Author Topic: Sunday Pinball Questionaire - part 2 - pinnies4me  (Read 2684 times)

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Offline illawarra_steelers

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Sunday Pinball Questionaire - part 2 - pinnies4me
« on: December 20, 2008, 04:30:46 PM »
Nick, over to you  ^^^

1. Earliest pinball memory?
2. All time favourite pin? Why?
3. Favourite pinball manufacture?
4. Favourite game in your collection? Why?
5. How long have you been collecting?
6. First game and how did you find it?
7. Do you still have it?
8. What are you currently working on?
9. Most wanted game to add to your collection?
10. Best all time bargain game added to your collection?
11. Worst ever miss – tell us about the one that got away!
12. Worst ever purchase – tell us about the game you wished you never bought
13. Describe your collection
14. Describe your gamesroom
15. Do you have other games other than pinball?
16. Where can you see the hobby in 10 years?

Offline pinnies4me

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Re: Sunday Pinball Questionaire - part 2 - pinnies4me
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2008, 01:02:11 AM »
1. Earliest pinball memory?

Plying at the Milk Bar on my paper run when I was maybe 9 or 10, and the games were 20 cents!

2. All time favourite pin? Why?

Tonight I decided that it is probably Funhouse (but that might change as it usually does). There is an amazing subtlety in its design that I am  only just starting to fully appreciate. The way the upper loop can't help but get faster at each combo (and how I am never going to beat the four I had once);  the way a failed upper loop shot or other return from that area will flow off the guide and come nicely to a left flipper shot if you leave it be; how a shot to the magic mirror can be made from the left flipper, deflecting ever so slightly off the Super Dog targets; the fun and extra dimension that the Steps shooter rod adds; Rudy’s friendliness and slow decline to becoming your adversary; the great light show for Super Frenzy;  the colours... there’s more but I need to answer the other questions!

3. Favourite pinball manufacture?

Gene Cunningham for bringing BBB to life. That, on its own, was such an achievement to warrant a very special place in history.

4. Favourite game in your collection? Why?

Today – Funhouse for the reasons above. Tomorrow probably AFM as it is the ultimate DMD in my opinion.

5. How long have you been collecting?

Seven years.

6. First game and how did you find it?

Set out to find the game I loved to play in 1980 – Time Warp. Spent nearly a year with no success, then in the space of two weeks located one in each of Melbourne, Perth, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane! Ended up with the Brisbane game as my brother was five minutes down the road and checked it out for me, and with shipping was way cheaper than the local one!

7. Do you still have it?

Yep! It’s over at a mate’s house as we move towards our house shift (easier if the games are farmed out prior, and that way some buddies get a month or two of fun). The sound board has died though, and I’ve done what I can but will need to call in the experts.

8. What are you currently working on?

Finding a job...   !!!

Aside from that, I’ve gone a little quiet over the last couple of months due to a house sale and purchase and not feeling like adding to the number of games I need to move. I was doing a Close Encounters until I packed it up, but there’s still a little bit to go (if I ever find that damn plastic I need! :)

9. Most wanted game to add to your collection?

Kingpin. Pretty unlikely now though given the economic climate in the US (and I’ll need a job first!)

10. Best all time bargain game added to your collection?

Asteroid Annie – got it cheaply as it has no backglass. Had the backglass here from Kentucky USA before the game arrived from interstate... (The backglass cost more than the rest of the game! Hell of a lucky find though to get a glass at all)

11. Worst ever miss – tell us about the one that got away!

I have been lucky enough to have had the chance over time to obtain each game that I decided I wanted. I **nearly** missed out on BBB. When it was announced I was skeptical and way too new to the hobby to jump in. Luckily I snapped the first one to be offered up for sale after they were about six months into the project, and was the only “factory approved” transfer, before Gene decided that given the waiting list, he would not approve any further transfers, so if someone wanted out he would refund at the original price and provide a waiting list person the game at the original price.

12. Worst ever purchase – tell us about the game you wished you never bought

Coincidently I just posted on this very same, so I’ll add it here -

The Empire Strikes Back


If you manage to find one of these rare machines...

.

.

RUN!!!! As fast as your legs will take you ****in the other direction!*****

I owned one for a while. "Owned" - past tense. The happiest moment of my
pinball life was waving goodbye to it.

If you're a Star Wars buff, well that's different, a curious piece of
history, and the fact that it's the only machine that actually came out
during the original trilogy, I did find that it had genuine nostalgia
surrounding it, and it did remind me of those fun days of the first movies.

There's about one a week on Aussie ebay. Not bad when there were only 350 of
them! So if you want one, pretty easy to get one from here (but with the
dollar value, not good at the moment, although that dollar is making parts
for us Aussies super cheap).

But if you love playing, you will not love this. The main problems - way too
slow and the shots are poorly laid out. There are six targets directly in
front of the flippers in the middle of the playfield. Way too close, get
destroyed right away, and cause the only fast part of this game to occur -
the direct return of the ball to the flippers if you're lucky, but usually
SDTM (and usually accompanied by small pieces of former target). There is a
shot to the right to return to the inlane that cannot be made with skill,
just luck (ie a crap shot bouncing off something - usually a small piece of
former target plastic.... :)


13. Describe your collection

Dominated by Gottliebs for which I have a special liking. About half DMD/alphanumeric and the rest 1880 or older. I have nothing made between 1981 and 1989, so might need to select one to round things out, and also an EM to provide completeness.

14. Describe your gamesroom

A bloody disaster at the moment! Got a couple in what was the nursery, a few in my study, and the rest spread out with friends.

The NEW gamesroom is the massive rumpus room in the new house, plus a side room for expansion!


15. Do you have other games other than pinball?

A 39 in 1 video, mostly bought for my love of Moon Cresta, and rarely played these days, The girls ask me to turn it on from time to time to “Play the jellyfish game please Daddy” (Ms Pacman).

16. Where can you see the hobby in 10 years?

Turning to my crystal balls I see -

The hobby will be fine, but there will no longer be a “real” manufacturer (ie Stern) I suspect. Their current product is petty good, and some of the titles will become classics by then (LOTR, TSPP, possibly SM).

The hobbyist will keep the current games alive well into the next generation, after that they next gen might find them a little too odd and difficult to maintain.

Some cottage industry manufacture will spring up (ie like what Gene Cunningham did for BBB) perhaps using more modern thinking in design. Most efforts will not be financially rewarding except for the Aussie one, but people will try.

Nuggy will be the only pinball factory owner on the planet (the Aussie one mentioned above).

The Coconut Island Prototype will sell on Ebay for $18, 337.22 US to a collector.  &&



« Last Edit: December 21, 2008, 09:24:26 PM by pinnies4me »
“If you wanna escape, go up to a pinball machine. There’s a magic button on the front that takes you to a world under the glass and makes the the rest of the universe disappear.”

Offline Strangeways

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Re: Sunday Pinball Questionaire - part 2 - pinnies4me
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2008, 11:15:08 AM »


Good One, Nick - and yes - everyone needs an EM. That's a fact of life.

Funhouse is another game I really didn't appreciate until having a bash on Dave's. I'm really starting to like this game, and I can see why people like it. AFM - MarkC had an absolutely mint one a few months ago, and I played it for at least an hour. You don't usually see many of these around.

Does that $18,337.32 include GST ?

Thanks for sharing !
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Offline Extra Ball

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Re: Sunday Pinball Questionaire - part 2 - pinnies4me
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2008, 11:42:24 AM »
Ty for sharing. Wow you hate Empire Strikes Back, its one game I would love to own. Admittedly I havent played it....shame if its dog because looks are not enough, they gotta play good. 2 cent a game of pinball... I can only remember 10cents on EMs, and most machines were 20.
Good luck on getting a job (am after one myself).
:)

Offline Creech

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Re: Sunday Pinball Questionaire - part 2 - pinnies4me
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2008, 11:48:54 AM »
Well done Nick - nice writeup. I think I remember 10c a game but 2c a game - WOW!

Offline illawarra_steelers

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Re: Sunday Pinball Questionaire - part 2 - pinnies4me
« Reply #5 on: December 21, 2008, 09:01:18 PM »
Hey Nick,

Thanks for putting in the time to do this, just shows that we each have a totally different story to share - I really enjoyed reading your answers!  ^^^

Funhouse - what a game! I can remember knocking back one of these for $600 about 8 years ago! Do'h!

I'm pretty sure the 2 cents a game is a typo - that should read 20 cents a game?

I can remember the games in the 1960s being 5 cents a game and my games from the late 40s and 1950s are all set up at 5 cents a game.

« Last Edit: December 21, 2008, 09:03:04 PM by illawarra_steelers »

Offline pinnies4me

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Re: Sunday Pinball Questionaire - part 2 - pinnies4me
« Reply #6 on: December 21, 2008, 09:28:27 PM »
You're right Tony, 20 cents (amended above) but I think you got a couple of credits for that - pretty sure 10 cents got a single game.

As an aside, the milk bar frontage is still there, but it's now part of a yuppie house. I recall acting for the people selling it about ten years ago, they'd had to keep the milk bar facade to satisfy a heritage overlay requirement, so knocked down everything except the street frontage walls and built a new house onto that.

I won't go look at it though as I have my memory of the place I cut my teeth on pins, and plan to keep that memory intact! :)
“If you wanna escape, go up to a pinball machine. There’s a magic button on the front that takes you to a world under the glass and makes the the rest of the universe disappear.”

Offline illawarra_steelers

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Re: Sunday Pinball Questionaire - part 2 - pinnies4me
« Reply #7 on: December 21, 2008, 09:39:09 PM »
Yes, around 1977/8 when the games went to 20 cents a game

Before that and also the older EM pins where 10 cents a game or 3 for 20 cents!

Oh take me back to those days!

Might be time to go and visit the gamesroom, crank the music, drink a few beers and take myself back to those times!

Offline ktm450

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Re: Sunday Pinball Questionaire - part 2 - pinnies4me
« Reply #8 on: December 22, 2008, 11:12:00 AM »
Great stuff Nick  ^^^
I remember when I was about 8 pins at my local milkbar were 20 cents but with my limited (read: NO) skill, ball time lasted all of 10 seconds.  Suffice to say the 20 cents, at the time, would be better spent on lollies.  Now kiddies you used to get a big bag of lollies back then for 20 cents not just 2 jelly babies like nowadays, inflation !@#  *)*

Offline Pinball Fixers

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Re: Sunday Pinball Questionaire - part 2 - pinnies4me
« Reply #9 on: January 31, 2009, 12:48:59 PM »
Great read Nick!