Pinside.com - All Pinside.com content

Pinball dream

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:49:34 GMT

Hi, I started playing pinballs in the late 70's and early 80's. The arcade, was in an old factory in the suburb of Bayswater, my brother and i, would ride our bikes there on Sunday mornings, armed with all the coins that we could lift off our two older brothers. My early memories were of playing Evel Knievel, loved it and still do. I can also recall Gorgar, i was in awe of this machine, as it talked and at that stage, seemed so far ahead of its time. Anyhow, time has marched on and i am now married with 3 kids aged ...

Stern Split Second

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:38:49 GMT

Looking for my first machine and saw this one on Ebay as a restoration project, Played it on Pinmame and decided it would keep my interest so bid for it and won it. Got it from a seaside town where it had come from an amusemnet arcade but the guy who bought it had done nothing to it and just left it outside under a tarpaulin for months. The restoration was far more difficult than I ever imagined because of its condition but the playfield was pretty good and complete. The mpu and sdb boards were missing so I got an ...

Trachy's Pinball Story

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:53:39 GMT

It was during the summer of 1986 that I developed a love of pinball. I was 16 and a ride operator at an amusement park in Utah called, Lagoon. They had a massive arcade filled with virtually every pinball machine made from the '70s to 1986. I would spend my breaks in the arcade playing these machines, and I would almost always find a few machines with credits that either the previous player didn't wish to play or escaped their notice. I don't know why, but the Bally's Space Invaders machine always seemed to have one or more credits, so ...

Me, Myself and Pinball.

Sun, 31 May 2009 01:54:41 GMT

The first time I played a pinball machine was around 1980-82. There was this convience store down the street that used to be an old diner, it still served soup and sandwiches, it still had the red diner stools and a white and chrome arborite counter. But in the back, where the old walk in cooler used to be, the owner had put in a couple of pinball machines and arcade machines and painted the walls black. Needless to say with my allowance of $2 per week it went pretty fast. The machines that the owner had back there were a ...

Rolling Stones signed backglass

Tue, 26 May 2009 17:27:22 GMT

I have been attending the Texas Pinball Festival for the past 5 years and the 2008 event was great! Especially cool was the appearance of pinball artist Greg Freres! I brought my Rolling Stones pinball backglass, several flyers, and a couple of custom made free play cards for him to sign! At the 2009 Texas Pinball Festival, I asked Gary Stern if they ever thought about making a new Rolling Stones machine. He said they did, and even contacted the Stones but the Stones were not interested! Oh, well, in the meantime I will enjoy my 1980 machine. It's always a ...

Gary Stern at the 2009 Texas Pinball Fesitival

Fri, 22 May 2009 00:04:33 GMT

This year's Texas Pinball Festival was another pinballer heaven! Gary Stern was there and talked about the business of pinball making. Afterward, I got him to sign a Batman Dark Knight pinball flyer and translite! The translite will look cool on my machine... if I ever do have the opportunity to own one! Thanks Gary and keep the faith! (Sorry the picture is unfocused.) ...

Signed Batman Forever translite

Thu, 21 May 2009 20:17:27 GMT

Knowing that Morgan Weistling was the artist for this machine, I contacted him and asked if he would sign a Batman Forever translite. He said he would so I sent it UPS with return shipping prepaid. Lo and behold, I received it back in a week or so with a beautiful signature in silver ink (I sent a silver sharpie). Looks really cool on my machine! Thank you Morgan! ...

Thank goodness for this machine

Thu, 21 May 2009 18:24:57 GMT

I've always enjoyed the opportunities to play pinball when they arrive, especially if it's on location with a machine that has strong flippers and a clean playfield. Well, for the past few years I've been collecting arcade machines and pinball machines. My wife loves my Jurassic Park machine, but she's always been lukewarm at best toward playing games on location. I don't know if it's the money or the fact that she's not great at pinball, but getting her out of the house to play a few games wasn't always easy. A couple of years after being married we hit up ...

10,000 machine ratings and the Top 200!

Thu, 21 May 2009 17:53:49 GMT

After last months milestone of going over 10,000 approved rating, today we have reached another milestone. We now have 200 machines that have passed the 6 votes treshold! What does that mean? Well, as you may know, for a game to be in the Pinside Top 100, it should have at least 6 validated ratings. All ratings are manually validated against our rating guidelines by one of the Pinside admins. We check for "troll votes" to make sure that ratings are serious and not just there to (dis)credit a particular machine. When a game has reached 6 validated ratings, it may be included ...

Greg Freres at the 2008 Texas Pinball Festival

Thu, 21 May 2009 16:20:22 GMT

I have been attending the Texas Pinball Festival for the past 5 years and the 2008 event was great! Especially cool was the appearance of pinball artist Greg Freres! I brought my Rolling Stones backglass and he signed it for me. I also custom made several price cards which he also signed. He even signed some Rolling Stones pinball flyers! All in all, a wonderful time! I can't wait for next years fest! ...

Stern announces new NBA machine

Thu, 21 May 2009 13:02:22 GMT

Stern has just announced their latest game: "NBA", a licensed theme featuring USA basketball. For basketball fans -and there are quite a lot, according to the Stern press release, it was about time for another game of basket-pinball. After all, it's been over 8 years since the last basketball-themed pin rolled of the Chicago factory lines. And while many of you now probably think of one of Bally's last games, the 1997 "NBA Fastbreak", I'm actually referring to that other 1997 game: "Space Jam". Apparently, NBA will bear close resemblance to the layout of the Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny pin. An early preview from Pinballnews calls the ...

A quick backstory on my experience in this hobby

Wed, 20 May 2009 18:33:20 GMT

Growing up, I used to do what most kids did whenever they got near coin-op games; I'd bug my parents for quarters. I was an '80s and '90s kid, so lived through the best years for pinball (in my opinion), but it wasn't until a little more recently that I really appreciated the machines. I was always more of an arcade game fanatic, but pinball was always something that I'd be willing to try once in a while. It was just intimidating to approach the wall of pins at my local arcade, as usually it was an older crowd vying ...

Not every Stern pin should be liscenced!

Wed, 20 May 2009 04:20:20 GMT

My first instinct was oh no, not another television pin! I plopped in my quarters, played {hoping}, and well, you know what? I was right! New Sam design on Stern pins is ok, allows for a lot more product, but the playfield was blah in shot design, and the modes felt slapped together, almost as bad as the Stern IJ pin made last year...although that pin was more attractive! I do not dislike Stern pins at all, as I feel TSPP and LOTR were winners, but this pin seems to be suffering from the same malady's as the last ...

Cassandra Peterson Pinball

Thu, 14 May 2009 01:31:00 GMT

I can sum this pin up in only a few words...Elvira television worship! The pinball designers who made this pin were obviously infatuated with their hostess, as they took all of the best this wonderfully talented actress could give and gave it back to the players! Lighting, and gameplay are top notch, as well as the 'Stiff-O-Meter' modes. Difficult to master, easy to learn. I wasn't a big fan of the 'cheesy' boggie men on the slings, and felt they cheapened the pin overall, but since they were animated, I felt the designers may have agreed with my opinion. ...

My (Back) story

Wed, 13 May 2009 00:56:51 GMT

Hi guys! Even though I'm not addicted to pinball, I still love it. I do have backroung knowledge, though; I went to the pinball hall of fame! I'm 11 in Idaho and I hope pinside is awesome! (As Las Vegas is!) Sorry: I'm not reviewing a lot of machines because I've played TONS! Over time i'll review them... ...

Getting the Addams Family

Wed, 13 May 2009 00:53:19 GMT

I remeber my mom (Yes, I'm 11) rushing me out the door because of this; a new pinball machine was coming. While we were out, the Addams Family unexpectedly (my dad only knew) came and got placed in our "game" room. When I came home finally, I walked up stairs and... TA-DA!! The Addams Family was flashing and doing it's little theme song. I was so excited and I hope you get this machine! My only tip is very important; lay back, have fun, and play pin! ...

What a beautiful end to Bally!

Tue, 12 May 2009 01:12:30 GMT

Let's turn on the wayback machine to 1986...Cyndi Lauper was still famous, Back to the future 2 and 3 were in final production, Electric Boogaloo was only a two year old film ( :p ), and the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after take off. Then there was Bally Pinball Co. Bally was in dire straights. They were cutting pinball costs left and right, trying to stay afloat and solvent, and word was Williams may or may not be interested in an aqcuisition. But, Bally was designing a pin based on a cult phenomemon, Dungeons and Dragons. They made ...

Alvin G. and Co., oh where could this have led to??

Mon, 11 May 2009 01:02:23 GMT

Well, this was, in my opinion, the epitomy of this small pin manufacturers design and impimentation. Scary as hell, what witha screaming skull on the dmd yelling at you, and the ever popular scavenger hunt and ghost house themes, always a winning combo! The playfield is also the most detailed and beautifully painted ever made for a pin! Some details are located under the ramps and plastics, which are completely hidden after reassembly! What a waste of talent! BTW, the light shows are friggin' fantastic! Almost blinding and mesmerizing! DMD animations are short on quantity, but done ok. Cab art is ...

Safe Cracker Made out of Unobtainium??

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:16:00 GMT

Safe Cracker (Not Safecracker, two words people!!), Is one of Pat Lawlor's best inventions! but due to legal gambling restrictions, most were banned and sent overseas! If you can find one, BUY IT!! Too much fun! Just bought a local sc pin(well, 300 miles round trip), and I will tell you all, this pin is gettin scarce! I wanted a domestic pin, not a reimport, which was even more scarce, only 200 survived! Well, anyways, was a low play pin, needed decals, playfield is excellent, and boards are clean and match! A keeper! ...

All aboot me! ;)

Sun, 10 May 2009 23:26:22 GMT

I started collecting pins in 2005...I presently have 6 in my collection, including a 1993 Indiana Jones, all pimped out with TASTEFUL mods, a Revenge from Mars, presently with a Star Wars Episode One NOS conversion kit installed, A completely restored 1987 Bally Dungeons and Dragons with a Bill Davis clearcoated NOS playfield, a restored (by me and the wife) 1992 Williams Getaway with new decals, an Alvin G. and Company Mystery Castle, and the latest acquistion, a Bally Safe Cracker, presently being redecaled in my living room...;) I have an 11 year old son and a 9 year old ...