APOLOGIES FOR ALL - I COMPLETELY FORGOT
I'll try and make up for it, and give some good answers!
1. Earliest pinball memory?
Pier One in Sydney. Amazing arcade where you could see the water sloshing around the pylons between the gaps in the decking floor. Hate to think about the corrosion that would have set in to make extra work for collectors today though!
Grandma used to take us near there every few months to get an ice-cream in a waffle cone - and for some reason I decided to drag over a milk crate to a big machine and see what the fuss was all about.
I had no money, and was about 5 so I can't remember what the game was, but I can say this - that moment hooked me on the cool idea of a tiny little dream world locked away under the glass, all the colours, lights and mystery of it all. Funny thing is there was a big gap between that moment and me actually playing one - where I grew up there just were not any pins. I used to ride my bike all they way to the local squash courts to play moon patrol when I was 9, I would have gone twice as far to play a pin!
2. All time favorite pin? Why?
Aww that is such a tough mean question. I have hobby A.D.D. and cannot just keep still on these things. One day my answer would be IJ (yeah yeah I know), MM or MB, and then off I go to the early SS. Only recently have I had a chance to play some EMs, and I think I am in love...
My most honest answer is a favourite pin is one that has given some love back - like a real decent game, or just all clicks together after a repair. If I stuff something up, or the machine just keeps punishing me in a game... well... grrr :) - soooo, the goal posts keep on moving!
3. Favorite pinball manufacture?
Pick a year, a style of machine, a theme - boy it is hard to pin down one (see point 2 above :) )
If it is the games I did get to play on site, then it would be Williams/Bally.
If it is the games I wish I got to play on site in the SS era, then probably Stern/Bally
And EM, hmm maybe Gottleib?
Honestly, in my collection, I'd love to have a representative from all eras and all manufacturers. Obviously not all at once, my max capacity (for home and wife acceptance factor) is 5!
4. Favorite game in your collection? Why?
Hmmm Black Rose. My 1st pin I ever owned, and she is still a keeper. Been my lowest maintenance machine for some reason, and for that I thank her. Also popular with non-pin heads as it is a walk up and play machine. She's been my rock when other machines are apart or being restored - I can always head off and have a no-brainer fix.
Simple gameplay, but there are some challenges involved. Getting multiball is simple, converting it to 3 ball not so much. Lots of video modes, and the occasional cow easter egg keeps my grinning when they pop up.
5. How long have you been collecting?
Hah well, mentally, since that first glimpse all those years ago. I remember hounding my parents to buy me a "how it works" book because on one page I saw it showed how a bumper worked
My 1st machine was bought in 1998 or so.
6. First game and how did you find it?
I had a bit of cash in the bank, and went bugger it, I have always wanted one, have seen them pop up in the trading post now and then (this is pre-ebay!!) and basically set my mind to have a machine, and have it NOW.
Of course, that week there were none in the trading post.... So I borrowed my brother's Gemini, and headed off to prospect to the Pinball Doctor (one of the few commercial people who even spoke to the public back then).
I walked in, played a few of the machines that were there, and put a deposit on the Black Rose.
EVERYONE I could talk to, had their ear talked off about pinball - I was so bloody excited I could not shut up. I even was "cough cough" sick on the delivery day. 2 things stuck in my mind from that day... firstly they chance to say "finally! I have one!" - and secondly, looking at the bloody thing jammed in my bedroom (I was still at Mum's way back then) and going "bloody hell it looks big in a house compared to a pub or arcade"!
7. Do you still have it?
Oh yes. It would be a tough machine to part with!
8. What are you currently working on?
I bought a Stern Magic as a project machine (no boards, no PF glass, no lockdown bar). I have a much neglected restore thread for it, as I just am going through a burnout/lull period (hence the missing of the Sunday Questionnaire".... It didn't help that I decided to put 12v into the 5v power rail of the MPU board I have been rebuilding - a bit of a "last straw" that made me just take a step back for a week or two.
The Magic is just waiting on a playfield scrub up, so far all stripped down, all posts amazingly were in good nick so they have scrubbed up well, the plastics are good except for 1 poorly repaired sling. Furballx has kindly let me run a fist full of parts in his new vibratory tumbler too which is a great help.
PS It is the people that now keep me coming back to the hobby. I love being able to help where I can, enjoy being suprised at the generosity of people and after spending a bit of time helping out others over the past weeks has kept the spark going for me...
9. Most wanted game to add to your collection?
For me it would be a twighlight zone, just because it is a theme that I like, and the game is something I used to play a lot, and we have some scores left to settle. For my wife it would be Medieval Madness followed by Monster Bash - not because they are $$ designer pins! - but because she loved playing them on site back in the day...
10. Best all time bargain game added to your collection?
I am hoping it will be the Stern Magic
11. Worst ever miss – tell us about the one that got away!
Hmm nooo, I am not really a heavy "persue-er" so not really got much to tell.
Well, ok how about the Guns 'n' Roses in the local paper for $800. Called up 1st thing in the morning "nah mate, got heaps of calls about it so the price now is 3.5k" (this was years ago mind you, when 3.5k was a LOT for any pin!).
12. Worst ever purchase – tell us about the game you wished you never bought
Hmm which kid do you hate the most :)
My poor AG SoccerBall - all my friends love it, but to me it just is not a real pinball. It is a time based game (which I am not fond of) and single player is not very challenging. double player is a ball, but it really is more like a "fussball" table than a pin. I still have a place for it just because it is so oddball - but if I want another machine, this one may have to go
13. Describe your collection
I have:
IJ: Was a messy ex import machine from spain (via germany) - an ebay "sight unseen" purchase. took almost 6 years from when I bought it to when I brought it home
BR: Slight cabinet fade, otherwise a great condition machine
Stern Drac: Bought from my old car mechanic - I saw a pin shaped object under a tarp. Made some inquiries and it came home with me. Was a bit of a basket case, bad corrosion and poor attempts at repairs, and missing plastics
Stern Magic: Current project machine
AG SoccerBall: Went to look at a very over priced and very poor condition IJ, and saw this funny looking green cabinet. Ended up taking it home instead! Still missing the header plastics, but I do have a good version of the artwork for them I have drawn up
14. Describe your gamesroom
This might sounds REALLY stupid... but it really only hit me the other night that I actually OWN a games room, it is MINE and I can do what I want with it! For so many years I have been living with either my mum, or the parent in laws (the only way to scrimp and get a house deposit in Sydney it seems). For a lot od this time the games have been in storage or just crammed somewhere and unplayable (and no room to work on them either).
So there I was wondering about when I can start hanging some framed pictures etc in the room, and then it hit me - where I want, when I want because I (well, the bank) own it
I am lucky that I have a room in the house for the arcade. It is a small room, but it is in the house, and if the family grows, we have the space and I can still keep this room!
I also now realise I don't have any pics of the room!
15. Do you have other games other than pinball?
Yes I do. I have a pool table that was a freebie from a family member who downsized their home. It sees very little use in winter, as it is in a "screen room" out the back.
I have a small Cabaret arcade cab with a 48-in-1.
I have a TMNT style cab with a neo-geo and a 100-in-1 cart in it
I also have a Nintendo PowerChoice 10 (with 11 carts) in a Super-Deluxe cab. This one is a project machine!
I have a growing collection of original arcade PCBs, but the Mrs need not know about that OK?
Years ago I had a burst of handheld/vfd game collecting, and have a pretty cool selection of them, but they don't get they love they deserve....
Cheers
Jacob
16. Where can you see the hobby in 10 years?
Hmmm well, some of my machines are over 10 years old, others 20, so 10 more years is not much in the hobby stakes!
I'm enjoying seeing a rise in the interest in DIY machines, hopefully there will be a hard core bunch of hobbyists still makign machines, if there are no manufacturers still doing it!
