How to get a pinball machine?

[+atari2600land]

How does one go about finding a pinball machine, let alone buying one? I assume a much better question would be how did you get your pinball machine(s)? I want a pinball machine for the garage, but haven't a clue how to go about getting one. Also, how much would I pay for one? A couple hundred dollars or so?

[BigO]

I found my cocktail pinball machine on craigslist. I paid $80 for it, non-functional. I probably haven't put $50 more into it.

 

I opted to search for a cocktail machine because of space constraints and the relative uniqueness of it. Game play tends not to be stellar on such machines, but we play the heck out of it sometimes when we have company.

[Atariman]

I agree with the above. Check out craigslist or possibly ebay. I've bought my Atari pinball machines from both. One thing to watch out for, though - make sure to get some very, very good shots of the playfield, etc. It's not hard to get a "good" shot of the machine even when the playfield actually looks terrible.

 

Just look around in your area and check the machine out on ipdb.org to educate yourself on it.

[Flack]

How does one go about finding a pinball machine, let alone buying one? I assume a much better question would be how did you get your pinball machine(s)? I want a pinball machine for the garage, but haven't a clue how to go about getting one. Also, how much would I pay for one? A couple hundred dollars or so?

 

I'd say, first of all, you need to decide what your budget is going to be. If you're not very handy with fixing electronic things you'll want to spend a little more money and get a machine that's been "shopped" (gone through and refurbished) rather than one that needs a lot of work.

 

In my experience, "a couple hundred dollars" would be a steal. I once saw a completely disassembled and non-working KISS pinball table sell for over $600 at an auction. Any of the new tables with LCD displays seem to go for well over a thousand at the auctions I've attended. The reason I don't own one (and I own 30 arcade cabinets) is because I can't afford the ones I want and I don't have the knowledge or time to invest in working on the ones I can afford.

 

As for finding one, go to a coin-op auction, call a local vendor, or scour Craigslist/eBay.

[Crazy Climber]

Unless you are good at repairing stuff, I highly recommend going to a pinball shop and buying one that has been shopped out and comes with a warranty. I have owned around 20 or so pinball machines and let me tell you, if you buy them on Craigslist, you are going to end up doing repairs. Here are some basic purchasing prices..

Older EM machines (games with non digital score display) - $200 to $500

 

Older SS Machines (digital score display) These vary in price but you should be able to get a nice shopped out Firepower or Space Shuttle, etc.. for around $800. Some of the better SS games can run over $1000-$1200 and if you want some of the really popular ones like Funhouse or Cyclone plan on dropping $2000+

 

Newer DMD Games (Dot Matrix display) These are the games that have actually graphics on the score board, these are the more expensive ones. On the low end expect to pay $1500+ for games like Terminator 2 or The Getaway, these were earlier DMD games for newer or more popular DMD games the skies the limit - lol. Around $2000 will get you a nice one, I have seen killer games like Jurassic Park of Demolition man go as cheap as $1500 shopped out but something popular like Medevil Madness or Theatre of Magic....well let's just say unless you have a lot of money you will have to take out a loan - lol

Hope this helps, keep me posted if you buy one