The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => General Discussion => General Pinball Discussion => Topic started by: billstats on November 24, 2009, 09:58:01 PM
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&^&Does anyone remember Fonzies pinball parlour on oxford st,Sydney back in the 1980,s?, I was about 12 -13 years old when the pinball addiction started,they had some great machines -Dracula, Star Trek .Dolly parton , I remember space invaders & pacman when they first came out."Blondie"on the jukebox with the song "call me". AC/DC with"back in black" ,no electro,s just all solid state machines.....where was your local pinball machine, or parlour.back in the day ? @@*
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This photo is the Bulli Beach Kiosk that is where I cut my teeth playing pinball from 1969 to around 1978 when the place burnt down. This place was even open before school! I can remember we used to walk down, play some pins, go for a surf, scronge some Coke bottles to cash in for more games.
Even when we were in primary school and the Nuns (yeah I was a good Catholic boy then ) used to march us down to the pool every Wednesday afternoon during the warmer months. There were 4 pinball junkies who used to sneak up and play the pins instead of swimming in the 'Polo Pit'. One of us used to watch for one of the Nuns while the rest of us played.
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did they update there machines at the kiosk from year to year? I played my first electro ,in 1978 i think it was an eldorado, it had all the targets across the top of playfield ,but a lot of the electro,s back then i remember having weak flippers etc,any williams pinballs amongst that kiosk lot tony.... $#$
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did they update there machines at the kiosk from year to year? I played my first electro ,in 1978 i think it was an eldorado, it had all the targets across the top of playfield ,but a lot of the electro,s back then i remember having weak flippers etc,any williams pinballs amongst that kiosk lot tony.... $#$
There was around 12 pinballs and 5 or 6 EM arcade games such as gun games etc. There was also 2 pool tables and a soccer table. All of the games were very well looked after. The operator used to buy new EMs and nearly all of his games were no older than 5 years old.
Yep - there were Williams EMs - Olympic Hockey, Spanish Eyes, Klondike and Solids n Stripes come to mind. Then they were mostly Gottlieb's and he even had a Buckaroo there until around 1975. Can remember going for a surf with my mates and Alex (the Op) had just installed a brand new Chicago Coin Sound Stage - we all thought that was the cooooolest game back then. What were we thinking?
The place used to be packed in Summer and as mentioned it was opened before and after school as well.
Oh they were the days *%*
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Freddy Fongs takeaway shop at Reevesby, Sydney in 1978. It had a Flight of the Phoenix - Williams (brand new for 78) and a few sit down cocktail
tables. Then, i never played another pinball OR EVEN SAW ONE until december 2008. !!! !!! !!! !!! !!!
Absolutely amazing i could go 30 years and not even see another pinball again. but its tue, i am pissed off that I missed out totally on the hey-day of pinball machines unlike all u guys. !!! !!! !!! !!! !!! !!! !!!
too much work and too little play for 30 years. sux hey ! we will make up for it now but. *)*
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thats unreal, I vaguely remember the gun games,when i was a junior in the 1970,s ,my father would take us to Luna park ,& they had some down there ,but I think they ^&^ were toward the end of there life cause they were pretty worn out
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My favorite Pinball Parlor was not in fact a "Parlor" but a Coffee Shop in Edwards Street Reservoir - "Delfino's". Dad owned it in the 70's - 80's, so I spent a LOT of time there. Picture this circa 1979 ;
One wall - KISS, Paragon, Space Invaders, Mata Hari, Star Trek, Nugent, Meteor, Harlem Globetrotters, Eight Ball
Opposite Wall - Bingos - Miami Beach, Key West, Show Time, Ballarina, Cypress Gardens
Front section - World Cup and a Continental 2 Jukebox playing tunes
Lineup changed over the years, but seeing these games straight out of the box as a kid was simply awesome.
Things turned ugly when Space Invaders Upright cabinets replaced the Pinballs slowly over time. Then the cocktail tables.
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The corner shop on my way to school because it had Nugent ()
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in the early eighties The Keon Park AMF was my favorite place. When it first opened there was about 4 or 5 video games but the rest of the games were pins. there was a mixture of EM's and SS pins.
But slowly the EM's disappeared and were replaced be SS's and video games, but at least they had a decent amount of pins back then. pins like , Joker Poker, Lost World, Paragon, evil Kenevil, playboy, strikes and spares, The list just goes on.
then i discovered Top Room in edward street Reservoir (not far from Strange Ways hangout) but their was a lot more vids than pins.
then when i was about 13 I took my first trip into melbourne with out an adult and with a few other guys not much older than me (you know how it is when your a kid and you go to a big city for the first time with out your parents) I was introduced to Flash Back, 10.4, Invaders. so many pins.
a year later 10,4 and flash back then became my regular hang outl. many great pins released in those years (1984 to 1989)
if you watch the video of AC/DC (long way to the top) they go past the place which became 10,4. you cant miss it its the only building in the video that is all painted in black. !@#
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The Colony in Foster. I remember the rotory merchandisers, lots of E.M gun games. pitch and bats and cool old 60s pins. Also the pinball parlour up near the beach in Newcastle with a Genco gypsy fortune teller out front.
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An indoor cricket/soccer centre around the corner from my parents opened when i was 12. This was the first time i had somewhere close-by, before that having to ride for 4kms in either direction to play arcade games with no money !@).
Anyway, they had a Star Trek that was there for years, Six Million $man for a while (hardly ever worked), Future Spa for a while (never worked), Xeviuos (my favourite arcade game), a coffee table Gyruss that i trashed by shaking it to try get free games (my second favourite arcade game). About a year after that they bought in a KISS which was there for years. Replay was on the Kiss was 120k, so, i'd ride around with 20c, score a credit (most times), and just keep racking credits and play all day, then leave the machine full of credits to the younger kids. Besides that just a some scattered machines around a couple of take-away stores, and that's where i met Gorgar. I use to also love playing ALI, i'll hopefully own one oneday %$%.
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It all started mid 1960,s (yes the 60,s) Mum & Dad would take us to Nth Wollongong beach most Sundays -I would collect the bottles from the beach & cash them in to play the pinball at the Kiosk -6d from memory,this was the start of my pinball addiction.Most days after school were spent at the local fish shops,milk bars(Cafe's for you younger ones)-just about every one of these shops had a pinball or two.In my teenage years most Fri & Sat nights consisted of alcohol,drugs,playing pinball,snooker,pumping coins into the money machines (Bingos)then heading off to the local dance (usually ACDC,Angels etc playing & Sherbert for the girls).
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For me 1973 through to 1980 at all the milk bars,fish a chips shops ect in the Corrimal ,Wollongong areas.Place to go was the milk bar under Jacks Pool room in Corrimal.Played a stack of EM titles hence why they are my favourites.Was lucky enough to also work in the Wollongong icon of Jacks snooker room for 8 years after my father bought it.Seen and played a shit load of different pins in my time there.Nothing like getting to work early and having the place to yourself and playing anyone you wanted for nothing.What great days they were,and also made a lot of money playing pool and snooker.Got along well with the supplier of the games and many times got offerred pins for a top deal ,but i had nowhere to put them until i built the games room which was far too late for that.Can someone beam me back to the 70s please lol.
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Crystal Palace in George Street Sydney was the Go! Great place to play and hang out.
Across the road to Hoyts and then back again for another go on the pinnies.
All the great 70's classics like; Kiss, Playboy, Joker Poker, Strikes and Spares, Sinbad, and Surfer. You would walk down the stairs to a smoke filled room and play 70's pinnies which were all around the walls on a shelf like arrangement. I have tried to get some pics but no good so far. Wotto's Hoyts pics are as close as I can see.
Queen Street Croydon in Sydney 1978 Playboy and Mata Hari.
Burwood pool room on Burwood Road where AC/DC used to practice. Kiss and Playboy.
Ashfield pool room alongside the arts center. Kiss and Playboy
Not to mention just about every takeaway in the Western Suburbs of Sydney.
Where has it all gone? My games room has a few. More to go!
J.D. $#$ $#$
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I frequented some of those places JD.Mostly Burwood snooker room,although I can't remember AC/DC being there.Ashfield snooker room and Campsie snooker room.
Other arcades I liked were at "The Entrance" on the central coast.Ful-o-fun,The Esquire and others that i can't remember the names of.Pins were everywhere.
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TunZaFun on Doncaster Rd, Doncaster, VIC.
As you walked in, pinball machines to the right hand side. Remember when T2 came out and my older brother was playing this game relentlessly. He would still be playing a game, whilst I would finish in minutes playing Double Dragon and Operation Wolf.
It was pretty hard as a kid, not having any coins to continue on, whilst the older brother was a gun playing pinball!!!
Cherished those moments there. I think they closed up 93-94….
Timezone, Box Hill, VIC.
Played Party Zone & Fish Tales numerous times there, whilst studying at Box Hill Tafe.
One other arcade/pinball parlour I visited in the early 90’s was in the city (Melbourne) - North on Russell Street (RHS), between Lonsdale St & Latrobe St – Where Barton Towers project is.
Massive room, full of arcades. Never got into playing the likes of Street Fighter & Mortal Combat. Pretty sure I played pinball instead.
SC.
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An indoor cricket/soccer centre around the corner from my parents opened when i was 12. This was the first time i had somewhere close-by, before that having to ride for 4kms in either direction to play arcade games with no money !@).
Anyway, they had a Star Trek that was there for years, Six Million $man for a while (hardly ever worked), Future Spa for a while (never worked), Xeviuos (my favourite arcade game), a coffee table Gyruss that i trashed by shaking it to try get free games (my second favourite arcade game). About a year after that they bought in a KISS which was there for years. Replay was on the Kiss was 120k, so, i'd ride around with 20c, score a credit (most times), and just keep racking credits and play all day, then leave the machine full of credits to the younger kids. Besides that just a some scattered machines around a couple of take-away stores, and that's where i met Gorgar. I use to also love playing ALI, i'll hopefully own one oneday %$%.
Brad,
Was that in Wollongong?
Which Indoor centre was it?the one at North Gong? I'm sure I know the ones - John Medin used to be the operator there
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Momma's (aka Clem's) Fish Shop, Beecroft Rd Epping NSW in the 60s and early 70s ; 2 EMs always there- RIP
Macquarie Uni, downstairs below the Burger Bar - probably 10 machines 1970s - RIP
Epping Squash Courts, Oxford St, Epping ; 4 or 5 machines - where I first played solid state machines late 70s early 80s - RIP
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I frequented some of those places JD.Mostly Burwood snooker room,although I can't remember AC/DC being there.Ashfield snooker room and Campsie snooker room.
Other arcades I liked were at "The Entrance" on the central coast.Ful-o-fun,The Esquire and others that i can't remember the names of.Pins were everywhere.
Yea the entrance was great. Went to that place near the picture cinema with the kids the other day and half the machines were broken and it is really on it's last legs. Unfortunate!
Not sure If I would be keen to go to Campsie these days without the Police Riot squad standing next to me whilst I played the pinball.
Those were the days!
J.D.
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hi guys
I used to play at time zoneback in the 90s at knox city in wantirna victoria they had two pins whirlwind & black night 2000 mainly played the whirlwind also used to go to the factory of fun in dandenong vic they had lights camera action & pinbot always played both id b at ither place every week playing games & my favorate pins spent many $$$ back then still play other pins if i see them when im out!.... DAZ....
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$#$ $#$ what a great thread.i loved jackos at the bay (glenelg,sa)because of all the em`s he had.only 10 c a game,some were 5 c.centigrade37,mustang cant remember the rest.next door at the bay they had 20 c machines,new ss,wow smdm,pb later black knight,firepower,gorgar,meteor etc.then there was the famous hindley street with tilt,downtown,kalidascope and more.great venues great memories.got goose bumps and tears writing this.then there was school holidays when my mate and i would travrel to melb on the train and play pinnie all day at a place on the corner of flinders and franklin streets.i think.cant remember to much these days i was only 11-12.so overall i did`nt have a favourite parlor as i enjoyed them all.ps bought my first pin at 13 yrs old.
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Actually ANY place that had pins during the late 1960s to the early 1980s was a fave for me.....
They were like drugs back in that time....on pushbikes all over the place just to play more games.
In Bulli (small seaside town) during the 1970s there were FOUR places that had pins....a total of around 30 games and that didn't include the EM arcade games and the games in my collection :lol
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An indoor cricket/soccer centre around the corner from my parents opened when i was 12. This was the first time i had somewhere close-by, before that having to ride for 4kms in either direction to play arcade games with no money !@).
Anyway, they had a Star Trek that was there for years, Six Million $man for a while (hardly ever worked), Future Spa for a while (never worked), Xeviuos (my favourite arcade game), a coffee table Gyruss that i trashed by shaking it to try get free games (my second favourite arcade game). About a year after that they bought in a KISS which was there for years. Replay was on the Kiss was 120k, so, i'd ride around with 20c, score a credit (most times), and just keep racking credits and play all day, then leave the machine full of credits to the younger kids. Besides that just a some scattered machines around a couple of take-away stores, and that's where i met Gorgar. I use to also love playing ALI, i'll hopefully own one oneday %$%.
Brad,
Was that in Wollongong?
Which Indoor centre was it?the one at North Gong? I'm sure I know the ones - John Medin used to be the operator there
This was in Fairy Meadow called Howzat! when the indoor cricket thing became the craze. A guy with blond hair ran the place. The building in still there now on the highway, gutted and for sale. I nearly took a photo of it today to post up but i'm flat out with work. I'm sure you'd remember it a big yellow and green building i use to nearly live there playing cricket and soccer for free when the place was empty. Never made it to the North Gong one don't know why !@#, I think that place came along a bit later. There was also a take-away shop on the highway in Fairy Meadow nicknamed 'The Pom Shop', an older 'rougher' crowd hung out there it was great. Don't know how the name came about, but it had 3-4 arcades and a pin. LOVED these places how cool.
Also a question for you Wollongong guys. Remember a place called 'Flashback' in Keira Street? I sure that was the name. I was way too young to go in there, almost like walking into a pub for me back then, i would have been about 8-9.
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Hey Brad,
Rod Kirkwood and his wife Cindy used to run that indoor cricket centre and John Medin (Southtronic Amusements of Corrimal) owned the games.
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My family used to go to Merrimbula for the September school holidays, my cousin and I would get pocket money for doing the dishes every night after dinner so we spent every day at Top Fun. It was mostly arcade machines, but there was always a couple of pins too. I was so crap at playing pinball (nothing's changed) that I didn't spend too much money on them but was happy to watch others chasing the elusive silver ball. My memory is a bit blurry, but I can remember there was a High Speed, a Funhouse and an Addams Family over the years. I believe Top Fun is still there, if I ever go back to Merrimbula I will be sure to check it out. My other favourite place was the second level at Timezone in Bourke Street, Melbourne. To see 20+ pinball machines lined up against the wall "in the wild" was an awesome sight, and I am glad I had the opportunity to see this in my lifetime.
Matthew
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My family used to go to Merrimbula for the September school holidays, my cousin and I would get pocket money for doing the dishes every night after dinner so we spent every day at Top Fun.
Yeah Matt,
It's still there and pinball wise very sad.
I went in there not long ago with my wife and kids and actually for the first time in my life felt old :lol
What I could gather is they still have a stash of 'old school' pinballs but were hard pressed to give out more info....I just couldn't be bothered playing their game and left :D
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My family used to go to Merrimbula for the September school holidays, my cousin and I would get pocket money for doing the dishes every night after dinner so we spent every day at Top Fun.
Yeah Matt,
It's still there and pinball wise very sad.
I went in there not long ago with my wife and kids and actually for the first time in my life felt old :lol
What I could gather is they still have a stash of 'old school' pinballs but were hard pressed to give out more info....I just couldn't be bothered playing their game and left :D
Did you try sticking a wad of $50 bills under their noses?
It's surprising how that manages to prise out info sometimes...
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in the early eighties The Keon Park AMF was my favorite place. When it first opened there was about 4 or 5 video games but the rest of the games were pins. there was a mixture of EM's and SS pins.
But slowly the EM's disappeared and were replaced be SS's and video games, but at least they had a decent amount of pins back then. pins like , Joker Poker, Lost World, Paragon, evil Kenevil, playboy, strikes and spares, The list just goes on.
then i discovered Top Room in edward street Reservoir (not far from Strange Ways hangout) but their was a lot more vids than pins.
then when i was about 13 I took my first trip into melbourne with out an adult and with a few other guys not much older than me (you know how it is when your a kid and you go to a big city for the first time with out your parents) I was introduced to Flash Back, 10.4, Invaders. so many pins.
a year later 10,4 and flash back then became my regular hang outl. many great pins released in those years (1984 to 1989)
if you watch the video of AC/DC (long way to the top) they go past the place which became 10,4. you cant miss it its the only building in the video that is all painted in black. !@#
"Top Room" was about 6 doors down. You went up a flight of steps, and you would see around 9 Billiard tables and a couple of snooker tables. I remember it well - it was FULL of video games. No pins - But my father has the Bingos in there for a while. It was a VERY seedy place. I think the police shut it down eventually - after all - the cop shop was almost across the road !
There was another "Top Room" in Lalor.
There was a small Fish Shop just across the road from Keon Park Station. Used to have Pinballs out the front - Williams machines - Gulf Stream, Ding Dong, Apollo and Honey. I think the owner's name was George, but Dad had the pins in there as well. I wanted the Apollo in my collection - but it didn't happen !
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in the early eighties The Keon Park AMF was my favorite place. When it first opened there was about 4 or 5 video games but the rest of the games were pins. there was a mixture of EM's and SS pins.
But slowly the EM's disappeared and were replaced be SS's and video games, but at least they had a decent amount of pins back then. pins like , Joker Poker, Lost World, Paragon, evil Kenevil, playboy, strikes and spares, The list just goes on.
then i discovered Top Room in edward street Reservoir (not far from Strange Ways hangout) but their was a lot more vids than pins.
then when i was about 13 I took my first trip into melbourne with out an adult and with a few other guys not much older than me (you know how it is when your a kid and you go to a big city for the first time with out your parents) I was introduced to Flash Back, 10.4, Invaders. so many pins.
a year later 10,4 and flash back then became my regular hang outl. many great pins released in those years (1984 to 1989)
if you watch the video of AC/DC (long way to the top) they go past the place which became 10,4. you cant miss it its the only building in the video that is all painted in black. !@#
"Top Room" was about 6 doors down. You went up a flight of steps, and you would see around 9 Billiard tables and a couple of snooker tables. I remember it well - it was FULL of video games. No pins - But my father has the Bingos in there for a while. It was a VERY seedy place. I think the police shut it down eventually - after all - the cop shop was almost across the road !
There was another "Top Room" in Lalor.
There was a small Fish Shop just across the road from Keon Park Station. Used to have Pinballs out the front - Williams machines - Gulf Stream, Ding Dong, Apollo and Honey. I think the owner's name was George, but Dad had the pins in there as well. I wanted the Apollo in my collection - but it didn't happen !
when i used to go to top room when you got to the top of the stairs you had vids and pins directly in front of you and to the left. but to the right all the way to the back there were billiard tables.
i remember EBD in there + centaur, fire power and a few others.
then the fish & chip shop had some bingos + a star trek pin and at one stage they had a haunted house there, they also had a galaga upright and a moon cresta cocktail.
then the pizza shop in Keon Park a couple of doors down from the state bank on Keon Pde had a couple of pins, Gorgar and Trident (when standing on the corner of Keon Pde and Johnson St. the pizza shop was on the left a couple of doors down and the fish and chip was on the right)
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Howdy all, When I was growing up in Auburn in the 60's there were a few places around. On one side of the railway station there was the 'Monte Cristo Cafe' with its red and green neon sign. They only had two machines at any one time but this is where I played all the great wedgeheads of that time ... Buckaroo, Ice review, Bank A Ball, Sweethearts, Sweet Sioux (2 or 4 player?) and more... On the other side of the tracks was 'Sam's Milkbar' where he had 3 machines side by side, as well as a couple of Bally Bingos 'in the back room'... the other notable venue in Auburn at that time was this .... opposite St Joseph's Hospital was a small general store type shop which had just one, lone pinball....would you believe it was the famous woodrail, "Daisy May". We thought it was just the easiest machine to get a replay on....from memory, when you let the ball drain between the flippers, then this lit one of the top rollovers for 'Special'. You could get 2 or 3 free games per game just by doing this!! There were other milkbar type shops in Nth Auburn (Silverwater) as well. With its name, I've often wondered what 'Silverwater' must have looked like before the days of Sims Scrap Metal, Shell Oil, and all the other big polluters had moved in and taken over that suburb. I can tell you that as ordinary at that suburb may seem, it's now a hell of a lot better than it was in the days when business used the river as its personal dumping ground.
The other fantastic pinnie parlour was the famous 'Crystal Palace' in George St Sydney, where they had 21 full sized snooker tables, as well as many pinball machines and Bally Bingos.......what a wonderful place that was. It's been so long since those days that it seems like another lifetime ago when I think back to the mid 60's. ...once a pinball fan, always a pinball fan I reckon. Cheers, Mark
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The one I used to go to the most as a kid was this one at Port Macquarrie NSW while on Chrissy holidays every year. It was owned by 2 Italian origin men , who we aptly named Mario and Luigi .. %.% . The machines weren't kept in the best condition but plenty of fun times had.
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Howdy all, When I was growing up in Auburn in the 60's there were a few places around. On one side of the railway station there was the 'Monte Cristo Cafe' with its red and green neon sign. They only had two machines at any one time but this is where I played all the great wedgeheads of that time ... Buckaroo, Ice review, Bank A Ball, Sweethearts, Sweet Sioux (2 or 4 player?) and more... On the other side of the tracks was 'Sam's Milkbar' where he had 3 machines side by side, as well as a couple of Bally Bingos 'in the back room'... the other notable venue in Auburn at that time was this .... opposite St Joseph's Hospital was a small general store type shop which had just one, lone pinball....would you believe it was the famous woodrail, "Daisy May". We thought it was just the easiest machine to get a replay on....from memory, when you let the ball drain between the flippers, then this lit one of the top rollovers for 'Special'. You could get 2 or 3 free games per game just by doing this!! There were other milkbar type shops in Nth Auburn (Silverwater) as well. With its name, I've often wondered what 'Silverwater' must have looked like before the days of Sims Scrap Metal, Shell Oil, and all the other big polluters had moved in and taken over that suburb. I can tell you that as ordinary at that suburb may seem, it's now a hell of a lot better than it was in the days when business used the river as its personal dumping ground.
The other fantastic pinnie parlour was the famous 'Crystal Palace' in George St Sydney, where they had 21 full sized snooker tables, as well as many pinball machines and Bally Bingos.......what a wonderful place that was. It's been so long since those days that it seems like another lifetime ago when I think back to the mid 60's. ...once a pinball fan, always a pinball fan I reckon. Cheers, Mark
Mark, the Milkbar on the Parramatta side of Auburn station ( nearest the station) I remember Flash and strikes and spares. I think there was also a Stern Dracula in later times! They were great and I played every day on the way to and from school.
J.D.