Feedback from the Show.
Ok, went out to the machines this morning and looked at the game count on each machine and was very surprised by the game numbers.
Gilligans got 354 games on it.
Star Trek 25th got 348 games on it.
AC/DC Pro got 382 games on it.
Each machine worked flawlessly, and I never had to move the glass once on any machine, do a reset or even move a stuck ball. Keeping machines serviced at home (Gilligans n Star Trek) pays off. AC/DC is brand new anyway ofcourse.
Game Usage.
Here was the surprising thing. I had a whopping 120 games only put on my AC/DC Pro from the time I bought it 4 or 5 months ago. Each gamecode update saw me reset the game usually with only about 30 games on the counter each time in 5 months.
*Yesterday, the game got basically a whole years worth of games in one day ! Impressive. But the machine worked flawlessly for over 8 hours on a 5 ball game setting, and never missed a beat. The machine still looks like it came out of th box, it doesnt even look used at all ! Stern build a dam strong game.
All I will have to do today is run some baby bum wipes over everything, give the playfield a very light wax, and presto, the game will be ready for the next 100 games which will probably take a good 6 to 12 months to rack up !
Game Audits.
Now, something i learnt when going thru the game audits on AC/DC and its 380 odd games. The left flipper was pressed 5,500 times, the right fliper 5700 apx times. The pop bumpers fired over 7300 times, and the list goes on. The game count info and audits on these new Stern machines are excellent. You can see everything about these machines, incl each and every count on each and every switch for anything electronis that fires on the playfield incl all targets, switches , you name it. Even stuff like average ball time, game time, and so on. I knew about most of this stuff being on most titles in the menu settings, but these new sterns just have every concievable menu to check out. Quiet interetsing and very detailed.
Kids N Parents Playing Pinball.
Literally dozens of parents were teaching their kids how to play pinball for the first time. The Mums n Dads loved the pinnies and alot said it brought back memories and they hadnt seen a pinny for 20 years etc, and dozens upon dozens of kids asked what those machines were with the flashing lights. Seeing dozens n dozens of kids having a rage playing machines for the first time was great. Teaching them was easy ofcourse, and they all had a ball. I must have had half a dozen dads express interest in buying a AC/DC Pinny, and the $6600 price tag didnt deter anyone at all. The dads were mostly very happy to fing out that distributors like Bruice from AMD existed. I handed out the phone number dozens of times. It was great to promote the machines and see people seriously considering buying a new game.
The day ended too quick.
A few bookings ahead without trying !
Well, at 7.30 pm after a 10 hour day I packed up and took the 3 machines home and got a big buzz out of the day. I had one father n mum book 6 x pinball machines for their sons 21st birthday coming up in December, and I had a Dad arrange to get 4 machines from me for his 50th Birthday coming up at mid November. Both are local to me. I havent rented machines before for a party etc, but i said it was $350 for 3 machines picked up n dropped off til sat morn to sat midnight (or sunday morn) for the 50th birthday party, the guy was fine with that. So aquick $350 for a bit of work for 3 machines.
The 21st birthday for 6 machines was $500 for the same time period and they were very happy with that. The 21st birthday people had asked about hiring sega driving car games for the same period and were quoted double what i said for only 1 machine by a local operator. So my quote was cheap and they get 6 machines of their choosing.
The 50th birthday bloke was stoked with the price and said his last jumping castle for the kids was the same price and he felt like the pinnies would impress all his birthday party peoples alot for the $350 price. The 21st party for $500 is happy as well. So i might have found a quick n easy side business for some easy cash. I have the use of a toyota ute which can carry 3 machines easy and the trolley lifts higher than the ute so delivery etc is a breeze. I have moved 100 machines in my time easily, so a few here n there is easy most of the time.
Anyway, a great weekend for showing off the pinnys and a great way to meet new people and hopefully some more gold coast people will end up buying some new AC/DC Sterns. It was a fantastic day out and seeing pinnies at this location for the first time ever was great.
Maybe a Gold Coast pinny show might be on the cards sooner or later. Wouldnt be hard to pack that venue out and I am talking with the stadium operator who asked about booking machines for when the AFL is on, and doing a cash/financial deal if I put games on with coin mechs at a few bucks a game, and he will organise the space again at their cost. That would see any amount of machines being played non stop with over 20,000 footy fans taking advantage of pinball machines being on site. The location is right next to the catering area which is packed with people n tables n chairs etc. Might be something coming up ! See what happens.
(photos still to come)
