I remember the days when Pinball dominated the Arcades and the Cafe's etc.. I also vividly remember the 4 NIB Midway "Space Invaders" that turned up in the Workshop one day.. Then the Car Games - "Demolition Derby", "Le Mans", "Sprint 1", "Basketball"...etc. Slowly the Pins were coming off site and into storage.. By the time "Asteroids" and "Pac Man" were on location, there was a fierce battle raging for floorspace, and Arcade games were slowly winning the race..
Pinheads love seeing "Warehouse Raids" - Storage areas FULL of Pinballs.. I had my 21st Birthday in 1991, and I had it at Dad's double story Factory - Upstairs.. It could hold 100 people easy.. DOWNSTAIRS - Was FULL of stacked Pinballs. You could only walk the rows.. There were Gun Games, Car Games, Pinballs, EM Arcade Games... 30m X 70m FULL of machines... Rendered derelict by Arcade Games.. There was only a sprinkling of Pinballs left on Location - Maybe 30.. The rest were Arcade Games..
Fast Forward to Today - The Pinnies are gone.. I have what is left... But how about this for Irony... By 1995, the Downstairs section was empty. All the pins etc were sold, given to charities etc, or thrown in landfill. The Business closed, and all the machines on location were picked up and stored in another, much smaller building. Whats left of an Amusement Machine Business that started in the early sixties, sits in there.. But all the good stuff is gone.... What is left is the VIDEOS... Around 100 PCBs, Tabletops and uprights..and they are all "well worn" and past their "use by date".
No one wants them - and they are worth PEANUTS, because most don't work..
Nowadays, my generation want PINBALLS.. Not Videos. You were able to play Joust, Galaga, 1942 etc on the Commodore 64...For Free..Buy a late model console and you probably get the classics for free !
I don't care for Video machines as they offer no challenge and are guaranteed to be repetitive. With Pinball - No two balls are the same..
I don't hold a "grudge" against Videos, I just don't like them as much as pins - and pins take up all my attention (as a hobby). I probably get a request every week - "Can you get this pinball".. Maybe once every 6 months for a vid..
However, one day, I'd like to restore a Cocktail table or upright..
