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TB pinball enthusiasts?

#81
ptg said:
Does anyone remember a game from the late 80's that had Gorbachev as one of the main characters? I think it was called Taxi and you had to pick different people up. I played that one for hours and hours! Man, the 80's was so long ago!
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You remember correctly. Taxi is a late 80s Williams and considered something of a classic. Gorbachev, Pinbot (a previous title), Santa Claus, Dracula, and Lola/Marilyn were the passengers to pick up. Gorby was the subsequent jackpot shot upon picking up all 5 fares. Ramps would increase in value, eventually lighting a million shot in Santa Clause.
 
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#82
BadJazz said:
You remember correctly. Taxi is a late 80s Williams and considered something of a classic. Gorbachev, Pinbot (a previous title), Santa Claus, Dracula, and Lola/Marilyn were the passengers to pick up. Gorby was the subsequent jackpot shot upon picking up all 5 fares. Ramps would increase in value, eventually lighting a million shot in Santa Clause.
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Yes! That was it! Didn't know it was considered a classic. My buddy worked at a 7-11 and the machine was in the store. Can't tell you how much money I spent on that sucker...Good times!
 
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#85
BadJazz said:
BTW, tomorrow (Saturday 14) is the annual Northwest Oh-Pin tournament at Blairally here in Eugene, Oregon. Lots of great machines and a really fun time to be had. Goes from noon until it's over; usually 8-9ish.
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My step daughter lives in Portland and her boyfriend lives in Eugene...I'm in NY...Where is that transporter that they have on Star Trek when you need it?
 
#86
There was that one year back in college, and that one machine in the student union upper lounge, I was actually really good at. Sucked on pretty much any other machine.
 
#87
Photo taken today at Blairalley for the tournament. The place was hopping. They had 2 pinball techs devoted to keeping the tournament machines working perfectly. Most of the games are in at least VG+ condition and very playable. I dropped quite a few dollars into Fish Tales. :)

Their Elvira Scared Stiff game has been converted to a color DMD (dot matrix display). Never seen that before. But I’ve been out of the hobby for a decade.

Many EM electromechanical pins in nearly perfect condition.

I’ll definitely be returning.

03E35A32-B503-48B7-83B6-1D94383B1F07.jpeg
 
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#88
Alkali Ike said:
Photo taken today at Blairalley for the tournament. The place was hopping. They had 2 pinball techs devoted to keeping the tournament machines working perfectly. Most of the games are in at least VG+ condition and very playable. I dropped quite a few dollars into Fish Tales. :)

Their Elvira Scared Stiff game has been converted to a color DMD (dot matrix display). Never seen that before. But I’ve been out of the hobby for a decade.

Many EM electromechanical pins in nearly perfect condition.

I’ll definitely be returning.

View attachment 2783333
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Nice! I just got home from there. That's Tom in the red jacket. He's one of the techs. Hayden is sitting and running the tournament. I didn't play this year but figured I'd show up and play on my own. I did manage to put up 2.4 billion on Rocky and Bullwinkle, so all in all it was a fun day.

20171014_192920.jpg
 
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#90
BadJazz said:
Nice! I just got home from there. That's Tom in the red jacket. He's one of the techs. Hayden is sitting and running the tournament. I didn't play this year but figured I'd show up and play on my own. I did manage to put up 2.4 billion on Rocky and Bullwinkle, so all in all it was a fun day.

View attachment 2783428
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Were you playing R&B with a *lot* of table English, testing the game’s TILT threshold? ;) I think you might have been standing right next to me when I was playing Fish Tales. At one point whoever was playing it had to reposition R&B because it had moved quite a bit. Lol.
 
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#91
Alkali Ike said:
Were you playing R&B with a *lot* of table English, testing the game’s TILT threshold? ;) I think you might have been standing right next to me when I was playing Fish Tales. At one point whoever was playing it had to reposition R&B because it had moved quite a bit. Lol.
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Yeah that's me. LEO high scores are all me as well. They used to have a chalkboard for high scores for pins that don't do initials. I miss that. And yeAh the tilt on r and b is quite generous.
 
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#92
I was literally talking to someone about pinball machines lately, and how in the UK (at least where I live), there is a serious lack of them now. When I was younger (about 15 years ago), every arcade you went to would have one, they usually had a bit of age, but they were still good. Now, I can't find one, the rare one you find usually is quite old and won't work, and they are never new, I don't think I've ever seen a pinball machine that would have been made in the past 20 years.

Air hockey is more prominent, and pool, and a lot more games based of mobile phone games, like Temple Run and Flappy Bird, weird. I even went to a fairly large arcade which had a ton of older machines in the back (not too old, about 20-25 years old, but it did have a few machines from the 50's & 60's), not one pinball machine.

Such a shame, it seems that the classic game is lost here. :(. The only way I can play is on an iPhone, but it's not the same.
 
#93
TFox - there is a place in Europe (Italy IIRC) that sells used pins that have been on the club circuit. a group here in the Seattle area purchases a shipping container full of pins about once a year, and many on the group takes these games and restore them back to life. not sure where they are all coming from within Europe, but the range of games typically crosses from the 60s to present
 
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#94
Pinball IS having quite a resurgence, with more and more new machines from more and more manufacturers. Stern is the only constant since the heyday and decline of pinball in the late 90s/early 2000s. Now we have Dutch Pinball (in Holland, I believe), Jersey Jack, Heighway, and a few other startups contending for the increase in demand. Pinball and beer. What a past-time!
 
#95
BadJazz said:
Pinball IS having quite a resurgence, with more and more new machines from more and more manufacturers. Stern is the only constant since the heyday and decline of pinball in the late 90s/early 2000s. Now we have Dutch Pinball (in Holland, I believe), Jersey Jack, Heighway, and a few other startups contending for the increase in demand. Pinball and beer. What a past-time!
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Perhaps while listening to vinyl records. I was in Best Buy yesterday and they had 4 different turntables on display.
 
#96
i discovered pinball right after i turned 15, and i really enjoyed it. a store near where i lived had a couple older machines, bad cat and one called something like snap it. and hollywood blvd had all sorts of machines. i was a pinball fanatic!

years later (but still years later) when i had more space than we have now, i had a fully functional swinger machine like this one
Welcome to PinRescue.com - Pinball machines for sale, pinball game restoration and pinball service and more....

i also liked pinball video games in the old NES 1 days like pinball quest (i really loved pinball quest - it had a pinball adventure game and several shorter pinball games), pinbot and roller ball, which was a two-table game featuring a skyscraper.
 
#98
It’s back! This thread. Also it appears that pinball is back.

I haven’t paid any attention to the business of making new pinball machines for a long time. I figured the only player still standing was Stern. And that they’re probably barely surviving.

Well I was wrong.

One of my hangouts just got a brand new Deadpool pinball machine. I tried it out and not only is it good, but there are more modern design elements like a full color video screen. All game lighting is LEDs. No more unlit inserts on the playfield after a couple months. Better sound.

Most pinball machine buyers seem to be boomers with plenty of disposable income. New machines often come in 3 levels of trim, game features, and pricing. The deluxe versions are numbered limited editions. They can have unique artwork, expanded game rules, more elaborate toys, and more.

Prices start at about $6K for the standard models, and go as high as $15K for the LE. The LE versions often sell out their production runs very quickly.

Stern is doing so well they opened a new factory. All game assembly is still done in Illinois. Major components like cabinets and playfields are US-Made.

I had no idea. Reminds me of the resurgence in vinyl records.

Home | Stern Pinball

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#100
Forgot to mention Chicago Gaming Company. They’re doing licensed remakes of now-classic Williams/Bally pins including Monster Bash, Attack From Mars, and Medieval Madness.

Chicago Gaming Company

One interesting thing (to me) about Stern’s Deadpool game is it uses a lot of familiar retro sound effects from 80s video games like Defender. I like it.
 
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