Sunday Pinball Questionaire - part 22 - bossninja17

[Strangeways]

1. Earliest pinball memory?
2. All time favorite pin? Why?
3. Favorite pinball manufacture?
4. Favorite game in your collection? Why?
5. How long have you been collecting?
6. First game and how did you find it?
7. Do you still have it?
8. What are you currently working on?
9. Most wanted game to add to your collection?
10. Best all time bargain game added to your collection?
11. Worst ever miss – tell us about the one that got away!
12. Worst ever purchase – tell us about the game you wished you never bought
13. Describe your collection
14. Describe your gamesroom
15. Do you have other games other than pinball?
16. Where can you see the hobby in 10 years?

[bossninja17]

1. Earliest pinball memory?
Can I answer this as “pinball memories”? My walk down pinball memory lane begins with playing pinball in “Mama’s Fish Shop”, (also known as “Clem’s”) Beecroft Rd, Epping, NSW.  I would have been in Year 4 (1967). I was hooked, and even rode my  (Cyclops) scooter home to get more 5c pieces out of my moneybox. I just loved the backglass art, the bumpers, the manual ball loader and the thrill of how they worked. Cannot remember the exact machine but remember being fascinated with the artwork and the red specials light when it came on. It was the era of William’s Big Daddy & Riverboat;  Gottlieb’s Sweet Hearts , North Star and Gigi; and Bally’s Hootenanny and Sky Divers.
In the 70s I would frequent Luna Park but my addiction to pins occurred at Macquarie University. For 4 years I would have averaged 20 hours of pin play each week. It was here that I experienced the bond with those with a love of the game. We played King Kool, Mustang, Drop A Card, Rancho, Sea Ray, Doodle Bug, Klondike, Lawman, El Toro, Time Tunnel, Winner (hated it), Super Star, Swinger, Grand Slam, Wild Life, High Hand, King Pin, Big Shot, El Dorado, Quick Draw, Surfer, Golden Arrow, Jungle Princess and Super Spin over the years.  It was also where I experienced the transition from EMs to solid state: Nugent and Flash were favourites.  The first solid state machine I played was whilst on holidays on the NSW Central Coast – it was Bally’s Eight Ball. I was awe-struck. The pin mechanic was there that day and I got talking with him. It was though I was in the Twilight Zone and gone into the future – a machine that scored every point, remember what targets you hit from the ball before and had circuitry in the cabinet like I’d never seen before.
In the early 80s pins were everywhere. For me, the best local place to play was Epping Squash Courts – that’s where I first played Lost World, Playboy, Close Encounters, Sinbad, Dragon, Joker Poker, Totem and Genie. Epping Hotel always had a couple of pins in it. It was there I first played Kiss.
 

[bossninja17]

2. All time favorite pin? Why?
This is such a hard questions – different machines appeal for different reasons at different times. Favourite EMs at different times have been Grand Slam, Flying Carpet and Top Score; favourite solid state is “Nugent” .

3. Favorite pinball manufacture?
Gottlieb for EMs and Stern for solid state.

4. Favorite game in your collection? Why?
Gottlieb’s High Hand. Just a great game to play. Tell me another machine with just one pop bumper that is so good to play? It’s a machine about flipper accuracy, with drop targets and a card theme. No extra balls and you are not guaranteed bonuses. I had played this machine at uni and remembered it as a favourite. Last year, I posted a “wanted” message seeking a Gottlieb EM card themed machine. Tony Mather contacts me and tells me about his High Hand and Volley. I couldn’t chose, so I took both. More about this later.
 

[Strangeways]

Mate - GREAT responses - So Far - I feel like I'm watching a movie here - I'm glued to the screen 

You DON'T Like "Winner" ? 

[bossninja17]

5. How long have you been collecting?
Since 1981 – see next 2 answers.

6. First game and how did you find it?
I bought my first machine in 1981 at the Luna Park auction. It was a Gottlieb Aquarius and I paid $150 for it at the time. I’ll post the receipt. My only disappointment was that someone nicked the little engraved plate that said “Luna Park 1935-1981” from it.
 
7. Do you still have it?
Yes. That machine has been with me for over 27 years. I survived years in a leaky shed, being moved from house to house and being unplayed for years. When I was single, it was in the back room of my house. I would play it for hours. A friend of mine would come around some Saturday nights and we would have the radio on 2WS’s “Jukebox Saturday Night”, play the Aquarius, drink in moderation and have a great time. On the backbox we would write our high scores, etc. I’ve never rubbed them out. Fast forward to 2006. Aquarius has been neglected for years. My son asked one day if we could get “that old pinball out of the garage and see if it would work”. I fired it up but the score motor just kept ticking over. At this stage I had never heard of This Old Pinball, Clay’s repair guide, Shaggy & Norm’s dvds and had no idea about where to start repairing a pin. I thought about getting rid of it but my wife encouraged me to keep it and get it fixed (she is just fantastic!!). I looked in the phone book and found several  pin repairers. For some reason (I call it Divine Providence), I picked “Pinball Master” and next thing I’m talking with Michael Shalhoub. Again, no idea who he was but within 2 minutes of talking with him, I knew I had struck gold. Michael came and gave the Aquarius an overhaul and it continues to work without fault today. I purchased two of Michael’s  compendiums (1930s-1960s and 1970-1981) and kept in touch. It was Michael who recommended I look for a 2 player game as my son John was interested in playing pins, and as we all know, “it’s more fun to compete”. I went to an auction on 10 December 2006 at Annandale and bought Jungle Princess for $900. At the time I thought this was a bit high, but at the end of the day it was the machine I wanted and it was in good shape. At that same auction a 1960 Lite a Card was passed in. I gave serious thought to buying it but didn’t go ahead – after all, I’d just bought the Jungle Princess. (Some time later, I told this story to a pin collector I came to know – he said that Lite A Card was a dog of a machine and I did the right thing not to chase it – it made me feel better) I was now the owner of two Gottlieb EMs and thought I better learn a little about looking after them. I thank the geeks who invented the internet. Somehow I find the Marvin3m site and the link to This Old Pinball. Next I’ve downloaded the EM repair guide and ordering a TOP dvd. Somewhere in there I email both Shaggy and Norm with a question. Norm gives me a reply, then follows up. This began a friendship that has grown stronger every year. It is remarkable the parallels we have shared in life and the things we have exchanged over the years. I count meeting Michael Shalhoub as my first bit of luck through pins. My second was meeting Jim (“Norm”). My third was meeting Tony Mather.  More of that later ...
So, armed with Clay’s repair guide and having watched TOP #1, I was ready to take on a project. I bought off ebay a dismantled Gottlieb Pro Football. My son John and I began the task of rebuilding it. We got it to the point we could plug it in and did – it was semi-dead. I checked every fuse, followed wires (reading schematics is still beyond me – I wish someone would do a Dummy’s Guide to Reading EM Schematics and Using a Multimeter. Nothing. Michael Shalhoub was away so I called a pin monkey who was pretty ordinary – but he did find the problem; the slam switch in the cabinet was bent enough to make contact – why had I not spotted that??!! We were left with stripping a bodgey paint job off the cabinet and some final fine tuning, but never finished.
In trying to find a substitute pin repairer, I contacted “Rod”. He told me he only worked on solid state machines. We talked of some time, he seemed like a genuine person and I mentioned how much I loved 70s Gottlieb machines. Not long after, Rod rings me. He had been contacted by an old lady who was moving house and her son’s 2 pinball machines that had been there for 20 years had to go – was he interested in buying them. Rod said no, but put the lady and me in contact. I phoned to find there was a Pioneer and a Super Spin. Down I drove to Brighton Le Sands and bought both on the spot. Somehow I squeezed them in the vehicle with son John riding home with the Pioneer lightbox on his lap.
Both machines had minor problems and from here I made my first purchase with Pinball Resource. I took the risk of sending cash as I had some US dollars left over from a trip. All went well and the cash made it to Steve Young and my pinball parts arrived in the mail. I got both machines working beautifully. I now knew how to rebuild a bonus stepper unit, pop bumpers and flippers.
Pinball was becoming a real hobby. I would go to auctions, scan ebay just about daily and watch or listen to TOP radio and dvds (Jim has provided some great stuff). I see on ebay a Snow Derby cabinet that I think could be useful for spare parts. Next thing I’m driving to Newcastle and meet the Slevbro and pick up the Snow Derby. The Slev’s shed / gamesroom was great. They told me about the Aussie Arcade site and here I find that there are a whole lotta people just like me out there with a love of pinball.
I continued to watch ebay and see bits and pieces being sold by someone known as “Illawarra_Steelers”. No idea who this could be. I buy some old flippers and bumper caps from him. Next thing we are exchanging emails and at some point Tony sends me a picture of his gamesroom. I thought this is what heaven will look like if I ever get there. Tony’s passion for pins and their history is phenomenal. When the opportunity came to purchase two pins (High Hand and Volley) from him, I took it without question. I felt an instant trust. So, off John and I go driving towards Wollongong to pick up the machines. Tony invites us into his gamesroom – it was even better than what was shown in the picture. We spent the afternoon playing pins and shooters. Tony and I had a common love of Luna Park. He showed me a dvd of its history that was sensational. Tony also introduced me to Aussie Pinball. This is the best pinball forum I have been involved in.
So that’s my collection: Aquarius (1970), Jungle Princess (1977), Super Spin (1977), Pioneer (1976), Pro Football (1973), Volley (1976) and High Hand (1973).

[bossninja17]

8. What are you currently working on?
Hopefully, I will get back to Pro Football and finish the repair and restoration. I would love to learn how to read schematics.

9. Most wanted game to add to your collection?
I’d love a woodrail from 1957 (my birth year) – Gottlieb’s Continental Cafe or World Champ would do nicely. Otherwise, pick any of these: Sweet Hearts, King of Diamonds, Kiss, Joker Poker, Grand Slam or Playboy.

[bossninja17]

10. Best all time bargain game added to your collection?
I don’t think any of my collection have been bargains – all pretty much fair prices. However, the 2 machines I bought from Tony were 100% genuine and this is always reassuring. I mentioned above that I thought $900 was too much to pay for the Jungle Princess. Six months after I bought it, I went to an auction at Australian Technology Park (1 July 2007) where a Jungle Princess backglass went for $200 and a machine in not-as-good condition as mine went for $2200! It made my $900 look pretty good.

11. Worst ever miss – tell us about the one that got away!
An Abra Ca Dabra on ebay that looked good that went for $689.00 last March.

[bossninja17]

12. Worst ever purchase – tell us about the game you wished you never bought
Fortunately, nothing to date.

13. Describe your collection
I got carried away in question 7 and covered my collection there.

14. Describe your gamesroom
Half a garage. My wife is very generous. I’m allowed to have my machines set up in the garage as long as she can park her car in it– fortunately it is a double.

15. Do you have other games other than pinball?
No. I have a "cupboard of mystery" in the back room that contains a collection of soft drink bottles from the 60s that remind me of my youth (6 1/2 oz Pepsi, Coke, Mirinda, Shelleys (10oz), Fanta, Leed, Passiona, Tarax).  I would love to collect old amusement machines – the type that used to be in Luna Park’s Penny Arcade and Coney Island.

[bossninja17]

16. Where can you see the hobby in 10 years?
Blokes (as most of us are at AP) my age will hopefully keep it going in their retirement. Aussie Pinball is a great way of collecting and passing on information about pins, sharing and developing collegiality amongst pinball collectors. The younger generation, I mean my son’s age, don’t seem too interested in the pins. Probably because they did not grow up with pins as part of their “wonder years”.  I think there will always be a pool of hobbyist. The internet has been a great resource for connecting with those interested in pinball.
I am just so thankful that people like Michale Shalhoub, Tony and others collected machines in the 80s. I think of how many EMs were just dumped when solid state machines came in, then solid states were dumped when everyone wanted Space Invaders, etc.

[Ford Fairlane]

Excellent read champ! Good luck with pro football too as im struggling with one myself. Thanks again!

[bossninja17]

Some additional pic related to my answers:

Graduation Day

[Strangeways]

Standing Ovation 

That was the best 15 minutes I've spent on this site to date - Well done. An exceptional story, leading up to great lineup of pinballs. I can even forgive you for not liking Williams "Winner"

 

Thanks for that, Bossninja !

[bossninja17]

The Pro Football

[Rod71]

Excellent read!. Thank you :)

What's your opinion of Super Spin?. There was a nice looking project one on eBay last year. that went for a decent price. Was missing the roto target. Guy said it was inside the cab and had a couple of broken petals.

[tonyt]

Great read bossninja, thanks for the extra effort with the pics and insights