The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => General Discussion => Meets & Gatherings => Topic started by: Replicas on September 01, 2010, 09:34:04 AM
-
Hi Guys
This years guest designer at our Pinball Party was Dennis Nordman, and what a swell guy he was. You could not wish to meet a nicer person, as well as signing all sorts of stuff which included playfields, manuals, flyers and plastics he took the time out to have a conversation with you. And seeing it was his first time outside the U.S. he really enjoyed himself.
Great Guy.
Here's a couple of pictures of Dennis and myself with my Whitewater which he kindly signed the translight. (notice the polo shirt I am wearing)
Darren.
-
Cool polo shirt ^^^
I've yet to meet a designer. If I had a choice, I'd like to meet John Trudeau and ask him how he designed GTB Spirit and how he came up with that funky ruleset. He also designed CFTBL - another great title.
Did he tell you any interesting stories ?
-
Cool polo shirt ^^^
I've yet to meet a designer. If I had a choice, I'd like to meet John Trudeau and ask him how he designed GTB Spirit and how he came up with that funky ruleset. He also designed CFTBL - another great title.
Did he tell you any interesting stories ?
Nino
Spoke to him for ages about Elvira and how much fun she was to work with on both pinballs, also one thing I did not know was that Dennis had left Bally/Williams just before Scared Stiff was launched , thus missing out on the launch party. But he did have a rare video of the party itself that one of the staff filmed,not many people have seen this and we where very lucky to get to watch it. Also when you look at the Whitewater translight you will notice a truck in the distance, well that is Dennis's own Dodge panel van, which he still owns.
He is now designing custom made doll houses as well as the Whola Nellie project.
I consider myself very lucky, this year it was Dennis, Last year it was Steve Richie and the year before that it was my personal favorite designer John Trudeua all of them where the nicest people you could wish to meet.
We all got a great deal of pleasure from meeting these guys yet they can't seem to see just what interests us so much in a job that they used to have a few years ago. To them it was just a job which they enjoyed doing, to us its a job we would die for. What a weird sensation having people asking you loads of strange questions about the job you once had at a pinball factory.
Hope you guys down under can do something similar when you have your next expo. Its a real buzz to meet one of your favorite pinball designers.
Darren.
-
If I recall, John was at an Expo (had to be in the UK) with a Spirit pinball. There was a photo of him standing in front of it.
I think the plan for the Oz Expo is to bring over a designer. That would be very interesting.
-
If I recall, John was at an Expo (had to be in the UK) with a Spirit pinball. There was a photo of him standing in front of it.
I think the plan for the Oz Expo is to bring over a designer. That would be very interesting.
Nino
That would have been our 2008 show here in the U.K.
Sounds like he is one of your favorite designers and it seems like you have a soft spot for his machine Spirit, So here is a picture of him playing the game. Taken at our 2008 show.
Darren.
-
Your being spoiled Nino - another Spirit bit of history to add to the collection!
-
Thanks Darren - Another picture of John playing a Spirit. I'm getting spolied at the moment, but I know others will be enjoying the pictures. Spirit is a game that I've wanted for many years and I gave up on them years ago until Childs brought in TWO - which I both snapped up and as soon as Pascal Janin has written the code for the SYS80 "all in one" to support Spirit - Then I'll be buying two boards and starting a restore thread !
Outstanding machine. Seldom gets the credit it deserves, because they are hard to track down and play !