( 
)
OK, so the kids have left home and you've now got a gamesroom, or maybe you ARE the kid and now with your own pad, you don't have to worry about mum and dad stopping you using your crazy flipping fingers! Or maybe you've just decided to blow your student loan!
Whatever the reason, you've decided to buy a pinball machine!
GREAT....!!!
So now what.....
I wrote a guide a while back about buying carefully which you can read on this link but this guide is about choosing a machine...
Mission Impossible?
Over a third of all the people who come to us for a pinball machine have remembered a machine from years ago and they want this same machine at home. This was exactly how I bought my first machine (Creature From The Black Lagoon). I'd played it in a hotel in the New Forest camping with some of the lads and came home and bought one. Of course I paid too much for it, but at the time I didn't care, and looking back I was extremely lucky with the condition of the machine.... but anyway I'm rambling.......
This leaves nearly two thirds of people who want a machine but have no idea which one it will be.
So what if you don't know which machine to buy? Well.... if I knew the answer, I'd put it in bottles and sell it.
People are forever asking me, should they buy Twilight Zone or Theatre of Magic (example machines). Well, if you ask ME then I'd say Theatre of Magic, you ask the next man and he'll say Twilight Zone. There is no right answer. Well, the answer is to play them both and decide for yourself.
Whatever you do, DON'T buy ANY machine without playing it first..!! (well unless it's ludicrously cheap and really doesn't matter). Any decent seller won't mind if you play a game they are selling. If you don't like it - walk away. As it happens, most people who come to our workshop buy the FIRST machine they play, I don't know why, but you just know from their faces that they're going home with it. So make sure the first machine you play is within your budget!!!!
Money...
A good way to narrow down your choices when buying a machine is budget. We're hobby-based dealers so don't have overheads and wages like some of the other dealers, and are known for decent pinballs at sensible prices. But every dealer should have cheaper machines and more expensive machines. Prices may be based on condition, or how rare the machine is, or even how desirable the machine has become. Let's take the Addams Family - they made MORE of this machine than any other pinball machine ever, and yet, they command a strong price because everyone remembers seeing them in the arcades and wants one!
If you set yourself a budget of £1000 for example, then don't go home with a £2000 machine - because, if you buy sensibly, your £1000 will still be worth that or thereabouts and you can change for a different machine later... (please note buying a brand new machine or from a 'top-end' dealer will almost certainly mean your machine is worth much less 5 minutes after you get it home - but I still buy every new machine :o)
So, you've got your budget set, you've found a dealer, or a machine for sale locally and you've played it, or you've played a load to get a feel for pinball and you still can't decide?
Well, there are a few websites out there with reviews submitted by the public, over time these reviews give a rough guide to how popular machines generally are, but shouldn't be used as a definitive answer. There are pinball 'top 100' sites, review sites and databases, have a look at them all.
Or maybe you've narrowed your choice down to a couple? Of course, it's the Theatre of Magic vs Twilight Zone argument, with no correct answer, but posting to ask for opinion on one of the pinball forums will get you some information. Granted, it's normally the people who are either major fans or totally anti a particular game that will give you their thoughts, but at least if they don't like they'll tell you why.
If you still can't decide and you're not in a hurry, then find out when the next big pinball 'meet' is or google "UK Pinball Show" for 150 machines all in one place for a weekend, and get your fill of different machines and plenty of knowledgeable folk to ask for opinion.
If you STILL can't decide after all these steps then there's only one thing for it...
Buy a good book....
Cheers
Nick
Pinballers Anonymous
Whatever the reason, you've decided to buy a pinball machine!
GREAT....!!!
So now what.....
I wrote a guide a while back about buying carefully which you can read on this link but this guide is about choosing a machine...
Mission Impossible?
Over a third of all the people who come to us for a pinball machine have remembered a machine from years ago and they want this same machine at home. This was exactly how I bought my first machine (Creature From The Black Lagoon). I'd played it in a hotel in the New Forest camping with some of the lads and came home and bought one. Of course I paid too much for it, but at the time I didn't care, and looking back I was extremely lucky with the condition of the machine.... but anyway I'm rambling.......
This leaves nearly two thirds of people who want a machine but have no idea which one it will be.
So what if you don't know which machine to buy? Well.... if I knew the answer, I'd put it in bottles and sell it.
People are forever asking me, should they buy Twilight Zone or Theatre of Magic (example machines). Well, if you ask ME then I'd say Theatre of Magic, you ask the next man and he'll say Twilight Zone. There is no right answer. Well, the answer is to play them both and decide for yourself.
Whatever you do, DON'T buy ANY machine without playing it first..!! (well unless it's ludicrously cheap and really doesn't matter). Any decent seller won't mind if you play a game they are selling. If you don't like it - walk away. As it happens, most people who come to our workshop buy the FIRST machine they play, I don't know why, but you just know from their faces that they're going home with it. So make sure the first machine you play is within your budget!!!!
Money...
A good way to narrow down your choices when buying a machine is budget. We're hobby-based dealers so don't have overheads and wages like some of the other dealers, and are known for decent pinballs at sensible prices. But every dealer should have cheaper machines and more expensive machines. Prices may be based on condition, or how rare the machine is, or even how desirable the machine has become. Let's take the Addams Family - they made MORE of this machine than any other pinball machine ever, and yet, they command a strong price because everyone remembers seeing them in the arcades and wants one!
If you set yourself a budget of £1000 for example, then don't go home with a £2000 machine - because, if you buy sensibly, your £1000 will still be worth that or thereabouts and you can change for a different machine later... (please note buying a brand new machine or from a 'top-end' dealer will almost certainly mean your machine is worth much less 5 minutes after you get it home - but I still buy every new machine :o)
So, you've got your budget set, you've found a dealer, or a machine for sale locally and you've played it, or you've played a load to get a feel for pinball and you still can't decide?
Well, there are a few websites out there with reviews submitted by the public, over time these reviews give a rough guide to how popular machines generally are, but shouldn't be used as a definitive answer. There are pinball 'top 100' sites, review sites and databases, have a look at them all.
Or maybe you've narrowed your choice down to a couple? Of course, it's the Theatre of Magic vs Twilight Zone argument, with no correct answer, but posting to ask for opinion on one of the pinball forums will get you some information. Granted, it's normally the people who are either major fans or totally anti a particular game that will give you their thoughts, but at least if they don't like they'll tell you why.
If you still can't decide and you're not in a hurry, then find out when the next big pinball 'meet' is or google "UK Pinball Show" for 150 machines all in one place for a weekend, and get your fill of different machines and plenty of knowledgeable folk to ask for opinion.
If you STILL can't decide after all these steps then there's only one thing for it...
Buy a good book....
Cheers
Nick
Pinballers Anonymous
Guide created: 16/01/08 (updated 20/08/08)
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