When you buy a reconditioned machine from a dealer as the starting point it will be difficult to get your money back; spending another $1200 doesn't help!
But a pinball machine is an investment!
I read that on the interwebs
That would be correct. Thankfully, a "Mercy Dash" to Europe a few years ago successfully secured the last pinballs out of Europe
Located a stash in a mountaintop cave in the Alps.
(Well a stash of something anyway).