Where Are You Going To Put It?
For some reason, some people (and by “some people” I mean "some people's wives") don’t seem to like pinball machines in the living room. I have never understood this, but I guess that’s why I’m not those people’s...wives. The average pinball machine weighs about 300 pounds and is around six feet tall, and requires floorspace of at least six feet by three feet. Does your house have lots of stairs? A pin’s legs come off and the head folds down for moving, but, as with Daleks, stairs are always a challenge.

A pinball machine should never be kept anywhere damp – it contains lots of metal that can rust and the wooden cabinet can warp. Avoid direct sunlight, too, as the pin will explode in a cloud of dust like a vampire.

Okay, I lied about the exploding, but the sun will fade paint and plastics pretty badly.

Do you live in an apartment or have easily-annoyed neighbors? You can turn the volume down on a pin, but don’t forget that the mechanical parts -- the bumpers, flippers, and knocker -- make a lot of noise and you can’t turn those down (although you can disable the knocker).

Do you have kids and/or pets? Cats love to stand on the glass and watch the ball go around while you play. I’ve never seen a kid do that, but I’m sure it’s possible. The glass covering the playfield is safety glass, but it sure makes a mess when broken. Also, that little door in the front of the machine allows access to some high voltage wiring. Make sure you put your pinball machine somewhere you can supervise, or better yet, lock the little buggers out of.

What If It Breaks?
Although they were designed to take a lot of abuse, pinball machines do break down (just like cars), and repairs can be expensive (just like cars). But just like with cars, you can do simple repairs yourself if you have the time and know-how. What’s your do-it-yourself skill level? You might be saying to yourself, “Self, I can handle anything! I once built a Radio Shack solar windmill from a kit”.

But look (and click) upon these, ye mighty, and despair:

Those are the mechanical workings underneath the playfield of a 1976 Williams Space Mission (EM) on the left and a 1992 Bally Creature From The Black Lagoon (digital) on the right.

It’s not quite as grim as it looks! Replacement parts and schematics are available for most pins (I’ll talk about where find them in Part Two), and there’s lots of help online, but you’ll still need some basic soldering and electronics troubleshooting skills. In general, digital pins are easier to maintain and more reliable than EMs, just because they have fewer moving parts.

Where Do You Get One?

Ebay
I’ve gotten some spare playfields and parts from Ebay, but I wouldn’t buy a whole machine there. Shipping is just too costly, and there are too many potential problems. It’s generally not a good idea to buy a pin sight unseen.

Private Owner
You can find folks selling a pin via classified ads, Craigslist, yard sales, or pinball/arcade shows -- this is how we got most of our small collection. You get a chance to really look at the pin before you buy, and usually this is the cheapest way to go if you’re willing to take a less-than-perfect machine and fix it up yourself. We bought the Creature from a fellow collector at an arcade show, and our Space Mission free from a friend of a friend who just wanted the thing out of the house. When we got there, we found out why…a cat had been using the playfield as a litterbox (it's fine now, really. In fact, it's springtime fresh).

Note: On Craigslist, make sure you’re in the “For Sale: Collectibles” section and not “Casual Encounters” if the pin you’re looking for is, say, a “High Hand”, “Rawhide”, “Earthshaker” or “Royal Flush”. I WARNED YOU.

Auctions
Auctions, like SuperAuctions, can be iffy – you don’t get to look that closely at the pins, they can be pretty beat up, and you have to be ready to take it home with you. But you can get a good deal sometimes, and they’re kinda fun to just go and check out all the crazy crap. At one auction I tried to convince my husband we needed a giant 6’ gumball machine in order to make a giant 8’ Tom Servo, but for some reason he wouldn’t go for it.

I am still bitter about this.

Pinball distributor/Route operators
When we decided we wanted a Twilight Zone, we called around a few local distributors. One had a TZ that had just come back from a route and was getting shopped (shopped = routine maintenance & cleaning) to go out again, so we snapped it up just in time. We got lucky! There aren’t as many of these places around any more that deal with pins.

Retail Specialty Shop
You can buy a pinball machine from a specialty shop real-world or online. These places sell pinballs, arcade machines, jukeboxes, vintage Coke machines and other fun stuff for outfitting your rec room. Pins from these places will not just be shopped, but fully restored, and they often have warranties, technical support and service agreements. This can be expensive, but it's the easiest way to go. I've never gone this route myself, as I'm a total cheapass.

Tune in next time for PART TWO: How to check out that pin before you buy it, how to get it home safely, and some basic repair and maintenance tips.

[Yes, Sparky is still working on They Came From Hollywood. She has written for Gamasutra and Computer Games Magazine (RIP). She and her husband collect 300-pound, high voltage Fabergé eggs.]