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There is zero (0) reason I don't currently own a pinball machine. There are several listed on my local Craigslist right now for between $500 and $2500 USD. I co

There is zero (0) reason I don't currently own a pinball machine. There are several listed on my local Craigslist right now for between $500 and $2500 USD. I could simply play pinball whenever my heart desired. The fellas who bankrupt early and rode with someone else when we play cards could have something do. I could maintain it obsessively, finding original manuals and schematics. They don't depreciate significantly if maintained. Am I a moron for not owning one? Why don't you people own one?

feedsmgmt 3y ago
They're big and heavy and have a lot of wear parts that are expensive to maintain. Standing in one spot not blinking isn't great. I can play pinball in VR and have about an equally good experience these days.
- ProllyInfamous 3y ago
  My father had several of these mechanical machines during my early adulthood. It was one of the few things we "did" at family reunions, and was always worth a few hours playtime... but damn if they didn't require a "first name basis" with the repairman, and they were absolutely not able to be transported without a team of helpers. When we sold the house most of them were "given" to the new owner [sort of white elephant?]. -- I could never get in to the virtual pinball machines [it's been about a decade], but I guess they "play" identical to a "theoretically perfectly-operating" mechanical type?
bdash 3y ago
They’re heavy, awkward to move, and take up a lot of floor space. They’re loud and require ongoing maintenance. They’re also a lot of fun! I really enjoy both playing and working on mine.
larrik 3y ago
You people? I have 4! :P They require enough maintenance that you'll need a back up ;)
- bdash 3y ago
  That's how mine started getting out of control. I had one non-working machine that I rescued from a family friend's barn. My wife decided we should get a newer, working one so we would have something to play while I kept working on the first. A year later and I'm at over a dozen…
  - Boogie_Man 3y ago
    There's a bit of a gap between 2 and 12. Can you elaborate?
    - bdash 3y ago
      I've bought non-working pinball machines from Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist for great prices and brought them back to life. They cover a range of the pinball spectrum from electromechanical games from the 1970s through 1990s games with dot matrix displays. I fix these up, play them until I get bored of them, then sell them to make room for future projects or trade them for something new-to-me. Separately from that, I've bought, sold, and traded to end up with a set of games that I enjoy playing. There are a couple of modern Stern games in the mix along with some mid-90s Bally/Williams games.
      - Boogie_Man 3y ago
        If I may ask, are you making a worthwhile profit on the machines you sell, or are you doing it for the love of pinball? I used to know a guy who claimed to have done this with claw machines and made a lot of money. (Yes he had a ponytail)
        bdash 3y ago
        I'm not really making any money doing it. I learn a lot and enjoy the process. As an example, I picked up a 1978 Bally Strikes and Spares machine from Marketplace. It'd sat in the owners garage unplayed for 10 years and no longer worked. I bought it for $400, put somewhere between 20-30 hours of work into it and around $600 in new parts. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to sell it for around $1800.
mrrsm 3y ago
I got a virtual pinball machine which gives me all of the fun of owning a pinball machine with almost none of the maintenance. My machine is the size of a normal wide body pinball cabinet and works like a normal machine does as far as tilt/bumping, flippers, coin door, etc go. If you have the time and passion for keeping up a regular pinball I would go that route. If you want something a bit more easy to maintain but just as fun to play I would look for a virtual pinball setup.
ohwaitnvm 3y ago
I picked up my first two last year - they require a decent amount of maintenance -- more the older they are. Home use only machines will be in better shape - my 2018 Stern pin (3rd owner, home use only) has only really needed replacements of the coil stops and sleeves for the the upper flippers. On the other hand, my 2002 Stern machine (3rd owner, but first was on location in a Century theater where it saw thousands of plays) required in just two months of ownership: - diagnosis and replacement of a bad bridge rectifier for the controlled lights, - new plumb bob (machine info showed it had never reported a tilt before - looks like it had been removed before ever been played), - clear mylar patch on the playfield near the plunger lane exit, - replacement of the main power cable -- someone had ripped out the third/ground prong (which is apparently very common), - redoing the connections inside the power box -- someone had decided all the connectors should just live in giant solder balls....., - replacement of the coin door lock mechanism, - replacement of a flipper return spring and it has a few cracked pieces of protective plastic that just aren't worth trying to find replacements for. In total all together that's still less than $50 in parts, but figuring out the lights issue took weeks, and some of these required soldering. (And desoldering! I strongly recommend the Hakko FR301 desoldering tool instead of mucking about with copper braid.) For the prices you listed, I would guess you're looking at older machines, which will probably have more issues sooner than new (but not brand-new!) pins. I suggest pinside.com for the classifieds and also the "_X_ Machine Owner" forum threads which might have game-specific info for you. Stern has very detailed manuals, and pinballlife/marcospecialties have just about every part you might need when you do have a problem. Good luck, and have fun!
- Boogie_Man 3y ago
  This is the best, most helpful message I've ever received in response to something I've typed on the Internet. I'll take it to heart, thanks boss. Edit: to further take advantage of your kindness, let me ask you a question: it looks like an old bowling alley near me has several machines reported to be non functional, including an Elvira and the Party Monsters. In your humble restoration opinion, would it make sense for me to stop by and give them the old "eh it's busted? Maybe I can do something with it. Sell it to me for $400?" type spheel and see if I can dump ~$700 into it to get a functional machine for a good price? I wouldn't be looking to resell. https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/elvira-and-the-party-monsters https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/elvira-and-the-party-mon... https://www.afpinball.com/restorations/system-11b-mpu-battery-corrosion-repair https://www.afpinball.com/restorations/system-11b-mpu-batter...
mumblemumble 3y ago
The organizer of a pinball tournament league I used to participate in expressed regret about buying his own machine. The up-front price of buying one isn't terrible, no. What he disliked was that he felt committed to that one single machine, and ended up playing it so much that he was thoroughly bored of it within a year.
- vikingerik 3y ago
  You're not committed, though. It's not that hard to resell and buy another one, or even find a partner to trade machines with. I've done that quite a few times. I have 5 machines at home, but have rotated through close to a dozen this way in the last couple years.
whitej125 3y ago
I grew up having pinball machines in our house (my dad bought and fixed them as a hobby, sold or gifted them to friends). I have my childhood Black Knight pinball with me now. Love playing it, the kids and their friends love it. Honestly it’s great. Repairs and maintenance is very DIY able at least for this age of machine. Luckily I can still call dad when I’m stuck troubleshooting. No idea if they hold their value. Never thought of selling.
- Rebelgecko 3y ago
  My parents had a Black Knight 2000. when I was growing up. As an adult, walking through an arcade and hearing that theme song is like running into an old friend you haven't seen for years.
TulliusCicero 3y ago
My quota for stupid nerd space things is already taken up by my DDR pads that were taken from a 7th-gen cabinet. Not to mention the PC gaming space I have upstairs with 4 comps and enough space between for VR...and the retro gaming area next to it with a CRT.
JKCalhoun 3y ago
Some months ago Visual Pinball was on HN's front page. I took the impetus to actually build a full size virtual pinball cabinet. It turns out the wife actually enjoys it more than I do. Instead I enjoyed building it, and now I've been deep diving into fixing the scripting on some of the older EM (electro-mechanical) tables (virtual ones) that are out there. Learning Visual Basic (or a variant of it) was never on my Bingo card....
MivLives 3y ago
I move frequently enough that it would be a hassle. I would love if there were a way to make a smaller version that still felt worth playing.
FabHK 3y ago
I've had a 1986 Bally Motordome for decades. It's fun. There are many techniques and tricks to get better, detailed in books and online, and when you have a machine at home, as you say, you can play whenever your heart desires and practice. Playing for a long time has a meditative quality, too, and is a good metaphor for life - a mix of skill and random factors. As others have noted, maintenance is a bit of an issue, though not overwhelming. The machines are beautifully crafted - maintenance can be fun.
- ProllyInfamous 3y ago
  >The machines are beautifully crafted As an apprentice electrician decades ago, I remember the first time I viewed the innards/underside of a pinball table/machine: absolute insanity. Running my own shop a decade later, my favorite way to describe horrific residential electrical panels was "it looks like a drunk pinball machine in there."

feedsmgmt 3y ago

They're big and heavy and have a lot of wear parts that are expensive to maintain. Standing in one spot not blinking isn't great. I can play pinball in VR and have about an equally good experience these days.

ProllyInfamous 3y ago
My father had several of these mechanical machines during my early adulthood. It was one of the few things we "did" at family reunions, and was always worth a few hours playtime... but damn if they didn't require a "first name basis" with the repairman, and they were absolutely not able to be transported without a team of helpers. When we sold the house most of them were "given" to the new owner [sort of white elephant?]. -- I could never get in to the virtual pinball machines [it's been about a decade], but I guess they "play" identical to a "theoretically perfectly-operating" mechanical type?

bdash 3y ago

They’re heavy, awkward to move, and take up a lot of floor space. They’re loud and require ongoing maintenance. They’re also a lot of fun! I really enjoy both playing and working on mine.

larrik 3y ago

You people? I have 4! :P They require enough maintenance that you'll need a back up ;)

bdash 3y ago
That's how mine started getting out of control. I had one non-working machine that I rescued from a family friend's barn. My wife decided we should get a newer, working one so we would have something to play while I kept working on the first. A year later and I'm at over a dozen…
- Boogie_Man 3y ago
  There's a bit of a gap between 2 and 12. Can you elaborate?
  - bdash 3y ago
    I've bought non-working pinball machines from Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist for great prices and brought them back to life. They cover a range of the pinball spectrum from electromechanical games from the 1970s through 1990s games with dot matrix displays. I fix these up, play them until I get bored of them, then sell them to make room for future projects or trade them for something new-to-me. Separately from that, I've bought, sold, and traded to end up with a set of games that I enjoy playing. There are a couple of modern Stern games in the mix along with some mid-90s Bally/Williams games.
    - Boogie_Man 3y ago
      If I may ask, are you making a worthwhile profit on the machines you sell, or are you doing it for the love of pinball? I used to know a guy who claimed to have done this with claw machines and made a lot of money. (Yes he had a ponytail)
      - bdash 3y ago
        I'm not really making any money doing it. I learn a lot and enjoy the process. As an example, I picked up a 1978 Bally Strikes and Spares machine from Marketplace. It'd sat in the owners garage unplayed for 10 years and no longer worked. I bought it for $400, put somewhere between 20-30 hours of work into it and around $600 in new parts. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to sell it for around $1800.

mrrsm 3y ago

I got a virtual pinball machine which gives me all of the fun of owning a pinball machine with almost none of the maintenance. My machine is the size of a normal wide body pinball cabinet and works like a normal machine does as far as tilt/bumping, flippers, coin door, etc go. If you have the time and passion for keeping up a regular pinball I would go that route. If you want something a bit more easy to maintain but just as fun to play I would look for a virtual pinball setup.

ohwaitnvm 3y ago

I picked up my first two last year - they require a decent amount of maintenance -- more the older they are. Home use only machines will be in better shape - my 2018 Stern pin (3rd owner, home use only) has only really needed replacements of the coil stops and sleeves for the the upper flippers. On the other hand, my 2002 Stern machine (3rd owner, but first was on location in a Century theater where it saw thousands of plays) required in just two months of ownership: - diagnosis and replacement of a bad bridge rectifier for the controlled lights, - new plumb bob (machine info showed it had never reported a tilt before - looks like it had been removed before ever been played), - clear mylar patch on the playfield near the plunger lane exit, - replacement of the main power cable -- someone had ripped out the third/ground prong (which is apparently very common), - redoing the connections inside the power box -- someone had decided all the connectors should just live in giant solder balls....., - replacement of the coin door lock mechanism, - replacement of a flipper return spring and it has a few cracked pieces of protective plastic that just aren't worth trying to find replacements for. In total all together that's still less than $50 in parts, but figuring out the lights issue took weeks, and some of these required soldering. (And desoldering! I strongly recommend the Hakko FR301 desoldering tool instead of mucking about with copper braid.) For the prices you listed, I would guess you're looking at older machines, which will probably have more issues sooner than new (but not brand-new!) pins. I suggest pinside.com for the classifieds and also the "_X_ Machine Owner" forum threads which might have game-specific info for you. Stern has very detailed manuals, and pinballlife/marcospecialties have just about every part you might need when you do have a problem. Good luck, and have fun!

Boogie_Man 3y ago
This is the best, most helpful message I've ever received in response to something I've typed on the Internet. I'll take it to heart, thanks boss. Edit: to further take advantage of your kindness, let me ask you a question: it looks like an old bowling alley near me has several machines reported to be non functional, including an Elvira and the Party Monsters. In your humble restoration opinion, would it make sense for me to stop by and give them the old "eh it's busted? Maybe I can do something with it. Sell it to me for $400?" type spheel and see if I can dump ~$700 into it to get a functional machine for a good price? I wouldn't be looking to resell. https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/elvira-and-the-party-monsters https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/elvira-and-the-party-mon... https://www.afpinball.com/restorations/system-11b-mpu-battery-corrosion-repair https://www.afpinball.com/restorations/system-11b-mpu-batter...

mumblemumble 3y ago

The organizer of a pinball tournament league I used to participate in expressed regret about buying his own machine. The up-front price of buying one isn't terrible, no. What he disliked was that he felt committed to that one single machine, and ended up playing it so much that he was thoroughly bored of it within a year.

vikingerik 3y ago
You're not committed, though. It's not that hard to resell and buy another one, or even find a partner to trade machines with. I've done that quite a few times. I have 5 machines at home, but have rotated through close to a dozen this way in the last couple years.

whitej125 3y ago

I grew up having pinball machines in our house (my dad bought and fixed them as a hobby, sold or gifted them to friends). I have my childhood Black Knight pinball with me now. Love playing it, the kids and their friends love it. Honestly it’s great. Repairs and maintenance is very DIY able at least for this age of machine. Luckily I can still call dad when I’m stuck troubleshooting. No idea if they hold their value. Never thought of selling.

Rebelgecko 3y ago
My parents had a Black Knight 2000. when I was growing up. As an adult, walking through an arcade and hearing that theme song is like running into an old friend you haven't seen for years.

TulliusCicero 3y ago

My quota for stupid nerd space things is already taken up by my DDR pads that were taken from a 7th-gen cabinet. Not to mention the PC gaming space I have upstairs with 4 comps and enough space between for VR...and the retro gaming area next to it with a CRT.

JKCalhoun 3y ago

Some months ago Visual Pinball was on HN's front page. I took the impetus to actually build a full size virtual pinball cabinet. It turns out the wife actually enjoys it more than I do. Instead I enjoyed building it, and now I've been deep diving into fixing the scripting on some of the older EM (electro-mechanical) tables (virtual ones) that are out there. Learning Visual Basic (or a variant of it) was never on my Bingo card....

MivLives 3y ago

I move frequently enough that it would be a hassle. I would love if there were a way to make a smaller version that still felt worth playing.

FabHK 3y ago

I've had a 1986 Bally Motordome for decades. It's fun. There are many techniques and tricks to get better, detailed in books and online, and when you have a machine at home, as you say, you can play whenever your heart desires and practice. Playing for a long time has a meditative quality, too, and is a good metaphor for life - a mix of skill and random factors. As others have noted, maintenance is a bit of an issue, though not overwhelming. The machines are beautifully crafted - maintenance can be fun.

ProllyInfamous 3y ago
>The machines are beautifully crafted As an apprentice electrician decades ago, I remember the first time I viewed the innards/underside of a pinball table/machine: absolute insanity. Running my own shop a decade later, my favorite way to describe horrific residential electrical panels was "it looks like a drunk pinball machine in there."