It is interesting to see the different opinions so far. I will throw my two cents worth in. I saw a Fishtales for the first time ever, apx 3 yrs ago. I walked into a building and saw a FISHTALES that had just been fully re-decalled the day before and had also been fully shopped, making the pinball machine like new.
My first reaction was that "only fishermen" would like that style/look of pinball machine, and that the pinball marketing people must have designed a pinball machine to specifically appeal to people who like fishing. (I hate fishing). The owner of the pinball company told me that they had made 11,000 or 13,000 or something like that apx, and that he had orders for 7 more that he was doing up. He turned the machine on, and said have a game. The lightshow on the playfield was way cool with the reds n greens etc, and the dot-matrix display and audio was excellent.
I went and bought one. I love it. It is alot of fun. The topper is way cool, and the game and missions are excellent. Whenever u see a FISHTALES for sale, it sells very quickly and at good money. **To appreciate this game, you have to fully re-decal the machine (which I did) and make sure the playfield has been stripped, and cleaned and polished/waxed, with all new rubbers n globes added etc. With the machine fully shopped, the playfield colours n lightshow will impress anyone. A keeper for me.