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Pinball Tragic Seeks Company


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Greetings Group. This is my first post on your fine and fickle forums. And to celebrate this happy event I thought I'd do something different to the usual "I'm new - ask dumb question - get flamed by regulars" approach favoured by many.

 

My name is GEE... This is not only an expression of sardonic wonder, but also my initials. I'm sure you've seen them many times on the high score tables of pinball machines across this wide brown land.

 

(Or maybe not. But not for my want of trying.)

 

I am the epitome of a pinball addict. But I wasn't always this way. I got hooked on pins in the 70s, got turned off by the lame sqwarking and beeping of early 80s pins*, and somehow managed to miss most of the 90s renaissence of pinball while engaged in other pursuits. (I think I was having a career or something ... I vaguely recall there were some women involved, too ... perhaps some drinking ... it's all a bit of a blur, frankly.)

 

Fast forward to now, give or take a year.

 

A year ago I moved cities into a house big enough to accommodate my middle age spread AND my hobbies. And so I immediately set about having my own little pinball renaissence.

 

### Warning! Mandatory List of Pinballs Owned Follows. ###

Medieval Madness

Cirqus Voltaire

Twilight Zone

Starship Troopers

(one other secret EM pinball)

### You are now safe. Mandatory List of Pinballs Owned concluded. ###

 

"GEE," I hear you think, in an ironically capitalised thought bubble. "That guy must really like pinball."

 

You don't know the half of it.

 

In the past year I've bought pinball books, stickers, spare parts, more bulbs than Las Vegas, and a soldering station. I've taught my 3 year old son how to drop catch a silver ball, I've been abused by Wayne in an email contretemps, I've corresponded with the guy writing the new ROM for Cactus Canyon, and I've visited the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.

 

And yet, despite all of the above, I still haven't completed Battle For the Kingdom on MM.

 

So there you go. I am GEE. Make of me what you will.

 

 

 

 

 

* the asterisked statement represents the mandatory flamebait required in n00b posts, designed to provoke outrage or condecension** from the owners of early 80s pins ;-)

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is the secret EM something you don't want your wife to know about?

 

as someone who has "snuck" a pinball home I can tell you it is hard to keep a secret for long

 

Welcome to the groups and looking forward to talknig about all things pinball

 

Ric

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welcome GEE

couple of questions :tomato

are you in QLD :(

have you been to ADELAIDE in last 2 years ;)

and what is the (one other secret EM pinball), please tell us (me :badgrin )

hey i can keep i secret :lol

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Welcome GEE..that name reminds me of when I worked for this yank comany and a Canadian collegue would welcome we every day with "Watup, G?" ... never did get around to asking WTF that ment...anyways dont be scared of getting flamed here because it doesnt happen...unless you rip someone off...or leave the pub while owing a round...or try and keep EM pinnies secret...
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Guest Wotto

OK OK the asterisk statement has gotten to me Gee !!!! I tried to hold back - I really really did but I cant take it anymore..........

 

I am the owner of many a lame squaking and beeping 80's pin and these puppies deserve a little respect thankyou ! :x

 

How was your trip to the Pinball Hall of Fame- I am curious because from the pics I have seen it has quite a few lame squakers and beepers in there. And it seemed to have VERY few "toy filled / fill PF with more toys, now if I can just add some more toys to my MOVIE themed only , non imagintaive titled late model pin I will be happy with the design if I can just find a way to add more toys" style of pinball machine in there?? . I LOVE the late models, I really do cause you know ANYONE can play em, just belt the ball around and you are BOUND to hit SOMETHING cause EVERYTHING scores a point somehow, no skill shots here please !:tomato

 

At the other end of the scale I guess the thrill of waiting 3 minutes for the ball to get from the top of the PF to the flipper on the "ding ding sounding , oh look the reels go round excitement packed EM's" ** ( here is my asterisk statement waiting now for EM owners to start flames ) is a lot more thrilling than the awesome speed and sounds associated with say "lame ole Firepower or squaky ole Black Knight"????:tomato

 

I'm sorry - I am not sure I have heard ANY of my 80's machine go beep or even squak yet?:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

 

Anyway welcome to the boards, I am sure you will have a lot of fun here and get help from all involved.

 

Cheers

 

Wotto;)

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At the other end of the scale I guess the thrill of waiting 3 minutes for the ball to get from the top of the PF to the flipper on the "ding ding sounding , oh look the reels go round excitement packed EM's" ** ( here is my asterisk statement waiting now for EM owners to start flames ) is a lot more thrilling than the awesome speed and sounds associated with say "lame ole Firepower or squaky ole Black Knight"????:tomato

 

 

 

 

Some of us players with slow hand eye coordination need EMs because we think the later pinballs(Read 80s) are too complicated.:p

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My Thoughts on the Pinball Hall of Fame

 

are you considering the purchase of a new MM or CC from Wayne?

 

MM - no, I'll stick with my original one. Wayne's version is going to be missing some key parts ... eg the ramp split which stops SDTM drains. However, if the quality of the repro MMs turns out ok I may well consider a CC.

 

Also, what did you think of the pinball hall of fame?
I spent about 5 hours - and $US15 - there. I had a great time. I'll definitely go again if I can ever rejig my flights to enable the detour.

 

Some impressions...

 

1. It's more of a large pinball parlour than a true Hall of Fame. There are many 'famous' pins that arent in the collection (eg. most 90s Williams titles, Triple Action, Buckaroo, Apollo 13 etc). While some machines have hand-written cards on them about the machine, it's all very amateur. I think a little more effort on describing the machines, their history, and what makes them 'famous' would justify the 'Hall of Fame' claim. But still, all the eras of pins are represented, and I doubt you'd see that anywhere else in the world with the exception of the collection in France.

 

2. The playfields, backglasses and cabinets are in very very good condition. It made me realise how dirty my own playfields have gradually become :-(

 

3. The machines seem set up much slower (ie with much more shallow inclines) than I'm used to. I'm not sure why. One suspects it adds to outlane drains. Or maybe that's just intended to be an accurate simulation of how ops have always adjusted their machines ;-)

 

4. I was slightly shocked by the number of technical faults I encountered. The PHOF's website features a claim that, as true pinheads, they meticulously keep their machines in perfect operating order. Well, I found at least 6 machines that had faults ... an intermittent flipper, 3 coin mechs not registering quarters, broken playfield toys. I reported a few of these to the tech, but after the 3rd one I kept mum on the basis that I was starting to feel like a PITA.

 

5. Tim, who runs it, is a really nice guy... very welcoming. The tech 'hippy' is the oppositive of ebulliant, but was never rude or unhelpful.

 

6. The machines I enjoyed the most were:

* Fireball (a perfect example replete with zipper flippers)

* Whirlwind (1 spinner is good, 3 are better :-)

* Black Hole (I surprised myself successfully re-entering from the lower playfield almost every time in 7 games)

* SafeCracker (the first time I'd played one)

* Elvira Bride of Darkness (the first time I'd played one)

* Pinbot

 

7. The machines that most disappointed me were:

* Eight Ball Deluxe (not as good as I remembered)

* LOTR (can't quite explain, but that machine always just feels kind of 'dead')

* TSPP (had high hopes. It was good, but not as good as I expected.)

* Most of the EMs (sorry, but I think 90s Williams machines have spoiled me!)

 

8. The machines I was hoping to play but weren't there were:

* Haunted House (there but broken)

* Black Knight (there but broken)

* Black Knight 2000

* Cactus Canyon

* Shadow

* Klondike

* Whodunnit

* Monopoly

* Black Rose

* Triple Action (1973 - nostalgic reasons)

* Apollo 13

 

9. Most of the visitors there seemed to be only 'softcore' pinball players. (You could tell because they headed straight to machines like Playboy which are well-known but not very good pins. Also, some of the comments I overheard were way n00bish... "Hey look, Homer's head turns!"

 

So, there you have my many impressions. And please, despite the 'glass half empty' nature of some of the above comments, do go there if you ever get the chance. We need to keep this hobby alive, and despite some niggles, the PHOF makes a better effort than most to provide a great pinball experience. They deserve out patronage and support for that alone.

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