Buying an arcade/pinball machine

[mason55]

Anyone ever done this? How do I go about it? I'm absolutely clueless but I've been dreaming of it ever since I was a child.

[pshreck]

There are pool table type stores all over that sell pinball and arcade machines (atleast in CT).

Go to one of these and look around. You CAN and MUST haggle, the prices they list will be absurdly over the top ( I saw a MK2 arcade for 15k at some place).

If you order it from somewhere (even eBay) you will pay an really really high shipping fee, upwards of 500-1000 bucks, so try to look for one locally.

[mason55]

Cool, there's a pool table store 5 minutes from my house, maybe I'll go there after work.

Are there distributors I can talk to directly so I have a bigger selection? Like the people that arcades get the machines from?

[Sporky]

could always build a MAME cabinet. google it, you build a cabinet, run a PC with MAME and you've got an assload of arcade games and can run console emulators etc.

http://www.mameworld.net/massive/Cabinet/Beast/gsdgsdg.jpg

[chaas4747]

Find out what company supplies these to bars, call them and ask if they ever have auctions. The company in KC has an auction annually to sell off old dart boards, pool tables, and arcade games.

[mason55]

[ QUOTE ]
could always build a MAME cabinet. google it, you build a cabinet, run a PC with MAME and you've got an assload of arcade games and can run console emulators etc.

http://www.mameworld.net/massive/Cabinet/Beast/gsdgsdg.jpg

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I've seen those. I kind of want a pinball machine though. Maybe I could buy a pinball machine and build a mame cabinet.

[Sporky]

also check ebay dude. tons of stuff on there usually. also, if the MAME stuff interests you...check out MAME cabinets on there. they are pricey but nice.

[mason55]

[ QUOTE ]
also check ebay dude. tons of stuff on there usually. also, if the MAME stuff interests you...check out MAME cabinets on there. they are pricey but nice.

[/ QUOTE ]

Haha found one that comes with a free poker table.

[Gin 'n Tonic]

With pinball machines try to get one with a service manual. Then you have all the part numbers identified and diagnostics, etc. This will make it way easier in the future when it goes wrong (it WILL go wrong).

[Jim Kuhn]

Check out the auctions from this site: Arcade auctions (http://superauctions.com/dates.html) I have been to several and they usually have several hundred machines.

Thank you,

Jim Kuhn
Catfish4u
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[Dantes]

what kind of pinball machine are you looking for? If its from the "golden era" of pinball (IMO) of addam's family/twilight zone expect mid-high 4 figures. Thats just a guess though I haven't really looked into it in years.

[Sponger15SB]

[ QUOTE ]
what kind of pinball machine are you looking for? If its from the "golden era" of pinball (IMO) of addam's family/twilight zone expect mid-high 4 figures. Thats just a guess though I haven't really looked into it in years.

[/ QUOTE ]

I just played twilight zone today and it sucks ass.

[mason55]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
what kind of pinball machine are you looking for? If its from the "golden era" of pinball (IMO) of addam's family/twilight zone expect mid-high 4 figures. Thats just a guess though I haven't really looked into it in years.

[/ QUOTE ]

I just played twilight zone today and it sucks ass.

[/ QUOTE ]

i like addam's family. but no i don't really have any requirements, other than the fact that i want a solid-state machine and not an electromechanical.

[astroglide]

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I just played twilight zone today and it sucks ass.

[/ QUOTE ]

you are insane

[Dantes]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I just played twilight zone today and it sucks ass.

[/ QUOTE ]

you are insane

[/ QUOTE ]

Try ebay. One of my favorites is being sold at a reasonable price of 3k here. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=13725&item=6168325 500&rd=1) Also of course there's pleny of pseudo-distributers that sell on ebay and you can probably get a decent deal.

[Ogre]

My grandma has one but it breaks constantly probably because its old...
You are going to get bored of playing it probably but I'm assuming that you are getting it somewhat for the look of it in a room too.

[mason55]

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My grandma has one but it breaks constantly probably because its old...
You are going to get bored of playing it probably but I'm assuming that you are getting it somewhat for the look of it in a room too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I'll be getting a working one. It's for when I have friends over and we all hang out and drink and play pinball together. Always need more stuff to do when you're drinking.

[Ogre]

I would go for pinball

[TimM]

[ QUOTE ]
I would go for pinball

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, if you get a video game, it won't be fun for people who have never played that particular game, especially while waiting 20 minutes for you to end your turn. But once you've played one pinball game you can pretty much play them all. Also most video games handle two players, but you can get pinballs that handle a lot more.

My parents used to have a coin-op distribution business, and later a game room, and I used to fix all the games. A pinball game will definitely be higher maintenance. There are usually hundreds of little bulbs to change, the playing surface will get dirty and need to be cleaned and waxed, and the rubber bumper and flipper rings wear out. Coils burn out too, most commonly the flipper ones. Maybe your pinball will be spared a lot of this compared to a machine in a game room, which gets much heavier use, but it's something to be ready for.

Here is where we used to buy our parts: WICO (http://www.wicothesource.com/new2/default.htm)

[mason55]

Awesome thanks for the info. Hadn't thought about the video game thing but a pinball machine just seemed like it would be entertaining for much longer because of the semi-randomness at least.