I'm about to make the most difficult decision of my life

[Carl Spiby]

Which should be my first pinball machine?

I'm looking at Demolition Man and LW3. LW3 mainly because they're abundance on eBay at the moment but also, from playing it in Visual Pinball, its actually quite a fun machine. I've played DM for real, and I enjoy the game play (and multiballs!).

What other tables should I be considering? My budget is around £1000 which in American money is around $1500. I won't be shy to shopping the machine as long as its not a nest of ramps, habitrails and wires.

The criteria is that it must be a DMD-era machine and it must have at least 1 multiball mode, TFTC is pretty good and ticks all the boxes but I already have access to that so I need something different!

 

[Sumez]

Some great Williams DMDs that usually come cheap could be World Cup Soccer 94, Indy 500, WHODunnit, and High Speed.

I don't have too much experience with High Speed or WHODunnit, but I really love WCS94 and Indy500, they are highly underrated if you go by IPDB's top 300.

You can be lucky to find pins like T2, Party Zone, Judge Dredd and Jackbot in your wanted price range as well, but they are usually a tad more expensive.

 

[Carl Spiby]

T2 wouldn't hold my interest for long, it's good enough onsite, but for home use, it's a bit rinse and repeat.

 

[Kevlar]

You are going to the UKPP in a few weeks aren't you Carl? Got to be worth seeing what's there first. I'm after a new machine too at the moment.

 

[Sumez]

T2 wouldn't hold my interest for long, it's good enough onsite, but for home use, it's a bit rinse and repeat.

I think you're right. T2 is a great table, and personally I'd like it for home use for the sake of variation - but it's probably not too good as an ONLY table. You need one with great replay value and a rule sheet worth exploring.

 

[Carl Spiby]

You are going to the UKPP in a few weeks aren't you Carl? Got to be worth seeing what's there first. I'm after a new machine too at the moment.

Aye it's only 2 weeks away now!

 

[sotie]

No one's stating the obvious... if this is truly the most difficult decision of your life then you've had a blessed life!

 

[jcasetnl]

Between Demoman and Lethal Weapon 3, I think DM is better overall. It will resell for more, the gameplay will satisfy longer and Williams is a more respected brand than Data East.

I own a Lethal Weapon 3 and like it for its charms but have played several different DMs and overall I consider it better.

 

[ER777]

This is a nice quandary to have, I'll be joining you in it soon. FWIW I would also go with DM out of those two.

 

[DanBradford]

I'll see you Carl and you Kev hopefully both in Daventry in 2 weeks.

My first game was the title I'd pined over owning for over 10 years. I'd never seen a pinball forum and knew no pinheads, so when I got my STTNG, it's me that got rinsed.

Nowadays I've adopted the revolving door policy, all games stay less than a year, and most stay less than 3 months I play em, enjoy em, then flog em for the same price as I paid (unless over a year and the market has moved on).

My only costs are transport, as I don't regard a bit of maintenance as a cost. In most cases i just re rubber them and change the sleeves, sometimes I do a full flipper rebuild, and if I *really* like it then I do a full shop job.

Don't worry about it Carl. My advice is to get a cheaper game that plays well, if you can get a fully working FS or SST for 900, or FT or JD for 800 or LW3 or R&B for 700 then you'll have done well and will have no trouble to sell them without losing money when you get bored of it after a few months. Plenty newbies coming into the hobby

 

[Carl Spiby]

Decided to go straight for my grail pin, a JM.

 

[Kevlar]

Decided to go straight for my grail pin, a JM.

I've never played one but that's on my wanted list. Hopefully after Daventry ( and special when lit tomorrow ) there won't be many pins that are on my list that I won't have played.

Have you bought a JM?

 

[Kolchak357]

Decided to go straight for my grail pin, a JM.

If you're gonna go, then go big. Good for you man. Jump in the deep end and make yourself happy. Let us know how the hunt for a JM goes.

 

[Carl Spiby]

Haven't bought it yet (shack isn't quite ready) but the one I'm after isn't being openly advertised

My want list currently looks like this: FT, LW3, HS2, LAH, DM, TS, WCS, JM, NF, W?D, RCT, FS
I500, MSF, Twister

 

[Metalzoic]

What is JM?

 

[DeeEff]

I'm guessing Johnny Mnemonic, a great game.

 

[pseudokings]

Some great Williams DMDs that usually come cheap could be World Cup Soccer 94, Indy 500, WHODunnit, and High Speed.

I don't have too much experience with High Speed or WHODunnit, but I really love WCS94 and Indy500, they are highly underrated if you go by IPDB's top 300.

You can be lucky to find pins like T2, Party Zone, Judge Dredd and Jackbot in your wanted price range as well, but they are usually a tad more expensive.

Putting way too much faith in the pinside prices. Maybe Party Zone, or Jackbot can be had for that, unless you're talking about "I'm gonna have to spend 2 months and $300 to fix it up" category, which might add a couple tables back to the list, but I wouldn't count on it. You try and find anyone who owns Indy 500 and will sell it for $1500. Just try. And if you do, let me know. Most won't sell it at all (aka unless you offer them a ton of $)

Not trying to be a jerk or anything, but I've been pin shopping for months, trying to find the right table for the right price to be my first pin (and I'm not a cheapskate), and it is hard (at least where I live, which is not a small town by any stretch), and you set people up for disappointment if you let them believe that a lot of tables they'd really like are going to be available on the (comparative) cheap.

Though, I suppose its possible that "pinflation" hasn't hit the UK as bad as it has it the states, so... Happy hunting to Carl, either way.