which pinball parlour was your favourite when growing up ?

[billstats]

 &^&Does anyone remember Fonzies pinball parlour on oxford st,Sydney back in the 1980,s?, I was about 12 -13 years old when the pinball addiction started,they had some great machines -Dracula, Star Trek .Dolly parton , I remember space invaders & pacman when they first came out."Blondie"on the jukebox with the song "call me". AC/DC with"back in black" ,no electro,s just all solid state machines.....where was your local pinball machine, or parlour.back in the day ?

[illawarra_steelers]

This photo is the Bulli Beach Kiosk that is where I cut my teeth playing pinball from 1969 to around 1978 when the place burnt down. This place was even open before school! I can remember we used to walk down, play some pins, go for a surf, scronge some Coke bottles to cash in for more games.

Even when we were in primary school and the Nuns (yeah I was a good Catholic boy then ) used to march us down to the pool every Wednesday afternoon during the warmer months. There were 4 pinball junkies who used to sneak up and play the pins instead of swimming in the 'Polo Pit'. One of us used to watch for one of the Nuns while the rest of us played.

[billstats]

did they update there machines at the kiosk from year to year? I played my first electro ,in 1978 i think it was an eldorado, it had all the targets across the top of playfield ,but a lot of the electro,s back then i remember having weak flippers etc,any williams pinballs  amongst that kiosk lot tony....

[illawarra_steelers]

did they update there machines at the kiosk from year to year? I played my first electro ,in 1978 i think it was an eldorado, it had all the targets across the top of playfield ,but a lot of the electro,s back then i remember having weak flippers etc,any williams pinballs  amongst that kiosk lot tony....

There was around 12 pinballs and 5 or 6 EM arcade games such as gun games etc. There was also 2 pool tables and a soccer table. All of the games were very well looked after. The operator used to buy new EMs and nearly all of his games were no older than 5 years old.

Yep - there were Williams EMs - Olympic Hockey, Spanish Eyes, Klondike and Solids n Stripes come to mind. Then they were mostly Gottlieb's and he even had a Buckaroo there until around 1975. Can remember going for a surf with my mates and Alex (the Op) had just installed a brand new Chicago Coin Sound Stage - we all thought that was the cooooolest game back then. What were we thinking?

The place used to be packed in Summer and as mentioned it was opened before and after school as well.

Oh they were the days 

[Caveoftreasures]

Freddy Fongs takeaway shop at Reevesby, Sydney in 1978. It had a Flight of the Phoenix - Williams (brand new for 78) and a few sit down cocktail
tables. Then, i never played another pinball OR EVEN SAW ONE until december 2008.  

Absolutely amazing i could go 30 years and not even see another pinball again. but its tue, i am pissed off that I missed out totally on the hey-day of pinball machines unlike all u guys.            

too much work and too little play for 30 years. sux hey ! we will make up for it now but.

 

[billstats]

thats unreal, I vaguely remember the gun games,when i was a junior in the 1970,s ,my father would take us to Luna park ,& they had some down there ,but I think they were toward the end of there life cause they were pretty worn out

[Strangeways]

My favorite Pinball Parlor was not in fact a "Parlor" but a Coffee Shop in Edwards Street Reservoir - "Delfino's". Dad owned it in the 70's - 80's, so I spent a LOT of time there. Picture this circa 1979 ;

One wall - KISS, Paragon, Space Invaders, Mata Hari, Star Trek, Nugent, Meteor, Harlem Globetrotters, Eight Ball

Opposite Wall - Bingos - Miami Beach, Key West, Show Time, Ballarina, Cypress Gardens

Front section - World Cup and a Continental 2 Jukebox playing tunes

Lineup changed over the years, but seeing these games straight out of the box as a kid was simply awesome.

Things turned ugly when Space Invaders Upright cabinets replaced the Pinballs slowly over time. Then the cocktail tables.

[Extra Ball]

The corner shop on my way to school because it had Nugent 

[beaky]

in the early eighties The Keon Park AMF was my favorite place. When it first opened there was about 4 or 5 video games but the rest of the games were pins. there was a mixture of EM's and SS pins.
But slowly the EM's disappeared and were replaced be SS's and video games, but at least they had a decent amount of pins back then. pins like , Joker Poker, Lost World, Paragon, evil Kenevil, playboy, strikes and spares, The list just goes on.

then i discovered Top Room in edward street Reservoir (not far from Strange Ways hangout) but their was a lot more vids than pins.

then when i was about 13 I took my first trip into melbourne with out an adult and with a few other guys not much older than me (you know how it is when your a kid and you go to a big city for the first time with out your parents) I was introduced to Flash Back, 10.4, Invaders. so many pins.

a year later 10,4 and flash back then became my regular hang outl. many great pins released in those years (1984 to 1989)

if you watch the video of AC/DC (long way to the top) they go past the place which became 10,4. you cant miss it its the only building in the video that is all painted in black.

[v200juke]

The Colony in Foster. I remember the rotory merchandisers, lots of E.M gun games. pitch and bats and cool old 60s pins. Also the pinball parlour up near the beach in Newcastle with a Genco gypsy fortune teller out front.

[braddo]

An indoor cricket/soccer centre around the corner from my parents opened when i was 12. This was the first time i had somewhere close-by, before that having to ride for 4kms in either direction to play arcade games with no money .

Anyway, they had a Star Trek that was there for years, Six Million $man for a while (hardly ever worked), Future Spa for a while (never worked), Xeviuos (my favourite arcade game), a coffee table Gyruss that i trashed by shaking it to try get free games (my second favourite arcade game). About a year after that they bought in a KISS which was there for years. Replay was on the Kiss was 120k, so, i'd ride around with 20c, score a credit (most times), and just keep racking credits and play all day, then leave the machine full of credits to the younger kids. Besides that just a some scattered machines around a couple of take-away stores, and that's where i met Gorgar. I use to also love playing ALI, i'll hopefully own one oneday .

[millsy]

It all started mid 1960,s (yes the 60,s) Mum & Dad would take us to Nth Wollongong beach most Sundays -I would collect the bottles from the beach & cash them in to play the pinball at the Kiosk -6d from memory,this was the start of my pinball addiction.Most days after school were spent at the local fish shops,milk bars(Cafe's for you younger ones)-just about every one of these shops had a pinball or two.In my teenage years most Fri & Sat nights consisted of alcohol,drugs,playing pinball,snooker,pumping coins into the money machines (Bingos)then heading off to the local dance (usually ACDC,Angels etc playing & Sherbert for the girls).

[punter]

For me 1973 through to 1980 at all the milk bars,fish a chips shops ect in the Corrimal ,Wollongong areas.Place to go was the milk bar under Jacks Pool room in Corrimal.Played a stack of EM titles hence why they are my favourites.Was lucky enough to also work in the Wollongong icon of Jacks snooker room for 8 years after my father bought it.Seen and played a shit load of different pins in my time there.Nothing like getting to work early and having the place to yourself and playing anyone you wanted for nothing.What great days they were,and also made a lot of money playing pool and snooker.Got along well with the supplier of the games and many times got offerred pins for a top deal ,but i had nowhere to put them until i built the games room which was far too late for that.Can someone beam me back to the 70s please lol.

[JD]

Crystal Palace in George Street Sydney was the Go! Great place to play and hang out.
Across the road to Hoyts and then back again for another go on the pinnies.

All the great 70's classics like; Kiss, Playboy, Joker Poker, Strikes and Spares, Sinbad, and Surfer. You would walk down the stairs to a smoke filled room and play 70's pinnies which were all around the walls on a shelf like arrangement. I have tried to get some pics but no good so far. Wotto's Hoyts pics are as close as I can see.

Queen Street Croydon in Sydney 1978 Playboy and Mata Hari.
Burwood pool room on Burwood Road where AC/DC used to practice. Kiss and Playboy.
Ashfield pool room alongside the arts center. Kiss and Playboy

Not to mention just about every takeaway in the Western Suburbs of Sydney.

Where has it all gone? My games room has a few. More to go!


J.D.    

[justwedgeheads]

I frequented some of those places JD.Mostly Burwood snooker room,although I can't remember AC/DC being there.Ashfield snooker room and Campsie snooker room.
Other arcades I liked were at "The Entrance" on the central coast.Ful-o-fun,The Esquire and others that i can't remember the names of.Pins were everywhere.