I figured that after 2 recent extremely negative posts, I would post something more on the opposite side.
Granted, I am in a position where I can flame a bunch of people and complain about my situation. I have recently hit another financial snag with a customer and I am now forced to sell all my remaining games. Does this suck? Yes, immensely. Considering that:
- I have spent over 20000$ on the hobby and have nothing to show for it (physically) - my wife hates the hobby and what it has done to our budget (with reason) - the trouble I go through with the site
Hmm... why continue. Well, I had all of last week to think about that. And here is what I came up with.
It's not about the machines, oddly enough. It doesn't matter what machines you own and in what condition they are in. It's about the people. The good people.
Today, after all these years of doing this, I consider myself absolutely priviledged to know all of you. From all places... all backgrounds... we have one thing in common, we like the games.
After doing this for so long, I have had the honor of calling Splitskull, JD3, MacPhreak and Azatotht like my brothers. We have done so much together and still do it today.
I have also met some awesome people like AMX, Mindstorm, Mrhide, Redketchup, Battlezoneman, Spacecadet, Tartagliag, Frosken, MrMikeman, Medvet, JonnyEh, Goodicksa, Vengeance, NecroNemesis, Menace, B1Buwg97, Gorydeath, Bish, McMean, MrNiceGuy, Scribec, Hippochrome, Hardkor, Tuborg, Whizzervic, and I can go on and on... all good people I would not only trust my machines with but even trust my kids with.
I have also had the opportunity to help so many people start off in this hobby like DavidC, Andrijh and tons more that to this day look up to me for advice and for which I have earned their respect. For me that is priceless.
This hobby has also given me the opportunity to meet so many people in the hobby that are as passionate, if not more than I am all over the world, like the guys at CPR who give us the chance to have new parts, SeymourShabow and his passion to keep the games going, Fantastic who was doing repro stuff before anyone thought it was important to do it, Steve Young working his a** off to make sure that every collector has what they need to keep em running, Bowen Kerins who showed me what a top player and classy guy can be, GJD who is doing what most of us have dreamed of with a gleam of a kid in his eye and so many more...
What some people tend to forget is that this is like a big family. And as in all families, there are always some people we don't get along with, some people with more than questionable methods. The best thing then is to do exactly like anyone does in tough situations... surround yourself with those who appreciate and respect you. There is no better thing to do.
So my advice for you all is this... if something bad happens to you in the hobby, give a shout to members close to you that you get along with, have them over and play some games. Because in the end, like I said, it's not about the pins. It's about the people.
As for me? Yes... I now have pretty much nothing left except my Nine Ball, Big Game and a home edition Fireball that doesn't work except for the lights and flippers... but I just played for an hour with my 4-year-old son on that Fireball, just flipping the ball up the playfield, and I just had the time of my life.
If you have breeezed through this post, I encourage you to read it thoroughly and reflect on your situation, and what you wouldn't have if you would have never tried in this hobby.
Whats that Shap pain in my back Oh it's a Knife Complete MAACA-Wacko!
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I totally Agree with You Ian
Life is like Pinball!! You never know where you will bounce or where your going but sometimes you have that one amazing shot But on the other hand you have those darn gutter ball where you just get frustrated.
Mais j'veux juste dire que des fois y faut remettre les pendules a l'heure aussi! Les points sur les i pis les barre sur les t.
Y a plein de chose dans la vie crissement pire que les pinball style la maladie! Depuis peut etre 2 ans y a plein de monde autour de moi qui se battre contre des cancer pis qui perde la guerre. J'arrive justement d'enterrer un oncle a matin......
C'est pour ça que j'men fait pus trop avec les histoires de pinball! J'en profite comme je peux a les reparer pis a jouer avec.... A AVOIR DU FUN, la vie est courte!
Aimons nous mes freres!!
En attendant de se faire la guerre!
Jukes: Seeburg 222, HF100R, AY160, DS160, Rock-Ola 1458. Puck bowler: CC Varsity, United Sure Fire and Line Up. Vids: Spy Hunter, Striker 1945, Arkanoid, Arkanoid Revenge Of Doh, Tournament Arkanoid, 60 in 1, 1942, 1943, Aero Fighters. Pins: Gottlieb S&S, Magic City, Skill Pool, Dealer's Choice, Night Rider (em), Pinbot, AFM, CFTBL, Galaxy, Space Station, Time Machine, OXO, Cueball Wizard, Lady Luck, King Pin (63), Funfest, Spirit Of 76, Supersonic (Zaccaria), 4MBC, TouchDown, Criss Cross, Memory Lane, Strato Flite, Seven Up, Tic Tac Toe, TFTC, Torpedo Alley, Doctor Who, Pat Hand.
The people are great. Why else do I always jump at a chance to host OPL events at my place? So I can show off my 1sn4n3 p1nb4ll sk1llz?!
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-The Getaway: High Speed II!! -Spider-Man -F-14 Tomcat -Guns N' Roses -Lord of the Rings -Twilight Zone
-Medieval Madness! -Indiana Jones (Williams) -Star Trek: The Next Generation -Champion Pub -Terminator 3 -Congo -Johnny Mnemonic -Tales of the Arabian Nights
Great thread, yes keep the hobby positive and if something wrong happen, don't just blame other people, think about yourself also. I already blame someone here on MAACA few years ago and i'm sorry about that. I try to apreciate what life give to me and i receive the passion for arcade games and i'm very happy to live with this passion. Since the first day i saw arcade games in stores, bars, arcades and etc, i never stop apreciate them. Also and very important, arcade games without nice people to apreciate them it's just not the same.
Pins Bally: Xenon - Centaur - Fathom(Project) - Embryon(Project) Williams: Black Knight(Huo) - Firepower(Project) Gottlieb: Black Hole - Haunted House Stern: Flight 2000(Project) - Freefall(Project) - Big Game(Project) - Seawitch(Project) - Lightning(project) - Quicksilver(Project) WTB: Catacomb (In any condition) View pics here:http://www.pinballowners.com/hal-9ooo (please vote !!! )
Awesome post! I totally agree. In fact many of you know about my not so great luck with this hobby. My IJ machine which has been the root of my frustration and the demise of my bank account has sat for awhile without being played (new LOTR to blame). This morning I was doing some work on my computer and my I went out to find my daughters (6yrs and 17months) joined together for a game of good ol' Indy!!
Seriously warmed my heart so much! I grabbed the camera quick to take this shot. Moments like these you can simply not put a price on.
Great post.. i must say playing games with my kids is so much fun and i'v met alot of great people on this site... some not so great people too but hey i can walk down the street and run into the same thing, good people and bad people its life... this forum is great and like many have said before if you dont like it you can always leave... keep up the great work guys
nice posting. made me smile as well. which as you know i do need alot of at the moment. it was another hard day for me. so thanks again for saying what you did and glad you and your son are still enjoying fireball. wish it was working fully
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