Pinball article in today's Newcastle Herald

[MrMaloo]

Just flicking through today's Newcastle Herald (11/1/10) and came across a pinball-related article . Good read .

[MrMaloo]

Sorry it's a bit hard to read guys ... 

[Caveoftreasures]

A good read.
A few major mistakes were made in the article.  

They said a few times that by the time the early 1980's came around, pinball was basically dead.

Shame the author of the newspaper article didnt realise that pinball machines were still selling reasonably well to the late 90's.
He didnt realise that in the early to mid 1990's that some titles sold 12 to 14 thousand units.

AND WHO SAID WE ARE A SMALL BATCH OF HARDCORE HOBBYISTS ?

Its a shame the newspaper article didnt talk about how the pinball Industry is absolutely THRIVING in Australia, TODAY !.

Anyway, we all know how friggin great and alive this industry is. And it can only get bigger i believe.      

[MrMaloo]

Yeah I think they made their first mistake with the title Cavey ...

"When pinball was king" ...

As far as I'm concerned it still is !!   

[The pinballist formally known as Dean Morgan]

Del Reiss in the photo is the owner of Bumper Action in Melbourne

[Strangeways]

It is rare to come across an article in the media to promote the hobby. Shame there was not much research done.

The 80's was ONLY the birth of the Video Game era - NOT the end of the Pinball era

Can someone remind me of when Addams Family was released and how many units were sold 

sounds like the article was written in the 80s 

[Extra Ball]

good to see pinball in the media 

[beaky]

I hope pinball lives on for years to come.
the only thing i fear is when the overseas pinball well dries up.
just think what its going to be like when the dealers cant find enough pins overseas to fill a container.
you can't tell me that this day will never come. Lets face it there were only X amount of each pin made, and out of those how many have been stripped for parts, damaged beyond repair or ended up in land fill?
 

[Extra Ball]

the only thing i fear is when the overseas pinball well dries up.
just think what its going to be like when the dealers cant find enough pins overseas to fill a container.
you can't tell me that this day will never come. Lets face it there were only X amount of each pin made, and out of those how many have been stripped for parts, damaged beyond repair or ended up in land fill?
 

What about the mum and dad buyers getting them for rumpus rooms in the last few years. In say 10 years the kids maybe sick of the machine, it will prob have died from lack of maintenance, uses too much power anyway, and will be considered a waste of space. Thats where we will score some bargains, and there will be alot of them! I wont be wrong 

[Strangeways]

I hope pinball lives on for years to come.
the only thing i fear is when the overseas pinball well dries up.
just think what its going to be like when the dealers cant find enough pins overseas to fill a container.
you can't tell me that this day will never come. Lets face it there were only X amount of each pin made, and out of those how many have been stripped for parts, damaged beyond repair or ended up in land fill?
 

I don't think that will be a problem, there are PLENTY of machines to fill the containers. I recall a dealer publishing an article that Europe was dry of pinball machines - I Think it was 3-4 years ago. If that is the case, why are there so many containers heading out of Europe destined for Australia ? It WILL dry up "one day" - but not for years. Locally, there will be PLENTY of machines changing hands. These machines are already here, and will change hands in time.

[beaky]

From what i have heard the people who are importing pins by the container load are finding it harder and harder to have thier containers filled with excellent or very good condition popular titles.
One of the fellows i know of who has been importing for a few years has said that when he first started getting container loads in it would only take a couple of weeks for the people who he is buying them off to fill a container with A grade titles in excellent condition. Now it takes 2 to 3 months to fill one with a combination of A and B grade titles in fair to good condition.
Then when they get to Australia he needs to do a lot more work to them to get them up to scratch. So he has to sell them for a higher price to pay for all the cabinet decals and playfield repairs.
It doesn't matter how much cash he offers them to get the excellent pins, they just can't find them. And it is taking longer for the overseas parties to fill the containers each time.
Most of the 'cream' is gone. So this means pin prices are going to increase if demand stays the same or increases.