The Secret Room..

[joele]

awesome story... 

[Pinlinds]

Yeah, this is an awesome story, very heartwarming.

[Caveoftreasures]

Mino, I took the mickey a little on the first post for a bit of fun, but seriously, I feel very proud for you and your Dad.
You told me once on the phone your Dad was like 90 or something and still ticking along.
I know your Dad is proud that you have left the computer industry and gone full steam ahead into fulltime Professional Pinball Restoration. He shld be proud as all of us are on here.
Its not often you and I agree on most things, but I think Australia will have to agree that the absolute talent coming out of this country is now world class.

Between Tim and yourself, we can all hold our heads high knowing that we have 2 blokes 1 million percent full of passion for what they are doing and it shows in your work.
I hope u get booked up, take on a quick few fast learning people and blow the doors off this pinball restoration business. U have worked long n hard to secure your dreams, and it comes at a great personal and family sacrifice to do it.
So, I say a huge well done, and even Cavey is proud of you as well Nino. You deserve it.

Now just make sure you and Nick take a photo and shove it up on the wall, along with every other ugly AP or AA member who pops in to say hello. Overtime it will look great seeing all the supporters the business has and a great idea to place a name against a face. cheers.  

[Freiherr]

Wow, a museum in the making for sure. Looks like your Dads route collection stood the test of time well. He sure knew what he was doing and you are one happy guy. That entry to the secret room looks mighty small so it must have been a real back breaking task to get those heavy machines in there.

[ddstoys]

Ninos dad must have been built like arnie back in the day I purchased one of his home made coin op pool tables which niño said he used to move them by himself. 

   I used 6 guys just to move the slate lol

[Strangeways]

Great story Nino, pity your dad didn't stash a NIB Kiss in there for you as well.

Two Kiss games were saved for me - I asked for them when I was a teenager. I don't know where the rest of the Kiss games ended up.

Wow, now that's one awesome pinball/games "bunker"!

Nino, a very moving and heartfelt story.  Thanks for sharing .... I am sure restoring these will be on a whole other level to you, given the sentimental attachment.

Maybe next time you catch up with you Dad for a coffee, your opening line might be ..... "So Dad, is there anything else you would like to tell me about any other hidden stash .....".  Maybe there's another time vault waiting for you somewhere else.

This will be the last of the games. There used to be 3-4 old boarded up shopfronts that he stored all the EM gun games and EM pinballs. There was a "Whirlybird" and "Bulldozer" that I really wanted. Some video car games are still in storage. I'll move them within the fortnight.

Ninos dad must have been built like arnie back in the day I purchased one of his home made coin op pool tables which niño said he used to move them by himself. 

   I used 6 guys just to move the slate lol

Dad's "system" involved balancing the slate while moving it on a purpose built trolley (which you might have seen). The tables themselves were designed and built by Dad. He still has the templates and tooling to remake Billiard Tables and Soccer Tables.

Moving the table ;

The system he designed to remove the slate was with a custom built trolley jack and a short metal bar. The bar was inserted through a hole in the bottom of the table, are rested against a timber beam under the slate. The jack was raised, separating the upper part with the slate and the base. When it was high enough, he placed a roller that were wider than the base. So one side was raised and he repeated for the other side. Now the slate was on rollers and was rolled slowly off the table by using it's own weight to balance it. The stale was rotated on its side and placed on the trolley upright. Using the weight of the trolley, it could be moved to the truck. The truck had a custom built frame that was similar dimensions to the base of the table. The slate is then moved into the back of the truck with the same roller system that removed it. It was then anchored and the base was moved and placed upside down on top of another custom frame that sat on the slate. He then drove off with the table !

Thanks for all the other kind words !

I'm picking up the rest of the games on Sunday - so I'll post more pictures.

[ddstoys]

I don't remember seeing the trolley but you did explain it to me I still have the roller and have used it many many times

[goodolddays]

awesome find and fantastic story Nino .  Would have been a very special day for you for sure

[Strangeways]

The return to the "Secret Room" was highly successful and very heavy ! With the help of MartyJ and Greg, we moved the remaining bodies, four heads and some boxes of parts to the factory. This required a couple of trips, but the eventual "Haul" was much better than expected ;

What I have are four matching games ;

Cypress Gardens - Original playfield and cabinet. Plexiglass backglass
Show Time - Original (beautiful) backglass and cabinet. Original playfield with a diamond painted on to it.
Beach Time - Plastics translite. Original cabinet and playfield playfield but with painted lines
Beach Time - Original backglass (possibly copy). Original cabinet and beautiful playfield.

Now the backglass are interesting. There are several variants;

Original backglass. Often these BGs were smashed. The surviving ones were covered by "outer" tempered glass.
Plexiglass. Dad made several copies on plexiglass of each title he owned
Translite. This is a plastic copy of the plexiglass. Still good.

Pictures ;

The two "Beach Time" games. Original glass on the right. Translite on the left. Head artwork original.




Cypress Gardens and Show Time. Show Time is original, Cypress Gardens is a Plexiglass version.





The artwork is simply amazing. Dad has around 20 original backglasses in storage and also many plexiglass and translites. So hopefully, I'll be able to have 4 original backglasses soon.

Cypress Gardens lower cabinet. Playfield is AMAZING for a 60 year old game.





The cabinet has the trademark stainless steel protection. The artwork should be intact underneath.





The second Beach Time - immaculate. Just stunning artwork.





The legs and parts I'll sort out and take photos. All in all, this find is amazing and much more than I expected. The excitement surpasses any container day I've ever attended. This is a week I'll never forget.

The future of these games is that I promised a game each to two very good pinball friends. I'm keeping two to be restored with my father and they will go alongside the Miami Beach that we restored 10-15 years ago.

[ddstoys]

There unreal Niño your dad is a legend.   If you decide to keep the cypres garden I have a really nice glass Backglass you can have ;)

[dealers choice]

Thats just amazing Nino. its great to see pictures of these awesome examples of machines that have been stored for so long.

[ddstoys]

[pinball god]

omg that is nice mate

[Limorange]

What an awesome story! That's some Indianna Jones stuff right there, or Captain Jack Sparrow sailing the seas with a compass and a map to uncover that hidden treasure.
True stories like that don't come around very often. People on here will be talking about this in years to come.
Thank you Nino for sharing.

[Strangeways]

There unreal Niño your dad is a legend.   If you decide to keep the cypres garden I have a really nice glass Backglass you can have ;)

Cheers mate - most likely it came out of one of Dad's games.

One of these GAMES is reserved for you and also Gavin. I'm keeping two for my personal collection to sit next to the Miami Beach. The Maimi Beach playfield was a Key West playfield, so that needs to be replaced !