Evening all...
I have recently added a late model pinball machine to my modest pinball collection. As most of you know I'm a huge fan of motorsports and classic/muscle cars, and have been looking around for some months for a car - motorsport themed pinball. I stumbled across a 2005 Stern Grand Prix pinball that was located at a retailer in Newcastle, NSW. This particular machine was released in August 2005, and I had played this title (during the wedding week) back when I got married to my wife (Helen) at local Timezone in Christchurch NZ. I enjoyed playing this pinball back then and had never found one in Queensland since to play. This pinball had been on my wish list since January 2006. Another reason I decided on this title is that I have played many other late model Sterns, and liked the quality and design of these late model pins.
So I purchased this pin site unseen, and must say I was very impressed with the excellent condition of the machine. See pics below...
This title was designed by PLD (Pat Lawlow Design Team) as Pat is a racing car fan like myself, who still races a Short Tracker speedway car at Rockford Speedway in the US. This Stern title was based on the NASCAR "brand" of racing for the North American market, then Stern produced Grand Prix for the European market. They later relaesed a limited run of 500 pins under the Dale Ernhart brand as well.
One of the most captivating thing about this game is the race track. The race track goes all the way around the entire playfield, and when you start a ball the ball races around the track, awesome!!. Similar to the Getaway accelerator. The game play is rather easy, however its a fast flowing game that simply ticks all the boxes for this racefan.
I have had this pinball for a few weeks now, and have totally stripped the topside of the playfield and cleaned and polished every part. This pinball is now as close to new condition as I will probably get to own. When I arrived home with this machine I noticed that the date stamp on the rear of the pinball was 31st July 2006, so it was newer than first thought, as this pin was released in 08/2005, bonus!!
I found a complete NOS Dale Ernhart playfield plastic set for $19.95USD on ebay (bargin!!) and have just added some Roadshow target decals from Treasure Cove as well. I got from mark @ PSP a transulscent blue shooter rod, and blue flipper rubbers which just set this game off!!
This machine is 100% a keeper for me, hope you enjoyed my story.
Cheers
Leon aka v8racefan
