Well i thoroughly enjoy reading these so apologies if i dribble on for a bit...
1. Earliest pinball memory? I'm a late starter, the first memory was on out honeymoon 6.5 years ago at Magnetic Island - there was a games room in the resort and my wife and i both put quite a few dollars through the machine. This machine was a SurfnSafari. Can't really remember too much except it was plenty of fun. I guess that seeded the idea that have a machine of my own would be awesome one day.
2. All time favorite pin? Why? Don't know if i've been collecting for long enough to make a proper call on this one, but one that my wife and i really enjoyed having a bash on recently was a Simpsons Pinball Party. But i have had a couple of goes on a Twilight Zone and really enjoyed it.
3. Favorite pinball manufacture? No preference really
4. Favorite game in your collection? Why? At this point in time it would be Indiana Jones, as i have had some cracker scores on it, but also can go for a quick bash and love it. I've also hooked a subwoofer up to this machine to enhance the experience!! That said, Jurassic Park probably gets as much a workout as its really fast and is a good balance between skill required and a good fun game with a TRex the kids from next door love!!
5. How long have you been collecting? 10 months
6. First game and how did you find it? Early one Saturday morning late last year i spied an add in the garage sales section mentioning a pinball machine, i raced into town and saw this Flash sitting in the back corner (at this point in time i'd never seen inside a machine or did not have a clue how to even open it!!). The lights would turn on but that was it. I used to muck around with electronics as a kid but didn't know too much. Anyway, i was up for the challenge - particularly with the bargain price of $40!!!!!! I got the machine home and with a combination of pinrepair and this forum (i joined later that day!) all the problem was was a few connectors needed reseating and the game was up and running!! The best part was my wife was pretty unfazed by the whole thing, but a couple of nights later i had gone to bed, then started hearing the machine downstairs and she was into it having a great time.
7. Do you still have it? Yep
8. What are you currently working on? Just finished repairing my Hook yesterday, replaced a few diodes on the CPU and some coil diodes that had blown and it was giving out eternal multiball - great scores but not much of a challenge!! Also have Kraig's (newish member) Gulfstream sitting in the shed which we are trying to get going on weekends.
9. Most wanted game to add to your collection? Probably TZ just for myself, but TSPP would be a better machine for other people to enjoy i reckon.
10. Best all time bargain game added to your collection? Hmmm, this is where it gets tricky. Flash for $40 was pretty good, but then only 6 weeks later a local operator had a clean out (mainly of arcades) and i spied this Jurassic Park all packed up in the corner. It had $800 on it and i asked what was wrong and he said the roof had leaked and water went down into the cabinet when the backbox was folded down. The base resembled wet weetbix, but it didn't seem to have too many water marked components. I switched it on and the screen flicked on and off and it started self diagnostics, but by the time he came back nothing worked at all. I was quietly confident after my success with Flash, but also nervous as i had done no circuit board repairs before. Anyway, i said $800 was probably out of my price range and he told me to make an offer - i said it would be good to get it for $150 and he said OK!!!! Got it home, yep, just reseat those connectors and it was all sweet!!
Then there would be the bloke who had a couple of 'old machines' in his shed that had been there for a couple of years. These were Indiana Jones and Star Trek TNG!!! Both playfields in extremely good nick - but very dirty. Couldn't find the key or something to get into STTNG and heaps of errors in the tests with IJ. I could see he just wanted to get rid of them but had no idea what to offer. I was contemplating my offer and he just said - i guess they are only worth a couple of hundred $$, plus i have no idea how to fix them and just want them out of here. So i gave him $300 each and were both as happy as pigs in acres of mud!!! Had to replace a few IC's and switches and got both these going fairly quickly. So you guys decide the best bargain but i would lean towards IJ for value for money.
11. Worst ever miss – tell us about the one that got away! I went back to the local operator a few months back and asked if he had any other machines like JP, he had about 10 all lined up that i had a look at and most seemed to have quite a few errors, but nothing that wouldn't be able to be fixed without too much trouble. But i wasn't really in a position to shell out much for them and offered about 300 - 400 per machine, hoping to score. He didn't really want to sell, but talking to someone else later, i reckon is i offer a couple of hundred extra and could have grabbed a getaway, JD and FT for around $700 each. Anyway no point crying over spilt milk.
12. Worst ever purchase – tell us about the game you wished you never bought. Earthshaker for $200 that was filthy and had all the boards fried. I spent another 4 or 500 on it and fried a new power supply board and got disheartened, then onsold it to another bloke who has grand plans for it.
13. Describe your collection. Hook, Black Rose, Flash, IJ, STTNG, JP and wait for it Popeye!! I know there is not much love for this machine but i reckon its very challenging plus when kids come over they love to play it.
14. Describe your gamesroom. We build in underneath our house so have a 6 x 12m rumpus room. I also have my music gear down there with piano, guitars, electric drum kit and PA so its a fantastic place to have a jam or make some noise with the pins. The picture is from last night when we had some friends over for a 'P' party - home made pasta and pizza and then playing pinball - also fancy dress starting with 'P'!!
15. Do you have other games other than pinball? A pool table in the middle of the rumpus room.
16. Where can you see the hobby in 10 years? I hope there will be more home collections, as i know friends of ours that come out here and have a bash really enjoy it - and i get a lot of enjoyment from tinkering with them and getting them going then seeing other people having a ball playing them. I'm really looking forward to whenever we have kids to seeing them get the hang of it then i guess whipping my butt as they get older. I guess its up to us 'younger' (i'm early 30's) collectors to keep the dream alive!!
