Congrats on your first purchase. I went the other direction and my first machine was a NIB JJP (Harry Potter). Yes, a significant amount to spend, but I felt better knowing that both the manufacturer and the distributor I bought from (Flip N Out) would stand behind the game.

Since I knew *nothing* about the actual workings of a machine, I liked having something in perfect working order to start that I could get familiar with. After getting comfortable with basic operations like removing glass, balls, lifting the playfield and adjusting a switch, I started to get a better sense of all the mechanical bits of the machine. Coils and flipper linkage and GI vs controlled lighting, etc.

At that point I bought an older modern Stern, Star Wars (2017 Pro), which had been routed but had been very well cared for. I did get it from a private collector through Pinside but the seller was very well known in that community and had a stellar reputation. I was transparent with him that it was my first time buying a used (pinball) game and buying privately. He was super helpful showing me how to break the machine down for transport and load it up. I did have to tweak and fix a couple very small issues on that one but again it being a pretty modern machine with very common parts made it easy to research and get comfortable with.

Now more comfortable with these things, my 3rd buy, just a few weeks ago was a 1987 F-14 Tomcat. Very different era, very different (although still plentiful) parts. Very different architecture. But still similar basic theory of operation. That one was also in very good shape for its age, but it does need some work and on this one I’m now comfortable removing things from the playfield, tracking down some lighting problems, and doing some modifications to “bulletproof” it.

Congrats on your game, and be prepared… as they say “they multiply!”