Pinball Stuff

[Bob T]

I've been looking after a mate of mine's The Getaway for a while while he moves house and gets sorted out.
We play it a bit, my neighbour came over for a few beers and games today, we were doing ok with 300 mill and then my 7 year old daughter had a go and whipped us both with 700 mil + .

Not bad considering the left hand flipper was playing up, maybe I should enrol her in flight school or pinball academy 

Pretty cool 20 year old machine though, what have you guys got out there?

[doctor4766]

I had a Bally Skateball pinball machine, circa 1978 that I picked up cheap at a local auction.(700 bucks I think I paid if remember right)
It turned out to be an import from South Africa where apparently they wire them directly to power poles to cut the cost of running them. Also turned out to be a 4 flipper game, but they'd plugged the top flippers due to them burning out and the lack of spare parts in S.A. cos it seems they're illegal over there.
Anyway, after a year or so hunting down parts I managed to get it all working, 4 flippers and all but was getting tired of the ongoing repairs that were needed so I flipped it on ebay and made a $25 profit after all the bits I bought lol

Wasn't a bad game to play but next time I'll buy an '80s machine like Haunted House or Black Hole or somethin'.
The electronics got much better and were more reliable than the '70s machines.   

[bakerhillpins]

Pinball is one of my favorite pastimes. I have 15 of them in various states of repair. Have not had much time over the past few years to devote to restoring them as family life and other things have taken priority. But I have quite a few up an running currently. My boys have been kicking my but on games for quite a few years now. Has something to do with the fact that they seem to get a bunch of hours in each week and I am busy mowing the lawn or renovating something. 

Loads of fun and always a different game.

[Drache]

Fun House.... now that brings back memories of that little bastard making fun of you.... 

[Bob T]

Cool machines BHP, I can remember playing Twilight Zone years ago, but we really dont see too many of them out here or any that are readily available.
Man, it does eat up the time though 

[doctor4766]

Cool machines BHP, I can remember playing Twilight Zone years ago, but we really dont see too many of them out here or any that are readily available.
Man, it does eat up the time though 

And the coins.......

[Bob T]

Cool machines BHP, I can remember playing Twilight Zone years ago, but we really dont see too many of them out here or any that are readily available.
Man, it does eat up the time though 

And the coins.......

And the Beers 

[Drache]

This is currently in my bedroom:

[bakerhillpins]

Fun House.... now that brings back memories of that little bastard making fun of you.... 

When the mechanics that control his eyelids break his eyes stay open all the time. It's kinda freaky.  "I'm watchin you" 

Cool machines BHP, I can remember playing Twilight Zone years ago, but we really dont see too many of them out here or any that are readily available.
Man, it does eat up the time though 

Yep, not many still out there in the real world. The maintenance costs and requirements started killing pinball years ago. Pinball tech's basically need to be mechanics and that experience costs, video games on the other hand only require someone to show up and empty the coin box. So as maintenance got more expensive it started being done less and less frequently. Which in turn drove away players because you paid money only to realize the game was broken. One or two bad experiences and the player didn't bother to gamble anymore. You could make money at it though. The arcade that I grew up in (Playland, State College PA) was still going strong into 2002 (IIRC) when it shutdown because the owner wanted to retire. He was doing well and had a pile of pins which were good earners. I went to high school with his son and a good # of friends worked the change counter over the years so it was easy to keep tabs on the joint. Man those were the days. LOL.

Stern is the only company left standing and they seem to be holding on but it's hard to imagine that they have much of a profit margin. Gary Stern is probably in it purely because he is a pinball guy.

I am mostly an 80s and 90s pin guy but I have a few late 70s Stern titles (9-ball, Seawitch, Meteor) but they are not setup and restored yet. Would kill for a Stern Stargazer. Never got into the EM stuff.