What do you think killed pinball machines?

[odyssia76]

most pinball machines, essentially became obsolete.

No, it's the exact right word. The function of a pinball machine was / is to provide entertainment, That functionality is now pretty much a niche factor these days.

Silly boys. You are both right. You're assuming that something that is obsolete cannot still perform its function. Are vinyl records obsolete? Cassette tapes? Yes. But the sales of both are actually rising rapidly. If they are obsolete, then why is that?

[pinback]

VINYL RECORDS
[X] PRODUCED
[X] USED

PINBALL MACHINES
[X] PRODUCED
[X] USED

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

most pinball machines, essentially became obsolete.

No, it's the exact right word. The function of a pinball machine was / is to provide entertainment, That functionality is now pretty much a niche factor these days.

Silly boys. You are both right. You're assuming that something that is obsolete cannot still perform its function. Are vinyl records obsolete? Cassette tapes? Yes. But the sales of both are actually rising rapidly. If they are obsolete, then why is that?

It was like a bad take factory.

[Flack]

[AArdvark]

It really was a bad take.

[Tdarcos]

You have to post a picture of the helicopter on a wand thing. It's not jogging my memory at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiFPpaII8Qg

This forum doesn't honor YouTube links.

[Tdarcos]

The price is insane, though, I will give you that. I got a $6000 tax return a few years ago and used $5500 of it for the Tron pin. The thing is, though, Stern (the manufacturer) employs a lot of people. I like that they exist.

Plus you got to again write off the $5,500 on your taxes, clever. Oh wait, you didn't because it's a "hobby" and hobby expenses are not deductible? You mean you didn't open "Ice Cream Jonsey's Pinball store" where you buy and sell pinball machines? Remember this: if you treat a hobby as a business, e.g. keep records on income (if any) vs. expenses, and kept records of your inventory, your hobby is now a business which the losses (and profits, if any) can be reported on schedule C, and you have three years to make a profit before the IRS can classify it as a hobby (rather than a business) and disallow the deduction. But, hey, if you don't make money in three years, you close down that business and start a new one! This is America, you can start a new business amytime. So switch from the pinball business to the electronic video game business, and start a new three-year period to try and make a profit. And if you travel to conventions or distant markets, your travel expenses are deductible.

I had my brother do that, open "Bill's Video Emporium" where he sold DVDs on-line. His prices were too high, of course - he's reselling what he bought at retail - and never made any sales. But he got to write off the 1,400 DVDs he bought for "inventory." That's over $20,000 he got to write off over 3 years. Just figure it saved him about $2,000 a year in taxes. After three years, he folded his business, but the tax savings he gets to keep.

So if you weren't doing that, consider it.

For me to ever buy a new one, it would either have to have a theme that appealed to me AND was a great pin (a Red Dwarf pin, a When Gravity Fails pin

I read the book "When Gravity Fails" by G.A. Effinger, about people who "jack in" to 7-player shared virtual reality pods; while the book was written years before it, the simulation is supposed to be perfect, i.e. as immersive as The Matrix. People actually have sex with others connected with them (but having no physical contact), the experience is supposedly indistinguishable from the real thing.

By sheer coincidence, a few years later, I was reading a copy of The Washington Post and in the obituaries - which I don't normally read - I saw his. Strange.

Of course, this pin may have nothing to do with his book.

[Flack]

You have to post a picture of the helicopter on a wand thing. It's not jogging my memory at all.

This forum doesn't honor YouTube links.

[AArdvark]

Oh, that game. Yes, it was in a sleazy bowling alley where my mom's league played on Wednesday nights. I vaguely remember horribly crashing the helicopter many times because I thought it was funny.

There was another game next to it, some rifle shooting game with electro-mechanical alien spaceships going back and forth

[AArdvark]

Ah, this one....

[Jizaboz]

I want one of those old EM machines eventually. All of those 1970s and older games used a series of relay switches instead of PCBs.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

There should be a When Gravity Fails movie and pinball, but there is not.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

It has been and still is my favorite book.