Best 80s Pinball Value

famicom

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I know pretty much nothing about Pinball machines, but I am trying to lock in on some that I might like to own someday.

So what are some of the best Pinball machines from the 1980s—particularly those that have good value for the $$?
 
I don't have one (yet:)), but I think that Space Shuttle would fit your criteria.
 
You can never go wrong with a Pinbot. It's the game that made me fall in love with Pinball. :)
 
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Firepower. My favorite pin of all time. Cool sounds, art, and very fast. Rules are simple but trying to get multiball is hard and never gets old. They made a ton so you should find one for around $700.
 
Do you have a Wii? Pretty much each of the recommended tables above is in the Williams Pinball Collection for the Wii so for $20 you can easily "try before you buy".
Personally I LOVE Rollergames by Williams which sadly is not on the Wii title (please please put it in any possible sequels that might be released!!) and according to the forum thread below, Rollergames goes for dirt cheap.
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=138360&highlight=rollergames
I will warn you though that a love of 80's big hair is required.
 
Go to ipdb.org and do a search, you'll have lots to choose from. What games did you like to play growing up?

Yeah, I've been doing some flyer browsing at arcadeflyers, but it's hard to tell how the games actually play or if they are super unreliable. I figured it would be best to get as many recs from collectors and then check them out to narrow it down.

As for what I used to play, the ones I remember most are the Simpsons, Data East Star Wars, and Adams Family. TBH, I wouldn't really want any own any of those now.

Taxi seems like a cool theme out of the ones recommended so far. Even thouh its not from the 80s, I also like the idea of a Sopranos themed one that I came across, but the actual board looks pretty weak.
 
I'm another vote for Taxi. I bought one (Marilyn playfield) for $1100, in really good shape.

Depending on the conditions, they can go from anywhere to $700 to $1200.

My one complaint about Taxi would be they make repro Departure ramps, but for some reason they don't make repro Arrival ramps. I never understood the logic behind that.
 
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The departure ramps get nailed by the drac catapult. That would answer why there might be more demand for that ramp. Keep looking/asking. Hopefully there will be enough demand at some point to warrant a repro (although mine is fine :eek:)

On topic: You can't go wrong with any of the ones mentioned here, but I'd get a feel for them by playing them first to see if there's any one you would have a personal preference for. If you can't find one to play, the pinball hall of fame williams collection is on Amazon for only 5 bucks for PS2. It's got Taxi, Space Shuttle, Gorgar, Pinbot, Firepower and Black Knight, in addition to some 90's pins.

I would add High Speed. I really want to try a Flight 2000.
 
My recs

My first pin was a Swords of Fury.. Still have it 7 years later.. Second was a Space Station, pretty decent.. Next was a Black Knight 2000, kick ass pin! I've got a Pinbot, but I really can't get into it.. Play it a lot, but for some reason its just not for me.. Checking out an EarthShaker tomorrow night, might be my next one.. Up to now, I've paid less than $800 for each one..

I'm a Williams fan.. If you couldn't tell :)
 
I'm another vote for Taxi. I bought one (Marilyn playfield) for $1100, in really good shape.

Depending on the conditions, they can go from anywhere to $700 to $1200.

My one complaint about Taxi would be they make repro Departure ramps, but for some reason they don't make repro Arrival ramps. I never understood the logic behind that.

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.pinball/browse_thread/thread/73dca66adeb3ca2f

Not sure if they still have this or not, but worth a shot :)

Chris
 
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