Well I will now enter the ( original ) or some of the original debated topics I guess.....
On the restore threads / lack thereof etc……
I see it completely differently and we need to go back around 15 years in time for me to explain my thoughts.
A long time ago when the Internet was not as popular and no forums really existed other than RGP there were VERY few places to get info on machines, restorations , repairs and where to buy parts.
Then we all start to re-discover pinball / arcade stuff, we start to search the net , we all find each other and we start to communicate……….forums start and info starts to flow freely for years, parts availability becomes more and more common and restorations begin…..all of a sudden we are all seeing games that were trash , reborn to BETTER than new states and we see this on many sites for years and years…….and we are all in AWE of all the methods and results.
Nowadays – it is commonplace to see games in perfect condition , restored and repaired with all new parts and there are parts available and mods available EVERYWHERE we turn, we ALL are now better educated and ALL know where to buy all the parts we require.
We are no longer ‘surprised or in awe’ of most restores as we all know how to achieve quite good results thanks to OUR community and OUR input in the past. We respect the GREAT restorations but just aren’t WOWED by the processes as much anymore.
Hence a general lack of interest in restoration ‘threads’ or pages anywhere much these days.
On the topic of the other rubbish that goes on .....
I believe the hobby in Australia has degraded itself into a ‘lets nitpick the living f*ck out of everything on X new game and bag the hell out of it ( yes , guilty as charged with my thoughts on WOZ ) and on top of that it has become VERY much slanted with Stern lovers/ Haters and then the garbage follows.
Take a look at The Avengers thread just now – it is nearly as though people are laughing at the price it cant reach, personally I take that as a spit in the face and cant be bothered getting involved in the thread ( part of the issues here at AP ) , I have an Avengers as does a good mate of mine …..its a F*CKING hard players game to get through with bloody tough shots that you have to nail precisecly to progress – it is a tough CHALLENGE, at the same time I acknowledge it is made very cheaply ( physically ) but that’s all fixable and the game will be fine once that’s sorted. I like it , I own it and it will be around for a while. I couldnt give a rats toss if he likes it and she doesnt etc etc - the fatc is I like the game ( as some WOZ ownere will say to me as well ) and that SHOULD be all that counts.......but we seem to want to be able to find ANY fault , no matter how small in any of the new games and rubbish the f*ck out of any of the owners for it.........hell, people are ALREADY looking for bad things in the Metallica videos FFS.
Our hobby has become a JOKE in this regard and hence some of us 'cant be bothered' inputting anything any longer.
So .......due to our massive inputs of assistance to our fellow pinheads in the past decade, we are all now responsible for a lesser interest or lesser need to use threads for restoration advice and at the same time we are all somewhat guilty of rubbishing new games for the hell of it and causing angst in some threads.
A good mate of mine who was a collector LONG before the Internet existed , told me when I bought my 2nd game that there is a lot of jealousy , personal attacks and small minded people in the hobby who will stab you ……..that was over 15 years ago and nothing has really changed. There is NO answer and it will continue as long as pinball exists – anyone who expects anything different is kidding themselves unfortunately as the ‘rubbish’ is , for some unexplainable reason, a part of our hobby that we cant seem to get rid of.
Just my thoughts
