Ready to make the purchase of a pinball machine for your home? There are a few things to be aware of before you make the final decision about your home pinball machine...

Buying your first home pinball machine

Ready to make the purchase of a pinball machine for your home? There are a few things to be aware of before you make the final decision about your home pinball machine. If you buy a new pinball machine directly through the main stores they are sold through, such as Sharpe, the price is roughly $4,000 to $5,000. If you seek out a used machine, then your price will go down considerably.
You may be surprised to find your favorite movie or entertainment character or theme on one of the refurbished pinball machines. They will be in good shape, ready to buy, and out there to be found by those of you who want to add a party favorite, lifestyle enhancement and antique and collectible investment to your home.

If you're looking at second hand pinball machines, you've got a huge choice of machines and eras. You need to decide if you feel more comfortable owning, cleaning and repairing an EM pinball with it's coils and relays or a modern solid state machine with circuit boards.
With new pinball machine choices such as NASCAR and Elvis from Stern, you could find yourself in a quandary to make a decision of which pinball machine to buy. The Simpsons and Terminator are games that exude the epitome of high production values. The Simpson’s voice over talent and artists were highly involved in the creation of the game. On the Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger did all the voice overs. With such top names coming through in pinball machines that are instantly classics, how could one go wrong in making the investment? The market is said to be dissipating fast, and yet there are steady sales, and an interest that is elevating to more and more of a collector’s outlook on the products.

If you are getting a used machine, get as many photographs as possible. Look carefully at the backbox, the back glass (inspect that the paint is intact and not too faded) or the translite, and the playfield plastics to ensure that they are in really good shape. The cabinet is also important to have in good shape. Having the shop (clean-up) job done on it by the seller is the ideal situation. If you're buying from a dealer/shop then it should be the dealer who does the touch up on the machine.

Beware if you see spider cracks on the playfield. It means it may have been wet or stored in a damp area. You want to be sure to have new flippers and coils, as old coils wear and tear will need to be replaced. Also, ask what kind of ball the machine has. You would ideally want a mirror glazed pinball. Many people use a ball bearing that is similar to a pinball, but a real pinball, and the best, will have been polished for twelve hours, creating a smooth, clean surface that won't damage the playfield.