The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => General Discussion => General Pinball Discussion => Topic started by: andypinboy on May 21, 2015, 08:32:45 PM
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Following the thread on "will Williams return?" I came across this pic which I find amazing. This (I guess ) was the hey day for pins (or start of them). Construction began in 1969 - & once built Gottlieb was turning out 300 games per day! The world's population in 1969 was a bit over 3.6 billion, it now exceeds 7.3 billion. This was one bloody large factory.
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Have a look at Bally 1978 & 1979.
About 165,000 built.
That equates to 225 machines per day, 7 days a week.
Thems were the Golden Years of pinball.
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I'll have to have a look & see what Bally was pumping out & what size their factory was. Gottlieb's factory was 250,000 sq ft. So at times pumping out 300 machines per day WITH real competitors. Stern pumps out roughly 60, without competitors & had a 40,000 sq ft full facility until it's move (can't find what it is now).
Btw, is it true that the ogre in Stern's Shrek came out of a Happy Meal? It's in a seemingly reputable article, but that sounds a bit off key?
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I'll have to have a look & see what Bally was pumping out & what size their factory was. Gottlieb's factory was 250,000 sq ft. So at times pumping out 300 machines per day WITH real competitors. Stern pumps out roughly 60, without competitors & had a 40,000 sq ft full facility until it's move (can't find what it is now).
Btw, is it true that the ogre in Stern's Shrek came out of a Happy Meal? It's in a seemingly reputable article, but that sounds a bit off key?
Yes, its true. Stern bought up the excess USA McDonalds Shrek toys for the machine
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The golden years were 1975 ish to 19982. Constant releases, and just about every game made was successful. Today's manufacturing is nowhere near the sheer quantity and quality.
Here was are 45 years later and we can still buy playfields, plastics sets and just about every part for games of this era.
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Thanks guys for the info on the history. I guess if Gottlieb began to build this factory (which is massive) in 1969 it would have still been pumping out machines in the early 1970's at least - so certainly in the lead-up to the golden years. Amazing times for the industry - I guess being a bit younger I never realised just how massive it once was.
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When the company changed hands and was renamed 'Mylstar' for 18 months from 83' to mid 85', the company took down that big Gottlieb sign you can see in that illustration that was fixed at the front of their facility for around 20 years. It was hand made and enamelled. The sign had stand offs behind it to allow for red neon lighting. Apparently the birds used to nest behind there and the tube was forever needing to be fixed. So for the majority of the time the sign wasn't back lit by neon as was its intended design. Anyway, They removed the original sign and were going to just toss It away in 83' to make way for the new signage. A bloke saved the sign and has it to this day. I got some pictures of it sent to me a couple years back;
Obviously the chap doesn't have a hobby in photography but there it is. Custom made the old school way and stood proudly at the front for many years. He rekons that you can still see the original outline it created on the brick in front of the building.
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A4M that's amazing - thanks heaps for sharing that. What a lucky camper - that's pure history. I hope he values it (& kind of hope he never sells it - unless to a museum). Wow.
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I believe Gottlieb was sold to Colombia Pictures at about 1979, by D Gottlieb. I think it was CocaCola that then bought Colombia Pictures in about 82, that they changed the name to Mylstar, and started changing the companies direction. Mylstar then closed up (sounds like 84), only to have some former employees buy up the stock and factory equipment, and start a new company called Premier.
Premier then closed up in the mid 90s.
...David Gottlieb sold the company at its peak, when pinball was earning more revenue (cash box earnings?) than the movie industry. The David Gottlieb sale would be one of the best business moves of the century.
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Give that sign to me!!!
Ill restore to original with red neon and ensure no birds can nest... it aint hard ^&^ ^&^
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The Northlake address is now a Walmart as far as i can tell from street view.
America in a nutshell.
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The Northlake address is now a Walmart as far as i can tell from street view.
America in a nutshell.
I had a look too, but found what appears to be a distribution warehouse. Not sure if it is the same building, but it looks a bit too new so I think it isn't. But I could be wrong.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@41.904843,-87.912618,3a,37.5y,180.12h,86.86t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s55WL9pSN1J4QQUYzRnDV_A!2e0!6m1!1e1?hl=en (https://www.google.com.au/maps/@41.904843,-87.912618,3a,37.5y,180.12h,86.86t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s55WL9pSN1J4QQUYzRnDV_A!2e0!6m1!1e1?hl=en)
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The Northlake address is now a Walmart as far as i can tell from street view.
America in a nutshell.
I had a look too, but found what appears to be a distribution warehouse. Not sure if it is the same building, but it looks a bit too new so I think it isn't. But I could be wrong.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@41.904843,-87.912618,3a,37.5y,180.12h,86.86t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s55WL9pSN1J4QQUYzRnDV_A!2e0!6m1!1e1?hl=en (https://www.google.com.au/maps/@41.904843,-87.912618,3a,37.5y,180.12h,86.86t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s55WL9pSN1J4QQUYzRnDV_A!2e0!6m1!1e1?hl=en)
Yeah US in a nutshell indeed. Surprised it's not a Starbucks. Kind of sad in a way - think of all the people that once worked there, the varied skills (I think Gottlieb produced most of its own parts), & all the games they produced that were enjoyed around the world, & still are to this day.
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The Original factory which could easily be argued to have more history appears to still be at 1140-1150 N Kostner Avenue, appropriately the business name is "Classic Midwest Diemold"
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@41.901825,-87.736114,3a,90y,270.04h,73.07t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1st-fJYtaxtjljbRhi77BGqw!2e0!6m1!1e1?hl=en-AU
After a lot of searching I couldn't find any old photos of the factory while it was being used by Gottlieb.
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Found some nice photos here on some French forum:
http://www.retro-flip.com/t2429-GOTTLIEB-FACTORY-TOUR-IN-71.htm
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Found some nice photos here on some French forum:
http://www.retro-flip.com/t2429-GOTTLIEB-FACTORY-TOUR-IN-71.htm
This is a must see for anyone with an ounce of love for Gottlieb.......what a great find.
There is the slight possibilty that's my Outer Space right there $#$
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Great photos - nice to look back at how it was. Imagine if that room (in it's entirety incl. chairs etc) could be your pinny room at home.
Edit - what r the tables on the right? Baffle balls? Assume by Gottlieb?
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Great photos - nice to look back at how it was. Imagine if that room (in it's entirety incl. chairs etc) could be your pinny room at home.
Edit - what r the tables on the right? Baffle balls? Assume by Gottlieb?
early gottlieb games
http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=865&picno=30608
remember, pinball machines were different way back then
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Great photos, thanks for posting the link.
I still have a couple of gottliebs, they really were great at innovation, so many different things like the BH lower playfield.
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Great photos thanks
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Not the original factory, but the only one of the Premier factory on the net.
http://mediaburn.org/video/chicago-slices-raw-pinball-wizard/
Designer Jon Norris takes a tour of the factory. From 93' so they had 3 more years till they finished up due to bad investments in other areas.
Great to see a brand new Bounty Hunter in there. 9 years old at the time!
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That's awesome. He, "I collect all their games, I have around 70 or 80". Great to see brand new shiny Wipeouts. Hairstyle on receptionist gives this era away asap (GnR were still alive !!!). Great vid 4AO - thanks ^^^
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Yeah US in a nutshell indeed. Surprised it's not a Starbucks
There's probably a Starbucks inside that Walmart, and a nail salon and bank and optometrist and oxygen bar. Amazingly cheezy things today, these Walmarts. I wouldn't be surprised if I saw a massage parlor and liposuction clinic in one. Really.
I avoid going there like most folks. I just buy what I want off the net. The most I go to brick & mortar anymore is the local grocery.
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Yeah US in a nutshell indeed. Surprised it's not a Starbucks
There's probably a Starbucks inside that Walmart, and a nail salon and bank and optometrist and oxygen bar. Amazingly cheezy things today, these Walmarts. I wouldn't be surprised if I saw a massage parlor and liposuction clinic in one. Really.
I avoid going there like most folks. I just buy what I want off the net. The most I go to brick & mortar anymore is the local grocery.
Amazing isn't it. Nearly the same here now. The net has made getting info & getting good deals easier - but I miss the bricks & mortar stuff myself - you know when you went to a local hardware & you knew the owner & he looked after you. Different times. I'm still staggered by the size of that Gottlieb factory - in the early 1970s!!
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Great thread .... loved looking at the photos from the French link. Gottlieb had an amazing run during the 1900's - what, at least 5+ decades.
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Just had a look at the French pics-wow how many people do you think worked there? A lot of tables in the lunch room.