Ever owned/still own Arcade machines/pinball machines?

[Ultimo Gallos]

With the NEO GEO talk in another thread got me thinking about the rare times I see people owning actual arcade machines or pinball machines. Not those 1up replicas,which are pretty cool.

In my close to 50 years I have owned 3 machines.

Back when I was stationed in Germany a guy that was being shipped home sold me his Moon Patrol arcade. I think I paid 400 tops for it,this was 96. Then when I was getting shipped back to the states I sold it to a newbie on the base. I think I got 300 for it.

Then in 98 learned a local bar was closing. I knew they had two working cocktail table machines. Ms Pacman and Joust!

Drove over,knew the owner. Asked her about the machines. Learned she owned them. Her husband bought them back in the mid to late 80s. Asked what she wanted for both,my plan was to sell Ms pacman,keep joust.And she threw out a price that was so low I was surprised. Bought both. And from then till I moved in 2007 they sat in my living room. Both with table clothes over the top and lamps on them. Had a few friends that never even realized the table between my chair and her chair was a ms pacman machine.

Sold Joust back in 2016. Thankfully the couple buying it were willing to pick it up, I wasn't wanting to ship what is a somewhat rareish cocktail table. Got way way more than I paid for it and Ms Pacman.

Ms Pacman sits in the spare bedroom as a bedside table. I might go once a month plug it in an play a few rounds.

Really want a pinball table. But don't have room or the cash for one.

[agent817]

I never owned anything like that, but I remember when I was a little boy (I would say around 5 or 6), I was left at my dad's friend's house for some reason (I think he hung out with his friend, while the friend's girlfriend/wife looked after me). Some other boys who lived there entertained me and brought me to the back porch of the house and there was a pinball machine. I thought it was interesting that there was a pinball machine in the back of the house.

I don't know if this counts, but a close friend of mine (who just so happens to be married to my cousin) had built an arcade cabinet and also got a computer with MAME on it. He also got controls connected to the computer so that the arcade games could be played with the joysticks.

As for anybody owning a cabinet, and I don't mean those ones that you find at Walmart or anything like that, I think I knew some people who claimed to have had one. Not sure if there was any truth to it, but to have something like that in your house would be interesting. There are people who have owned some, but I didn't know them.

[Fundertaker]

I don't... but I really want a Taiko no Tatsujin cabinet. Playing with the little drums you can buy for console/PC isn't the same thing as the arcade machine

[Dr. T is an alien]

My folks still own a pinball machine they had since at least 1980. It had to get serviced recently, but it still works.

My father-in-law had a 1940’s one that he was restoring. I haven’t seen it since he moved to his new place, however. I’d be surprised if he got rid of it, though. He has an extensive collection of old toys that he’s restored and put on display. He does favor die-cast cars from before the matchbox era.