What fuels the transition from vids to pins?

TheDrewster

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After picking up my third pinball, I am starting to grow partial to them and starting to want to see the pins outnumber the vids. I know this will likely happen to a lot of collectors, but whats the reasoning behind it? Is is the expensive price? The themes? Working on them? Why do you think this transition occurs?
 
Play on pins is more challenging to repeat. Vids, especially classic era vids, are just too damn repetitive. Pins are a game of finesse while vids are either memorization or quarter munchers.

For the record my collection is about 60% vids, 25% pins, and 15% EM arcade games. I don't expect my ratio to change much as my gameroom evolves. While I prefer playing the pins much of the time the vids just bring a bigger smile to my face.
 
I like pins but could never foresee liquidating my entire vid collection for just pins.

They are definitely a separate animal, but there are times when I'll go out in my garcade and I'll play some vids and never even turn the pins on. Then, at another time, I may do the opposite.

I am currently looking for a Star Trek pin simply because of the theme, but I am not on a hard and fast quest to get one. If I get one, great. If I don't, I'll just keep playing what I've got.

I don't want to throw anyone under the bus but I see alot of people buy pins so they can say "yeah this one cost THIS!" or "this one usually goes for XYZ but I got it for this much!" If that's your goal with your arcade, then go for it. Me, rarely anyone comes to play my games so, I just have what me, the wife and kids like. I'm too old to worry about impressing other people with what I have. :)
 
I would say that its the random game play of a pin. Vids are the same thing from start to finish for the most part. Pins never end up being the same game.
 
Play on pins is more challenging to repeat. Vids, especially classic era vids, are just too damn repetitive. Pins are a game of finesse while vids are either memorization or quarter munchers.

^^^This. That said, I have both and will always have both, but I am much more into pinball and competitive playing now.
 
It's definately the repeat play value for me. That being said, they're too effing expensive. Luckily John's Place in D.C. has a bad-ass line up of near mint machines. They just put out a NOS Adam's Family a while back. Insanity!
 
I would say that its the random game play of a pin. Vids are the same thing from start to finish for the most part. Pins never end up being the same game.

Agree +1, it's not the same pattern over and over again (Pac-man).
Every game you play on any machine is different.

Steve
 
The randomness of pinball is very appealing. Their electro-mechanical cool factor is off the charts, they add so much ambiance to a gameroom. I still think a room full of one or the other is nowhere near as cool as a room with both.

There are also some video games which offer a good degree of random mayhem. Defender is the first one that comes to mind. I don't get tired of it because its always unpredictable.
 
I am not in this flow at all. I've owned two pinballs of which only one I brought back to full glory, a Judge Dredd. I liked it a lot, but after about a year it bored me more and more, cause in my feeling there are only so many shots/targets and consequently only so many paths the ball follows. It isn't really any more (or less) random than a videogame.

I sold it, I was glad as I actually earned something from restoring a machine for a change, I miss it only very rarely.
 
I switched over to pins from vids because at the time, I found most of the vids I wanted and got bored with them. I only had a few pins then and now up to 24. However, with the way the pin market is going, I find myself going back to vids. Pins are just getting too expensive and harder to find.
 
I would say lack of ability to play video games with any skill. Pinball is random, which can be a skilled game, but luck is a definite factor. Don't get me wrong I have seen some very very skilled pinball players.

I am a pretty good pinball player and have played for a long time on one credit on just about every pin I cared to drop money into. I love playing pinball, but there is no way it would overtake positions in my garcade.

Just as much I'd say if you are in your 40's like I am, the ambiance and magic of the arcade era is a strong nostalgic factor in my being a vid guy for life.


one man's opinion
 
I like both. I i was a rich man i would have more pins.. (like afm, rfm, tron, family guy, south park, csi, twilight zone, funhouse, elvira and the party monsters, addams family, etc)

Funds dictate this will likely never happen, so its 70s pins for me because they are actually afordable.
 
After picking up my third pinball, I am starting to grow partial to them and starting to want to see the pins outnumber the vids. I know this will likely happen to a lot of collectors, but whats the reasoning behind it? Is is the expensive price? The themes? Working on them? Why do you think this transition occurs?


Money, and space....

I wouldn't give up any of the vids I have tho...
 
I would say that all collecting comes down to LOVE. Either love of the nostalgia, love of the art, love of the hunt, or love of the restoration. The reasons we collect is unique to individuals. And your motivation can change over time. You might go from nostalgia to loving to work on them as many of us has. Simply put, pins were rarer growing up. Most don't have as many nostalgic memories of them growing up...Hence, less people start by collecting pins. Also, price is cost prohibitive as they are usually more expensive than vids. But as our motivations change from nostagia, to the joy of the hunt, or the love of the restoration, we usually branch out from Vids to pins to EM machines....Competency level also comes into play since vids are seemingly somewhat simpler to repair than many pins and EM games. But ultimately, whatever motivations we have change to something else, and once it does, the love of the Artform that is Pinball seems to take hold.

You want to simply it. Vids are Fun. Pins are Fun. Once you have all the Vids wanted as a kid, its time to try all the pins.

I've had diehard pin fans who also have a definite respect for vids come play my collection and they seemed quite impressed. They even purchased some of the same titles I own after playing mine. My collection was pretty much a vacuum of Vids...And one of theres was almost a vacuum of Pins. But revisiting the Vids after pins had the reverse effect. Now his collection is around 50/50. No matter why we do it, our motivations remain personal as to what aspect of the hobby we enjoy.
 
As a kid, I could not afford pins as much as the games seemed to go so fast, hence, quarters would go a ways longer in some games like DigDug, Crossbow, SMB, etc. Now that I comprehend the rule sets of pinball, and have acquired some skills, passing etc, I can get deeper into the games as an adult and find them pretty damn awesome. I just had to get all growsd up to enjoy them. I also enjoy restoring pins much more than the vids.... I did start with vids tho...and I will always have em...
 
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I wouldn't say I would "transition" from vids to pins. Basically, if I find a vid or pin to be exceptionally fun to play, then I'll seek one out and buy it if I can.
 
I am not in this flow at all. I've owned two pinballs of which only one I brought back to full glory, a Judge Dredd. I liked it a lot, but after about a year it bored me more and more, cause in my feeling there are only so many shots/targets and consequently only so many paths the ball follows. It isn't really any more (or less) random than a videogame.

I sold it, I was glad as I actually earned something from restoring a machine for a change, I miss it only very rarely.

I agree, I go the opposite route as well. I have played pins throughout the years, but they all seemed basically the same. Hit the steel ball when it gets to the flippers..... rack up points.... that is it.... The themes change, but the idea does not. Different sounds, different play fields, but for the most part you are still using two flippers to hit a steel ball over and over again. I understand the thought that every time you play a pin it is a different game, and that is true, to an extent. But the machine cannot change that much from game to game. Slight alterations in the physics between the flippers and contact with the ball perhaps. And different trajectories of the ball against the various obstacles on the play field. But that pretty much sums up all of the difference that can exists from one pin game to another on the same machine.
Whereas I feel every vid has a completely different identity. Different joystick movements and combinations of buttons do drastically different things on each game. One of the things I enjoy with one player vids for instance is the mastering. Knowing there are particular strategies for beating every stage, boss, or level. Beating a game on one quarter. Being better than anyone you know and holding the highest scores.
As for a different play with every game on a particular machine, I think that vids have just as much to offer, if not more, than pins. When you think about fighting games, for instance, no two fights are identical. Nor are any two matches the same with sports games. I have at least 500 games logged on my NBA Jam and none of those games were the same. It all depends on your opponent. When your opponent changes, the entire makeup of the game changes. However, with a pin, it is always player vs play field and the play field never changes.
There are those who are very good at pins and I am not one of them. And I do not wish to take anything away from anyone who is good a pins, or even prefers them to vids. I am one man with one opinion but I just never got into them myself. There is so much variety in vids that when I get bored with one, lets say a side-scrolling shooter, I switch and play a fighter, or a sports game, or a vertical shooter. The possibilities are endless with vids.
Regardless, as more and more guys switch from vids to pins, the more vids go up for sale, and that is just fine with me.
 
I'm more into vids. But i do plan on having a few pins in my collection. I am mainly focused on acquiring the vids i want first, once i have a decent collection of vids i'll start to focus my money on picking up the pins I want. Mainly Flash Gordon and Gorgar. I also want a quarter pusher.
 
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