Arcade Collecting > Pinball

Frustrated

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akoz:
I am getting a little frustrated. I look on kijiji for machines everyday. new machines pop up all the time. One of the first things i do when looking at the ad, i type the name in to Internet pinball database to check out the rating and comments. so far almost all the machines are not getting a good rating. The comments always say a few negative things about the machine and one for two positive things about it. Sometimes none. So i shy away from getting interested. So my question is What are some good pinball machines. From the 70's till early 90's that wont hurt my life savings.

Thanks

Jeff AMN:
I don't know what you're considering a low score, but even the best machines are going to have some people who have negative things to say about it. I personally can't think of a single way I'd improve Twilight Zone, but there are lots of people out there that can't stand to play it. If you're looking for a first pinball machine, and maybe you aren't looking to buy many down the line, I'd go for a good DMD machine.

There are quite a few DMD (dot matrix display, which means it has the little screen with animations on it) machines out there that aren't too expensive and that parts are readily available for if you have issues. Some of the Data East machines are on the economical side, such as Jurassic Park, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Back to the Future, Hook, and The Simpsons that are pretty fun. My favorite Data East game is Jurassic Park, and I think it stands up with any other game out there, really. It can be had for around $1,250 or so, which is good because it's a game with a long staying power.

Data East games are a little cheaper because pin snobs often think you have to go Bally or Williams, but it's not always the case.

However, if you choose to shy away from DE, and that's fine if you do, here are some really fun Bally/Williams games that aren't expensive and are probably pretty easy to track down:

- Fish Tales
- White Water
- Dr. Who
- Junk Yard
- Bram Stoker's Dracula
- The Getaway: High Speed II
- Whirlwind
- Road Show
- Earthshaker

Just keep looking around and you'll find something.

shardian:
My pin has a 6.9 rating on IPDB, and I find it very fun.

ChadTower:

IPDB's ratings are not useful.  Ignore them.  They are based more on collectors' value than actual gameplay.

shardian:

--- Quote from: ChadTower on June 12, 2009, 09:39:27 am ---
IPDB's ratings are not useful.  Ignore them.  They are based more on collectors' value than actual gameplay.

--- End quote ---

You will notice that certain people rate almost all the games. They'll go down a row of pins and 9 out of 10 say "crap...crap...crap...decent...crap...good one...crap, etc". All of those 'crap' pins they call out have all been thoroughly enjoyed by many OTHER people.

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