GETT ING STARTED

So you’ve decided that you’re going to build your own arcade. Before you jump in, consider this advice from our battle-worn experts:

Research, research, research “Do your research on pricing – don’t get ripped off,” says Brendan Bailey. “As much as I’ve met some truly remarkable and amazing and talented people in this hobby, there are some scumbags. There’s definitely people that kind of prey on the newbies. And educate yourself on what kinds of problems are expensive ones to fix. So, for example, if you buy a pinball machine that has a broken flipper, it’s probably not going to cost you that much to fix that flipper, but if you buy a pinball game that has a CPU board that has acid damage on it, that’s an expensive fix. Knowing what kinds of problems are going to cost you more money is a huge, huge factor.”

Get out there and meet people “If you want to collect – I mean, like more then one game – you just have to get out and meet people,” says John Jacobsen. “That’s when the hobby becomes easy. That’s when the hobby becomes less expensive, because if you just go on Craigslist or Ebay it’s going to be a very expensive journey. If you just want one game, go on Ebay/Craigslist and do it – there’s no sense in trying to meet 20 guys to buy one game – but if you want to have a collection, you’ve got to meet people.”

A pinball table is not a toaster Gary Vincent: “People often come in and say to me, ‘Oh, I’d love to have a pinball machine at my house – where can I buy one?’ I hate to be negative, but sometimes you have to be realistic about things, so I ask, ‘Do you know how to fix a pinball machine?’ Inevitably the answer is, ‘Well, no, I don’t’. And I say, ‘Let me tell you, a pinball machine is fun. It’s a great conversation piece to have in a house. But if it doesn’t work, what are you going to do?’ If you can’t fix it yourself, that means you have to find somebody who will come to your house and fix it because it’s not like it’s a toaster, where you can put it in the front seat of your car and take it to someone and say, ‘Hey, my toaster doesn’t work’. It’s a big, heavy, piece of furniture, so unless you can fix it, I would generally advise against it. Try to get a videogame cabinet.”