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.

I wish you all a great weekend.

Keep smiling. I am.


Sparky

Word.

I totally Agree with You Ian

Totally agree with you and I smile!

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!

Merci Ian. Ca fait du bien

Bonne fin de semaine à toi aussi !

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?!

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.    

Great post, Ian.

Duane

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.  

Cheers!

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

Thanks man!

I too have met quite a bunch of really great people on here and CGCC, and
even went as far as to throw a Summer bash at my house to show my appreciation to everyone in the hobby,
it's a really neat thing to collect, and everyone is very passionate about it

some of us are hoping to get the Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge pinball league off the ground in the new year, and that will hopefully bring some more close friendships,

hell, i don't even mind the constant ribbing from B1, it's all good

Keep up the love!

Eric

Well put, Ian. You have hit the nail on the head.I have met a lot of passionate, decent people in this hobby , and it is nice to know there is a sense of camaraderie.For me there is a great thrill to owning machines that I fed quarters into, in my youth, that I never dreamed of owning when I was a kid. The feeling I got from buying my first bubble bobble in 94 at SB for 75$ is still indescribable, but finding this forum, with all your hard work put into it, is by far my best find.Look to the future, for you and for this hobby, it is bright, and part of that is because of you and your efforts, as well as the contributions of everyone on here.( End a** kissing ha ha)

Well, that is very well put. You dont know me from Jack, Sparky, we've passed each other at SB a couple times. I do see your "family point". Yop when I was green to this hobby and the people within it , I wrongly treated a seller as like a Kijiji seller!!! OOOPSmy bad! After a PM altercation this ( ahem to put loosely JK) gentleman, h was vey understanding and now is one of the ( I think) finer poeple in this family!  Yup B1 im talkng bout you! I dont know alot of you and the people I've met are genuine people to my standards. I think that yes we can rant nad seeing a Praise thread is also needed...
Well put Ian,,, I hope things turn around for you

Extremely well put Ian.

Today I brought a cooworker who is younger than myself and who I have sort of mentored to the Starburst auction. He wanted to get a fooseball table and he and another guy from work dropped by to play pinball at my place a while back. They see that I have MAACA open on my computer at work all the time and that I troll around Kijiji and the like any time there is some free time.

I realized how lucky and proud I am of all the new people I have met and befriended because of this hobby. I was so proud today that my young associate at work could see what my world away from work is all about and the happiness there is having this commonality with all these other people.

The machines are material, and for the most part replaceable. But the common passion for the hobby and the friendships are priceless!

Sparky, your machines mightl come and go. The good people, on the other hand, have never left.

I have no doubt you will keep on flippin', as will I

Thank you.

In all my years on these forums, this has to be the nicest post I've ever read.  Thanks, Ian.

Quoted from gorydeath

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

Under the circumstances, it works perfect.

You know what? An eye opener for me was the MPL. I started looking forward to it so much, and not because of the machines, but to just chew the fat with other collectors. I've just noticed a negative vibe lately and I just wanted to show that we care.

Pins and vids can come and go, but friendships can last. And THAT you can't buy on Ebay or at Starburst. Took me long to realize that my collection meant little to me compared to the camaraderie of the MAACA community.

Thank you all for the nice comments, but in reality, I am the one thanking you all.


Sparky

We're all glad to be a part of this magic you created,

Thanks again!


Eric

Yes well put Ian, I agree, it's not always about the games... I actually don't know the last time I bought something at SB it's the people that keep me going back...And yes Briguy it's all good man   As sister sledge said We are Family!!

There are certainly good people in this community.

Group hug!

Fantastic post
I agree 100% Sparky! I've made some great friends here on MAACA.
It really makes my weekend whenever there's an OPL, or pinball party, event and I get to hang out with all these awesome people!

This is a great post Ian; brought good focus on what this is all about.  Thanks man, I know I'm certainly appreciative of all the members and Maaca staff for all they've done for the community and for helping me with my own issues/questions relevant to this hobby.

... but more importantly who have also become fantastic friends. And friends ladies and gents, is what it's all about.

JEEZE IAN!!!!!

This is just so heartwarming and nice... BLEGH!!!!

I am soo not used to being nice, i like to complain and be snarky!

BUt i gotta say, i have met some great people here.  Even B1!  Bigwig and I went to SB, and while i was there, i realized that I had NO desire to get more games, but i really liked standing around talking shop with all the Maaca/cgcc regulars.  The whole "GET MORE GAMES" thing has calmed down a lot,

Sometimes the whole desire to get more,  gets in the way of playing.  

But in the face of your last run of luck, your ability to have a positive attitude is inspiring.

Quoted from axe

But in the face of your last run of luck, your ability to have a positive attitude is inspiring.

There will ALWAYS be other machines. But in the meantime, I enjoy repairing other people's. Makes me discover machines I have otherwise never played.

The MPL meetings are also a must. I am already itching for the January one at Splitskull's.