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If loving pins is wrong, I don't wanna be right!

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:34:25 GMT

I have to start by thanking Mike, my high-school friend who invited me to his home several years ago to unveil his T2. I was in awe. It was just like the ones we had played the snot out of when we were kids. That was it, I was inspired. Right at that moment I knew I would eventually have an Addams Family; my favorite game. I learned a lot from that TAF and, as an Industrial Designer, I gained a true appreciation for the perfect blend of artistry and engineering that is pinball; something I had never considered while banging around ...

My Xenon pin - background, history and work to date

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:00:32 GMT

Background and where I started: I knew nothing about electronics repair or anything about how to fix/repair a pinball machine. However I was a computer tech, so was comfortable with handling and replacing board hardware. My Xenon was a "machine unseen" (except for pictures and descriptions), that I bought via E-Bay and had shipped. While the owner didn't mis-represent it necessarily, I didn't get exactly what I expected. I know better now, apparently a newbe mistake that won't happen again. Anyway, I had one tech come in and stabilize it, and it worked for a bit, and then it just was so out of sorts ...

Pinball History - HLT

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:33:42 GMT

My earliest pinball memory is Haunted House. My uncle worked as an operator, and he stored HH in my grandmother's garage for a while. I played it way more than the arcade games that he left there. Fast forward about 10 years, and was playing a lot of computer simulations: Looney Labyrinth, Pro Pinball, etc, and never thought it was possible to own a real machine. I went bowling with friends, then totally ignored them while I played the TZ that was there. I was hooked. About a year later, I bought one. I have since completely rebuilt it twice, including a ...

Silverball in Santa Cruz

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:31:51 GMT

I looked at pinball machines with awe when I was a kid, but only ever played them a couple of times. Most of my pinball experiences were computer based ones (littlewing pinball on a mac, i.e. crystal caliburn, loony labrinth). Recently I got turned onto pinball again via the proliferation of iOS pinball games I found I could get for my phone, such as littlewing's Tristan, gameprom's Pinball HD and War Pinball collections, zen studio's Zen Pinball, a.s.k. homework's Age of Pinballs, and others. Really looking forward to the upcoming Pinball Arcade app from farsight studios. Anyway, I started going ...

An addiction is born...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:41:00 GMT

I grew up during the hay day of video games; 12 years old in 1983 was a magical time. My Dad and Mom always would take me to the local arcades (Just 4 Fun; Galaxy World), etc to pump quarters into all the latest games. I never really played a lot of pinball during those first couple of years, but as soon as I got to high school that's when my pin addiction started. High school lunches were open, so we could leave campus. Only a 2 minute walk away from Wheaton Bowl, my buddies and I would frequently go there ...

a game to stretch the generations

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:22:52 GMT

I started my love with pinballs about age 14, when my dad decided he wanted to run an amusement company. I remember the first talking pinball that came through the shop "Embryon". It was amazing, the voice, the noises, the action, loved it all. Then i remember the first NIB that we bought "Jurassic Park". Shaker motor, dmd, a dinosaur that ate the ball, a trigger launcher! Over the years thousands of pins have come through the shop, even some of the greats (MM, MB, AFM, TZ, AF, etc, etc.) and i fell in love with most of them. My ...

The Adventures of Bill in Indiana , The Newbie always in Over his Head !!

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:10:43 GMT

Pinball... I like it. When I was a little kid my Dad bowled 4 nights a week.. This was in the 70's and every bowling alley had at least one machine if not 4 or 5.. Video Games, I think were just making a big break through, so Pinball was King from those days and forever for me.. Fast Foward to me as a Big Kid back in 2009, I finally have a home that has a large room ( use to be a two car garage that previous owner finished) it's 20' x 30' Just right to make my Game/entertainment ...

How I got here....

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:11:29 GMT

As long as I can remember I have loved pinball. When I was a kid I had one of those plastic pinball "machines" that you'd plug in and had the dial score wheel, rubber bands for slingshots, mechanical flippers, etc. Later, I got a Wildfire electronic handheld pinball machine that I still have in storage somewhere. My big exposure to pinball was in college. My freshman and sophomore year I spent a lot of money on pinball. Walking home from class I would walk through many of the dorms which had at least one Williams table. Whirlwind, High Speed, Jokerz, Pinbot, ...

A little about how my hobby got started.....

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:12:27 GMT

Well, I've been playing pins for as long as I can remember. Mostly at arcades and laundromats, but later on in bars, where my Dad would drink his evenings and weekends away. Obviously, being a kid, I couldn't sit at the bar with Dad (heck, I shouldn't have been in there anyway), so my Dad and his friends would give me piles of change so I could go shoot pool and play pins. While this may not have been the most appropriate place to learn the love of the silver ball, it set in motion a great interest in one day ...

Eat... or play Pinball?

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:12:15 GMT

It was a cold, dark winter night.... No, seriously! It was....! Late December 1979, my little brother & I were returning home to Minnesota after spending Christmas at our Dad's in northern Idaho. He handed me a 20 dollar bill and waved goodbye as our Greyhound Bus pulled away from the gas station/bus depot. We then settled into our seats for the 2-day trip. After many delays along the way due to winter weather, we finally made it to North Dakota. We were really short on cash by then as we surely didn't have much to start with. Our bus pulled into ...

The Birth Of An Addiction

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:55:24 GMT

I started playing pinball at bowling alleys while my parents bowled every other weeked. Now that I look back I feel I was a bit spoiled considering I had healthy doses of T2, Addam's Family, Twilight Zone, Tommy, the first Indiana Jones and Popeye.....maybe not so much Popeye though. My dad got me interested in pinball as a child when he would tell me stories about this one machine (i called him about it recently to find out if he remembered the name of it but sadly he did not) that would spin the ball so hard it would fly ...

pins pins pins

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:13:33 GMT

Just love to play pinball ...

My name is Doghouse, and I am a pinaholic.

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:39:47 GMT

My name is Doghouse, and I am a pinaholic. I started young-- much too young to understand what I was getting into. My Florida childhood was interrupted by this thing we so innocently call PINBALL. At first I'd mow lawns and take my buck and play at the laundromat. Doodle Bug (Williams 1971) was the first machine title I remember. I was only slightly hooked at the time, but of course games were only a dime back then. And how much damage could a kid do with a dime? A few years later I progressed to umm, borrowing quarters from my Dad's ...

I got the Pinball mojo..

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:00:06 GMT

Ever since I was a small child wasting quarters at the local arcade or at the laundromat.. I have been mesmerized by the silver ball.. One day Dad brought ome an old 40s Genco "Step Up" woodrail that someone had modified to include two poorly placed flippers controlled by one button. We had more fun than I can relay here playing pinball until the wee hours of the morning. I was inside the machine quite a bit, fascinated by the mechanics and electronics of it's inner workings.. Just lately I got back in and bought 3 machines which I am ...

Bronzelion - the story

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:28:37 GMT

Hello. My name is Chris and I am a pinball addict. My addiction started when I was about 10 years old. My parents and I were staying at a KOA campground in Arizona for a few days, and the campground office had a small gameroom with a pinball machine (can't recall which pin). The campground had a pinball competion that week and I won my age group. My reward...a free KOA t-shirt! I think it was the first time I had won anything. That's all it took. I have been playing pinball ever since. ...

A bit 'bout me

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:11:03 GMT

Im 38 years old and like many of you I spend every day sitting in front of a computer. Game wise I've always kinda been into pc, ps3 and such.. I remember as a teen in the eighties it was moon-patrol and 1946... Never got into pinball machines however? Perhaps its my age or just because of what i do for a living but spending all this time in pseudo 3d space drives me nuts. I need something more tangible to do with my spare time. Ive got a pretty decent workshop and love tinkering with all manner of stuff, ...

Wickedquickss, a little about me

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:52:16 GMT

Well I'm a 35 year old father of 2. Been happily married for over 5 years, I am married to the sweetest woman in the world and I married way above my looks.....she's a babe! I am a gearhead, a pinhead, and a hotwheel collector. My earliest memory of pinball was back in 1980, my grandfather ran a little pub call the "Shively Pub". During the daytime hours my mother would bring me in and visit him, and he would give me a pocket full of quarters for a nearly new Xennon machine they had. I was only 4 so ...

Profile-Trent

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:52:35 GMT

I've been playing pinballs since I was young. Started operating and collecting after college. Played in my first Tourney in '93 and still continue to play competitively. Continues to grow the route and collection and in 2000 starting reimporting pins from overseas. After that dried up I turned my focus on New pinballs and became a Stern Distributor. My focus has continued there and I try to provide unbeatable service at great prices. ...

My story so far

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:23:34 GMT

Ex-girlfriend got me into playing pinball back in 1991. Ever since then I played pinball off & on with good results(the occasional replays, etc). Then I was approached by soemone who ran local pinball tournaments in 2011, and have been heavily into pinball ever since. Monthly tournaments, playing Future Pinball & Visual Pinball tables, designing my own(in FP & VP), and buying a fixer-uppper Middle Earth. I'm deeply into any & all early 1980s nostalgia, and pinball is no exception. My dream arcade to have downtairs would consist of a Barracora, a Centaur II and a few others. ...

A teenage pinball tale...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:46:43 GMT

My current and only game is Bally's Xenon. In the early 80's I must have pumped at least $200 into that game alone. I will admit, as a teenager I was smitten with the graphics, the theme, and of course, the sound. The mall we used to frequent had an arcade with Xenon up front and center. Every time I visited she beckoned... 30 some years later I was waxing nostalgic for my youth, and started searching for my long lost love. I found one in Ohio and had her shipped. "Great working game" was the tagline. Now know better, and have begun efforts to stabilize the game, ...