Maybe I'm not a Pin person...

jow

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So, I have officially had my pinball machine for over a year, and its the LEAST played game of the small group I have. Is that weird? The thought of pins was cool to me, and the first few months with it was awesome, but since then it has just sat. What am I missing? I have fond memories of Taxi, and its fun to play when I do play it, I just don't ever have the urge to turn it on and play. Weird. Is it that the game is too shallow? I have done all of what the rules allow, so am I "finished" with it? Maybe its just a phase. Everyone always talks about how their pinball machine is by far the most played thing in their collection, but I'm just not experiencing that. WTF is my problem?
 
So, I have officially had my pinball machine for over a year, and its the LEAST played game of the small group I have. Is that weird? The thought of pins was cool to me, and the first few months with it was awesome, but since then it has just sat. What am I missing? I have fond memories of Taxi, and its fun to play when I do play it, I just don't ever have the urge to turn it on and play. Weird. Is it that the game is too shallow? I have done all of what the rules allow, so am I "finished" with it? Maybe its just a phase. Everyone always talks about how their pinball machine is by far the most played thing in their collection, but I'm just not experiencing that. WTF is my problem?

Maybe you're just not into it. Personal preference is like that. Myself I would suggest that you get your head examined if you would rather play Paper Boy than Taxi but that's just MY opinion. Do what you like, dude. If you don't have love for the Taxi then sell it and buy like 150 vids with the cash ;)

Basically the reverse has happened to me with vids.
 
It's an age thing....you must still be young.

Seems the older you get, the more you want to play pin...

If it were me? I would try to trade off Taxi for another pin...try a DMD. Variety is the spice of life!!! :D
 
It's an age thing....you must still be young.

Seems the older you get, the more you want to play pin...

If it were me? I would try to trade off Taxi for another pin...try a DMD. Variety is the spice of life!!! :D

I'll be 30 in March. Is that too young?

I have actually thought of trying to trade this for another pin, but it seems people don't think Taxi is worth much anymore (and it doesn't seem like others want it).

What kind of DMD pin do you think I could get in a trade?
 
30? Oh boy. Just a pup my son... :rolleyes:

A good DMD for trade? All depends on who is trading. Way too many variables on your machine and the potential other.

What's a Taxi selling for? $1200? Higher .. Lower?
 
I would think you could trade it for a lethal weapon 3 dmd pin.
I would suggest waxing the machine, making sure all the bulbs and everything are working, and making sure its leveled out nice, possibly as steep as possible, and wax the balls, then try again. In my experience that could easily be what you are missing.
 
I'll be 30 in March. Is that too young?

I have actually thought of trying to trade this for another pin, but it seems people don't think Taxi is worth much anymore (and it doesn't seem like others want it).

What kind of DMD pin do you think I could get in a trade?

It might be tough to do a straight trade but trade + cash shouldn't require a ton of cash depending on what you're trading for (I'm thinking low end DMD).

I don't think Taxi has depreciated more than any other pin and I know there are still people out there who love the game. You just have to find them.

Playing some pinball on location might be a good way to determine what you like in a pinball machine. I mean features more than theme. That will help you choose something that you will like.

This is bound to happen to some extent with every pinball machine though. Especially if you have only one.

EDIT: There's always virtual pinball too. That way you can see what a bunch of different games have to offer and what you get for your money.
 
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This is bound to happen to some extent with every pinball machine though. Especially if you have only one.

I guess this is true, and its no different for vids I imagine. If I only had a Pac Man cab, I'm sure I would get bored with playing Pac Man all the time.
 
I've been messing around with Shadow for a few weeks. Fun Pin! And Cheap too!

Some of the DMD's are pretty cool. Most things aren't selling for crazy prices like they were (I still try :) )

The pin world is starting to see a decline. Not as much as the video games, but, a decline in value.

Who's close to you to do a trade? In AZ, we will trade with each other more often than not. Always a fun way to change up the gameroom without shelling out more $$$.
 
When it comes to pins, you really need to have more than one. Then you can switch between the games and have some variety.

It's not any different than vids.

If you only had one vid, how much would you really play it?
 
I just got into "real" pins after looking for the past year I pulled the trigger on my first one on Nov 12. It was a really good condition 1986 Williams High Speed.

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I also have a full size 3 screen Virtual Pinball cab I built myself earlier this year and can play around 200+ tables from High Speed to Theatre of Magic, Taxi, Tales of the Arabian Nights, Monster Bash, Indiana Jones, etc... No comparison to the real thing but still fun to play. Build thread here in case anyone is interested in it:

http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7905

Anyways going back to High Speed, I played it quite a bit that first weekend but got bored of it and started regretting not going with a more modern pin. Luckily I was able to sell it 3 days later for a small profit :) The guy really wanted this as it was his holy grail so who was I to stand in his way. Took that money and put in a bit more and bought my next pin.

Then on Nov 19 I bought my first DMD pin, 1994 Williams Demolition Man which I played before at my friend's house. Love it and even did my first repair to it since a ball was not registering in the upper chute due to a broken wire from the PCB. Also changed a ton of bulbs and table is amazing.

Then on Nov 28 I bought another DMD pin, 1994 Bally World Cup Soccer '94 from my collector friend since he was downsizing his collection and needed to fun some of his projects he has had folded up for a while like an Earthshaker and Shadow. I got a really good price and knowing that I bought from him put me at ease since he takes good care of his pins.

Here is what my line up looks like now:

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My game room has had an extreme make over in the past 3 weeks and I think I will settle down now since moving pins up and down is a challenge in my house cause it is very tight. After owning my first real pinball machine now I understand why my friend has 20+ in his collection cause it is just silly to have one and perhaps that is why you lose interest in your Taxi cause you need a bit of variety? Every collector I have talked said you can't just have one, it is either many or none :)

I also have a SFII CE cab which I converted to MAME and I hardly use it but glad I have it as I grew up playing lots of SFII on the exact same cab so it holds a special place inside for me. I don't what it is about pinball but I don't think I could ever get bored of it cause every ball played is not entirely the same where as with SFII you can only beat M.Bison in so many ways such as one handed, blind folded, drunk or high :)
 
I haven't played Taxi, so I can't comment on it from a gameplay perspective. There was one for sale in the KC area that looked really, really nice and the price on it dropped on CL to $1075 before it sold. So it could have went for less. It could just be the local market, but I think someone got a good deal based on the pictures I saw.

I think you should be able to easily get a straight across trade for a LW3. You could maybe even get some cash depending on the condition of the machines. I sold a LW3 and I think it is kind of underrated. It is a pretty fast machine with some neat shots. Nothing really difficult, but not bad. The theme and backglass are what brings the machine down in value in my opinion. If you find a LW3, updating the sound ROMs to the latest version will get rid of the annoying Joe Pesci quotes. This improves the game significantly. If the game lets you chose the background music when you start a game, it has the latest ROMs.

A lot of the Data East pins can be found for a decent price. Last Action Hero is another decent game (IMO) that can be found for a reasonable price and I'd think would work as a straight across trade. I haven't played it much though.

I really like Jurassic Park but you are probably going to have to add some cash to the offer to get one, and you may not find someone that wants to trade it for a Taxi.

It could be that pins just aren't your thing, but often it is just finding the right game for your interests. Try to figure out if you like more flowing games or more stop and start games that require precise shots. Do you like lots of rules and challenging modes, or just playing for playing's sake?

I'm still pretty new to the hobby, but these are some of my observations over the last 6+ months.
 
Me thinks you have a typical case of machine boredom. It happens especially when you have only one pin. Taxi is fun, but the rule set is "so so" and not that deep of a game. It's a great learner pin or if you have a larger collection it's an alternate pin. Let me put it this way. I "had" 3 pins and everyone of them I could step up and pretty much complete/beat the game every time. Even though I still enjoy playing them, it just gets boring. You need to buy a game that has a deeper rule set and is a challenge for you. I chose The Lord of the Rings as my 4th pin. All BS aside, Taxi doesn't command decent money because it's considered by most to be a "C" class game. DMD doesn't always mean deep or difficult and there's several "C" or "B" non DMD game that I really like. How's about giving us a price range that would be doable for you and some suggestions can be thrown your way?
 
How's about giving us a price range that would be doable for you and some suggestions can be thrown your way?

Well, assuming I could get $700 for Taxi (is that asking too much?), that would put me in the $1200-$1500 range to spend on something new. Any suggestions?

A lot would have to happen for this to come to fruition, but lets just play for shits and giggles.
 
Jow - Do you even have any game in mind? Newer/Older....?

Pins are no different then you burning and churning games. Very few do you keep a lifetime...
 
You guys are lucky to be able to pick up decent titles for so cheap. Up here in Canada-eh for around $700 we can maybe get a Bally Pacman or Gotlieb Arena. I've seen Taxi sell for double of that up here in Toronto and it sold with ease. I guess it all depends on the supply and demand in your area, up here there is only a handful of collectors and ex-machine operators.

I paid close to $1500 for my DM from a fellow collector up here and I've read past threads on here from other members picking this undervalued pin for $800-$1200. I never played a DM until earlier this year and never even knew it existed till I saw it stick out like a sore thumb literally with the top controls in my friend's collection. The game good flow and the only times you get a breather is when you activate the claw or retina scan otherwise tons of ramps and multi-ball comes pretty easy on this table. Another unrated and fast pin I have been told is Johnny Mnemonic which was one of my other considerations as well. I wish DE were cheap up here but a Rocky & Bullwinkle for example asks as much as $1600 where as I heard in the US some DE's can be had for $600-700.

One tip my friend who has been collecting pins for 10+ years is be patient and you will get great deals and/or good condition pins and lose very little when you sell it to fund another title in the future. Another friend of his who is 6 months into the hobby is buying at top dollar and flipping for $200-300 losses but also drives a Porsche GT3 so I guess he doesn't really care except to have the rare or sought after titles like CV, MM, IJ (Williams), MB, CC, TOM, TZ and more.

Some other titles I was recommend as my first pin were Jurassic Park, Hook, Congo and Bram Stoker's Dracula.
 
Jow, I have had 1 pin for about 2 years now, and I think all this talk of "single pin boredom" is bunk. It's true that I won't turn it on for a month or more, but I do that with my vids too, so I think that is just my personality. That, and I'm a jackass. But I digress.

I think you need a solid "B list" DMD pin. B list DMD pins have multi-ball, a fairly deep ruleset, lots of speech, good music, combo shots, different modes and (usually)a playfield that doesn't dump the ball down the drain too easily. They are nice Player pins, and usually fetch $1100 - $1800 in good shape and fully working. Snobby collectors scorn them, which helps keep prices down.

Some nice B list pins that I have played and liked are Fish Tales, Judge Dredd, Shadow, Dracula, Jurassic Park. And the B list pin I own is WhiteWater and I highly recommend it.

This link is also helpful for suggesting good player pins. http://www.treasure-cove.net/TOP50.htm
 
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Yeah, have more than one, or just swap it out for another one. You don't have to be a Taxi person to be a pin person.

Not getting tired of mine yet, however, it's only worked about half the time. Not as much because it's unreliable, but more because I never have the time to fix it. :eek:

Pick up that williams hall of fame for PS3 or Wii or fire up the pinball emulator of your choice to get a feel for what you want next. Or goto the PHOF.
 
Taxi is closer to $900 than $700. However, there is the Lola version and the Marilyn version. Also, lots of Taxis are beat to hell, if you have a really nice one with minimal wear around the pops it could be worth a lot more. A dirty Taxi with a so-so cab and play field is still worth $700 or $800....
 
Well, assuming I could get $700 for Taxi (is that asking too much?), that would put me in the $1200-$1500 range to spend on something new. Any suggestions?

A lot would have to happen for this to come to fruition, but lets just play for shits and giggles.

You just might not enjoy pinball - it is a possibility.
I've personally seen quite a few Taxi pins sell for $1k - $1200 on a regular basis if they are clean and working 100%. $700 for a decent Taxi is fair and I think that you'd have no problem getting rid of it. And to "debunk" the idea of single pin boredom happening, the ONLY thing I meant by it is that if the pin is no longer a challenge, it's not like you have another pin to play that is different to keep you busy and break the monotony. If you like the game then keep it and buy something additional. I'll guess you're dialing 1-800-broke-ass like most of us and the sale of the pin will partially fund the new purchase.The idea of using your console games to try pins out is an excellent idea. If you like the console the chances are you'll LOVE the real pin. In your price range there's several great pins you could pick up. Honestly you need to play several pins several times to figure out what your personal "it" factor is. Doesn't matter what anyone tells you. I don;t know of any websites for your area to seek out pins, but you can look up local vendors and get a list of what pins they have and where and go spend some time playing and figuring out if you like pinball and if so what game/s have that "it" factor for you. Good luck man, I hope you find what you're looking for.
 
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