Break it to them gently

[brewmanager]

My friends in the hobby who've known me a while laugh at my progression, but I've noticed what seems like a recent explosion in new members looking to buy their first machine, and I thought I would put together this handy dandy little set of guidelines for how I've managed to expand my collection well beyond my original limits.

You see, I had long talked about having a few things at home - a High Speed and an Elevator Action. So the descent into obsession couldn't have been a complete surprise, just perhaps the depths to which I sank.

My first mistake was with my first pin. Frustrated with looking for a High Speed without success, I bought a Triple Strike from Mr T. The $400 seemed like a lot of money (ha!), but I should have started grander. At any rate, I shopped it, cleaned up the cab, and really enjoyed watching the exact same pin start the riot in Police Academy.

This made my High Speed look really expensive when I found one (or Beatmaster found me, however you want to look at it).

At any rate, my limit was 2, and that held true until we rearranged the basement to fit more in. I added Flash Gordon, then Whirlwind. By then Warlock was buying a pin here or there so I was lucky enough to haves - some of his visit my row of 4, and then bought his (now spiroagnew's) Funhouse. Of course, FH and WW cost a lot more than TS or HS (I refuse to discuss my O1 experience-too painful) and I slowly built up the pin value.

RS was next, and I was done. (Ha!)

How was I to know that Monkeybug was gonna cut loose his beautiful TSPP which I'd long coveted not a month after I bought Roadshow? Couldn't pass that up. Or that McMean was gonna need to sell his Tron the next month? Or that I'd be offered a gorgeous LOTR the very NEXT month?

The Tron was the most contentious, because while I'd made my wife aware that there were 5k pins out there, I'd usually spoken of them with derision. We had quite the heated discussion going up the dvp when I told her I wanted to buy it and what it cost.

At any rate, after picking up those 4 I was in so over my head I had to dig out a bit, which I did by trading Tron and selling LOTR.

My focus is now on bang for your buck, so when I told her I was buying Grand Lizard and Jokerz, after LOTR and Tron I'm pleased to report she hardly even blinked.

And the rule of 4? Well, I rearranged the basement again recently, and can easily fit 7, possibly 8 in a pinch. I'm still officially only allowed 4. I'm guessing she either hasn't counted in a while, or has given up, because I'm at 7 again.

Biggest piece of advice? If you try to get rid of your wife's treadmill to make space for another pin, do not say "At least I USE my machines".

Pretty sure that cost me the Rollergames I wanted at the time.

 

[Hammerhead]

Biggest piece of advice? If you try to get rid of your wife's treadmill to make space for another pin, do not say "At least I USE my machines".

:lol:

 

[WARLOCK]

Great start for the noobs Walt. LOL really hard. Yes, I am happy to blame you when our wives think we are crazy.
I will comment more another day when I am more alert - 2am? (Our kids love that Daddy has cool big toys to play!)
Now they affect our acquisition patterns....... Welcome to the hobby..... Hold on for dear life.....

 

[WARLOCK]

Biggest piece of advice? If you try to get rid of your wife's treadmill to make space for another pin, do not say "At least I USE my machines".

:lol:

I lost space for 2 pins for the treadmill. Plotting already...........................

 

[DRANO]

I contend that moving pins around is great exercise in and of itself

 

[Menace]

OMG, such a good read. Thanks Walt! (still LOL)

D

 

[mwong168]

The Tron was the most contentious, because while I'd made my wife aware that there were 5k pins out there, I'd usually spoken of them with derision. We had quite the heated discussion going up the dvp when I told her I wanted to buy it and what it cost.

What did you tell her TSPP cost? :lol: Nice story and sure many of us can relate to all the different phases of being a collector you have gone through Walt.

I never really had an issue with my wife regarding pricing as long as nothing else suffers as a result and I know better anyways. As a matter of fact I let her know what I paid for each and how much she should tglover them for in case anything ever happens to me. She also sees that whenever I bring a new game in I have no issues at all moving something out and she even benefited from the hobby because it got her something for life too which is a tattoo from another pinball collector of our daughter's name as part of a trade I made. The only thing she does nag me for is painting the walls going down to the basement but I think she realizes there is no point since it will only get scratched up again in a few weeks.

 

[Vengeance]

I forget sometimes how lucky I have it, talking with other people who always talk about having to check "with the wife" for things always seems like such an odd notion to me.

At no point do either of us feel the need to check with the other one on things we want, or want to do. We of course share our plans with each other but it's usually the excitement side of a new acquisition as opposed to a question of permission.

We don't have kids and have no plans for any so that I'm sure does help, but our basic promise to each other is "As long as the bills are paid and there is a roof over our head and food on the table, do whatever you want with your money" and we do just that.

But the idea of wanting to do something and being told you can't because of some imposed limits on what you should or shouldn't be doing, to me is just mind boggling. I'm sure if most of you guys told your wives the crazy ideas I have for outbuildings full of pins and traveling across the world to compete at a world level of competitive pinball, they would roll their eyes and think I was insane. But then again I guess that goes back to like I said, I'm lucky as my wife is standing behind me cheering me on with every crazy idea I can come up with and I do the same for her.

End of the day, IMO, if your family is taken care of, you live in reasonable comfort, and your crazy dreams, whatever they may be, would not have a negative impact on your existing way of life, no one should be able to tell you what you can and can't do.

 

[superjackpot]

I forget sometimes how lucky I have it...

I'm with you Adam - I feel lucky as well. My wife is very supporting of my pin hobby. Literally too! She helps me haul the pins up and down the stairs. I share my pin plans but have yet to encounter resistance when thinking to buy another. When I consider selling I always ask what pins she likes, because she plays them too. Tron, AC/DC and Congo have to stay according to her. I guess she has decent taste

Sometimes I think the guys may throw in a 'check with the wife' comment just for fun. Sometimes. It's often a convenient excuse if you yourself aren't sure about committing to a purchase.

 

[meegis]

Sometimes the wife check is also a reality check...

In my case, the hobby has full support as long as they fit, the only caveat is being gainfully employed before spending money I can't part with.

Hence, the reality check while Im dreaming

 

[mwong168]

I forget sometimes how lucky I have it, talking with other people who always talk about having to check "with the wife" for things always seems like such an odd notion to me.

Tell your wife I think she needs to step up her Transformers game and needs to get herself these

I think the check with the wife thing for me has more to do with keeping her in the loop. I made the mistake once of selling my pool table and not telling her I was planning too and the worst past was how she found out. I was dropping her off to a baby shower and my sister in-law happened to be taking her kids to the park called my wife saying there are some guys in a van on our driveway. Then she said the van says Billiards or something related to pool tables and wife asked did you sell the pool table and I said yes. She was a bit upset and my initial response was like you don't even play or care for it. I said I was tired of having it cock block me for getting other pins or having to sell one just to make room. I asked her why she was so upset and it's not like I sold the plasma tv in the living room and was originally going to use a stove analogy but felt it was not the right time to make a joke.

Anyways, when she came back from the baby shower we talked and she told me she wasn't so much upset that I sold the pool table but it was more because it made her feel unimportant in regards to what goes on in the household. She also told me she supports whatever it is I wanna do as long as other areas don't suffer as a result and I don't hurt my back in the process as I have in the past. Ever since the pool table incident I just mention to her when I buy or sell a game and her response has either been "I thought you said that was a keeper and you are done" or most of the time it is one of these :roll:

Happy Wife = Happy Life and It is always easier to ask for forgiveness then permission :twisted:

 

[spiroagnew]

Good read for a lazy afternoon, Walt. Thanks. Shows how fast our own limits can be exceeded. The way I look at it, we could be shooting all this money into our arm or snorting it up our nose...we've got a safe habit in pinball...unless you get trapped on the wrong end of a Funhouse while hauling it out of the basement.

My wife is an impulsive buyer by nature, so she's no help when it comes to buying...we have no space and she's the first to say "Buy it, you'll never find another." or "For sure we can afford it." I guess since I don't say anything about her ever growing shoe collection (150+...yes, that many) I'm allowed a "reasonable" number of machines.

 

[Vengeance]

I forget sometimes how lucky I have it, talking with other people who always talk about having to check "with the wife" for things always seems like such an odd notion to me.

Tell your wife I think she needs to step up her Transformers game and needs to get herself these

You joke, but we've already had the discussion, she plans to visit them someday and if the price is right, they will be coming home

 

[mwong168]

You joke, but we've already had the discussion, she plans to visit them someday and if the price is right, they will be coming home

I have seen your wife's Transformer shrine room so I know she doesn't kid around when it comes to Transformers. I think you better take some measurements and make sure your new building is tall enough to house that Optimus Prime. I guess you know where that picture was taken then?

 

[Chris Bardon]

"As long as the bills are paid and there is a roof over our head and food on the table, do whatever you want with your money" and we do just that.

Do you distinguish between "your" money and "her" money? I suppose the difference is that we basically treat everything as "our" money, so there's at least a discussion about any major expenses like a new pinball machine. My rule has always been that I won't go into debt to buy a pin, and so far I've stuck with that, but I have spent tax refunds and the contents of the TFSA I had on the hobby. Still, the budget is in the black, and with some of the extra buffers that we've built in there, unexpected surpluses can happen and lead to things like pinball machines or home renovations.

 

[frolic]

I'm the primary bread winner but I consider all the money "our" money so I wouldn't feel good about making huge purchases without telling my wife and acting as a cohesive unit.

Luckily she is a pin-enabler of the nth degree.

Everytime I've waffled on a purchase it's "oh, just get it!". I have to do WAAAAY more talking myself into it than to get her to come aboard. I'M the reason there aren't additional pins in the livingroom :lol: .

 

[WARLOCK]

Great thread, and great responses. I think many of you know this already, but Walt and I have been friends for over 20 years now.
Wy wife and Walter have been friends for far longer. As far as Walt's wife and myself are concerned, we are still "noobs" in their group.

Pinball is about a 20 month obsession with Walt. 14 months for me. Our wives know how many pins we have, what we spent on each pin,
and how much they should "turf" them for if the need ever comes up.

When I tipped the scales @ 40 pins around September last year, Walt + my wife and my friends all started asking wtf? I didn't have the space!
And, not a good solid plan in place for them. Now back down around 25-26 pins, I can manage them, barely. Bathroom reno's are calling so maybe
a couple pins should go yet.

The point I am making is that we are lucky to be choosing a hobby that we at least seem to break even in, (if we are cautious and careful) and
that is unusual. Most hobbies cost you alot.

We get to enjoy what we have first, and usually pass them on to others to enjoy at no "net loss". The wives "love" this hobby, trust me on this one.

Enjoy! We are all quite fortunate in our chosen hobby. Flip those flippers baby!

 

[brewmanager]

I was trying to write the whole thing tongue-in-cheek. I have seven pinball machines in my basement, Adam. That's a whole lot of do what I want.

I just have other hobbies/activities that eat up funds, too. Playing squash ain't cheap, baseball tickets and league fees add up (along with physiotherapy to keep me mobile), and what we spend on violin, gymnastics, swimming lessons blows me away sometimes....

Money comes and money goes - I kind of like Rob's statement in his maaca signature - build an rrsp of memories. Live life.

Worrying about my blood pressure just makes it worse. Some irony in that, isn't there?

 

[WARLOCK]

I recall two moments in pinball history I should recount here. (Break it to them gently is code for "speak your piece".) and confess maybe.

1)Brewmanager (Walt), Vengeance (Adam), Twilight Zone (Duane) and Warlock (Scott) are playing pins at Adam's place one time a while ago this year!
I suggest that all 4 of us play X-men (with groans from Walt and Duane) - but then I say "AT THE SAME TIME" - (Walt + Duane and I play Tron) as well.
The idea worked just fine. We are all outmatched playing Adam @ X-men, but it is fun for us anyway, to watch and learn, and we compete on Tron!

While we are playing, Duane says something to me, I turn to speak to him and answer, and he says "Dude, you just drained you ball."
I said something like "yeah, I will get another one." Social game, not competitive yet for me.

The point is, there is the social game, the competitive game, the selling game and the repair game. I like them all. THIS IS A HOBBY for me.

We could dabble in every area of pinball mentioned above. We should pursue what we feel like, when we feel like it, If we feel like it. That is what a hobby is. Those around us should understand.

I won't knock anyone, EVER, for how they choose to spend their hobby time.

I will point out that I thoughly enjoy fixing pins with advice from all the vets! thank you. (but I read and research on my own non-stop)

I love playing social pinball with friends. (In my mind, of all games, currently Adriano (Drano) is winning, as we all know he kicked our *sses
playing Volley and is close to one of the high scores in the country? ( We think )We can all go try, but damn, falling short so far. Drat it!

2) Another moment that strikes my brain, when many of us were at Adam's about a month ago, and we met and organized 9 pins that traded hands that day.
Adam asked "what we were all doing" hanging out near his bar shooting the sh*t, just to try to catch up. (not playing pins though) We were just
catching up only, as it had been so long since many of us had seen each other last. We were overdue just for visiting time. All good.

For many of us we appreciate the "fries in a cup", fish sticks, food, beverages, and general hospitality that your fantastic wife andyou had both provided us that day Adam. thank you. You may think it was not a big deal, but we all felt we were well taken care of in Keswick! Much appreciated.

Sure we all traded, bought and sold pins with each other, but it was the social gathering that day that was the very best part of the experience. (for me)

I wish I spent more time: 1)Thanking Denise, 2)With Chris and his wife, getting to know them and 3)Looking at your back yard and where you will build one day soon to understand it better once it starts.

It is a all about perspective. (try out someone's else's kids for one day) AND that will change our life perspective. Cheers.

That is all.

Cheers.

 

[frolic]

the social side of pinball has been a huge plus for me. I was telling Robin, after our Monday night, we had 12 "new" people in our home... these are new people we're getting to know better. All were great. Plus most of them were getting to know the others better as well, or just met for the first time.