My earliest pinball memory was at the age of 9 when, during a family trip, my uncle taught me one night that firing both flippers at once was not the best way to play pinball. I put that lesson into practice for the rest of that night, mostly on the Black Hole and Orbitor 1 tables at The Golden Dome arcade.
I've enjoyed pinball throughout my life since then, but had drifted away from it as arcades and the popularity of pinball both waned. Finding a table wasn't always the easiest thing. My renewed interest in pins came through probably the most pathetic means - video pinball. Yes, I'm talking about Zen Pinball and Pinball Arcade. For even longer than I've enjoyed pinball, I've also loved video games and am an avid gamer to this day.
As I spent more and more time "collecting" virtual tables and playing on consoles, tablets, and phones, I realized how much I still enjoyed pinball. Apparently, so did my wife, who, one evening after a particularly good glass of riesling (she claims it did not influence her), suggested I get a real pinball table as a father's day gift to myself.
So we headed a half mile down the road to State Amusements, not far from our home, and found them to be closed. Peering in through the windows, I saw a few tables, but nothing that looked like something I'd want. Thus began the research, Craigslist watching, an account on Pinside, and eBay scanning.
My initial wishlist was short, but ambitious: Black Hole (see above); Doctor Who; TRON Legacy. Not wanting to break the bank with my first pin, I instantly ruled out TRON, which commonly sells for around $6K. Doctor Who is a more reasonable $3200, though can be found as low as $2500 when purchased from an owner. Black Hole? In just a bit of research, I discovered it's a maintenance nightmare. Pass.
Craigslist had turned up a couple possibilities, including Williams' Blackout, a table from the era of my pinball awakening (prior to my subsequent pinball re-slumbering). I watched the ad for a couple of weeks while the price kept going lower and lower and lower...
In the meantime, I decided to do some hands-on research with a trip to Pinhead Amusements in Bedford, PA. $10 entry gets you unlimited free play on tables from the 50s through today. I must have played 25+ tables that day, spending 5 hours solid playing pinball. I found that I focused in on the late 70s and early 80s tables the most, though Stern's 2013 Star Trek Starfleet had me coming back time and again.
Unfortunately, the prices for some of the tables seemed a bit on the high side given their condition. Otherwise I may have very well walked out with a Xenon table.
Always in the back of my mind was that Blackout table, which was located a two hour drive away and had dropped over $500 from when it was first listed. But I had decided to hold off a little longer to see if it would move anymore or if the seller had hit the low limit.
In order to get a feel for what the local sales and support looked like for pin collectors, I reached out to a person in the neighboring town that I found via Pinside.com. He was incredibly helpful and willing to keep an eye out for any pins I might be interested in, so I sent a list that included Blackout. He then responded saying a friend of his was going to pick up an X-Files pin in the next couple days from a guy who was also selling a Blackout. Turns out, same guy on Craigslist.
Much sooner than anticipated, I found myself committing to a pin purchase and was doing so without being there myself to evaluate it. I left it up to the guy buying the X-Files table to inspect and play Blackout, instructing him that if it looked good, bring it back with him.
And that's how I got my first pin.
Craigslist had turned up a couple possibilities, including Williams' Blackout, a table from the era of my pinball awakening (prior to my subsequent pinball re-slumbering). I watched the ad for a couple of weeks while the price kept going lower and lower and lower...
In the meantime, I decided to do some hands-on research with a trip to Pinhead Amusements in Bedford, PA. $10 entry gets you unlimited free play on tables from the 50s through today. I must have played 25+ tables that day, spending 5 hours solid playing pinball. I found that I focused in on the late 70s and early 80s tables the most, though Stern's 2013 Star Trek Starfleet had me coming back time and again.
Unfortunately, the prices for some of the tables seemed a bit on the high side given their condition. Otherwise I may have very well walked out with a Xenon table.
Always in the back of my mind was that Blackout table, which was located a two hour drive away and had dropped over $500 from when it was first listed. But I had decided to hold off a little longer to see if it would move anymore or if the seller had hit the low limit.
In order to get a feel for what the local sales and support looked like for pin collectors, I reached out to a person in the neighboring town that I found via Pinside.com. He was incredibly helpful and willing to keep an eye out for any pins I might be interested in, so I sent a list that included Blackout. He then responded saying a friend of his was going to pick up an X-Files pin in the next couple days from a guy who was also selling a Blackout. Turns out, same guy on Craigslist.
Much sooner than anticipated, I found myself committing to a pin purchase and was doing so without being there myself to evaluate it. I left it up to the guy buying the X-Files table to inspect and play Blackout, instructing him that if it looked good, bring it back with him.
And that's how I got my first pin.
