Underbelly and Pinballs

[Wotto]

Anyone notice the machines in Robert Trimboles shed.
Didn’t realise he used to be an ‘operator’ !!
Wonder if anyone owns any of his old pins.

I used to deal weekly with both George Freeman and also Lenny McPherson, I was only 18-20 years old at the time and was told by my bosses they were ‘just bookmakers’…and to this day I still thought that was true. So I think I may find this series rather interesting as I have already discovered Geroge was certainly not ‘just a bookmaker’. I had heard stories that Lenny was not a book-maker.

[bobaloobus]

I was watching underbelly last night on tele & noticed a few old em's - surfer, boomerang & a few others.
Always get a kick out of seeing pins on the big screen or tele  & try & look for there titles.

Was wondering if anyone here may have supplied these for the film set....?

[Creech]

When I saw the pinnies in Trimbole's shed I immediately thought WTF? I mean why would he dabble in operating pinballs compared to what else he was up to. Just found it a little odd. Nice surprise to see a row of pinnies though.

[Creech]

Topics merged. Looks like Wotto and bobaloobus were thinking the same thing.

[bobaloobus]

Yeah, sorry about that,must have been typing around the same time.

Trimbole was a devious bloke, more than likely he had machines scattered all over pubs in the area, a good way to stay in touch with his crims

[tonyt]

Be interesting to get one from his old collection, you never know what you might find inside the cabinet

[ktm450]

When I saw the pinnies in Trimbole's shed I immediately thought WTF? I mean why would he dabble in operating pinballs compared to what else he was up to. Just found it a little odd. Nice surprise to see a row of pinnies though.

+1 This guy had shitloads of dodgy cash rolling in why would he waste time keeping pins running on site?
Great to see pins on mainstream TV though, especially EMs

[Strangeways]

Trimbole was an Operator, or had something to do with operators  - I know that as I used to hear the name often when I was younger.

There were many crims involved back in the day. Even up to the late eighties when the video poker machines were "hidden" out the back of Coffee shops behind a curtain.

Some of the stories back in those days 


Even a Victorian Parliamentary Minister was involved

[stuba]

the beancounter in me thinks that being a pinball op might have been a good way to wash cash...

[Strangeways]

the beancounter in me thinks that being a pinball op might have been a good way to wash cash...

coinage back those days was very dirty 

[Docpinball]

Yes, back in the seventies and eighties there were always two types of operators. The clean operator who ran legitimately and the other type for whom the pinball machine was just a front for major money making gambling machines.

We always new which locations to approach to try to place a pinball in and which ones you never approached if you wanted to stay healthy.  It as very clear cut.

Happily those days are long gone, and we have all worked really hard to present pinball as a family freindly machine, so in a way it is a shame to have the stigma return in the series(although I did laugh when I saw the machines in Trimboles shed).