First pin!

[Austin]

Awesome! I just got my first pin last week, actually. Not an Atari. It is a Bally (after they had merged with Midway): Party Animal! It doesn't have the highest reviews on Pinside or the IPDB, but I am really loving it so far. Plus, the theme is really good for my kids...and its an 80s dance party!

 

I was tempted to pick one of those up at a show back in October. There are a ton of different shots on that game. Congrats on the pickup!

[racerx]

Awesome! I just got my first pin last week, actually. Not an Atari. It is a Bally (after they had merged with Midway): Party Animal! It doesn't have the highest reviews on Pinside or the IPDB, but I am really loving it so far. Plus, the theme is really good for my kids...and its an 80s dance party!

 

I wouldn't worry about IPDB or Pinside ratings, especially for your first pin. All the Ataris but Superman get pretty well thrashed in ratings (and rightfully so, honestly) but I love them. I don't mind the slow gameplay (and plenty of my friends have more mainstream pin collections that I can play) but I'm drawn to them because they look fantastic in the arcade, they're scarce conversation pieces, and they're neat pieces of history.

 

A late 80s SS machine like Party Animal is a fun machine, and a great way to cut your teeth on pin repairs before possibly picking up more complicated, maintenance intensive pins. I probably should have considered that before jumping in headfirst with the problematic Ataris.

[Tanooki]

I initially jumped in with an 83 Bally Gold Ball, but I dumped it due to lack of use after I ended up with a home use only Pin-Bot from in town here nearly 2 years ago now. Cashed out the older one for a SNK 2 slot Neo Geo. Pin-Bot is far more picky than the basic SS that was Gold Ball which bordered on the simplicity of it being a non-SS game with its basic layout. Pin-Bot is a balancing act, ask anyone who has had that vortex drive them nuts or the endless issue of the center drop gate sometimes not quite going flush enough a ball can get stuck which I still can't completely iron out on mine. Still that said if I could find a way into a more entry level price wise and fun DMD level table I'd snap up a Theater of Magic as I love that one and it's far more reasonable and affordable sadly than Indiana Jones ever will be.

[Austin]

Theater of Magic is cheaper than Indy, but it's still not cheap.. you are looking at $4,000+ depending on condition, possibly much more for a nice one. So yeah.. not sure I'd qualify that as "entry level", but if you have the money, they are great games.

[racerx]

The wife has been kicking butt at work all year and ended up with a nice bonus. She used part of it on this. Wouldn't have been my choice for the money, but hey...new pin.

 

 

[Austin]

SP is a fun game. And, I bet it's nice to have a DMD game in the collection to mix things up a bit.

[racerx]

SP is a fun game. And, I bet it's nice to have a DMD game in the collection to mix things up a bit.

 

Not a very deep rule set, but super approachable and fun for the kids and guests and the Stan shot between the pops is enough of a PITA to keep it interesting.