1. Earliest pinball memory?

It's funny.. I don't really remember pinball probably much younger than about 12 or 13..  That was around 1982 or 83..  My "first time" was at the "Roller-drome" roller skating rink at Hindmarsh in Adelaide.   From memory, the Roller drome had a row of pinballs.. I am guessing around 6 or 7 against one wall and a couple of video games on another..  I was, up until that point, a "Video gamer"..  I was, by my own admission pretty good at games like Galaxian.. but I'd watch these big, cool kids playing pinball.  I wanted to be cool too..  So when this guy finished, I remember walking up to the game he'd been playing.  It was Space Invaders - a theme I was familar with from my arcade obsession..
I dropped one of my hard earned 20 cent pieces into the slot... waited.. nothing..!!  I figured it must have needed another, so having already invested in the machine.. I dropped in another..  nothing..!!   

I walked away, vowing never to play pinball again..  I turned back to look at this evil machine - only to see said, previous cool kid walk up and push the "start" button.  I was furious with myself and so walked away in disgust to watch another cool kid play Gorgar..  He was so cool, he didn't even plunger the ball - nope.. he wound back his right hand and smashed the plunger with the palm of his hand, sending that siliver ball flying out of the shooter lane..  This guy was my hero..

When cool kid #1 finished playing "my" games on Space Invaders pinball, I pulled out another 20 cent piece, slotted it down the shoot and (this time) pressed that elusive start button. The ball fire into the shooter lane and I was well on my way to cools-ville..  I wound back my right hand and smashed that shooter with all my might..  alas, Space invaders had one of those shooters with the point on the end.  I can honestly still remember the pain in my hand and the little dent in my palm.. 

2. All time favorite pin? Why?

My all time favourite pinball machine would have to be Theatre of Magic - it was the game that actually sparked my interest in pinball.  Fast forward to circa 1995-ish and I remember two mates coming around and saying "we're gonna go play pinball..  wanna come?"  I was bored at the time, so I was like "yeah, why not".  We went down to this little corner shop down near West Beach - the shop owner had a seperate section where he had 3 pins - he actually owned them - Theatre of Magic, Scared Stiff and World Cup Soccer..  We must of put $1000 into those three machines over the next few months, but they were good times..

3. Favorite pinball manufacture?

Bally and Williams - Bally cause I love the later DMD games and the complex themes but Williams cause my first pinball machine was Gorgar by Williams..  They still scream true pinball - digital scoring, but old  school play..  I've played a couple of Stern games like Simpsons and Monopoly and really enjoyed myself (I was at a pub and probably pretty pissed) but the overall "cheapness" of the machines let them down..

4. Favorite game in your collection? Why?

Creature from the Black Lagoon - it has it  all.  It's got that B-grade movie, drive in theme going on.. it is perfect.  It's a tough machine to set up to get a good score - you can rape the machine on one game, and get your ass handed to you on the next.  I'd say probably one of the toughest machines to be good at consistantly..  Oh, and the fact that I came up with the "world famous" brake light mod for the DMD panel that lots of people do to their own game..  it was my 15 minutes of fame..

5. How long have you been collecting?

Been collecting I guess for just over 10 years..

6. First game and how did you find it?

My first game was Gorgar.  Around 1996, after becoming hooked on TOM and being an Electronic Technician and Engineer, I decided I was going to build my own pinball machine.  By chance one day, one of the road tech's needed a hand lifting some equipment from the work van on site.  We turned up to this group of shops at St. Peters and went around the back to do the drop off.  Next door to the business we were going to was this pile of juke boxes chucked out the back near the bin.  And then I saw it..  my Gorgar..!!  It had no legs, the back glass was basically a piece of transparent glass and it looked stuffed - but I just wanted the cabinet and solenoids..  I picked it up on the spot and got it home later that night.  The cabinet had a few nicks here and there.. and it had a THICK layer of dust on the playfield - when I wiped it off, the condition was amazing..  It was fully complete underneath and was only missing the CPU and Driver boards.. I found this guy down near West Lakes who sold me a good CPU and driver board, circuit diagrams, legs and a couple of pinballs for $100..  I found another guy in The Netherlands who sold me a 9.5/10 backglass and a full set of displays shipped it over for only $260AUD.. That was about 7 or 8 years ago and Frank and I are still friends today - he has one of the largest collections of pinballs in The Netherlands..

7. Do you still have it?

Yup -  I've since restored the cabinet, got all the electronics working 100%.. but I've yet to fully finish it..  life and house reno's got in the way..  but one hopes to get back and fully finish it soon..

8. What are you currently working on?

A huge pergola/entertainment area... 

9. Most wanted game to add to your collection?

TOM - my 40th is coming up and I'm gunning for one..   anyone selling?

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

The Gorgar..

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

Found a awesome TOM a little while ago.. but then we found out my wife was pregnant..  well, we all know how that one ended :(


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

An arcade game from some dodgy seller that use to be on Paynham Road..   

13. Describe your collection
Most of my collection is based around video games..  Still love my video games but pinball is right up there..  I probably like working on pinball more than I like playing them 

14. Describe your gamesroom

I've just finished building a new shed - a mere 108m2.  Part of the agreement with the fun Police is that I had to move my games from out of the house and into the shed.  At first, I was a little pissed, but then one of my mates reminded me how cool it'd be for us boys to go out there and be away from the girls when they come over..  I am just about to FULLY line the shed out and add a couple of big reverse cycle air conditioners and have already built a dividing wall to seperate the workshop from the games (the games are on the left - you can just see the end of my SWC cab)..

15. Do you have other games other than pinball?

Yep.. I have a couple of video games..  A Golden Tee dedicated machine - I am looking to add World Class Bowling to that with a Jamma Switch..  I also have a scratch built Centipede horizontal MAME machine, a scratch built Galaga replica (an early shot but it's all I could find) and have 80% completed building a scratch built Star Wars Cockpit cab (just landed TOG's repro-on-glass SWC Marquee - so nice).. I also have all the parts to scratch build a DK Jr (will run DK, DK Jr and DK 3) and Tempest (Tempest and Tempest Tubes) and scrounging the parts for a Pacman and Track n' Field - oh, and I have a rFactor race simulator as well..  and my HR.. ;)  Can you ever really have too many toys?

16. Where can you see the hobby in 10 years

I think we might see more in the terms of a market for those wanting to build their own games..  there are already USB interfaces and programs for controlling pinball from a computer.  I think we'll continue to see the repro scene grow and I wouldn't be surprised to see a low volume production from a new pinball manufactuer..

My own pinball machines arn't going anywhere - I don't need to sell them and I have the space, so I hope to add another one or two from my wish list (TOM and CV anyone?)