Sunday Pinball Questionnaire - part 65 - studley67

[Strangeways]

You are up next, Damien - This Sunday !

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?

[studley67]

1. Earliest pinball memory?

As a child (about 6 or 7) my family and i would got to the beachside suburb of port elliot,south of adelaide.The icecream shop there had a couple of pins out the front of the shop.I think they were gottlieb wedge heads,but the titles ellude me.i remember my grandad would give me a handfull of coins so i could play the games,they were 5 cents for 5 balls.

2. All time favorite pin? Why?

This is a hard question to answer.I dont really have one.I like all pins all makes all era.

3. Favorite pinball manufacture?

answered above

4. Favorite game in your collection? Why?

this one is also hard as i have so many,but i have a soft spot for playboy 78 Bally.
I love the wolf whistle and the whole music package,especially when you count up all your bonus after a great ball 5X full bonus,she really sings.

5. How long have you been collecting?

I bought my first pin when i was 12,but seriously started a collection 7 years ago.

6. First game and how did you find it?

first game was a gottlieb "300".was easy to find,em's were being replaced with ss and SA jukebox had a showroom full of them at $250 each.Was a hard choice,i wish now i had the money to buy them all.what attracted me to this one was the backbox feature,10 red balls representing a strike(ten strikes = 300 points)

7. Do you still have it?

no,it was sold when my father down sized house,to one of his mates,in about 1985.

8. What are you currently working on?

too many,i have about 6 project on the go at the same time.but currently i am over hauling my sons,mildflame,circuit boards from his project FLASH.

9. Most wanted game to add to your collection?

card whiz,was one of the fist games i can remember.

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

chicago coin "sound stage" it was a freebie from a familly friend

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

when i was 15 my next door neighbour was a builder and owned a plot of land on the beach.the old round shop at moana.he was knocking it down to build town houses.there was a gottlieb "volley" out the back going to the dump.it had no glass,so i grabbed the ball as a momento.i used to put the ball in my "300" and pretend i had multiball.

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

gottlieb system 3 "waterword" paid too much on ebay transported it accross the country and it was just plain boring.

13. Describe your collection

varied,1 em 14 dmd,23 ss

14. Describe your gamesroom

main gamesroom is my lounge.it is large 12M X 6M it houses 23 games working,a lounge suite plasma tv and work desk(soldering station) and a big teak cabinet full of pinball parts,books and fluids.An anex,sleepout,with 4 zachariahs. mithchells bedroom come store room and 3 pins in the hallway.

15. Do you have other games other than pinball?

no,not interested

16. Where can you see the hobby in 10 years?

i think the hobby will thrive and continue to grow,the imports will start to dry up and australia will become a pinball heaven.New manufactures starting up ie JJ.will give stern competition.
Restorers will come of age,and better quallity machines will be available,more repro parts will be made.I think the future is bright for restorers and jump in now.

[Strangeways]

Great read Damien. Real shame about the Volley, but at the time, things like this were common. Machines were not valued or collected.

[ktm450]

Is a shame, great story 

[Pop Bumper Pete]

you forgot to express your love of Zac's

[pinnies4me]

Thanks for the history Damien, I like hearing from people who go back beyond my collecting days, it adds a lot of perspective.

[goodolddays]

Thanks for the great story Damien .    '5c for 5 balls' , those were the days eh .

Cheers
Dave

[studley67]

5 cents = 5 balls ,or a bag of mixed lolies,hmmm

[studley67]

i would like to add more depth to the story.
when i bought my first pin,,,,,,,,i paid for it out of a combination of accumulated pocket money and hard earned dollars at 12 years old.i had a job after school selling "the news",i used to earn about 2 bucks a day if i didn't play the pins in the pub.witch i did.so games by then were 20 cents for 5 balls,ie playboy,eightball.plus i would frequent the pinny parlours aswell.tilt,downtown,mini-tilt,kalllaidascope in hindley street adelaide,i would take the tram from glenelg where i grew up.forgot to mention the sideshows at glenelg where i would go nearly every night in the summer+all the local shops around the area.
i remember when i saw a six million dollar man delivered to the arcade in glenelg,brand new.wow 6 players at once.well i have one now.+ playboy X2.i am reliving my youth.long live pinball.all for now damien.

[studley67]

p.s. i am still searching for that ellusive bally eightball in good nick.

[studley67]

i remember the first time i saw that eightball being fixed by the operator in the pub at the holdfast tavern in glenelg.i was hooked then.the wire,the mechanisms i wanted to know how they all worked.+ free games.that bloke inspired me.i was only 12 yrs old.more to come.

[studley67]

as a young fella,i had many ways to make a buck.
i would dive for squid jags off the glenelg jetty,in the morning,and sell them in the evening to the fishermen for 1$ a piece.
i would go to the local golf course and collect the lost balls,then sit at the first hole and sell them to the rich golfers for $1 each.
this was all good pinball playing money,pus smokes.
a packet of vicount specials(20) was 54 cents
 

[studley67]

i forgot to mention where my user name came from,studley.
i was a big fan of cornsie,no.12 for glenelg.he was my hero.
he went on to become the coach for the adeaide crows,and radio personallity at 5AA.
i would go to every match at the bay.not just to support my team but to collect bottles @ 10 cents each.i used to walk around that oval about 50 times a match and pocket about 10 bucks a game.

for those that do not know STUDLEY is cornsies middle name.

[ajlaird]

Great read, well done for having a go!

It seems unreal that you were able to buy your first pin at 12; a shame you don't still have it but sometimes life dictates what we can and can't hang on to!!

[TUF-427]

Thanks for sharing Damien,

Jeez wish I could have bought and held onto pinballs when as young as 12!

that said wouldnt have had the foresight anyways!