THREE SHOWS 1992

 

                              by Russ Jensen

 

 

     Like I did last year, I have again decided to report on three coin-op

shows in one article.  The first show is the Spring 1992 edition of the

"Collector's Fun Fair", and the second the annual Arizona "Pinball Show".

The third show I will report on, unlike last year, will not be the Fall

edition of the Fun Fair.  Instead this year I will tell about a new coin-op

show to come to California, the "L.A Vintage Coin Machine and Advertising

Show and Sale" put on by Bill and Roseanna Harris, past publishers of COIN

SLOT.

 

     The Spring Fun Fair was held, like last year, at the Anaheim Stadium

Exposition Center in Anaheim California on Saturday and Sunday, April 4th

and 5th.

 

     I left my house Saturday morning for the approximately 90 mile freeway

drive to Anaheim.  On the way I heard a traffic report on the radio that

indicated a section of the freeway comprising the most direct route was

closed due to a traffic accident.  Knowing the L.A. freeway system as I do

(having seen it being constructed as I grew up) I quickly decided on an

"alternate route", using other freeways, and arrived at the show site

shortly after the 1 PM starting time for the show.

 

     Before describing some of the pingames at this show, let me start by

giving a run-down of the quantities of machines which were for sale from

each decade.  From the 1930's there were only 3 games, none from the 40's,

and only 2 each from the 50's and 60's.  From the 1970's there were 9

electro-mechanical pins and 5 solid-state games.  In addition, there were

11 solid-state games from the 1980's, plus a few assorted new and almost

new games from the current decade.

 

     As far a dealers were concerned, there were only 4 that had more than

one or two games.  Fun Fair regular, for the past 4 or 5 years, Herb

Silvers had his usual booth which was set up "side by side" with the

offerings of Bill Cowles.

 

     Herb had 2 nice 1970's era electro-mechanicals, in addition to 6 good

solid-state machines.  Two of the latter were early Stern machines which

are somewhat rarer than most solid-state machines from other manufacturers.

Herb's machines, as in the past, were all in very nice condition.

 

     Bill (who incidentally covered the show for a popular pinball

collector's publication) had 4 nice 70's electro-mechanicals, including the

popular Williams SPACE MISSION.  In addition, he had a 'partial' Atari TIME

2000 solid-state game with a missing backboard.  The game was still

playable, however, since all the scores on this game were displayed on the

playfield.

 

     Arizona collector/dealer Don Westphal, also a regular at several past

Fun Fairs, had several nice machines for sale.  He had one of the 3 1930's

games at the show, a near 'mint' 1937 payout pingame by Exhibit Supply

called BAZAAR.  That game had been offered for sale at several past shows,

but this time it was sold to another dealer at the show, Neil Jamison from

Wichita, Kansas.  In addition to that rare game, Don had two nice 'pitch

and bat' baseball games and 5 nice solid-state pins.

 

     The last of the larger displays of pingames was that of Wichita

dealers Bob Nelson and Neil Jamison.  Neil brought along a real nice 1950

Bally 'one-ball horserace' game (one of the two 1950's pins at the show)

TURF KING.  This game was especially unique because Neil had converted it

into a 'direct coin payout'.  In addition to that game, Bob and Neil had

three solid-state pins for sale, including the first 'multi-level'

playfield game, Williams' BLACK KNIGHT from 1980.

 

     In addition to the two older games mentioned above, there were three

other pre-1960 pingames at the show, two from the 1930's and one from the

1950's.  These were owned by other dealers who had only one or two pins for

sale.

 

     One of the two 1930's pins there was the first Ballygame, BALLYHOO,

from 1932.  This game has appeared for sale at several past Fun Fairs as

well as other coin-op shows.  The other Thirties pin was a small counter-

top pin called BABY GRAND made by a company called A. M. Walzer in 1932.

 

     The other older pin at the show was, however, much more interesting.

It was Williams' 1951 horse race motif pingame, HAYBURNERS.  This was the

first in a series of "horse race pins" put out by Williams over the years,

each of which had some form of 'mechanically animated' horse race, either

on the playfield (or beneath it in one case) or behind the backglass.

 

     As with all of these games, hitting bumpers or crossing rollovers on

the playfield caused one or more of the horses to be mechanically advanced

toward a "finish line".  In some of the later games of this type a

'selection' for winner was chosen at the start of the game (usually

randomly by the machine, but in one case by the player himself), the object

of the game being to get that horse to come in first. 

 

     In this game, however, there does not appear to be any such

'selection', the player probably just deciding for himself which horse he

wants to win, or perhaps betting against a friend.  At any rate HAYBURNERS

is an interesting and fairly rare pingame from the early 1950's.

 


    The following is a complete chronological listing of all the pingames

at this show:

 

        PINGAMES AT THE SPRING 1992 FUN FAIR

 

 

NAME                          MFG            YEAR     PRICE

-----------------------       -------        -------  ------

BALLYHOO                      Bally          1932     250?    

BABY GRAND                    A.M. Walzer    1932     175     

BAZAAR                        Exhibit        1937     SOLD    

TURF KING  (1-BALL)           Bally          1950     1300    

HAYBURNERS                    Williams       1951     650     

AIRPORT                       Gottlieb       1969     350

COSMOS                        Bally          1969     750

LINE DRIVE (Baseball)         Williams       1972     1000    

PRO POOL                      Gottlieb       1973     650     

OXO                           Williams       1974     500     

SKY RIDER                     Chicago Coin   1974     500     

STRATO-FLITE                  Williams       1974     500     

ATLANTIS                      Gottlieb       1975     ???     

BOW AND ARROW                 Bally          1975     275     

TOP SCORE                     Gottlieb       1975     625

SHIP AHOY                     Gottlieb       1976     600     

SPACE MISSION                 Williams       1976     400     

EIGHT BALL                    Bally          1977     750     

TIME 2000  (BACK MISSING)     Atari          1977     200     

PLAYBOY                       Bally          1978     395,800 

STARS                         Stern          1978     550     

METEOR                        Stern          1979     700     

STAR TREK                     Bally          1979     795

BLACK KNIGHT                  Williams       1980     750     

FIREPOWER                     Williams       1980     495

BLACK HOLE                    Gottlieb       1981     650     

EIGHT BALL DELUXE             Bally          1981     650     

FATHOM                        Bally          1981     650     

VECTOR                        Bally          1982     800     

FAREALLA                      Zacaria        1983     800     

COMET                         Williams       1985     650     

RAVEN                         Gottlieb       1986     800     

ROAD KINGS                    Williams       1986     550     

SPACE STATION                 Williams       1988     950     

ADDAMS FAMILY                 Data East      1991     NEW     

STAR SERIES (Baseball)        Williams       ??       1250    

DELUXE BATTING CHAMP (BB)     Williams       ???      650

LATE SS's, BANZAI RUN,ETC     VARIOUS        VARIOUS  HIGH    

 

 

     After scouring the show to see what all in the way of pingames and

associated items were available, my friend and fellow collector Sam Harvey

and I decided to leave the show and have dinner with our friend Pat

Feinaur.  Pat had been unable to attend the show because he had to work

that afternoon at the game arcade in which he was employed.

 

     After following Sam for about 10 miles (over freeways, side streets,

and even a "back alley") we arrived at the arcade when Pat was just getting

off work.  The three of us then went to a local restaurant for dinner,

during which the tab;e discussions centered, of course, around pinballs.

 

     After this nice ending to the evening, I got into my car and made the

long freeway trip back home to Camarillo.

 

THE 1992 ARIZONA "PINBALL SHOW"

 

     The second show I will report on is the 3rd edition of the annual

"Pinball Show" held in Scottsdale, Arizona.  Although this was the third

year of the show, I have only attended the last two.  This year the show

was held on Friday and Saturday, June 12th and 13th.  This show is the

biggest all pinball show west of the Mississippi and is really great!

 

     As I did last year, I again traveled to the show with my friends Sam

Harvey and Pat Feinaur, this year, however, we traveled by air.

 

     On Friday morning I drove the seventy or so miles to Sam's house and

Pat did the same.  Sam's mother, who lives down the street, then kindly

drove the three of us to the Ontario, California airport where we were to

board our flight to Phoenix.

 

     Getting through the "metal detector" at the airport proved to be

somewhat of a problem.  When I walked through it buzzed.  After trying

several times (after removing my watch, and even my belt) still no luck.

Finally, the security people asked me and Sam (who also did not "pass the

test") to stand aside and wait.

 

     After about 5 minutes, during which time we heard the machine buzz for

almost everyone who passed through, the security people finally came over

and told us that we could go on to the plane, offering us no further

explanation whatsoever.  I think the machine must have been malfunctioning.

I almost, however, forgot to retrieve my watch which they had on their

little tray.

 

     After the short flight to Phoenix we were met at the airport by two

fellow collectors, Jay Stafford from the local area and Tucker Flandrena

who had come to the show all the way from Iowa.

 

     After arriving at the hotel and checking into our room, we proceeded

directly to the Exhibit Hall.  Upon entering the lobby area I noticed that

my good friend Don Mueting and his wife Ann had already set up their table

to sell Don and Rob Hawkins' latest pinball reference book "Pinball

Resource".  That book, incidentally, I reviewed in the previous issue of

COIN SLOT.

 

     Throughout the Exhibit Hall hours of operation I spent quite a bit of

time sitting at their booth talking with Don and his wife.  They also

kindly exhibited copies of my book, "Pinball Troubleshooting Guide", at

their table and as a result I sold several copies.

 

     The Exhibit Hall this year, as it was last time, consisted of two

rooms.  The main room was the primary exhibit and playing area and had two

double-sided aisles loaded with pingames for viewing, buying, and playing.

The machines ranged in age from a couple from 1932, through the 1940's and

1950's, quite a few from the 1960's and 1970's, as well as many solid-state

games from the Eighties and Nineties.

 

     The second room contained the booths of a few more dealers with more

pins, parts, paper, etc., and the new Williams GETAWAY games which were to

be used for the pinball tournament to be held in connection with the show.

 

     In addition to the games that were set up in the main room, there were

a number of older games for sale which were not set up for play, but

propped up against the wall. (See photo of GUYS - DOLLS)

 

     I will now give brief descriptions of several of the older pins to

give some idea of the variety of pingames presented.

 

     Gottlieb's ROUND UP, which came out late in 1948, was a good example

of an early wood-rail flipper game.  This game did not have 'pop-bumpers',

although they were introduced by Williams on SARATOGA about a month

earlier.  The game did have a form of 'build-up bonus', had three kickout

holes and an 11 number sequence, a feature used on many pins since the late

1930's.  The ROUND UP was in pretty good condition, except for the

backglass which could be replaced.

 

     Another unusual pin at the show was Chicago Coin's BLONDIE from mid

1956.  Chicago Coin wood-rail flippers are quite rare today.  Unlike ROUND

UP, this game had two 'pop-bumpers', plus four standard 'dead bumpers'.

BLONDIE, however, had no kickout holes, having instead a 'gobble hole' in

the center of the playfield, a feature found on many pins in the mid

1950's.  The game also had a 10 number sequence.  BLONDIE was only in

'mediocre' condition and was offered for sale "as is".

 

     A classic mid-60's pin which was at the show was Gottlieb's WORLD FAIR

from 1964.  The WORLD FAIR at the show was in almost 'mint' condition, and

was a very colorful and 'action packed' little pin.

 

     Another very nice 1960's pin shown was a great example of the 'add-a-

ball' pins first introduced in the early 1960's to get around certain local

and state laws forbidding 'free games' ('replays') on pinball machines.

Gottlieb's FLIPPER POOL, from late 1965, was one of those machines.

Instead of awarding 'free games' for skilful play, these games allowed the

player to shoot more balls.  Other than that, the play of these games was

not that much different that their 'replay' cousins.  The FLIPPER POOL at

the show was in excellent condition.

 

     The final game I'm going to show is another Chicago Coin piece.  I

again decided to show it as Chicago Coin pingames are not seen too often

today.  SOUND STAGE, from mid 1976, was one of the last of the Chicago Coin

pins, the company being bought up by long-time coin machine industry

executive Sam Stern shortly afterward, with it's name being changed to

Stern Electronics.  This game, incidentally, was offered as a raffle prize

in a special charity raffle, but more about that later.

 

     The following is a chronological list of pingames which were in the

Exhibit hall this year:

 

  NAME                        MFG            DATE           PRICE 

 _________________________    _____          _____          _____

  BALLYHOO                    Bally          31-12          ?

  BUMPER                      Bally          36-12          300

  FORMATION                   Genco          40-08          600

  MELODY                      Bally          47-11          250

  LADY ROBINHOOD              Gottlieb       48-01          1200

  CINDERELLA                  Gottlieb       48-03          250

  BUCCANEER                   Gottlieb       48-10          250, 750

  ROUND UP                    Gottlieb       48-11          -

  COLLEGE DAZE                Gottlieb       49-08          450

  KING ARTHUR                 Gottlieb       49-10          750

  NEVADA                      United         49-10          -

  PIN BOWLER                  Chicago Coin   49-11          -

  STAR SERIES (BASEBALL)      Williams       49?            900

  JUST 21                     Gottlieb       50-01          -

  ROCKETTES                   Gottlieb       50-08          650

  HAYBURNERS                  Williams       51-06          -

  CHINATOWN                   Gottlieb       52-10          650

  GUYS - DOLLS                Gottlieb       53-05          650

  STAGE COACH                 Gottlieb       54-11          350

  WISHING WELL                Gottlieb       55-09          650

  HOT DIGITY                  Williams       56-05          750

  BLONDIE                     Chicago Coin   56-06          300

  ROCKET SHIP                 Gottlieb       58-04          DISPLAY

  GOLDEN BELLS                Williams       59-02          -

  ATLAS                       Gottlieb       59-05          -

  ALOHA                       Gottlieb       61-12          250

  THREE COINS                 Williams       62-02          175

  RACK-A-BALL                 Gottlieb       62-12          OFFER

  SWING ALONG                 Gottlieb       63-07          -

  SWEETHEARTS                 Gottlieb       63-09          850

  WORLD FAIR                  Gottlieb       64-04          -

  HEAT WAVE                   Williams       64-07          200,625

  FLYING TURNS                Midway         64-?           -

  BIG LEAGUE (BASEBALL)       Chicago Coin   65-04          700

  BUCKAROO                    Gottlieb       65-05          1050

  BANK-A-BALL                 Gottlieb       65-07          -

  FLIPPER POOL                Gottlieb       65-10          -

  PARADISE                    Gottlieb       65-11          375

  CENTRAL PARK                Gottlieb       66-04          OFFER

  KICKER                      Chicago Coin   66-08          325

  HOT LINE                    Williams       66-09          500

  KING OF DIAMONDS            Gottlieb       67-02          -

  APOLLO                      Williams       67-06          150, OBO

  SING-A-LONG                 Gottlieb       67-09          400

  LADY LUCK                   Williams       68-03          -

  PALACE GUARD                Gottlieb       68-03          650

  DOMINO                      Gottlieb       68-10          400, 550

  SPIN-A-CARD                 Gottlieb       69-02          325

  EXPO                        Williams       69-10          450

  SEVEN UP                    Williams       69-12          450

  CAMELOT                     Bally          70-02          450

  JIVE TIME                   Williams       70-04          125

  ROCK 'N ROLL                Williams       70-04          250

  DOODLE BUG                  Williams       71-03          -

  FOUR MILLION BC             Bally          71-05          -

  FIREBALL                    Bally          72-02          1200

  WINNER                      Williams       72-02          400

  TWIN JOKER (LIKE BINGO)     Bally          72-06          -

  PRO FOOTBALL                Gottlieb       73-02          300

  GULF STREAM                 Williams       73-05          75

  TIME ZONE                   Bally          73-05          650

  UPPER DECK (BASEBALL)       Williams       73-05          1000

  NIP IT                      Bally          73-07          350, OBO

  JUMPING JACK                Gottlieb       73-08          RAFFLE

  TRIPLE ACTION               Williams       74-03          100

  TOP CARD                    Gottlieb       74-09          SOLD?

  STRATO FLITE                Williams       74-10          250

  MYSTIC GATE  (BINGO)        Bally          74-12          700

  KNOCKOUT                    Bally          75-04          100

  WIZARD                      Bally          75-05          1100

  SPIN OUT                    Gottlieb       75-08          225

  ABRA-CA-DABRA               Gottlieb       75-11          495, OBO

  CAPTAIN FANTASTIC           Bally          76-06          200, OFFER

  EVEL KNIEVEL                Bally          76-07          450

  SOUND STAGE                 Chicago Coin   76-07          RAFFLE

  GRAND PRIX                  Williams       76-12          150

  LOST WORLD                  Bally          77-02          325

  POWER PLAY                  Bally          77-02          450, OBO

  STAR TREK                   Bally          78-01          295

  KISS                        Bally          78-04          580

  SINBAD                      Gottlieb       78-04          250

  DOLLY PARTON                Bally          78-10          400

  FLASH                       Williams       79-01          400, OBO

  SPACE INVADERS              Bally          79-05          600

  METEOR                      Stern          79-09          ?

  XENON                       Bally          79-11          595

  BUCK ROGERS                 Gottlieb       79-12          200

  FIREPOWER                   Williams       80-03          595, OBO

  EIGHT BALL DELUXE           Bally          80-09          475, 550

  MEDUSA                      Bally          81-02          1000

  PINK PANTHER                Gottlieb       81-03          400

  SPECTRUM                    Bally          81-04          800

  BLACK HOLE                  Gottlieb       81-10          375

  CATACOMB                    Stern          81-10          ?

  HYPERBALL                   Williams       81-12          350, OBO

  MR. & MRS. PAC MAN          Bally          82-05          600

  PUNK                        Gottlieb       82-11          400

  FIREPOWER II                Williams       83-09          -

  FIREBALL CLASSIC            Bally          85-02          -

  COMET                       Williams       85-09          500, 600

  HIGH SPEED                  Williams       86-01          -

  RAVEN                       Gottlieb       86-02          550

  GENESIS                     Gottlieb       86-08          550

  GOLD WINGS                  Gottlieb       86-10          550

  PINBOT                      Williams       86-10          750

  STRANGE SCIENCE             Bally          86-10          750

  MONTE CARLO                 Gottlieb       87-01          ?

  HEAVY METAL MELTDOWN        Bally          87-08          650

  SPACE STATION               Williams       88-01          -

  SECRET SERVICE              Data East      88-03          950

  FUN HOUSE                   Williams       90-12          2000

  SIMPSONS                    Data East      90-12          2500

  TERMINATOR II               Williams       91-07          -

  OPERATION THUNDER           Gottlieb       91-12          -

  HOOK                        Data East      91-12          -

  GETAWAY                     Williams       92-04          -

  LETHAL WEAPON 3             Data East      92-??          -

 

 

     After viewing and playing games in the Exhibit hall, and conversing

with many of the pin fans there, may friend Sam and I, with a small group

of other 'pin buddies', walked across the street for dinner.  The mall

directly across from the hotel featured an area containing several small

'stands' serving various types of foods (Mexican, Pizza, Deli, etc.)

allowing each of us to choose the type of food we wanted for dinner.  After

eating we all returned, of course, to the Exhibit Hall to finish out the

evening.

 

     The next morning (Saturday), after having breakfast, we again returned

to the hall for more pinball fun.  Around noon my sister and niece, who

lived about 100 miles away in Tucson, came to the show to see me.  After

giving them a brief tour of the Exhibit Hall we had lunch in the hotel

coffee shop, having a very enjoyable reunion.

 

     One of the highlights of "Saturday afternoon at the Exhibit Hall" was

the unusual "rat raffle" conducted for charity by the 'infamous' Tim Arnold

from Las Vegas.  By now Tim's many charitable exploits involving pinball

are well known among the 'pinball community'..

 

     Tim's raffle gave away many prizes, donated by various individuals,

including a grand prize of your choice of one of two pinball machines

(Chicago Coin's SOUND STAGE mentioned earlier or Gottlieb's JACK IN THE BOX

from 1973).  Other prizes included a myriad of items such as backglasses,

books, magazine subscriptions, and other items all related to pinball.

 

     Almost since the Exhibit Hall opened, Tim had been selling raffle

tickets for $2.00 each (or 3 for $5.00).  Tim's comical gimmick (he always

has a comic touch to all his undertakings) was that after filling out your

ticket you had to stuff it into the posterior of a black rubber rat, which

was then placed in a long drum.

 

     By the time of the drawing, the drum was so full of rats that it could

not be used.  Instead, it's entire 'rat contents' was dumped in a big pile

on the floor and a young boy was chosen to randomly select the 'winning

rats'.  Well, the drawing drew quite a crowd, was a lot of fun for all, and

netted over $1000 for charity - nice going Tim!

 

     Saturday night was the finals of the pinball tournament and, of

course, the banquet.  The tournament lasted quite a bit longer than

expected so many who did not watch it sat at their tables and talked

pinball until the tournament ended and the finalists and viewers were ready

for the banquet.

 

     Two of the winners, the winner of the women's division, Barbara

Slayton, and the second place winner of the open division, Lyman Sheets,

ended up sitting at our table, discussing tournament play during the meal.

 

     When it was time for the banquet festivities, one of the show hosts,

Bruce Carlton, got up and introduced long-time industry personage, Steve

Kordek.

 

     Steve congratulated Bruce and his fellow show promoters Mark Pratt and

Jan Bradbury for putting on such a good show.  This drew a round of

applause.  Steve said that he had brought six of his people from

Williams/Bally/Midway with him from Chicago.

 

     Bruce next came back and announced the tournament winners, in both the

'open' and 'women's' divisions.  Our roommate, Pat Feinaur, incidentally,

took third place in the 'open' division.  Bruce next thanked all for coming

to the show, and for bringing games, then thanking his partners.  He then

introduced local operator/collector Dann Frank to introduce the guest

speaker Steve Ritchie.

 

     Dann began by saying that he had known Steve for quite awhile, he then

remarked, "If you play pinball you have probably played a Ritchie game".

Dann next told us that a list of Steve's designs "read like a catalog of

all the best digitals", naming  HIGH SPEED, FIREPOWER, TERMINATOR 2, F14

TOMCAT, and GETAWAY as just some examples.

 

     Dann next told us that Steve started at Atari as a technician doing

wiring harnesses, then went up to Engineering doing design of test

fixtures, and finally to the pinball prototype lab where he learned the art

and craft of pinball design.

 

     Dann then told us that Steve's first Atari game was ATARIAN, a wide

body game featuring rotary flippers, but which was not too successful.

The next year, he told us, Steve developed his own game at night and showed

it to his supervisor who rejected it.  Dann then said that Steve next took

the game to the company President, Nolan Bushnell, who ordered it made.

This was AIRBORNE AVENGER which was a mild success. 

 

     After that, Dann went on, Steve was given more freedom to design, and

his next game was SUPERMAN.  Later, Dann told us, Steve Kordek heard of him

and offered him a job at Williams, adding "the rest is history".

 

     Dann told us that he first met Steve at a coin machine trade show in

1980.  He then said that in those days there were no "pinball shows" like

today, pin fans having to spend big money to go to coin machine industry

trade shows if they wanted to mingle with industry people or see the new

games.

 

     Finally, Dann said that when Steve was a kid and was asked what he

wanted to be when he grew up, he answered "a mad scientist in a toy

factory".

 

     When Steve got up he began by correcting Dann's last statement, saying

that he didn't say that; it was what his fellow 8th graders said he would

be.  He then said that he was going to touch on his games a little. 

 

     Steve told us that he had to do "a lot of 'grunt work' before getting

into design."  When he first started at Atari he said there were a lot of

good looking girls there and thought to himself "this is going to be fun".

 

     He next told of AIRBORNE AVENGER which he did with a fellow named

Eugene Jarvis who he said was a good designer.  Steve said he didn't like

the score reels in lower arch but company wanted it that way.  After many

whitewoods, he told us, the design finally came together.

 

     Regarding his job offer at Williams, Steve said he thought "this is a

real pinball company; displays, backglasses, a real factory - awesome!"

His first game at Williams he said was FLASH.  Next, he told us, he worked

on STELLAR WARS which he said was a "pain".  Steve said that the company

wanted a wide body fast, which took about one month on the drawing board.

After playing the whitewood he said he discovered many bad things, so the

next day he started all over!

 

     FIREPOWER II, Steve said, took 13 months to make.  He then told of

playing it one night when  "it seemed I could do no wrong".  With

HYPERBALL, he said, they had problems on the assembly line and the company

President helped straighten them out.

 

     Steve then told us that he moved back to California for awhile working

on video games, but shortly afterwards Williams got him to come back to

Chicago, where he did HIGH SPEED with Larry DeMar and then BLACK KNIGHT.

He said that Larry was "a most powerful programmer".

 

     Steve next told us that F-14 TOMCAT took 8 or 9 months, and BLACK

KNIGHT 2000 took around 13.  After that he said he did ROLLER GAMES, but

added, "I don't even want to talk about that one".  He next talked about

the TERMINATOR 2 license game, which he said Roger Sharpe made possible,

remarking that it was "'outrageous' - more than you can believe".

 

     Steve then told us that people often ask how he goes about designing a

game.  He said that he starts with a drawing with flippers, slingshots,

etc., saying that he doesn't believe in "messing with flippers and drain

lanes", but maybe he might in the future.  Steve then said he next works

around the outside of playfield, from left to right.

 

     'Smoothness', Steve told us, was what he considered to be the most

important design consideration (combination shots, etc.).  The next step,

he said, was having the whitewood made, today on a computer controlled

routing machine.

 

     After that, Steve went on, you play the whitewood for a week to a

month or so, and also get opinions on it from others at the plant, which he

said was important.  Steve then told about some of the good people at the

plant.  He said that Dwight Sullivan was another good programmer, and then

spoke of a 68 year old mechanical engineer who he said had a wealth of

experience.  Greg Freres, Steve said, he considered to be a "powerful

artist".

 

     As for the kinds of games he likes to design, Steve told us "I don't

do 'cute', I like macho games".  He then said he wanted to talk about Mr.

Kordek, saying that he visits Steve's office about once each day for

anywhere from between 15 minutes to 5 hours.  Steve said he appreciates Mr.

Kordek because of his wealth of experience, saying that he has "little

'fixes' you wouldn't believe", adding that he really appreciates Steve's

help.

 

     Regarding Williams management, Steve said that they were "really

interesting people", some of which are ex designers.  Many times, Steve

told us, they would tell him that something he has planned for a new game

is too expensive to produce, telling him to take it out. 

 

     After he does that, Steve went on, they would play the game again and

then tell him to put it back in.  When this happens, he said, he puts his

original feature back, but adds even more!   When they play the game again

they usually like it and it gets produced that way.

 

     Steve then told us that a good game "must have many interesting

features to make it sell and fun to play", but that the designer also must

consider the cost to produce the machine because the "bottom line" is to

make money for the industry.

 

     At that point Steve said it was time to present his "slide show".  The

show consisted of many photos taken in the Williams/Bally/Midway plant,

primarily of various people who worked there, Steve telling us some

interesting facts about many of them.  Interdispersed with these photos

were shots of various motorcycles, Steve's other love.

 

     When his slide show was over Steve paid tribute to the show's

producers and thanked Dann Frank for taking care of him while he was in

town.  He then thanked all of us for coming to the show.  Steve ended by

telling us "I'm just a regular guy".

 

     Show host Bruce Carlton next came back up and thanked everyone for

coming also, He then asked that the local collectors bring more pins next

year.  Bruce next reminded us of the upcoming "Pinball Expo '92" (which,

incidentally, I will provide complete coverage of in the next issue).  He

then introduced Expo producer Rob Berk to tell us about his show.

 

     Rob first told Bruce, Mark, and Jan, "you did a wonderful job", and

that he and Mike Pacak enjoyed themselves very much.  He then told us that

they had an exciting show coming up in November at the same place as last

year.  Rob then introduced his co-producer Mike Pacak.

 

     Mike told us that they would have twice the exhibit hall space they

had last year.  He also said they would again have an auction (although

there were many pro's and con's about when it should be held), and that we

will be touring the Gottlieb/Premier pinball plant.

 

     Mike ended by telling us that they would again have an autograph

session and an art contest (which would be expanded over last year), an

expanded tournament (including a "youth division"), and a "pinball skill

school".

 

     The banquet ended with a special presentation to Steve Kordek for his

55 years in the industry!

 

     On Sunday there were no 'official' show activities.  But, like last

year (and maybe even the first year - but I don't know), one of the local

collectors, Dann Frank and his wife, held a 'pinball open house' at their

"House of Pinball" from about noon into the evening.  In the morning, and

part of the afternoon, Sam, Pat and I hung around the Exhibit Hall during

the breakdown of the exhibits waiting for a ride to the open house which

had previously been offered to us by exhibitors Steve Engle and his wife

Laura.

 

     The open house was again a very nice gathering with many games to play

from the Frank's fine collection and much 'pinball conversation'.  In

addition, there was also some good food and punch available provided by our

gracious hosts.

 

     Well, after enjoying the open house for a little while it was soon

time to head for the airport.  Again Steve and Laura drove us there where

we boarded our plane for California.

 

     During our return flight Sam and I both got into conversations with a

man sitting across the aisle from us.  It seemed we had several things in

common with him.  He and Sam were both quite knowledgeable about rock music

of the 50's and 60's (incidentally, besides Sam being a pinball collector

he also collects 45 RPM records, having over 10,000 of them), and also he

and his wife owned a small computer software company so he and I talked

about the future of the computer business.

 

     When we arrived back at the Ontario airport a quick phone call brought

Sam's mother to pick us up.  After the short ride to Sam's house (with a

brief stop at a fast food place) I got into my car for the approximately

hour and a half drive home.  So ended another enjoyable weekend at the

Arizona "Pinball Show".

 

THE L.A. VINTAGE COIN MACHINE AND ADVERTISING SHOW AND SALE

 

     Ever since the Fun Fair went from an annual to a semi-annual affair,

and moved out of the Pasadena Exhibit Center, I have noticed that the

number of vintage pinball machines at that show have been greatly reduced

lessening my personal enjoyment of the show.  In addition, the new

locations for the show, both in 'stadium' type arenas, and far from local

restaurants, etc., have also detracted from my past enjoyment of the Fun

Fairs.  (I have recently heard a rumor, however, that the show may move

back to Pasadena, and also go back to an annual format next year.  If so

we'll see if that helps; I will surely like that better.)

 

     So this Fall, when I heard that Bill and Roseanna Harris were going to

hold a coin-op show in Pomona the week before the Fall Fun Fair, I had

pretty well made up my mind to go to their show and skip the Fun Fair

altogether.  Then about two weeks before the show I got a personal phone

call from Roseanna inviting me to her show and offering me a complimentary

pass to the show, including the show 'preview' which normally costs $30

extra.  Well, I certainly couldn't turn down that offer, especially when

she told me that Dick Bueschel would also be there (his first trip to

California in over 10 years), so my mind was made up.

 

     The show was held on Saturday and Sunday, October 10 and 11, and  I

decided to go on Saturday.  My sister, who was visiting me at the time,

happened to have a friend who lived less than five miles from Pomona so she

decided to accompany me on the 70 or so mile drive, visiting with her

friend while I attended the show.

 

     After dropping my sister off at her friend's place, I proceeded to try

and find the L.A. County Fairgrounds where the show was being held.  I

hadn't been to the fairgrounds since I was a young teenager (many years

ago), but I finally found it.  The grounds had been expanded quite a bit

over the years and now you park in a large parking lot and are transported

on a tram to the various venues.

 

     When I arrived at the show I was greeted by Roseanna who told me that

Dick Bueschel was over near the wall.  Well, at first I could not locate

him after making a 'quick pass' through the hall.  Finally I found Dick

busily taking pictures of the goodies there.  Also, during my hunt for

Dick, I found Marshall Fey who was sharing a booth with him and said hello

to him.

 

     The hall was rather large and there were quite a few exhibitors.  Many

of these dealers had juke boxes and related items, and many more had slots.

Dick and Marshall's booth featured the books and magazine with which they

both were associated.  Pingames, however, were in the minority.

 

     The dealer with the largest number of pingames was Don Westphal from

Arizona who has shown games at all the recent Fun Fairs, plus the Arizona

Pinball Show which I previously described.  Don had five pingames and two

upright 'flasher' gambling games, one with an interesting dice game motif

which was called DANCING DOMINOS.

 

     Another dealer had an 'as is' ICE FROLICS bingo pin.  Los Angeles area

collector/dealer Herb Silvers had only two pingames at this show, Bally's

1972 hit MONTE CARLO and Williams' 1988 solid-state pin CYCLONE.

 

     In addition to those pins,, Herb had a beautifully restored Williams

baseball machine and a nice Chicago Coin basketball game.  While talking to

Herb he told me of his plan to open a game showroom in the San Fernando

Valley, also telling of possible future plans for starting a pinball

collector's show in the L.A. area.  On both these projects I wish him luck!

 

     One dealer had two early pins along with other coin machines and

related items.  One of these games was THE MIDGET, a small counter-top 'pin

and ball game' from a Los Angeles manufacturer, the E.E. Junior Co.  The

other counter-top pin he had was PLAY ROU-LETTE, a square machine with a

colorful playfield made by an outfit called National Games.  Both games

were probably made in 1932.

 

     There was also an interesting little game at the show, which while

really not truly a pingame, had an interesting  play concept and was also a

game I had been briefly associated with in the past.  This game, owned by

Long Beach dealer Ray Dier, was called WHIZZ and was put out by Genco in

1946.  It was a fairly short machine with a vertical playfield somewhat

resembling that of a Japanese Pachinko machine.  The player was given 10

balls per game which he launched upward to then fall down the field.

 

     At the bottom of the field are 10 vertical slots numbered '1' through

'10' into which one or more balls could end up (all 10 balls have to end up

in these slots, but several balls could land in the same slot - and often

do).  The object of the game is to get balls in as many consecutive slots

(starting with '1') without an "open" number. 

 

     At the end of the game the player would get a score (indicated in

thousands of points on the glass, similar to score panels on the pingames

of the day) each 1000 representing one free game.  The amount of this

"score" (and hence the number of free games) was a function of how long a

sequence the player was able to complete (all 10 numbers being a 'jackpot'

score).

 

     This little game was especially interesting to me because several

years ago I repaired one for a friend.  I had it in my house for several

months, and after fixing it spent hours sitting on the floor playing this

fascinating and challenging little machine.

 

     Well, to sum up the "pinball situation" at the show, there weren't too

many pins this time but show promoter Roseanna Harris has promised to try

and get more pin dealers to participate in future shows, the next of which

has already been scheduled for April 3rd and 4th at the same location. 

 

     The following is a chronological list of the pins at this show:

    

    

NAME                      MANUFACTURER     YEAR            PRICE

 

THE MIDGET                E.E. Jr.         1932            525

PLAY ROU-LETTE            National Games   1932            485

WHIZZ (Upright)           Genco            1946            350

ICE FROLICS (BINGO)       Bally            1953            -

RACK-A-BALL               Gottlieb         1962            625

LITTLE JOE                Bally            1971            275

MONTE CARLO               Bally            1972            725

KING PIN                  Gottlieb         1973            250

TARGET ALPHA              Gottlieb         1977            275

CYCLONE                   Williams         1988            1400

ADDAMS FAMILY             Williams         1991            2995

 

 

     Before i finish here, let me tell of several things that happened

during this show.

 

     Well, when the official opening time of 11 AM came around (as I said

earlier I first attended the "preview" which started at 9 AM) my friend Sam

Harvey, who lives in Pomona, showed up.  A little while later I took Sam

over to talk to Dick Bueschel and he asked Dick if he wanted to go to lunch

later and also see his pinball collection.  Dick thought that was a great

idea and before long the three of us left in Dick's rental car which was

parked nearby.

 

     Dick quickly decided that seeing Sam's collection was more important

than lunch, and we first went to the 'mini storage' where Sam had a large

portion of his collection (I don't know how many pingames he has by now,

but it's  somewhere between 200 and 400 machines I believe) was stored.

The three bay storage unit was chucked full of pinball cabinets and

backboards with absolutely no room for human ingress.

 

     After leaving the storage place we heeded for Sam's house.  On the way

Sam showed Dick some interesting old Pomona homes which Dick enjoyed seeing

very much.

 

     After arriving at the house Dick received the 'grand tour' which

included the garage (full of games), the 'pool room' (with a little room

for standing - but not enough for playing pool), and a storage shed in back

of the garage housing minor parts, etc.

 

     Finally, we went into the house.  There were pingames in every room

except for the kitchen and one bathroom (the only other bathroom had years

ago been taken over by pinball items).  In one room Sam had most of his

extensive pinball literature collection, plus many "new old-stock"

playfields, etc.  Sam's house, as you can see, is certainly a "pinball

paradise".

 

     When we returned to the show Roseanna immediately notified Dick and I

that she was holding an "ask the authors" session at 2 PM in which she had

planned for us to participate.  That was a surprise to me, and possibly to

Dick also.

 

     When that session was announced at 2 PM Dick, myself, Marshall Fey,

and coin machine book author/publisher Dan Meade sat down at the table

provided. There was a group of chairs in front of the table but they were

so far away that communication with us 'panelists' would have been next to

impossible due to the noise in the hall.

 

     After we moved these chairs closer to our table, a small group of

people (somewhere between 4 and 8, I believe) gathered around and several

things were discussed by our little group.  One subject discussed was the

internal and play principles of the video poker games, the subject of a

recent book by Dan Meade.

 

     The final topic of discussion was brought up by one of the people in

our little audience.  He asked if anybody had compiled, or was considering

compiling, a cross-reference of the various slot machine books so a person

could look up a particular model and find all references to it. 

 

     The panel told him that that had not been done, and then pointed out

that it would be a big task and would have to be continually updated as new

books came out.  That same idea, by the way, has been attempted by at least

two individuals as far as pingames are concerned.

 

     Several years ago a gentleman named Rod Cornelius in New Zealand

started such a computer database, cross-referencing article references in

several pinball hobby magazines.  More recently, a young man in

Pennsylvania named Doug Landman has created a similar database which he is

constantly updating, and which soon will include references to pinball

books as well as magazine articles.  So far, however, it appears that no

such thing has happened as far as slots are concerned.  Hooray for pinball

people!

 

     Also, around that time, my good friends Rob Hawkins and Don Mueting

(authors of the new PINBALL COLLECTORS RESOURCE which I reviewed in the

last issue) showed up at the show.  They immediately found a dealer selling

some old pinball brochures, etc., but his prices were quite high.  Don and

Rob could only stay for a short time, as they had other matters to attend

to that day, so I only had a brief visit with them in the middle of their

'paper perusing'.  A short time later Sam Harvey found the same 'paper

mine' and he dug in right away.  Sam loves pinball paper!

 

     Well, it finally came time to leave the show which I had enjoyed very

much.  Roseanna invited me back next time and I'm planning to do just that.

     On the way home my sister and I stopped at a large shopping mall in

Glendale (where we lived when we were children) so she could do some

shopping.  While there we ate in a "Bob's Big Boy" coffee shop, an old

chain of restaurants which is now being phased out after over 50 years of

operation.  On a personal note, I have been eating at Bob's since World

War II and will surely miss the famous "Big Boy' hamburger I have enjoyed

all these years!

 

     After that we returned home.  I really enjoyed my visit to the  L.A

Vintage Coin Machine and Advertising Show and Sale and hope to visit the

next one.