "FUNHOUSE" ????????

It's a classic! (not to mention hard to find)

Thos.

 

[Raasean Asaad]

What about Black Knight 2000....

That was my addiction for a while.