We’ve posted a brand new pinball buyer’s guide video, packed with all you need to know about buying pinball machines whether they are new or vintage and whether you are looking for home or commercial use.
Andy is a big fan of pinball himself, having two or three machines in his games room at home and has made this great video from his own experiences and extensive retail knowledge.
This video covers a whole range of machines from the big players in the current market who are producing new machines, such as Stern and Jersey Jack, to smaller companies like Highway Pinball, and the best manufacturers of the past, whose machines are now classed as vintage, such as Bally and Williams.
Among the new machines, Andy gives credit to Stern for keeping pinball alive with their licensed games, covering all markets with their different versions of each model with the basic Pro version appealing to the commercial market and the Premium and Limited Edition models, made more for the home market, with added features for pinball collectors and fans of the license.
The latest release from Stern, Star Trek, is introduced with clips from our showroom model and we show you a little taster of our How to Play Pinball videos with Craig Pullen.
Andy also shows you the great Wizard of Oz pinball by the relatively new manufacturer Jersey Jack and takes you through the specs of our showroom model, the new 75th Anniversary Ruby Edition and their upcoming models including The Hobbit.
The video then moves on to the wide range of vintage pinball machines available to you, highlighting the main manufacturers and collectible models.
Having introduced all the machines, Andy takes you through all the things you should be taking into consideration when buying a pinball machine and the pros and cons of purchasing new and reconditioned models.
He also gives some examples of great resources you can use to research pinball machines, including where to play them, reviews of the games and how to keep up on all the latest pinball news and releases.
This video gives you a great wealth of advice about buying pinball machines, plus you can see our other pinball videos on our YouTube channel. We are also building a pinball advice section full of videos and FAQs to provide you with a great resource of pinball information for both pinball pros and rookies alike.
Resources
There are some great online pinball related resources available to us, here are some of the sites Andy mentioned in the above video.
Stern Pinball
Stern have been the leading manufacturer of pinball machines since buying out Sega's pinball devision in 1999, and have been praised for keeping pinball alive with their innovative ways of turning licensed themes into fantastic silver ball games. In the video Andy misquotes their website address, the following is Stern Pinball correct link.
Jersey Jack
Jersey Jack are the new kids on the block who have vowed to make premium, no-compromise pinball machines, made with all the passion of a life time pinball and amusement player and restorer.
Internet Pinball Database
Listing all the pinball machines ever made, this fantastic resource also lists the top rated games as voted by players.
Pinball News
Here you can find all the latest news on new pinball releases, with detailed reviews of them as soon as they become available. You can also find reviews on pinball venues on top of all sorts of other information for pinball fans.
Pinside
This is a great pinball community site with player feedback on their favourite games, along with the Pinside Top 100 which details the best pinballs to look out for.
Written By: Abi Ponton