Author Topic: Pinballs and AFL - an unusual mix !  (Read 240 times)

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Offline Caveoftreasures

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Pinballs and AFL - an unusual mix !
« on: September 03, 2012, 10:18:19 PM »
Pinballs and AFL, a unusual mix !

On the Gold Coast, there is a large brand new fully rebuilt 150 million dollar upgraded stadium at Carrara which is the AFL home for the Gold Coast Suns AFL team I believe and it used to be the home stadium for the Brisbane Lions before they relocated years ago. They do regularly hold AFL matches at this Gold Coast stadium for the National AFL, which most of our Melbourne members would obviously follow. I believe it has been called Metricon Stadium after its building company/sponsor purchased the naming rights recently.(photo below)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrara_Stadium

In a few weeks time, there is going to be a stadium full of Cheer Leading Dance people from all over QLD attending for a Cheer Leading Competition day/weekend etc. There should be at least 300 to 400 plus people in attendance, perhaps many more, cause its open for the public etc.

(The Pinball part etc)
Anyway, I have been asked to take down and supply between 3 and 6 pinball machines for this event and I have said YES to the organisers. They tell me it will be the first time pinball machines have ever been into the stadium and set up etc. It should keep a few hundred teenage girls (mostly girls) and some teenage boys plus any parents who wish to play the pinball machines inbetween the dance routines happy/busy etc. Because Cheer Leading is a USA based sport, the pinball theme will fit in well etc and is why the organisers have asked me to attend (and I get paid for it $$ - A nice bonus).

So I have to pick between 3 and 6 machines from my home collection to take along.

I will take photos of the event and post later etc, but its good news for the pinballs to get some attention for the weekend at the AFL Stadium.
I hope to see lots of people who have never played a pinball machine playing alot ! Long Live Pinball.
« Last Edit: September 03, 2012, 10:24:04 PM by Caveoftreasures »
Behind every garage door could be a pinball collectors
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Offline swinks

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Re: Pinballs and AFL - an unusual mix !
« Reply #1 on: September 03, 2012, 10:55:57 PM »
that's great mate  @@*

what machines are you going to put in. Reckon - No Fear, AC/DC, Last Action Hero, Space Jam could be good picks out of your collection - bit of action, sports and new in the mix.

Make sure you post some pics, not often you get that chance, maybe good a good deal off AMD and put a X-Men Pro in there  &&
https://swinks.com.au

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Offline Caveoftreasures

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Re: Pinballs and AFL - an unusual mix !
« Reply #2 on: September 03, 2012, 11:18:02 PM »
was thinking for a really different mix of 6 really different titles which arent sport related but still fun

AC/DC PRO
Congo
Star Trek 25th Anniversary
Fishtales
Popeye
Godzilla

or

Star Trek Next Generation
Frankenstein
Tales from the Crypt
Black Knight 2000
Dirty Harry
Royal Rumble or
Batman Forever

You could come up with any 6 machine combos really from the 36 i still have in the newish storage racks, but I want it to be a really different spread of machines. Hmmmm, X Men from AMD, hmmm, could be a winner too, but alas, the Pro's/order wont arrive in time.   I am suppose to be selling the rest, not buying any more.lol
I will surprise everyone later with photos after the event ! (and a few machines will be sporting new mirror blades etc from Swinksy !)
« Last Edit: September 03, 2012, 11:21:27 PM by Caveoftreasures »
Behind every garage door could be a pinball collectors
"Cave of Treasures" 55 in my collection

Into  Stern -JJP - Cars , Road Bikes- Jet Skis - Star Trek n Sci-Fi & Electronics    
Beware of Stalkers & Walkers when playing The Walking Dead

My 7yr old son Hunter is my best mate in the world !

Offline v8racefan

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Re: Pinballs and AFL - an unusual mix !
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2012, 10:06:37 AM »
Pinballs and sport work well together, good to see more pins in the wild
Pinballs in my collection Elvira, Stern Grand Prix, Bally Corvette, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Judge Dredd, Black Rose and Data East Guns n Roses.

Offline Prince

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Re: Pinballs and AFL - an unusual mix !
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2012, 03:22:46 PM »
That sounds great Brett. Didn't know cheer leading has a big following here in Aust - looks promising for our girls.
Wish the comp was in November - taking the family to the Gold Coast for a holiday.

As for pins, would suggest FT, POPEYE, ACDC pro, TSPP & MB (don't know if you have these two titles).
Surely you can throw in one of those dancing arcade machines in the mix lol.

Stephen.
SC.

Offline swinks

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Re: Pinballs and AFL - an unusual mix !
« Reply #5 on: September 04, 2012, 03:27:02 PM »
That sounds great Brett. Didn't know cheer leading has a big following here in Aust - looks promising for our girls.

Our Jennifer Hawkins  &&  was the newcastle knights cheer leader
https://swinks.com.au

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Offline Caveoftreasures

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Re: Pinballs and AFL - an unusual mix !
« Reply #6 on: September 04, 2012, 10:37:42 PM »
Apparently, there are over 20,000 girls-teenagers competing in cheerleading competitions accross Australia most weeks/weekends.

And the Australian Team came 3rd in the World Championships held recently in the USA. To come 3rd in the world is a huge achievement given the money $$ that the American teams have/put into it etc. Its a massive sport in the USA. Big prize money in competitions and people can even win cars plus $ contracts like sports players to become part of a professional team.  Every sports team has a cheer leading squad at school, college and professional levels. Elite cheerleaders earn big money etc. 

It is one of the fastest growing sports for teenagers in Australia apparently. Its huge in QLD and most other states have alot of cheer academys.
If it keeps kids out of trouble and fit/healthy, its a great idea. My 2 x 12 year old girls are part of a Gold Coast squad and just won in the State finals.
The uniforms are amazing. They have many different styles and types they all wear for different routines. Anyway, keeps the kids busy.  ^^^
Behind every garage door could be a pinball collectors
"Cave of Treasures" 55 in my collection

Into  Stern -JJP - Cars , Road Bikes- Jet Skis - Star Trek n Sci-Fi & Electronics    
Beware of Stalkers & Walkers when playing The Walking Dead

My 7yr old son Hunter is my best mate in the world !

Offline Caveoftreasures

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Re: Pinballs and AFL - an unusual mix !
« Reply #7 on: September 15, 2012, 10:27:31 PM »
Just got home from a successful day at the stadium and had a few dozen people lined up all day with people waiting at the 3 machines i took to site, and had over 220 people play the machines all day long til I basically lost count. Over half had never played a Pinball machine. I asked peopl as they lined up if they knew how to play or what to do, and my brother Rob kept a tally for interest sake.
I had the machines running flat out, every second of every hour and gee they got some games put on them. I will do some photos tomorrow and see what the game counters were on each machine.

Games taken were -
AC/DC PRO - Stern
Gilligans Island - Bally
Star Trek 25th Anniversary - Data East

Anyway, photos etc for anyone interested in seeing a bit more of a successful day out with some pinnieas at the stadium.  ^^^
Behind every garage door could be a pinball collectors
"Cave of Treasures" 55 in my collection

Into  Stern -JJP - Cars , Road Bikes- Jet Skis - Star Trek n Sci-Fi & Electronics    
Beware of Stalkers & Walkers when playing The Walking Dead

My 7yr old son Hunter is my best mate in the world !

Offline swinks

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Re: Pinballs and AFL - an unusual mix !
« Reply #8 on: September 15, 2012, 11:03:58 PM »
That's great cavey, keen to see some pics, post away. ^^^
https://swinks.com.au

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Offline v8racefan

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Re: Pinballs and AFL - an unusual mix !
« Reply #9 on: September 16, 2012, 09:51:47 AM »
+ 1 for some pics

Great work Brett  $#$
Pinballs in my collection Elvira, Stern Grand Prix, Bally Corvette, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Judge Dredd, Black Rose and Data East Guns n Roses.

Offline Caveoftreasures

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Re: Pinballs and AFL - an unusual mix !
« Reply #10 on: September 16, 2012, 01:06:33 PM »
Feedback from the Show.

Ok, went out to the machines this morning and looked at the game count on each machine and was very surprised by the game numbers.

Gilligans got 354 games on it.
Star Trek 25th got 348 games on it.
AC/DC Pro got 382 games on it.

Each machine worked flawlessly, and I never had to move the glass once on any machine, do a reset or even move a stuck ball. Keeping machines serviced at home (Gilligans n Star Trek) pays off. AC/DC is brand new anyway ofcourse.

Game Usage.

Here was the surprising thing. I had a whopping 120 games only put on my AC/DC Pro from the time I bought it 4 or 5 months ago. Each gamecode update saw me reset the game usually with only about 30 games on the counter each time in 5 months.
*Yesterday, the game got basically a whole years worth of games in one day ! Impressive. But the machine worked flawlessly for over 8 hours on a 5 ball game setting, and never missed a beat. The machine still looks like it came out of th box, it doesnt even look used at all ! Stern build a dam strong game.
All I will have to do today is run some baby bum wipes over everything, give the playfield a very light wax, and presto, the game will be ready for the next 100 games which will probably take a good 6 to 12 months to rack up !

Game Audits.

Now, something i learnt when going thru the game audits on AC/DC and its 380 odd games. The left flipper was pressed 5,500 times, the right fliper 5700 apx times. The pop bumpers fired over 7300 times, and the list goes on. The game count info and audits on these new Stern machines are excellent. You can see everything about these machines, incl each and every count on each and every switch for anything electronis that fires on the playfield incl all targets, switches , you name it. Even stuff like average ball time, game time, and so on. I knew about most of this stuff being on most titles in the menu settings, but these new sterns just have every concievable menu to check out. Quiet interetsing and very detailed.

Kids N Parents Playing Pinball.

Literally dozens of parents were teaching their kids how to play pinball for the first time. The Mums n Dads loved the pinnies and alot said it brought back memories and they hadnt seen a pinny for 20 years etc, and dozens upon dozens of kids asked what those machines were with the flashing lights. Seeing dozens n dozens of kids having a rage playing machines for the first time was great. Teaching them was easy ofcourse, and they all had a ball. I must have had half a dozen dads express interest in buying a AC/DC Pinny, and the $6600 price tag didnt deter anyone at all. The dads were mostly very happy to fing out that distributors like Bruice from AMD existed. I handed out the phone number dozens of times. It was great to promote the machines and see people seriously considering buying a new game.

The day ended too quick.
A few bookings ahead without trying !

Well, at 7.30 pm after a 10 hour day I packed up and took the 3 machines home and got a big buzz out of the day. I had one father n mum book 6 x pinball machines for their sons 21st birthday coming up in December, and I had a Dad arrange to get 4 machines from me for his 50th Birthday coming up at mid November. Both are local to me. I havent rented machines before for a party etc, but i said it was $350 for 3 machines picked up n dropped off til sat morn to sat midnight (or sunday morn)  for the 50th birthday party, the guy was fine with that. So aquick $350 for a bit of work for 3 machines.
The 21st birthday for 6 machines was $500 for the same time period and they were very happy with that. The 21st birthday people had asked about hiring sega driving car games for the same period and were quoted double what i said for only 1 machine by a local operator. So my quote was cheap and they get 6 machines of their choosing.

The 50th birthday bloke was stoked with the price and said his last jumping castle for the kids was the same price and he felt like the pinnies would impress all his birthday party peoples alot for the $350 price. The 21st party for $500 is happy as well. So i might have found a quick n easy side business for some easy cash. I have the use of a toyota ute which can carry 3 machines easy and the trolley lifts higher than the ute so delivery etc is a breeze. I have moved 100 machines in my time easily, so a few here n there is easy most of the time.

Anyway, a great weekend for showing off the pinnys and a great way to meet new people and hopefully some more gold coast people will end up buying some new AC/DC Sterns. It was a fantastic day out and seeing pinnies at this location for the first time ever was great.
  Maybe a Gold Coast pinny show might be on the cards sooner or later. Wouldnt be hard to pack that venue out and I am talking with the stadium operator who asked about booking machines for when the AFL is on, and doing a cash/financial deal if I put games on with coin mechs at a few bucks a game, and he will organise the space again at their cost. That would see any amount of machines being played non stop with over 20,000 footy fans taking advantage of pinball machines being on site. The location is right next to the catering area which is packed with people n tables n chairs etc. Might be something coming up ! See what happens.
(photos still to come)
« Last Edit: September 16, 2012, 01:18:33 PM by Caveoftreasures »
Behind every garage door could be a pinball collectors
"Cave of Treasures" 55 in my collection

Into  Stern -JJP - Cars , Road Bikes- Jet Skis - Star Trek n Sci-Fi & Electronics    
Beware of Stalkers & Walkers when playing The Walking Dead

My 7yr old son Hunter is my best mate in the world !