I’ve done a bunch of pinball lists over the past year, ranging from the Best Pinball Machines for Home Use to the Best Pinball Machines Under $1000.  Today I’m going to focus on affordable pinball machines, basically what games can anyone buy right now for not much money.  Some of them might need some work, but that’s what makes them affordable.  🙂

Affordable pinball machine #1, EM Era

Almost everything from the EM (Electro-mechanical, basically the games that had scoring reels) era is pretty affordable, with most ranging from free to $500 (which a few outliers).  Almost all of the ones you see on craigslist are in some state of not working, but luckily there are tons of guides out there on how to repair them.

Are they fun?  Absolutely.  Some a lot more than others.  They’re also very heavy, especially if you get the 4 player versions which can really give you a workout when moving them.  Typical problems are the reels stick and don’t score right or the game won’t even start up at all.

The best place to go to fix EM problems is Clay’s Repairing EM guide.  Clay has wrote a bunch of guides over the years, a true asset to the community.  I used to use his guides a bunch when I was first starting out.  As the supply of project games has dried up though, I haven’t used them as much.

If I was trying to find an affordable pinball machine, EM’s is where I’d start as there are tons of them around and can be had for almost nothing.

Pinball bargain #2

What’s the second best bargain?  Gottlieb solid state games from the 80’s.  Gottlieb made a bunch of digital games in the 80’s but were always considered way back of Bally and Williams, hence there game prices are way lower.  I’ve seen a lot of Gottlieb games of that era go for dirt cheap (under $500) which is lower than every other digital pinball machine available.

Why do Gottlieb’s go for so cheap?  I think the main reason is that their art and electronics were far behind Bally and Williams.  They just didn’t make as good of games as those two and the prices reflect that.  There are a lot of Gottlieb games that people aren’t even aware that they made.  I know that even though I’ve been doing pinball for 13 years there are still some old games from them that pop up that I’ve never seen previously.  I think it’s because collectors don’t usually have them.  Hence, never get to see them unless someone is trying to sell one on craigslist.

Some of them are definitely more fun than their given credit.  Although not cheap, Joker Poker is one my favorites of that era.  Genie though is affordable and a ton of fun, as is Pinball Pool.  IPDB.org is a great resource for checking out these older games.  They have reviews and pictures for every game ever produced, which makes it a lot easier to decide whether you want it or now.

Cheap games #3

Although they’ve been trending upwards for a while, classic Stern titles from 1977 to 1984 are pretty affordable still.  Some of the rarer ones like Stargazer are pushing $4k to $5k but others are still between $500 and $1k.  You’ll see a lot of these available that need a little work, basically because the boards are a little hard to work with and are prone to acid damage and bad connections.

Stars is one of the games that isn’t the best looking game but has developed a reputation as a great player.  Meteor is one you can find a lot and it’s both affordable and a great game.  Most of them were produced in smaller numbers so you don’t see them super often.  Also, due to the fact that weren’t in arcades as much as Williams and Bally, their prices are lower as a result (no nostalgia).  I’ve owned Flight 2000 from this group, it was a fun game but the multiball mech took up an obscene amount of playfield space, lol.  The Stern’s I’ve played also had really good spinners, better than other games of the era in my opinion.

Other deals?

So I’ve gone over three classes of games that you’ll find the most affordable games in.  How else can you get a good deal on a game that’s not in any of those categories?  There are few things you can do:

1. Learn how to repair games.  It’s the #1 way to save money in this hobby.
2. Make friends with the local pinball scene.  It will help you get an occasional deal.
3. Watch Craiglist, Facebook, local newspaper, etc for games every day.  Often you can get a good deal just by watching these closely.  Not sure if it’s a super good use of your time if there’s lots of competition though.
4. Estate sales.  Lots of old games at these sales, often with owners and auction services that don’t know the values of the games.  You can often get the games very cheap.

I’ve gotten games from all four of those.  I used to get most of my games from #3 but the competition is so high now that I haven’t bought a game that way for years.  Depends on your area though.

Hopefully this article was helpful you.  If you have any questions, feel free to email me at gameroominfo@gmail.com.

There’s no doubt about it, when it comes to collectible pinball machines, Williams is the gold standard to which all others are held to.  Throughout the 80’s and 90’s they made a ton of huge hits that are very sought after even today.  The question for some people is “What are the best Williams pinball machines ever made?”.  This post will go over the 15 best.

The Top Williams Pinball Machines List

#1)  Medieval Madness.  By all standards, it is the most sought after and collectible game Williams made.  In fact, it was so popular that they even remade it a couple years because prices for the originals had gone over $10k.  Why is it so popular?  It’s the combination of working castle combined with killer rules and voices from people like Tina Fey (before she was famous).  It’s a very challenging game that is also very popular with guests.  Who doesn’t like to destroy a castle?  Current cost is around $8k.

#2)  Attack From Mars.  The precursor to Medieval Madness, Attack From Mars is the game that made designer Brian Eddy famous.  Featuring a giant saucer and hilarious voice quotes, Attack From Mars is the perfect mix of challenge and fun.  Personally, it might be my favorite of all of their games (it’s close).  It was also so popular that they remade it as well.  It can be bought new right for as little as $6500 for the classic to $8000 for the LE.

#3)  The Addams Family.  As far as being recognizable by pinball players, there’s probably no bigger title than The Addams Family.  It was the biggest hit in pinball history, selling more than any other pinball machine in history.  Pat Lawlor became famous from the design, especially with the Thing hand that comes out and takes the ball.  With original quotes from the actors and a full mansion to tour to get to the wizard mode, The Addams Family set a new standard for pinball machines.

#4)  Twilight Zone.  The followup by Pat Lawlor to The Addams Family, Twilight Zone was initially not super successful on route due to the shear amount of things required to keep it running.  It was a little too complicated for new players, and when combined with the reliability issues, it suffered when compared to The Addams Family before it.  However, later on collectors began to figure out how great the game is, and prices skyrocketed on it.  It’s hard to name another pinball machine that has more stuff packed in, from the gumball machine to the powerball playfield.

#5)  Star Trek:  The Next Generation.  A masterpiece by Steve Ritchie, the king of flow.  Featuring 3 ramps, two rotating cannons, and callouts from the entire cast, Star Trek: The Next Generation set a new standard for immersion in a pinball machine.  Featuring 7 missions to get to the Final Frontier, it’s a challenging game that keeps you coming back for more.  I actually own this game in my collection, it’s a keeper for me.  It’s one of the few games that actually has feature that fights back against you, the Borg ship that launches balls at you.

#6)  Monster Bash.  Another game similar to Medieval Madness and Attack From Mars, it features the same programmer as those games, Lyman Sheets.  You’ll actually see his name on a lot of the top games, he’s probably the most popular pinball programmer of all time along with Keith Johnson.  Monster Bash has the same layout and humor that made the other two games I mentioned popular, only not quite as good in my opinion.  It’s a little easier than the other two and usually doesn’t last as long in collections.  They’re also remaking Monster Bash as well.

#7)   Funhouse.  The first game to feature a giant head on the playfield, Rudy has creeped people out for years.  It was an amazing innovation at the time, and honestly it’s better than most of the things out today as far as playfield toys go.  The fact that Rudy eats balls and talks make it a pretty cool experience, though he might scare younger children.  Funhouse is the game that really started the whole 90’s Williams craze with all of the innovative playfield inventions.

#8)  Indiana Jones:  The Pinball Adventure.  Another one of the early 90’s Supergames, Indiana Jones was big success.  Another very popular game to collect, mainly due to the theme (as Williams had a bad habit of picking dud movies as themes a lot).  It features a moving “Path of Adventure” in the back that is pretty cool, along with a rotating head on the side that works to release balls.  My favorite part of the game was definitely the modes, they were excellent.  Shooting wise, I don’t think it was as smooth as some of the other games of the era, mainly due to mode start bounce outs and drop target ricochets down the left outlane.

#9)  Bram Stroker’s Dracula.  The first game on the list with an undesirable theme, it more than makes up for it with some killer gameplay.  The objective of the game is to start all three of the main multiballs together to get jackpots worth 30 million.  The coolest thing about the game is the mist multiball, where the ball magically moves across the playfield and you have to knock it off with another ball.  The theme can kind of drag down the ratings a little bit, but a lot of collectors have this game in their collection.

#10)  Creature From The Black Lagoon.  I used to own this game a while back, the theme isn’t what it appears at first glance.  It’s really about drive in movies from the 50’s and 60’s, and the things associated with them.  The objective of the game is to spell FILM to start mulitball and find the creature (which is actually a moving hologram under the playfield).  It’s a very cool game overall, one that a lot of people would like to have in their collection.

#11)  White Water.  The game with the worst intro music I’ve heard in pinball.  It actually gets pretty good in the rest of the game, but the beginning is so not motivating, lol.  There’s a lot of cool things going on in this game, the playfield is super unique and the ruleset is as well.  It’s basically about trying to get your raft down a stream to Wet Willie’s by shooting the lit shots.  It sounds easy in practice but it get pretty difficult towards the end.

#12)  Whirlwind.  The first game with three spinning discs, it took the concept from Fireball and tripled the fun.  The game actually has a fan on top that actually blows in your face at certain parts of the game, which is quite funny.  Whirlwind itself is very fun but also simpler compared to most of the games on this list.  The game is mainly about shooting the directional shots to lock balls for multiball.  It’s not a super hard task, but with the discs the balls get shot down the outlanes a lot, especially on the right side.

#13)  The Shadow.  Another game with an undesirable theme.  The movie was really hyped but was kind of a dud.  Luckily for us, the pinball machine is awesome.  It was actually be much higher on this list if the theme was a little better, it holds the game back some.  The game offers three pretty innovative features, mainly the battlefield, the movable ramps, and the disappearing ball lock.  The ball lock, for anyone who hasn’t seen it, it very cool to see.  However, it’s also the number one thing that goes wrong on the game, as it wears the wood pretty badly and is sometime inconsistent with its throws as a result.  Great game to have at home, as it’s very challenging.

#14)  Congo.  More bad themes!  Man, Williams just knew how to pick every dud of the 90’s, lol.  Congo the pinball machine is awesome though.  For a long time when I was collecting, Congo was a pretty undesirable machine, but about 5 years ago it started to become really popular because people finally figured out how well it played and forgot about the theme.  The main goal of the game is to collect 100 diamonds.  Some diamonds are easy to get, but others are difficult.

#15)  Theater of Magic.  One of the most beautiful games in pinball.  Everything about this game is aesthetically great.  It’s the gold standard (along with Tales of the Arabian Nights) for pinball art packages.  It doesn’t play quite as well as some of the other games on this list, mainly due to uninspired modes and callouts.  It’s one of those games that with a slightly tweaked software package it would probably be ranked a little higher.  Still, a game that’s definitely worth having.

Wrapup

Hopefully this 15 best Williams pinball machines list has been helpful in your search for great pinball machines.  There are a lot of other cool pinball machines that I didn’t mention for one reason or another, like World Cup Soccer, NBA Fastbreak, Corvette, Firepower, etc.  All of those games can be just as much fun for some people as the top games on this list, it’s all about what interests you have.  Like I like basketball a lot, so NBA Fastbreak is one of my favorite pinball machines.  Most collectors would scoff at that choice, but most collectors don’t like basketball either.  🙂

Looking for bargains in pinball?  Look no further, you’ve found the definitive list for top pinball machines under 1000.  Now what this list won’t include is any EM games.  You might ask “why?”.  Well mainly because almost all EM games are under 1000 except for the very best games, meaning that you can pretty much afford any of them already.  The newer digital machines, finding quality used games under 1000 is a lot harder, which is why I wrote this list to help.

7 Top Pinball Machines Under 1000

These machines are in no particular order in this list.  The hardest thing will be finding them in general, as the production numbers means that there is a limited amount per city.  Note that these will all be used pinball machines under 1000, none of these are new.  In fact the newest game is like 25 years old, lol.  Now here’s the list!

• Space Shuttle  
• Firepower
• Paragon
• Comet
• Meteor
• Harlem Globetrotters on Tour
• Street Fighter II

Now I’m going to do a short overview of each game.  Hopefully that will help give you a little more information on each game.

Space Shuttle Pinball Machine

Space Shuttle is a game that came out in the mid 80’s based around the super popular US Space Shuttle from NASA.  It features a three ball multiball and some pretty fun gameplay.  Space Shuttle, along with High Speed, are credited with turning around the pinball industry in the mid 80’s which was about to go under (as the whole arcade industry was in a slump at that time).  It doesn’t have the best art package, but it is fun to play, and is especially good for new players.

Firepower Pinball Machine

Another game with multiball, Firepower was a huge hit in the early 80’s.  Not the prettiest game, it makes up for that with a challenging playfield that makes you work for multiball.  It’s also one of the first games to have speech, so it’s sound package is a little more advanced than some of the earlier games of that era.  I owned this game for quite a while, I really liked the challenge.

Paragon Pinball Machine

Paragon is a classic Bally game from 1979.  It’s famous for it’s killer art package and punishing gameplay.  Paragon is definitely one of the harder games of that era, being slightly inaccurate will put you down the middle or over in the Beast Lair, a pop bumper over on the left hand side that can either save or drain your ball while you watch helplessly.  I bought this game this year after wanting one for years, I always had a blast playing it at other people’s houses.

Comet Pinball Machine

Comet is a classic Williams machine that came out after Space Shuttle’s success.  It was the first game to feature a million point shot, which continued the pinball trend of point inflation.  It was made by designer Python Angelo, who would later come out with more amusement park games like Cyclone and Hurricane.  It’s a very straight forward game, good for new players.  The one bad thing is that it did tend to get played a lot.  There are a lot of really worn games out there for sale.

Meteor Pinball Machine

The most produced classic Stern, Meteor is regarded as one of the best games of that era.  Luckily, its high production means that it also stays under the 1000 mark most of the time, unlike a lot of the other classic Sterns which are pretty rare for the most part.  The biggest problem you’ll have when you find this game is that a lot of the time they’re not working.  For some reason, this is a popular game to have sitting around not working.  I don’t know how many of them I’ve seen over the years in various states of disarray.

Harlem Globetrotters on Tour Pinball Machine

One of the under appreciated games of the era, I think the fact that the Globetrotters aren’t as popular today has led to this game sneaking under the radar for so long.  Even though it isn’t a multiball game, it’s a challenging game with a big bonus opportunity and three spinners to rip.  I wouldn’t mind owning one of these someday.  I own NBA Fastbreak, another basketball game, and this would look pretty good beside it.  Like most Bally games of the era, getting a big bonus is the key to scoring high.

Street Fighter II Pinball Machine

A DMD game under 1000?  Yep, there’s really only one, Street Fighter II can sometimes be had for that price.  It’s a combination of the fact that the art is awful, it’s a Gottlieb, and it’ not a great pinball theme.  I honestly don’t think the game is that bad at all, but most people turn their nose up at it.  The goal of the game is progress through beating all of the fighters.  I think part of the problem is the game is a little linear in nature, but hey, a DMD for 1000 can’t be all bad, right?

Wrapup

Hopefully this has helped give you some ideas of some good used cheaper machines that you could pick up for your home.  If you like this article, I also wrote “Best Pinball Machines for Home Use” that you might want to check out.