5. How long have you been collecting?
Since 1981 – see next 2 answers.
6. First game and how did you find it?
I bought my first machine in 1981 at the Luna Park auction. It was a Gottlieb Aquarius and I paid $150 for it at the time. I’ll post the receipt. My only disappointment was that someone nicked the little engraved plate that said “Luna Park 1935-1981” from it.
7. Do you still have it?
Yes. That machine has been with me for over 27 years. I survived years in a leaky shed, being moved from house to house and being unplayed for years. When I was single, it was in the back room of my house. I would play it for hours. A friend of mine would come around some Saturday nights and we would have the radio on 2WS’s “Jukebox Saturday Night”, play the Aquarius, drink in moderation and have a great time. On the backbox we would write our high scores, etc. I’ve never rubbed them out. Fast forward to 2006. Aquarius has been neglected for years. My son asked one day if we could get “that old pinball out of the garage and see if it would work”. I fired it up but the score motor just kept ticking over. At this stage I had never heard of This Old Pinball, Clay’s repair guide, Shaggy & Norm’s dvds and had no idea about where to start repairing a pin. I thought about getting rid of it but my wife encouraged me to keep it and get it fixed (she is just fantastic!!). I looked in the phone book and found several pin repairers. For some reason (I call it Divine Providence), I picked “Pinball Master” and next thing I’m talking with Michael Shalhoub. Again, no idea who he was but within 2 minutes of talking with him, I knew I had struck gold. Michael came and gave the Aquarius an overhaul and it continues to work without fault today. I purchased two of Michael’s compendiums (1930s-1960s and 1970-1981) and kept in touch. It was Michael who recommended I look for a 2 player game as my son John was interested in playing pins, and as we all know, “it’s more fun to compete”. I went to an auction on 10 December 2006 at Annandale and bought Jungle Princess for $900. At the time I thought this was a bit high, but at the end of the day it was the machine I wanted and it was in good shape. At that same auction a 1960 Lite a Card was passed in. I gave serious thought to buying it but didn’t go ahead – after all, I’d just bought the Jungle Princess. (Some time later, I told this story to a pin collector I came to know – he said that Lite A Card was a dog of a machine and I did the right thing not to chase it – it made me feel better) I was now the owner of two Gottlieb EMs and thought I better learn a little about looking after them. I thank the geeks who invented the internet. Somehow I find the Marvin3m site and the link to This Old Pinball. Next I’ve downloaded the EM repair guide and ordering a TOP dvd. Somewhere in there I email both Shaggy and Norm with a question. Norm gives me a reply, then follows up. This began a friendship that has grown stronger every year. It is remarkable the parallels we have shared in life and the things we have exchanged over the years. I count meeting Michael Shalhoub as my first bit of luck through pins. My second was meeting Jim (“Norm”). My third was meeting Tony Mather. More of that later ...
So, armed with Clay’s repair guide and having watched TOP #1, I was ready to take on a project. I bought off ebay a dismantled Gottlieb Pro Football. My son John and I began the task of rebuilding it. We got it to the point we could plug it in and did – it was semi-dead. I checked every fuse, followed wires (reading schematics is still beyond me – I wish someone would do a Dummy’s Guide to Reading EM Schematics and Using a Multimeter. Nothing. Michael Shalhoub was away so I called a pin monkey who was pretty ordinary – but he did find the problem; the slam switch in the cabinet was bent enough to make contact – why had I not spotted that??!! We were left with stripping a bodgey paint job off the cabinet and some final fine tuning, but never finished.
In trying to find a substitute pin repairer, I contacted “Rod”. He told me he only worked on solid state machines. We talked of some time, he seemed like a genuine person and I mentioned how much I loved 70s Gottlieb machines. Not long after, Rod rings me. He had been contacted by an old lady who was moving house and her son’s 2 pinball machines that had been there for 20 years had to go – was he interested in buying them. Rod said no, but put the lady and me in contact. I phoned to find there was a Pioneer and a Super Spin. Down I drove to Brighton Le Sands and bought both on the spot. Somehow I squeezed them in the vehicle with son John riding home with the Pioneer lightbox on his lap.
Both machines had minor problems and from here I made my first purchase with Pinball Resource. I took the risk of sending cash as I had some US dollars left over from a trip. All went well and the cash made it to Steve Young and my pinball parts arrived in the mail. I got both machines working beautifully. I now knew how to rebuild a bonus stepper unit, pop bumpers and flippers.
Pinball was becoming a real hobby. I would go to auctions, scan ebay just about daily and watch or listen to TOP radio and dvds (Jim has provided some great stuff). I see on ebay a Snow Derby cabinet that I think could be useful for spare parts. Next thing I’m driving to Newcastle and meet the Slevbro and pick up the Snow Derby. The Slev’s shed / gamesroom was great. They told me about the Aussie Arcade site and here I find that there are a whole lotta people just like me out there with a love of pinball.
I continued to watch ebay and see bits and pieces being sold by someone known as “Illawarra_Steelers”. No idea who this could be. I buy some old flippers and bumper caps from him. Next thing we are exchanging emails and at some point Tony sends me a picture of his gamesroom. I thought this is what heaven will look like if I ever get there. Tony’s passion for pins and their history is phenomenal. When the opportunity came to purchase two pins (High Hand and Volley) from him, I took it without question. I felt an instant trust. So, off John and I go driving towards Wollongong to pick up the machines. Tony invites us into his gamesroom – it was even better than what was shown in the picture. We spent the afternoon playing pins and shooters. Tony and I had a common love of Luna Park. He showed me a dvd of its history that was sensational. Tony also introduced me to Aussie Pinball. This is the best pinball forum I have been involved in.
So that’s my collection: Aquarius (1970), Jungle Princess (1977), Super Spin (1977), Pioneer (1976), Pro Football (1973), Volley (1976) and High Hand (1973).
