Members who have sited Pinballs?

[Olivia_jason]

who here has a pinball in their shop or in other in friends shops or what not?
I have a pin in our cafe, gets played allot, and those who don't play it attracts allot of attention with people standing their looking at it or talking about it.
from kids who never seen one before to adults who talk about how they use to be "pinball wizards" back in the day lol. my machine is just an average machine but it doesn't seem to matter every one is interested by it. doesn't seem to matte the title as long as its pinball it seems to bring allot of conversation as people haven't seen one for a long time or never seen one. lol
then i hear allot of people say they want one after playing it.

wondering if this would help get new people to pinball or people back into pinball, with more machines being seen by the public?
as i only got into pinball less than a year ago, because i played a sited pinball @ Aussieworld which was the first pinball i had seen sited for about 10 years. that dollar i spent for a few balls, laid way for the addiction, now i have three machines
as they say with cars " drive it dont hide it"

[Cow Corner]

Having more machines on site is fantastic for me as there are quite a few more around in the pubs and clubs then 18 months or so ago.
It has decreased my desire to buy more machines and now I can focus towards more imporatnt goals, before I was always doing the what am I buying next routine.... Now I can get a quick pinball fix at a few different pubs with my mates anytime I want while still having one at home and the variety of sited machines around me is pretty damn good...SM..BTDK...TZ..GNR...TAF.
I would love to see more pins in the wild....bring it on!

[Olivia_jason]

I would love to see more pins in the wild....bring it on!

ahaha i like that term 

[Pop Bumper Pete]

I have thought a ou it but the steam from cooking is not good for a pinball machine. It would also give low lifes another excuse to break in
I also would not like stra gers playing with my babies ;)

[Olivia_jason]

I have thought a ou it but the steam from cooking is not good for a pinball machine. It would also give low lifes another excuse to break in
I also would not like stra gers playing with my babies ;)

I have a Rock encore machine in my shop, it was a container pile. it was working but missing a few bits, playfield was good, but spent a bit of time fixing it up for the shop. the cab art was rubbish which was fine, i put a black vynal around the entire machine with chrome trims. to make it look really neat. prety much its what i would call a "Banger" something that works looks great isnt acurate, its cheap and im not attached to it. but its not a drain monster so those who have a play it feelthey are getting a good go at it. and because its got the black vynal around it, its easy to clean finger prints off and its looks clean in the shop. that might be an idea for you? its amazing how much talk it gets from people. they dont know its not 100% correct, it looks neat plays good, and it makes a few bucks as well. its one of those talking points at our cafe. what is your shop pete? i havent had any issues with people trying to break in and steal it. keep coin door open so it looks empty of cash, beleive it or not the people who are most interested in the machine isnt teenagers, they ignore it, its young kids with their parents who play it the most, they seem to imform the kids this is what we played before computer games lol, you would also pick a machines them that would suit your shop theme, seeing our shop is retro looking, i used a retro machine

[Retropin]

Having more machines on site is fantastic for me as there are quite a few more around in the pubs and clubs then 18 months or so ago.
It has decreased my desire to buy more machines and now I can focus towards more imporatnt goals, before I was always doing the what am I buying next routine.... Now I can get a quick pinball fix at a few different pubs with my mates anytime I want while still having one at home and the variety of sited machines around me is pretty damn good...SM..BTDK...TZ..GNR...TAF.
I would love to see more pins in the wild....bring it on!

Harley Davidson in the Red Lion Moorooka mate... cheap food too but beers a bit lame

[Pop Bumper Pete]

OJ, it is a pie shop
There is a lot of steam from making the pies and everything has a layer of flour on it

many of my customers are retired, they would not apreciate a pinball machine
and the tradies just want a quick feed before they have to go back to work

We get broken into at least once every two years, not that there is anything to steal, it is an area where there is little traffic after 10.00PM

[Olivia_jason]

OJ, it is a pie shop
There is a lot of steam from making the pies and everything has a layer of flour on it

many of my customers are retired, they would not apreciate a pinball machine
and the tradies just want a quick feed before they have to go back to work

We get broken into at least once every two years, not that there is anything to steal, it is an area where there is little traffic after 10.00PM

fair enough, yer we get allot of tradies, they are the ones who play it the most during the week. we also get allot of retirees as well in for coffee, the machine isn't up very loud and they seem to like the old pinball, i was worried the oldies would have a problem with it, that was one of my main concerns so  gave it go and if i noticed it bothered people i would remove it, seems it hasn't and i think if ai had any other arcade game in the shop other than pinball i recon they would have had problem, pinball seems to be tolerated, but the machine isn't a dmd with lots of noise, and over the top flashing, its an old gtb 80s machine with volume down low and doesn't seem to bother any one. we got allot of cookers in our shop, the reason we put full vynal stickers on the machine was to make it easy to clean, as if we repainted the machines its not as resistant to shop conditions, all though we use allot of deep-fryers, our shop is pretty clean but we needed the machine to be easy to clean also, found that having a smooth resistant surface like vynal was the good option.

[Strangeways]

Ever since the last machines were brought off location in 1997 (KISS and Star Trek), I wanted to try locating machines, but the "red tape" has always bothered me. You need a permit and a SAFE location, not a machine tucked around a corner where it can easily be vandalized. The machines located in Melbourne's northern suburbs are filthy and I've never seen one in perfect working condition. not sure who the operator is - and I assume it is one operator, as there seems to be no competition - all machines are neglected. I would easily be able to provide better games with better service, but the games would have to be in well lit and supervised areas. I was going to operate the Theater of Magic before I received an offer for it.

Years ago, I was working towards having a shopfront with 10 EMs and 10 SS machines - on 20c per game, but I didn't get very far as all the games sold very quickly !

[Jango]

Nino - were you looking at just a small shop?  what would the setup costs / rent have cost you (if you got that far)?  Would be a great idea.

[Strangeways]

Nino - were you looking at just a small shop?  what would the setup costs / rent have cost you (if you got that far)?  Would be a great idea.

I'm not sure of the costs these days. The building I was going to use is owned by my Father - so no rent. Back in the "old days" pins were sited and the money box was emptied 50/50 with the shop owner. The shop owner covered the electricity etc, and the operator covered maintenance etc.

I think - and I could be wrong here, there are other things to consider - like public liability insurance.

I will look into it within the next 12 months.

[Olivia_jason]

Nino - were you looking at just a small shop?  what would the setup costs / rent have cost you (if you got that far)?  Would be a great idea.

I'm not sure of the costs these days. The building I was going to use is owned by my Father - so no rent. Back in the "old days" pins were sited and the money box was emptied 50/50 with the shop owner. The shop owner covered the electricity etc, and the operator covered maintenance etc.

I think - and I could be wrong here, there are other things to consider - like public liability insurance.

I will look into it within the next 12 months.

there is a bit of difference from having one in your shop to hiring machines out to others and what not. but its not so bad as far as liability in your own shop. it needs to be checked by electrician like every other appliance in the shop and be tagged.  if i had the cash, the shop next door to me just closed down and the building that is joined for us is for sale, id love to buy it and knock down part of the wall and expand our shop. if i had that sort of cash to buy that part of the building our shop would be a full diner, with a few more old school machines, would be hard to run a small dedicated arcade these days, as the costs of running a shop of any kind is crazy. but being a shop already and having a machine in your shop its not really big deal if its only played a few times a day, so it makes an ok money spinner, doesnt make you a load of cash but it certainly has helped our shop with interest in our store, its an attraction, and i think thats how pins can be used these days for small businesses, but if i had this shop next door to us and we joined it id have a mini arcade mixed in with our cafe, thats for sure. as it is a bloody big shop for sale compaired to the size of ours in floor space wise. the pin we have in our shop its right up in front of where we cook, its very visable.

you would have to have some sort of liability if the machine you hired out caught on fire and burnt down their shop. but if its your shop its under your normal insurance and what not. so if you had a mate who had a shop who you trusted you would just have him put it in his shop as if its his, and split the cash in what ever deal you worked out iguess. but you would have to know the person prety well and know he wouldnt do wrong by you.
good thing about them being in a cafe vs just pubs, the kids get to have a play of them

if some one broke into my shop and stole my pin, i recon they would do me a favour, lol recon i would come out of it wit ha better machine from insurance lol

[Pop Bumper Pete]

It is not that I think somebody would steal the game, I think people would ignore that fact that I have left the door open and break in to see if I did leave $ in the cashbox

[Mr Pinbologist]

I used to have some of my pins sited in a pub and a takeaway shop when i first moved to Armidale about 15 years ago, they made ok but not great money at the time, it was just something i did to earn a bit of extra money on the side while i was there. None of my games were fully restored at that time but worked perfectly.

I ended up pulling them out after i found a place with enough room to set them up after i had found full time work.. that and i got sick of pulling crap like paddlepop sticks and lolly wrappers etc outta the coin slots  and this crap would be in there for like a month and no one would call and tell me the games werent working 

The day i pulled the games out of the pub in Uralla, same deal, crap jamming up the mechs, when i removed the coin mechs about $10 in coins fell out (20c and $1 coins) It went straight into my pocket  As i recall the Pub had just changed owners and the new owner didnt want the games anymore.

I still get asked occasionally if i ever put any games out on site, answer is always along the lines of "no.. i used to but not anymore"
NO WAY would i put any of my restored games out on site 

[Olivia_jason]

theres no way i would put a restoed game in a shop i didnt own. bugger that for a joke. unless the place you knew was going to pump out good money or you knew the owners.
beaky saw my machine and gave it a fix.  its not restoed its just made to look neat for the store and easy to clean, and isnt accurate with the machine. but looking from at it from a none purist side it looks like a neat old pinball thats been made for a shop. and was just a euro trach machine that was destined for the dump, lol which i only paid a few hundred bucks for lol, i recon the thing we have to think about with putting a pin in, is what title suits the shop theme, and yer wear and tear, so a good old Banger imo is the best idea.

my machine is also near a window so they can see the coin door is open, but yer if in a high crime area that could be a problem i dont know.

im really interested to know if any one has any in their own shops? if a cafe or some other store? or was thinking about it?