Should i buy a pinball machine

I have not worked on EM's myself but from my understanding once you get it all cleaned up and working they are really reliable. If you read that link on EM's I supplied above it basically walks you through what you need to do to get an EM in top shape.

Cosmetics Bad, bubbling, cloudy mylar. A big decision when buying a machine. You either say to yourself, I can deal with it, it does not look that bad or does not affect gameplay. Or you spend a lot of time removing it, and then you have to protect your playfield afterward. A highly chronicled repair and very debated topic. I would focus on getting a machine that has good mylar still on it. Playfield has wear. Again, does it look good enough for you, or do you want to learn touch up work?

Again for your first machine I would recommend one that looks good enough for your standards, its a big process. Is it dinged up?

To some it matters, to others it does not. I fall in the latter camp, some dings don't bother me, I would look for mold or water damage as any kind of "Do not buy" warning signs. Backglass or translate. What shape are they in? Plastics, especially ramps.

Are they all there? Any broken? A taxi spinout ramp will take you months maybe years to find and its going to cost you dearly. Check with the three major pinball parts companies when you are thinking about a specific title, see what they carry and have in stock specific to that machine. Look at the boards in the backbox. Anything obviously bad? You are looking at the batteries, ask the person when the last time they were changed.

Any burnt so bad that wires are soldered directly onto pins? Download the manual from IPDB. Learn how to test all of the lights, the switches, and the coils. If some GI lights are out could be a fuse, could need a new connector. If a switch is not working, could just need an adjustment.

Hard to tell when you are at someones house potentially buying a game. When you are there checking out a game, take the glass off and start a game. Take the ball in your hand and make it do everything it is supposed to do in the game. Make it go over every switch, make it go through modes, have it start a multiball, test everything. Like I said, if its your first buy one fully working. One that you can play right away. Maybe the rubber is old, maybe some bulbs are out, small fixes are fine, just don't buy a game that won't boot up or one that randomly tilts every time it hits a pop bumper.

Save that for your next game. Chapel Hill, NC. I started off collecting EM pinballs, the ones I played as a kid. Different game, objectives, and experience. A properly working and dialed in pinball machine does NOT break a lot contrary to what some may say. I have machines spanning 5 decades of manufacture and I rarely have to fix them in a home setting. EMs are cheap to fix but require someone who has a relative mechanical aptitude over more modern pinball machines that will more or less point you in the direction of the problem.

My best advice is to select what you want, old style EM 30s to the late 70s, older Solid state, late 70s to late 80s or the more modern DMD from the 90s on up. Then ask for advice here. Someone will chime in and you'll get better advice. Use Novus 2 for your playfield, maybe followed up by Novus 1. You can buy it online. Don't use windex for the glass is fine or or anything like that. You can wax your playfield, but buy a nice hard car wax with NO cleaners in it. You can use Novus 2 on plastics and ramps but I prefer Novus 1.

DONT use Novus 3 on anything. You may want to rebuild you flippers at some point depending on how they are on the machine you buy, but its something you should learn to do. You will eventually want to replace all of the rubbers depending on the condition they are in when you get that machine. This is why I stress that you should buy a working machine, there is no way you can learn everything beforehand. I still have a TON to learn myself. As problems arise you learn how to fix them.

As they come up you buy the tools and parts you need. Read through those links I mentioned way up above, try and get a general sense of things. You can learn the tough stuff later when it breaks. I don't think so. I happen to think EMs are easier to repair, but they are different skill sets. The vast majority of EM maintenance other than cleaning and replacing bulbs is adjusting switches - almost everything is a switch. Once you start learning, you will figure out what needs to be done.

Step one is figuring out what is wrong. Step two is learning how to fix it. The good news is that there are a lot of self education resources and plenty of people here and on rgp to help. Welcome to a fun and rewarding hobby- first put your general location on your pinside ID. It's nice at a glance to know where you are- there might be a fellow pinsider in your area. The 'regular' machines are referred to ' SS ' solid state when comparing them to the early EM electro mechanical.

I have some of both machines. For normal maintenance there is no difference between the two as they both have similar playfield parts - not much has changed in 50 years. Repairs are a different story when you leave the playfield and wiring - mechanical relays vs circuit boards. Common problems would be switch related - most games use some type of switch for scoring and ball position indication. Flippers would be another one due to their heavy use - they are made to be repaired.

Common maintenance is cleaning the PF and rubbers use wax or Novus or pinball rubber cleaner. It depends on how much you play. On Taxi I notice the speed of the ball slows down over time even though the PF looks fine. Rubber parts have lasted me in home use way longer than I expected.

My machines are kept away from any sunlight. But I do keep some rubber rings on hand. There is a website, IPDB website , where you can get a picture of the cabinet before you check out the machine in person. This part of the process is one that both the buyer and the seller least look forward to.

There will always be some bartering so never offer your final price. Also as the buyer you often hold all the cards. If you are buying locally there may only be you and one other person in the entire area that wants to buy that pinball machine and the seller will know it.

You can determine this from the pricing guides that you refer to. Always offer less than what you expect to pay because that will change with the negotiation process. The seller should have paperwork for you to sign, explaining this in detail.

They are no longer responsible for this equipment. Most of the time, a seller is going to expect that you pay with cash when you buy a machine. You should go prepared with large bills. If you are unsure that this is the machine for you or are worried about being taken advantage of then go look at the machine without any money on hand. Most people have a lot of fun doing modifications and improvements to the machines when they purchase them.

Pinball is growing a whole new audience in the modern generation with the online pinball craze gaining popularity. This is leading to an increased interest in these retro machines from all those years ago. More collectors are coming out of the woodwork searching for these rare treasures to add to their collection.

There are sightings of them making appearances in arcades and bars. But more people want to keep a pinball machine for themselves in their home where they can play when they want to. The technological age may take away a lot of our beloved treasures and throw us boldly into automation, ready or not. These things will live on, no matter how advanced the world becomes.

Our kids have come to love them and will continue to love them. And their kids will love them too. There is nothing quite so enjoyable as bringing back memories from your childhood. We used to spend hours playing pinball in my friends basement and that really got me involved in everything retro! Because they are so popular many people ran to the stores the moment they The thing that made the Nintendo Switch so popular was the fact that it could not only be used on the go Skip to content.

Continue Reading. Does the machine work? If it's your first machine, and you haven't worked on pinball machines yet, I strongly advise you not to buy a machine which isn't working. Even though there are excellent repair guides on the net. If the seller says it's a simple problem or only a broken fuse, why didn't he replace this fuse? You may be lucky and find a game which works after five minutes of tweaking, but in most cases you'll end up putting a lot of time in a game and made problems worse.

Yes if you are handy, it's not difficult to figure out how a pinball machine works. But first try to learn this on a working pinball machine, unless you prefer to spend more time repairing pins instead of playing them. Opinions of others and popularity. Be careful with this. Some games like Twilight Zone are very popular among collectors, but they are quite technical especially TZ and intended for more experienced players. Not everyone likes them or 'gets into them'.

While some pins may 'grown on you' and you have to play them like 2 weeks before you start to like them, you may not be a die-hard pinball player or collector. So maybe an easier, more simple game is better for you if you are a novice pinball player. Opinions can also change in time. Some games which aren't popular when operated can be very popular once people have them at home.

So always think about who's opinion you are asking. Opinions of others are only useful when you can choose between games which you don't know very well yourself. Then others who know the games better can aid you choosing which is the best value for money.

You may i. Number of games built. Don't buy a game because it's rare and only a few hundred were made. Certainly if it's the only game you'll buy. Often the reason why not many were made is: they were no fun to play. Games like that are maybe nice to have, for collectors, but not as your only game. There are always exceptions of games which are good and for reason were not built in large amounts, and are wanted by a lot or people i.

And there are 'classic' games of which ten thousands were made, but still a lot of collectors look for them in excellent condition Bally Fathom, Fireball, Xenon, Gottliebs Haunted House,.. So the first rule applies here too: play the game and enjoy it. Who are you? Why do you want a game? Same as paragraph 1, what do you like about a machine? If you don't know, who are you? What do you want? Are you looking for a pinball machine for a child? Then better choose a game with easy to understand rules.

Most electro-mechanical or pre-dmd solid state pins will do fine. Or are you someone who already plays well and wants a hard challenge? Then some of the latest dmd-pins with a deep ruleset will be what you need to keep you entertained. I bought my Twilight Zone from someone who had it for his 7-year old daughter. I think she was happy not to drain the ball and didn't know any of the rules. Buying a game for small children? As said in the paragraph above, the game shouldn't be too difficult with its rules.

However, as most children flip all the time, even when the ball is not around, or hold the flipper button for a longer period, you're looking for a reliable game which won't break down after a week. You should learn them to only flip when the ball is near the flippers, but this may take some time. An EM should be possible unless they hold flipper buttons too long, but multiple flips aren't a problem.

Yes these games were designed to be abused in a commercial environment, but they were also designed to work for 5 years. These have now old electronics, playing in a normal way is no problem, but abuse by children can cause problems. So therefor my personal opinion is to stay away from them for small children less then 6 years old if they flip all the time.

You're better off then with a cheap late 80ies Gottlieb i. Or be prepared to do repairs or have a repair man come over, and don't complain to him if the game breaks down again.

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