PINBALL EXPO '86

                               

                      -THE SECOND 'HURRAH'-

 

 

     Well, they did it again!  Another very successful Pinball

Expo; the second in what we hope will be an annual event for many

years to come.  As with Pinball Expo '85, Expo '86 was held at

the Holiday Inn O'Hare/Kennedy in Rosemont IL, and again on the

same November weekend as the winter Chicagoland coin machine

show.  A very useful coincidence for coin-op lovers.

 

     This year's show, while quite similar in many respects to

last year's, seemed to me to be a little more oriented toward the

modern 'digital' pins than the older machines, especially in the

content of many of the seminars.  But, this is as it should be

since Pinball Expo is a "pinball show", not an "antique show".

 

     As most of you know, my personal preference is for the older

electro-mechanical pingames, but I can appreciate the new games

as well.  Modern pinball is certainly vastly different from the

pingames of the past and is reflective of the space/computer age

in which it was spawned.  I can see how these flashy, colorful

machines, with their complex multi-level playfields, and space

age and rock music sound effects, attract the player of today as

they rightly should.  In order for pinball to live on it must

attract a contemporary following, and it looks like it may be

doing just that.  Well, enough preliminaries; on with the show! 

 

 

DON HOOKER

 

     After the opening remarks by show producer Rob Burk, the

first seminar speaker was introduced.  He was Don Hooker, former

designer of "bingo type" pinballs for Bally, who is now 82 years

of age.  Mr. Hooker began by stating that he first joined the

games industry in 1936 when he went to work for Pacific Amusement

Manufacturing Co. (better known as PAMCO) where he worked until

1938.  He recalled working on a game at PAMCO called LITE-A-LINE

which was somewhat similar to the bingo pinballs he designed

twenty years later at Bally.

 

     Sometime later (he did not mention the exact year, but it

may have been 1938 when he left PAMCO) he went to work for Bally.

He mentioned working on the "one-ball" horserace pin CITATION,

which came out in 1949.  He remembered that it had "guaranteed

advancing odds" (Author's note:  It was the first "one-ball" with

that feature) like the bingos which came out later.

 

     Mr. Hooker then said that a man named Bernie Bernside came

up with the idea of the "Reflex Unit" which was used in the later

"one-balls" and all of the "bingos".  The purpose of this unit

was to 'tighten up' Or 'loosen up' the payout chances for the

player based on how well the game had been paying out in the

past.  This was a marvelous invention and many people connected

with bingos don't have any idea how it works, certainly not the

players.

 

     He talked about bingos having very complex electro-

mechanical systems.  He said they developed automatic test

equipment to test the games in the factory.  He also said Bally

had quite a few years of big production of bingos (the mid 1950s)

until "the government declared bingos were gambling devices."

(Author's note: he was apparently referring to the "Korpran

Decision" of the Supreme Court in 1957 declaring bingo pinballs

to be subject to the Johnson Act.)  The players, he said, still

liked the bingos but "the Government said 'no' ".

 

     Finally he talked about testing the games in New Orleans.

He also said he left Bally in the early 1970s and he and a

partner designed a dice game which Bally bought from them.  He

then went back to Bally until around 1980 when he finally

retired.  He said he was the primary designer of most of the

Bally bingos.

 

HARVEY HEISS

 

     Next on the program was one of my favorite personalities

from last year's Expo, Mr. Harvey Heiss, chief designer at Genco

from 1938 until the Fifties.  Last year Harvey had said the show

was "his 'last hurrah' in the coin machine world", but, as I had

hoped, Rob Burk persuaded him to come again this year.

 

     Harvey told how Rob had tried to persuade ("pester" is the

word he used) him to design a game.  He said Rob had sent him a

Christmas card containing hints at this.  Anyway, Harvey said he

did come up with a design for a new version of the old "roll-

down" games he designed for Genco in the late Forties.  (Author's

note: These games were supposed to be a substitute for pinballs

in areas where pins were outlawed, since in a "roll-down" the

player actually held and rolled the balls up the playfield and

this therefore made them definitely a "game of skill").  The idea

for Harvey's new game, he said, came from the game he played as a

kid called "Baby In The Hole", which he described in his talk

last year.

 

     He said he came up with sketches of his design, built his

own parts, and assembled his model in his carport at home.  He

used a modern plastic type of material for the playfield, and

pool balls, and designed his own "rebound" at the upper end of

the playfield to cause the balls to rebound back into the field.

He did the mechanical design only and built his model without the

electrical circuits.

 

     He developed the complete play and scoring concept, based on

"Baby In The Hole", and had the play and scoring instructions

displayed on the playfield.  The scoring concepts were quite

intricate but precisely defined.  The complete model of Harvey's

game was later displayed during a "hospitality suite" gathering

in Rob Burk's room at which time Harvey gave demonstrations,

complete with detailed descriptions of the game's play and

scoring system.

 

     Harvey said that after he had completed his model he put out

"feelers" to the industry in hopes that someone might like this

novel idea for a game and produce it.  He said he did not get

much response but still believes that a game like this is novel

enough to catch on and he hasn't given up hope that someone might

produce it.

 

     To conclude his talk Harvey told a couple stories, including

a comical incident that happened to him while at Genco.  He said

as a joke a group of eight girls at the plant once grabbed him,

tied him to a dolly, wheeled him through the plant, and shoved

him into his boss, Myer Gensberg's, office.  He said they also

took his shoes and he had to walk around barefoot.  There was

lots of fun at the plant in those days, he said, and everyone had

a happy time.  Well, I must say it was certainly nice to see and

enjoy Harvey Heiss at another Pinball Expo.  Hopefully again next

year!

 

 

BACKGLASS RESTORATION

 

     The next speakers on the program were Steve Young and Gordon

Hasse discussing a subject that is certainly important to all

pinball collectors, backglass restoration.

 

     Steve first passed out to the audience copies of his

excellent article "All Lamps Are Not Created Equal" which

discusses the various types of miniature lamps available for use

in pinballs, and describes the pros and cons of using them.

Steve began his talk with the observation that "a pinball with a

poor glass is not a pinball at all."  He then stated that the two

major "enemies" of backglasses were dampness and temperature

change, plus others such as the ultra-violet rays in sunlight

which can affect certain colors of paint.

 

     To protect the glass from dampness he suggested using a de-

humidifier or storage in a place with low humidity.  He said a

most important thing to do to protect your glasses is to avoid

sudden temperature changes of 10 degrees or more, but remarked

that this probably would not be a problem for California

collectors.

 

     He then went on to say that the lamps behind the glass

constantly cause temperature changes when they are turned on and

off during operation of the game, and that this is what generally

leads to paint flaking off the glass.  He recommended using the

lowest heat lamps (NEVER type '55') and even modifying the

lightbox by moving the mechanism panel further from the glass.

Steve then said that lamps which have become darkened at the top

produce more heat and should be replaced (something that I, for

one, was never aware of).  He recommended using short lamps and

those which require less current (which he also mentioned results

in less load on the game's fuses.), remarking that a type '130'

lamp was "the best of both worlds."  He also said that "flasher"

lamps produce less heat and might be used.  Finally, he remarked

that better lighting means the game is more enjoyable.

 

     Following Steve's remarks on the preventative aspects of

backglass care, Gordon Hasse took over with a discussion of

backglass restoration.  He began by saying that as far as

pinballs were concerned, there was probably no subject more

controversial than that of backglass restoration.  He then

presented a list of options available to collectors who have

games with deteriorating backglasses.  The list included: 1) do

nothing - not really an option if the glass is really bad; 2)

prevention - change lamps, etc., as Steve had discussed: 3)

preservation; 4) Restoration; and 5) reproduction.  He then began

discussing some of these alternatives in greater detail.

 

     He said that "reproduction" (creating an entire new glass)

was quite expensive, costing about $1000 in set-up cost for a 10

color process.  Using a four color process is considerably

cheaper, he said, but not really suitable for pinball glasses as

far as he was concerned.

 

     The subject of "preservation" was next discussed.  Gordon

first outlined four methods which have been used to try and

preserve backglasses.  First came "taping and spray painting" the

entire glass, which he described as "horrible!"  The next was to

cover the entire glass with a clear plastic, adhesive backed,

sheet.  This he said was also a bad choice since the adhesive can

actually pull some of the paint off the glass' surface.  A

similar idea of attaching a thin piece of glass to the back of

the glass and taping them together was then mentioned.  Gordon

said he considered that method only useful for good glasses as a

preventative measure.

 

     Finally, he talked about using a clear spray to "seal" the

back of the glass.  He claimed this was dangerous since these

products were made for other purposes and their solvent bases

vary and could sometimes 'attack' certain colors of paint.  He

also mentioned the very important fact that the force of the

spraying operation could cause loose pieces of paint to be blown

off of the glass making it even worse.

 

     So then, what was left?, he said.  He stated that there had

been one product on the market which was advertised just for that

purpose.  That product he said was not very good (primarily

because it 'attacked' certain colors, as this author can attest

to) and it had been taken off the market.  Gordon then went on to

describe a product that he and Steve had developed and which they

highly recommended for backglass preservation.

 

     He said that he, Steve, and John Fetterman had been

searching for a solution to the backglass preservation problem

for years and had finally come up with a solution which "met

their standards."  They call their product "cover your glass" and

they claim they have samples of glasses which were covered with

it five years ago which have shown absolutely no adverse side

effects.  In fact, they had such samples at the show and they

really looked good.

 

     Their product was described as a "slow drying polymer" which

should be applied to the glass' surface without the use of a

brush, and allowed to flow over the entire surface.  The glass

should then be allowed to dry for a week to ten days.  The

product is somewhat expensive, and they said one can would cover

approximately two glasses.  But, if you value your glasses, the

cost of about $9.00 per glass is really not unreasonable.

 

     As a final note, Gordon talked briefly on the subject of

actual restoration of damaged paint on a backglass.  He said

there were two primary methods:  "Reconstruction" by a silk

screen artist, and repainting by a "fine arts restorer."  He said

that careful amateurs can do a passable job using sign or model

paints, especially on large opaque areas.  He went on to say that

colors should be mixed on the front surface of the glass first to

get a good match of the original color.  For "translucent" areas

(where light must show through) he said the task was more

difficult.  For these areas he suggested using "tints" used in

oil painting.  He said that you might either use "Cover Your

Glass" first, and then touch up the bad paint areas, or vice

versa.

 

     That ended this interesting and informative session on a

subject that is of vital importance to most pinball collectors.

The new product described sounds very promising as a good

preventative measure, but "touching up" paint is still the most

uncertain part of backglass restoration in this writer's opinion.

 

PINBALL ART

 

     The next presentation was a seminar on the subject of

pinball art featuring two important and productive people from

that world, Dave Christensen and Paul Faris, both of Bally fame.

Dave started with Bally in 1967 and was responsible for much of

the Bally pinball art of the Seventies, including CAPTAIN

FANTASTIC, ODDS AND EVENS, and more recently, DOLLY PARTON.  He

even got into slot machine art at Bally starting around 1975.

Paul Faris worked for Bally from 1975 to 1984 and became their

Art Director in 1977. Some of his better known game art included

PARAGON and LOST WORLD.

 

     The format of this seminar was questions from the audience

with answers provided by one or both of the speakers.  All in

all, some 25 to 30 questions were asked and answered.  I have

divided the questions into topics, and will discuss each topic,

giving a summary of the information provided by the questions and

answers. In a few cases single questions will be described

separately.  For instance, Dave was asked where he got the

nickname "mad dog".  He answered that it was probably because he

was an "independent Norwegian" and would often "fight back" when

given orders.

 

     The subject of some of the questions were various incidents

and rumors of art of a "sexually suggestive" nature.  Dave was

asked approximately how many of the CAPTAIN FANTASTIC backglasses

were released which contained some of his secretly done

suggestive drawings (the glasses referred to by many collectors

as the "porn glasses").  He replied that he did not know,

possibly between 50 and 500.  Paul was asked if the rumor that

Hugh Hefner had a PLAYBOY pin featuring "topless" girls on the

backglass was true.  He said "no", but went on to say that Mr.

Hefner did get involved with the graphics and that he had to

("poor guy"!) visit the "Playboy Mansion" to discuss the artwork.

A rumor that some of the LOST WORLD glasses had a nude girl on

them was also questioned, but again Paul said it was not true.

 

     Several questions dealt with celebrities used in pinball

artwork.  Paul was asked if he interviewed Dolly Parton.  He said

she got quite involved with her portrayal on the glass and

requested changes to the original art.  He said when it was

finally released the girl on the glass looked more like Linda

Carter than Dolly.  It was also asked if the "stars" got paid for

using their names in connection with games.  They said it was

sort of a "licensing agreement" where the celebrity got a

"percentage" of each game sold.  It was brought out that Bally

WIZARD was the first game of the celebrity type.

 

     In connection with CAPTAIN FANTASTIC, it was asked if Elton

John provided any input, and did the game help Elton's career, or

vice versa?  Dave said he did not meet with Elton, but Paul said

that he did on one occasion.  Paul remarked that he thought there

was sort of a "cross promotion", the game and Elton 'helping'

each other to some extent.  Dave was also asked why he put the

'Hitler' character on the backglass.  He replied he thought it

had something to do with the proposed Nazi march on Skokie

Illinois around that time, but couldn't remember for sure.

 

     Other questions were concerned with the general topic of

styles of, and methods of producing, the artwork.  Dave was asked

who decided to use 'mirrored glass'; he replied it was his idea

to use in on CAPTAIN FANTASTIC and that he got the idea from the

Bally bingo pinballs which still used it.  They were asked if in

four player machines they had to design their artwork around

locations already chosen by game designers for  placement of the

score reels.  Paul replied this was generally the case as the

engineers did not want to change the location for the reels to

conform to the art.

 

     When asked to comment on the cost of producing "color

graphics" Paul replied that until around 1978 they used what was

called "line art", with each color requiring a separate silk

screen.  He said that the cost of "color separations" was

expensive (2 to 3 thousand), but production cost was low (about

$5 per glass).  They were also asked why ROGO used two different

color schemes.  Dave replied that they started with a gray color

which looked too much like the German Army, so they changed it.

 

     The artists were also asked for their opinion of the new

type of artwork used by Premier, which was somewhat like a

"poster" with a light behind it.  Paul said Bally resisted going

to it, saying it reminded him of "point-of-purchase" displays

used in stores to advertise a product.  He said there should be

more 'activity' in a backglass.   Dave's only remark was that he

thought they should "put sex back into pinball art."

 

     They were also asked to comment on their personal favorites

in pinball art; both their own creations and those of others.

Dave said his favorite of his work was probably CAPTAIN

FANTASTIC. As for other's work he said his all time favorite was

probably SPANISH EYES.  Paul said of his work he liked LOST WORLD

because it represented a change in screening technology to

"printing on glass".  For his all time favorite pinball art he

chose MATI HARI.

 

     Other questions were of a more personal nature.  Dave was

asked about his training and he answered that he attended an art

academy and also had one year of engineering, which he said

helped him in understanding the "engineering restrictions" in the

art.  When the artists were asked if they ever worked together on

a game they replied they did on FUTURE SPA only.

 

     The artists were asked what they were currently doing, and

if their popularity led to increased pay.  Dave replied that he

had not become "rich and famous" and was now doing free-lance

art, including "railroad art" and designing belt buckles.  In

regard to pay, Paul remarked that Bally paid well and said that

Dave helped in getting them to pay better.  Paul said he was

currently setting up a small art studio which was about 90

percent complete.

 

     When asked which game designers each had worked closely

with, Dave replied Greg Kmiek and Paul said Greg also, as well as

Jim Patla.  Paul was asked if he was the first artist to

autograph a backglass.  He said he was the first to not do it

discreetly, but that Dave had done it 'minutely'.

 

     Other questions dealt more with details of their work.  For

instance, they were asked how much they were involved with other

game artwork, such as playfields and cabinets.  Paul replied that

they started with the backglass, but did the "complete package",

including playfield, cabinet, etc.  Dave then mentioned that Norm

Clark had ideas about playfield artwork and that it was important

to work with designers.  When asked about the "time frame" for

designing the artwork for a game, they both agreed that 6 to 8

months was about right.

 

     They were also asked what happened to the original art,

including the artwork for older games.  Paul replied that the

artists generally kept copies of glasses, but that color

paintings were company property.

 

     Well, that sums up what was said in this interesting and

informative seminar on the important subject of pinball art.

And, as I am sure all of you will agree, a pinball without art

would be dull indeed.  At the conclusion of the seminar Rob Burk

asked that other artists present introduce themselves.  They

included: Greg Freres (HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS, STRANGE SCIENCE);

Doug Watson (with Ad Posters doing art for Bally and Williams);

Tony Romunni (Williams ALIEN POKER, and Bally SPECIAL FORCE); Pat

MacMahon (MR. & MRS.  PACMAN); and last, but not least, George

Molentin, one of the last years' fine speakers.

 

PLANT TOUR

 

     After the seminars on Friday morning, the next order of

business was the pinball plant tour.  Last year we toured

Premier, and this year it was Williams' turn.  We all boarded

school buses and were driven to the Williams plant on California

St. in the city.  This is an old plant which was once occupied by

United Manufacturing (another company founded by Harry Williams)

back in the Forties.

 

     When we arrived at the plant we all gathered in the

employee's lunch room and Steve Kordek (Williams chief engineer

and Pinball Expo honored guest for the past two years) got up,

welcomed us to the plant, and then introduced the company's

general manager, Mr. Rich Wilkins.  Mr. Wilkins began by saying

"we make the games that make the industry."  He also remarked

that they had "the best designers in the industry."  He told us

that their current game was PIN-BOT, which was "on the line."

Steve Kordek then informed us that the tour would be in groups,

and that those who were waiting to start the tour could play

Williams latest games in a game room, off the lunch room, which

was provided so the employees could play pinball during their

breaks.

 

     Our tour leader, Neil Smithweck, Steve introduced to us as a

man who "really knew the ropes at Williams."  We then started the

actual tour.  We were told that they built everything in the

plant except the cabinets.  We first saw an assembly area where

playfield production began.  They had machines for punching holes

in the back of the playfield used to mount the wiring harnesses.

We then saw the fields being wired.  Nearby, at another station,

parts were being assembled onto the backboards.

 

     We next saw the "incoming area" where incoming

parts/materials were received and inspected, and then the "model

shop" which provided model services for the engineers.  We were

told by our guide that all artwork was done "in-house", except

for the actual production of the silk screens.  During the tour

we were also told that Williams produced video games and coin

telephones at another plant.

 

     We saw one production area where the small 'mini

playfields', used in PIN-BOT, were being assembled.  We were then

taken through a parts storage area and to a special area where

malfunctioning printed circuit boards were repaired.

 

     The last stop on our tour was the "final test area" where

completed games were being tested before shipment.  I noted that

they were also producing a solid-state shuffle bowling game which

had a "voice" capability.  We were also shown an area called the

"hospital line" where trouble-shooting was being performed on

games which failed final testing.

 

     Following the tour we returned to the lunch room until the

buses were loaded for our return trip to the hotel.  All in all,

it was an interesting tour, which I'm sure was even more

interesting for those who had never been inside a pinball

manufacturing plant before.

 

DESIGNER'S SEMINAR

 

     After returning to the hotel we gathered in the lecture hall

for this year's Designer's Seminar.  Last year the seminar

featured important designers from the past.  This year current

designers were featured.  It was another "question and answer

format" with some question being posed by Expo host Rob Burk and

others taken from the audience.  Since many of the questions

dealt with modern 'digital' pinballs, I wont go into great

detail, but will report on the highlights of the presentation.

 

     The panel of designers were introduced and consisted of:

John Trudeau of Premier (formerly with Game Plan), whose past

designs for Gottlieb/Premier included ROCKY, ROCK and GENESIS;

Barry Oursler of Williams, who designed such games as PHEONIX,

GORGAR, LASER BALL, and the current PIN-BOT; and Jim Patla from

Bally, with such games to his credit as MONTE CARLO, MATI HARI,

PLAYBOY, and CENTAUR.

 

     Several of the questions dealt with older games, including

their impact on new designs.  For instance, it was asked if

Premier's (actually Gottlieb's) idea, a few years ago, of re-

using older electro-mechanical game playfield designs on new

games might again be tried?  John answered by saying that that

was done at the request of European customers and probably would

not be done again.  The panel was also asked if any of the older

games had inspired them in their newer designs.  Jim Patla said

that CENTAUR was inspired by the 1956 Bally 'classic' BALLS-A-

POPPIN'; the other designers said they were "too new to the

industry."

 

     In a question regarding an older game, Jim Patla was asked

how he came up with the idea for Bally's 1969 game ON-BEAM.  He

replied that it was a take-off on the add-a-ball feature for

Italy and was originally designed by Bob Jonesi.  (Author's note:

Bob Jonesi was a former chief engineer for Universal/United in

the late Forties / early Fifties, and later associated with

Bally/Midway).

 

     Two questions were concerned with the designers' past

designs.  Each panelist was asked which designs they were "sorry

for".  John replied ATTILLA THE HUN, which he said sat for years

before being released.  Barry answered JOUST (pinball), and Jim

replied FLIP-FLOP.  They were also asked if any of their designs

"just seemed to fall in place".  John answered GENESIS, Barry

said SPACE SHUTTLE, and Jim named MATI HARI.

 

     Many questions dealt with the details of the actual designs

and the designing process.  Rob Burk asked how the designers

could tell if a game would be popular or not?  Barry replied that

"feedback" from operators and people at the factory helped.

Along those same lines, he asked if when designing a game did the

designer ever have any idea if it would be popular?  Barry

replied he had a feeling COMET would be popular because "people

like amusement parks."  John said he didn't think anything that

went into production would be bad.

 

     Rob also asked if designing a game was easier now or in the

past.  Jim replied that implementation of some ideas was more

difficult and time consuming in the past due to the restriction

of "single level" playfields.  He said now "multi-level" fields

allow you to "design around the problem."

 

     The designers were also asked if they had any "personal

design philosophy", aside from player appeal?  John replied

"balance and action"; Jim said "balance between long and short

flipper shots", and "making the game easy for anyone to play."

When asked how closely the designers work with the artists, Jim

replied that games were designed in two ways; play design, then

art, or vice versa.  He said that the play was most important,

but that a theme was required for the "final package".  He also

said he worked with both Dave Christensen and Paul Faris, who he

said were "both temperamental, but really got into their work."

Barry said that in the later games more cooperation was required

between the artists and the designers than in the past.  John

remarked that it was "usually a group effort."

 

     Harvey Heiss asked the current designers if they still had

the same problem he remembered from his career in the Thirties

through the Fifties?  The problem he described was that designers

design games one after another, expecting them to be put into

production in the same order.  But occasionally the company would

decide they wanted to go into production on the game you are

currently working on, just when you thought you were "ahead".

Barry answered that the same thing still happens at Williams; the

other designers agreed.

 

     When asked where they went for "inspiration", John replied

that he usually "starts from scratch", but sometimes uses

features from previous games.  Jim said he sometimes also used

ideas from older games, but often got ideas from employees at the

plant.

 

     Jim Patla was asked two questions regarding Bally's early

'digital' pins.  When asked how many electro-mechanical versions

of Bally's 1977 game MATI HARI were produced, he replied

approximately 170.  When later asked what were the first games

Bally produced 'digital' versions of, Jim surprised many in the

audience by naming BOOMERANG (1974) and BOW AND ARROW (1975),

since most of us remembered NIGHT RIDER and EVIL KNEIVEL as being

Bally's earliest solid state pins, both coming out in 1977.

 

     In regard to the more modern games, the designers were asked

for their comments on the "light and sound shows" used nowadays.

John replied he considers this part of the "total design", and

that their attractions help create a larger "player base" for the

game.  Barry commented that the design group works on all aspects

of the game's design and considers these "shows" to be a definite

benefit to the games.  Jim said he considered these aspects to be

"theatrics" and that they help if they are properly designed to

"help the game."

 

     Finally, the designers were asked if they thought that a

change to 5 ball play (versus 3 ball play now commonly used)

should be reconsidered in view of the fact that many operators

were going to 50 cents per game?  Of the three designers, Barry

was the only one who thought 5 ball play was a good idea in

connection with 50 cent games.  John and Jim both said they still

favored 3 ball play.

 

     Well, that concludes our summary of what was said at this

year's Designer's Seminar.  After it was over, Rob Burk asked

other designers in the audience to come up and introduce

themselves, which they did.  Included in the group were:  Dennis

Nordman (who designed SPECIAL FORCE), Ward Pemberton (FATHOM, and

BMX), Roger Sharpe (SHARPSHOOTER, CYCLOPS), Steve Ritchie (FLASH,

BLACK KNIGHT, and HIGH SPEED), and, of course, Wayne Neyens, with

most of the Gottlieb games of the Fifties and Sixties to his

credit.

 

ROGER SHARPE

 

     The second day of the seminars began with a talk by noted

pinball historian and author, Roger Sharpe.  Roger had been

scheduled to speak last year but was unable to make it due to

last minute business commitments.  Show host Rob Burk introduced

Roger as "the foremost expert and historian on pins in the

world."  Rob then asked a series of questions of Roger, his

answers to which made up the content of the seminar.

 

     Roger was first asked why he wrote his book, Pinball!, which

was published in the late Seventies.  Roger replied that in 1975,

when he was an editor of the men's fashion magazine, Gentlemen's

Quarterly, the magazine was going to put out an "entertainment

issue" and Roger wanted to write something on pinball.  He said

he knew nothing about the industry, but had enjoyed playing the

game since he was a kid.  He went to the library to do research

but found absolutely nothing on the subject.  When he told his

editor he said "why don't you write a book yourself", and that

was the impetus for the project.

 

     Roger said that the people in the industry were impressed by

the idea of a book on pinball and that the publisher, E.P. Dutton

was very good to work with.  He went on to say that writing the

book became "a labor of love."

 

     Rob next asked Roger how he gathered information for the

book.  Roger replied that he started with the distributors in the

New York area, such as Mike Munvez and Al Simon, and also Steve

Epstein, owner of the Broadway Arcade, who incidentally

substituted for Roger at Expo '85 giving a very interesting talk.

He said he also made many phone calls to Chicago.

 

     He also said he got information from old magazines on

microfilm and was really "saturated with information."  He told

of having a meeting with Al Simon and that Gary Stern of Stern

Electronics was present at the time.  Gary was so impressed at

Roger's knowledge of pinball playfields that he later introduced

Roger at an AMOA show in Chicago as "the most knowledgeable

person on pinball he knew."  Roger said he really wanted to do a

"chronicle of the industry", and also present the "beauty of the

art" in his book.  He said he generally had the industry behind

him.

 

     Roger was then asked for more details on how the industry

tended to view him and his project.  He said at first it was with

skepticism, because they had been "burned" in the past.  At one

time, he said, Life Magazine did a story on pinball which was

supposed to be "positive", but ended up being a "smear".  He went

on to say that when the industry people saw that he was genuinely

interested in their industry they began to trust him.  He said

his good memory helped him gain their confidence as to his

credibility and they became convinced that he was not going to do

an "expose'".

 

     At that point, he said, they let him into their "back

rooms". He said when he would be at one company, in their "back

room", the people would say to him "no one else would do this."

He was told that he was the first "outsider" to be let in the

"back door".  He said he always reviewed his information with the

manufacturers and this increased their confidence in him.

 

     When asked about financing for the book, he said he got some

"advance", but had to spend much out of his own pocket.  He

talked about his travel in Europe with his photographer, Jim

Hamilton, and referred to it as his "endless summer".  He said

that they would always remember Europe, not for its historical

sites, but for its arcades.

 

     Roger was then asked how he got into pinball design.  He

replied that he wanted to "pay back" the industry for their help

with his book.  He said while at a New York coin machine show he

met Ken Anderson from Game Plan, who at that time were

manufacturing "cocktail table" pins.  He asked for Roger's ideas.

Roger replied he didn't care much for the themes of these games,

that of cigarette and liquor advertising.

 

     Lee Goldberg of Game Plan asked Roger if he would like to

design a game and flew him to Chicago to discuss the idea.  Roger

said when he explained his ideas to Wendell McAdams he thought it

would be too expensive.  Mr. Goldberg then asked Roger if he

thought the game would be successful.  Roger said that when he

replied that he thought it would be, Goldberg said "we'll do

it!". Roger said the game he designed, SHARPSHOOTER, used ideas

he liked from Gottlieb's SKY JUMP and Williams' SATIN DOLL; he

then went on, "the rest is history."  Incidentally, the backglass

of that game featured caricatures of Roger and his wife.

 

     Rob Burk's final question to Roger was "how do you view the

industry today?"  Roger replied that he thought the industry was

not as "close" today as in the past.  He said he liked the "older

generation" with their "love and devotion" to games, and who were

"not only out for the buck."  He said in those days the companies

"helped each other."  Today, he said, there is too much of the

"corporate influence" in the industry as far as he was concerned.

 

     He further stated that today old friends from different

companies can't get together like they did in the past, because

of the fierce competition, etc.  He thought that today's

companies are more like "isolated islands".  As a final note, he

remarked that the industry today should "go out and play".  He

ended by saying "you can play forever!"

 

DICK BUESCHEL

 

     The next speaker on the program was COIN SLOT'S own Dick

Bueschel.  Last year Dick provided the Expo with an excellent

presentation on his favorite subject, the early ancestors of the

pinball game.  This year Dick decided to discuss a subject that

is important to many pinball collectors, the pinball advertising

'flyer'.  Since Dick is an "advertising man" by trade, and also a

flyer collector, this was a very appropriate subject for him

indeed.  Because Dick's presentation was mostly 'visual', using

slides of many great pinball brochures, it will be somewhat

difficult to capture it in words, but I'll do my best.

 

     Prior to starting his talk, Dick surprised the audience by

passing out to each person present an original 1950's era pinball

flyer.  Dick began his talk by outlining a few of the decisions a

game manufacturer must make when preparing to advertise and

market a new game.  The questions which must be answered, he

said, were: WHO needs the game?; WHAT to sell them on?; WHERE to

advertise?; and WHY should the operator buy the machine?  Dick

then proceeded with a chronological illustrated history of the

pinball flyer, using slides.

     He began by showing some very early game flyers from around

the "Turn Of The Century".  He said that as early as the 1880's,

six color lithography was used in advertising.  He then showed

some very early advertising for such games as the B. A. Stevens

TIVOLI FLAG (1899), and the famous Caille LOG CABIN (1901).

 

     He then said that after these early games there was "a gap

in history" until the early 1930's.  He next showed some 1931/32

era flyers for games like BAFFLE BALL (four color process,

without the Gottlieb name); KEEN-BALL (four page brochure,

describing a lease agreement, and with a picture showing people

playing the game); WHIFFLE (1931) and WHIFFLE ZIP (1932), which

he said "were not kids games"; and a two player game called

SWEETHEARTS, which he said was manufactured by an outfit in

Texas.  For the year 1933 he showed flyers for Rockola's JIGSAW,

which was a beautiful color flyer, and Bally's first electric

payout game, ROCKET, which contained a detailed explanation of

the game's characteristics.

 

     From 1934 he first showed a beautiful multi-color flyer for

Rockola's hit WORLD SERIES, which he followed up with one for

Daval's AMERICAN BEAUTY, featuring a color picture of a beautiful

girl.  He next showed two 2 color flyers, one for Western

Equipment's HELLS BELLS (which he said was "a low cost game with

an even cheaper flyer"), and Exhibits ELECTRO, which was a

version of Harry Williams' first 'electric action' pin, CONTACT.

He also showed two other 1934 flyers; one for Bally's SIGNAL

(which had a 4 color front, containing an explanation of the

game, and a 2 color back), and Allied Amusement's MAJIK KEYS

KICKER, which he mentioned was a game that Harry Williams once

said was "a significant game of that period."

 

     Later in the Thirties he showed flyers for Rockola's JIG JOY

(which was an electric "bumper" version of their 1933 'classic'

JIGSAW, with a jigsaw puzzle on the backglass); Mills Novelty's

popular ONE-TWO-THREE (a two color flyer); a black and white

flyer for Bally's THUNDERBIRD; a two color flyer for Gottlieb's

LOT-O-FUN; and a flyer for the "free play" version of ONE-TWO-

THREE.

 

     Going into the early Forties he began with a two color flyer

of Exhibits 1941 SUN BEAM; followed by flyers for two "wartime

conversions", SLAP THE JAP, and KNOCKOUT THE JAP.  For the near

post war period he showed Bally's DOUBLE FEATURE and Marvel's

FRISCO (in black and white), both from 1946.  For 1947 we saw

Gottlieb's DAILY RACES (their last "one-ball horserace" game),

and SHOOTING STARS, by P and S, which was another "conversion".

 

     From the late Forties he then showed Gottlieb's 1948 game

BUCCANEER (black and white); Bally's HOT RODS (a 2 color flyer

from 1949), and finally a flyer for Nate Schiller's 1949 MADAM

BUTTERFLY, a "flipper conversion" of United's SINGAPORE.

 

     He next showed a two color brochure from the Fifties,

United's HAWAII, a "bingo pinball" from 1954.  He then skipped to

the 1960s saying that by 1965 four color brochures were "back for

good", and showed a flyer for Chicago Coin's MOON SHOT of 1969.

He then showed the flyer for the 1972 Bally "classic", FIREBALL.

 

    The last brochure shown was for Game Plan's SHARPSHOOTER,

designed by previous speaker Roger Sharpe.  He pointed out that

Game Plan executive Lee Goldberg's wife and dog were used in the

picture.  He then stated that this type of high quality brochure

was quite expensive to produce.

 

     Dick concluded by asking for questions from the audience.

The only question asked was "where can flyers be obtained?"  He

answered simply "from the game distributors."  Dick's

presentation really showed that advertising was very important in

selling pingames, and in many instances was an expensive process.

 

ADOLPH SEITZ

 

     Last year the "technical session" was presented by Tom

Cahill of Williams Electronics, describing the built-in

"bookkeeping" and "self test" Features in Williams current

pingames.  This year it was Premier's turn, and Premier engineer

Adolph Seitz gave a similar talk based on his company's built-in

features.

 

     He began by saying that games have changed drastically in

the last 15 years.  The technicians who had become familiar with

electro-mechanical circuitry and trouble-shooting had to learn

electronics.  He said that the advent of "microprocessors", which

made 'solid state' pingames possible, could make games do so much

more; but the problem was "servicing in the field."  Servicing of

games had become "complex" he said; the technicians 'tools' now

included voltmeters, "logic probes", and in some cases, the

oscilloscope.

 

     He went on to say that these same microprocessors also made

possible the built-in "self test" and "bookkeeping" features

found on today's games.  Mr. Seitz then proceeded to describe the

special features of his company's machines, using a Premier

GENESIS, which was on the platform with him, as an example game.

 

    He first pointed out that the latest games now employ "alpha-

numeric" displays for score indication, etc, instead of the "7

segment" numeric displays used in most solid-state games until

just recently.  The use of these displays allowed letters of the

alphabet, as well as digits, to be displayed on the backglass.

He said that these displays are used to allow the "highest score

to date" players to have their 'initials' displayed along with

their scores.  But, more importantly, he explained, it made

possible a better way for the self-test features to indicate

"problems" to the serviceman.

 

     Adolph pointed out that "replays" were still very important

to pinball players.  He said that the players expected pingames

to give "free games".  He then said there were no replays on

video games because they have never had them, and therefore the

players don't expect them.

 

     Next, he began describing the various "bookkeeping" features

built into Premier's games.  These included, among others, total

tilts, number of specials won, "high score to date" information,

and average play time per game.

 

     Finally, he described some of the built-in "self-test"

features.  He said a "Lamp Test" was available which could test

lamps one at a time.  The "Relay and Solenoid Test", he said,

could display the "location" of the "driver transistors", due to

the alpha-numeric capabilities of the new displays.  He then

described the "Switch Matrix Test" in which the display would

indicate which switch(s) on the playfield were "closed".  As far

as the "Display Test" was concerned, he said it tested each

"segment" of the displays.

 

     Mr. Seitz concluded his remarks by describing the "Memory

Test", and a capability of displaying the "check sum" of the

"proms".  For all you "non-computer" people, this is a test to

indicate a malfunction in the memory chips which hold the

"program" which controls the game's operation.  It was clearly

evident from Adolph's presentation that as the new "digital" pins

get more sophisticated, so do there built-in features which aid

the operators and servicemen.

 

THE GOTTLIEB TRADITION

 

     The final event of the Pinball Expo '86 seminar schedule was

a panel discussion dubbed "The Gottlieb Tradition".  The panel

consisted of Alvin Gottlieb (son of D. Gottlieb & Co. founder

David Gottlieb, and former executive of the company), Wayne

Neyens (former Gottlieb designer of the Fifties and Sixties), and

Stan Harris (Philadelphia game operator since 1946, operating 6

to 7 thousand games, and collector of game machines with a

collection numbering some 700 pieces).  Also "sitting in" on the

panel was Gottlieb/Premier designer, Adolph Seitz.

 

     To start off the discussion, show host Rob Burk asked each

of the panelists to make some opening remarks.  Alvin was first.

He first defined a "coin operated device" as being "a device

which does its job without requiring an attendant."  For this

reason, he said, "reliability" is a big factor in the success or

failure of such a device, and therefore his father's slogan

"there's no substitute for quality".   Alvin said when he once

asked his father where he got that slogan, he replied "from

Walgreens Drug Stores."  He said that Gottlieb, over the years,

made a real effort to "build games that worked."

 

     Alvin next talked about the make-up of the discussion panel.

He said he was there to provide "the manufacturer's point of

view".  He then said that Stan Harris was a "test operator" for

Gottlieb in the Philadelphia area, an area that he said had a

minimum of problems in operating machines over the years due, in

part, to a good "operator's association" with a policy of not

operating games near schools, etc.  Finally, he said that Wayne

started with the company even before he did and was responsible

for a great many developments.  He said that Wayne had the idea

of "life testing" games, using the factory's "boiler room" in the

old days as the test environment.  He then remarked that a game

that doesn't work very long is "worth less than zero."

 

     Wayne next provided his opening comments.  He started by

saying that looking back on Gottlieb games they generally were no

great success right off, but that they always seemed to make

money "over the long run."  He said this fact was borne out by

Gottlieb games that were operated on location for a long time.

 

     Wayne then mentioned the problems the games had in the past

due to gambling connections.  He said that in the Thirties and

Forties many pins were used for gambling, but that Gottlieb later

"cleaned up their act" by removing replay "knock-off buttons"

from underneath the games.  He also remarked that the

introduction of the flipper was very important in showing pinball

as a game of skill.  Finally, he said that he thought that it was

better for the industry if gambling was kept out of it, making

reference to some of today's video games with gaming motifs.

 

     Stan Harris next took the floor to provide some comments.

He began by discussing the "chain of events" in the life of a

game.  He said it starts with the manufacturer who wants to know

"will the game make money?"  Next, he said, comes the operator,

without whom "everything else does not matter."  Operators buy

games, he went on, hoping they will make money.  If the games

have a "good reputation" on location, he said, they will be good

money makers, but many great playing games seem to have problems

that the operator can't live with; for instance, "down time"

hurts the operator.

 

      He next stated that he always preferred Gottlieb games for

two reasons;  their earning ability and their dependability.  He

said that Gottlieb games generally start off slow on location,

but increase as time goes by, taking about 10 to 12 weeks on the

average location to "catch on".

 

     Stan then described what he referred to as the "basic

concept of pinball".  He said pingames have a "built-in

challenge", that is to win replays from high score.  He remarked

that he thought the games should award more than one replay for

high score.  He next commented on how they tested games on

location to determine the proper "high score replay setting" for

each location.  He also said that the speed of the ball was very

important and they used "patch levels" on the games to set the

proper playfield angle.  He remarked that this was very

important, but that many operators don't pay enough attention to

it.

 

     Finally, he stated that video games were "90 day wonders"

and required little location testing, and that pinballs were "the

toughest games to operate."

 

     Next, Alvin made a few additional remarks.  He said that

"consistency of play" was very important.  He then remarked that

in the early days manufacturers did not pay much attention to

materials, but that when electric games came along they started

to realize that reliability was required in pingames.   he said

Gottlieb copied their original relay design from the well known

electrical equipment manufacturer, Gaurdian Electric.  He went on

to tell how the early "switch blades" were not too reliable, but

when they plated them that improved their reliability.

 

     At this point, questions were requested from the audience.

Alvin was first asked, from a reliability standpoint, where do

you "draw the line"?  He replied that each component has a

predicted "life", but that playfield wear is usually the

determining factor in the useful life of a game.  He said the

other game components would generally last much longer.  Finally,

he estimated the average life of a game to be about five years,

but said that water and sunlight could hurt the playfield and

thus shorten that if the operator is not careful.

 

     Next, a question was asked regarding favorite Gottlieb games

of the past.  Stan replied that NORTH STAR was one of his

favorites.  He then told how popular that game had been at the

University of Pennsylvania.  He said two NORTH STARs were

operated there and they caught on quickly.  He told about

students having tournaments on the games, complete with a "NORTH

STAR championship loving cup".  He went on to say that different

games "hit" in different locations.

 

     Stan was next asked about his personal collection; the size

of it, what types of machines were included, and the availability

of it for viewing?  He replied that he had some 700 machines in

his collection, including many "three reel slot machines",

"arcade machines", etc.  He said he had about 40 pingames "from

LOG CABIN up."  He told of originally building a special room to

house his collection, and when it was filled, building another.

He said that his collection was not "open to the public", but

could be viewed if you first called him and set up an

appointment.

 

     At this point the panelists made a few additional comments.

Stan told of using his own metal "tilt bobs", in place of the

carbon ones usually supplied on most games.   he then discussed

in more detail how his people "leveled" playfields to get the

right "pitch" and hence, the proper "ball speed".

 

     Alvin then said that the solenoids used by Gottlieb were not

quite as powerful as those used by other manufacturers, but that

they lasted longer and made for more "consistent play".  He next

said he really loved HUMPTY DUMPTY when it first came out, and

remarked that he thought the play to be "more consistent" on the

older games.

 

     Wayne, commenting on the flyer for Gottlieb's 1957 pin

STRAIGHT FLUSH, which he had been given earlier by Dick Bueschel,

remarked that there were "18 ways to score Specials" on that

game. He said it was astounding how many ways there were to score

replays on many of the earlier pingames.

 

     A question was then asked regarding the "Gottlieb

Tradition". It was said that Gottlieb made a wide variety of

types of games over the years, and the question was asked, did

Gottlieb knowingly do this?"  Wayne answered that in the old days

(referring to the 1950 to 1960 era, I believe) business was slow,

and they had to keep the factory busy.  He told of getting the

idea for a "multiple player" game in the mid Fifties.  He

designed SUPER JUMBO, the first four player pin, which he said

eventually resulted in "two markets" for pingames, one for the

"single players", and another for "multi-player" games.  He then

told of Alvin having the idea for the "Add-A-Ball" game.  When

they started producing these games also, he said, the factory

could run "at a better rate" and they could  keep the people they

had.

 

     Wayne was next asked about the creation of the "Add-A-Ball"

game.  He said it originally resulted from a court case in

Hartford Connecticut regarding the replay "knock-off buttons"

found on some pingames.  He remembered that the local distributor

there "panicked", but Alvin came up with a new idea for a pingame

without replays!  Wayne said that when Dave Gottlieb was first

approached with the idea he said "no, we need replays", but Wayne

went ahead and tried Alvin's idea, and Dave liked it.

 

     This new type of game, the "Add-A-Ball", which gave "extra

balls" for high score, instead of "free games", made it possible,

Wayne said, to operate pingames in areas where "replays" had been

ruled illegal.  This included certain jurisdictions in the U.S.

and some places overseas, such as Italy.  Wayne ended by saying

that eventually replays became legal again almost everywhere in

this country.

 

     In another question concerning legal difficulties involving

pingames, it was asked to what degree this type of problem

"eroded the market?"  In answer to this it was pointed out that

there were problems in some jurisdictions involving "excise

taxes".  Many of these taxes were levied in "two levels", one for

"amusement games" and another for "gambling devices".  It was

said that it was often difficult for the enforcement agencies to

differentiate between the two, and this caused many problems for

the industry.

 

     Alvin was next asked about the origin of the Gottlieb slogan

of the late 1950s, "Amusement Pinballs, As American As Baseball

And Hot Dogs".  He replied that it came from his father.  He was

then asked about the Gottlieb "double award" pingames of the mid

Fifties.  (Author's note:  These were flipper games in which the

player could deposit a second coin at the start of a game, which

entitled him to double the number of replays he would normally

win, if he won any.)  He said these games created a

"controversy", probably because of the slight similarity to the

"multiple coin" concept of the "bingo pinballs" current at that

time, and therefore were discontinued.

 

     Alvin also mentioned that in the mid Fifties there was an

attempt to "stimulate the pinball business."  He said the

"turning point" was the removal of the infamous "knock-off

button".  He told of an industry association, called the Coin

Machine Institute, that was established with Harry Williams as

President. He said that organization was "amusement game

oriented" and some manufacturers, such as Williams and Gottlieb,

"separated" themselves from those which also made "gambling

machines".

 

     The final question of this panel dealt with "copies" of

Gottlieb games made in Italy.  Alvin was asked if they were

"licensed".  He replied that Europe has different patent laws

than we do and that people in Italy actually "patented" Gottlieb

equipment.

 

     That ended this very interesting discussion of D. Gottlieb

and Company and their many great pingames.  Even though the

company by that name no longer exists, the name "Gottlieb" has

been acquired by Premier and will probably be used in connection

with fine pingames for years to come.

 

 

BANQUET

 

     This year's Expo banquet was again held on Saturday evening,

but in a smaller room than last year.  The room was completely

filled with tables with little room for standing around and

mingling during the pre-dinner cocktail hour.  The food again was

quite good for "banquet food", and even featured a delicious

desert.

 

     The first highlight of the banquet proceedings was the final

"play-offs" of the Expo's pinball tournament, which was dubbed

"Flipout '86" by the Expo promoters.  The "qualifying rounds" of

the tournament had been played in the Exhibit Hall during the

past two days on several new PIN-BOT machines provided by

Williams for that purpose.

 

     The highest scorers in the qualifying rounds "squared off"

against each other in the final "elimination rounds" played at

the banquet.  These were also played on PIN-BOT, except for the

"final play-off" which was played on a limited production

Gottlieb KRULL provided by Mike Pacak.  Video cameras were

pointed at the machines during the play-offs enabling the banquet

guests to watch the action on video monitors.  When all was over

the "Grand Champion" turned out to be Mr. Steve Engle from

Connecticut, who won a brand new PIN-BOT which was donated by

Williams.  One of the "finalists", who ended up in "third place",

was Alvin Gottlieb's son Mike, so you can see that the Gottlieb's

are still very much "into" pinball.

 

     When it came time for the guest speaker to be announced

everyone was curious, since all Expo publicity had only indicated

"a surprise mystery guest".  Then, Rob Burk surprised us all by

announcing that Alvin Gottlieb, last year's fine speaker, would

again address the group.  What happened to the "mystery guest"?,

we thought.

 

     Alvin then came up and began talking about some of the

important coin machine industry people of the past, such as Lou

Walcher (owner of San Francisco's large coin machine

distributorship, Advance Automatic Sales), and Nebraska Senator

Ed Zorinsky (who was also involved in the industry, and once

operated the large Omaha coin machine distributorship, H. Z.

Vending, which was founded by his father.).

 

     Then, when Alvin started to talk about Gil Kitt of Empire

Coin (which we later discovered was a pre-arranged "signal"), a

strange thing happened.  Alvin was interrupted from the audience

by industry figure Stan Levin, who came up to the podium and got

Alvin to sit down.  It was then announced that we were going to

be treated with a "roast" of the "one and only", Mr. Steve

Kordek, in recognition of his 50 years in the coin machine

business.

 

     Next, came former Williams designer, and Steve's close

associate and long time friend for many years, Norm Clark.  Norm

first made a few comical comments about Steve's golf game.

(incidentally, the only hint of "roast" in the whole affair were

"cracks" by the various speakers about Steve's golf playing,

because who could say anything bad about such a fine fellow as

Steve Kordek.)  Norm next told the story of how he had once

scared Steve "almost to death" by blasting him with an "air

horn".  He then praised Steve for his contributions to coin

machines.

 

     Next to speak was Williams' sales manager, Joe Dillon.  Mr.

Dillon proclaimed 1986 to be "Steve Kordek Year" and presented

Steve with a new $50 "Gold Eagle" coin to represent Steve's 50

years of service to the coin machine industry.

 

     The next two speakers to get up and praise Steve for his

accomplishments were Williams designer Steve Ritchie and pinball

author Roger Sharpe.

 

     At this point, the next speaker was announced as being

Steve's daughter Donna.  A lovely, well dressed lady then came up

to speak, who we discovered later was a model by profession.

Donna then proceeded to put on a "slide show" depicting the life

of her father and family, using family photos and many brochures

of games Steve had designed, cleverly working the names of the

games into her story.

 

     She told one story of being in grade school and the teacher

asking each student to tell what their fathers did for a living.

When it was her turn, she said, she told the class that her

father "made adult toys".  All in all, Donna's talk was very

enjoyable and it was easy to see that she, her father, and all

the family, enjoyed a fine, loving, relationship.

 

     The final speaker in the "Steve Kordek tribute" was Expo

host Rob Burk.  Rob put on his own "slide show" tribute to Steve.

After that Rob got Steve up on stage and presented him with a

plaque commemorating Steve's "50 years in the industry", the "50

years" actually being completed in April 1987.  Steve said that

the whole thing was a total surprise to him, and that even his

wife, who incidentally he introduced to those present, had been

equally surprised.  Donna had apparently kept the secret very

well!

 

     Rob Burk next presented awards to others in connection with

their contributions to the Expo.  He presented the visitors from

Canada and England with small momentos of the show and then gave

out "awards" to the seminar speakers and others who assisted in

presenting the show.

 

     Then, as a final surprise, Steve Kordek was again called to

the stage and presented with a pinball playfield "mock-up"

commemorating Steve's participation in Pinball Expo '86.

 

THE EXHIBIT HALL

 

     This year's exhibits were displayed in a much larger hall

than last year.  Located in the center of the room was a large

area occupied by Expo co-hosts Mike Pacak and Bill Kurtz, who

buy, sell, and trade pinball brochures.  In addition, Mike Pacak

had on display examples of some rare "limited production" digital

pins, such as the KRULL machine used for the final round of the

pinball tournament.  Also in this center area were located the

PIN-BOT machines used for the "qualifying rounds" of the

tournament.  All of the other booths were located along the four

walls of this large room.

 

     Exhibits of new pingames were provided by the three major

manufacturers, Bally, Premier, and Williams, each showing their

latest games.  The Bally booth, manned much of the time by Bally

designer Jim Patla, caused a small "commotion" on two occasions

by bringing out boxes of "freebies" and letting everybody dig in

and help themselves.  One of these "grab bags" contained lamp

sockets, while the other held plastic playfield parts.  It was

really something to see the crowd of people all digging into

these boxes at the same time.

 

     There were no old parts for sale this year.  New

parts/materials were again displayed by the long-time coin

machine "parts house" Wico, and a plastics outfit also had some

items on display.  Steve Young and Gordon Hasse had a booth to

promote their new backglass sealant, Cover Your Glass, which was

discussed earlier, but they had none actually available for sale

at the show.  There was a limited number of backglasses for sale,

mostly by Mike Pacak.

 

     Several booths had old pingames for sale.  Dennis Dodel of

St. Louis, publisher of the fine newsletter "PINBALL TRADER", had

several postwar pre-flipper pins for sale, as well as original

bingo pinball schematics and manuals.  Some 1950s era "wood

rails" were offered for sale by Canadian Dave Currie at his A-1

Amusement Games booth.  The outfit called Hi Tech, from New York

state, who had a large number of games for sale both this year

and last, had several machines from the Sixties and Seventies,

plus Bally's 1940 "remake" of their 1934 classic FLEET.

 

     Some fine machines from the Sixties, mostly "Add-A-Balls",

were also offered for sale by Chicago coil manufacturer and

pinball and backglass collector, Donal Murphy.  Other dealers

also had pins for sale, mostly of later vintage.  A complete list

of all pinballs displayed at the Expo appears at the end of this

article.

 

     The COIN SLOT was also represented at the show at a booth

operated by collector/author Dan Kramer.  Dan's booth also

featured, in a "hands-on" display, his rare Atari pinball

prototype NEUTRON STAR, which was the subject of an article by

Dan appearing in the Fall 1986 issue of this magazine.  This

machine was available for play and many Expo participants had a

rare opportunity to play a real factory prototype pinball.

 

     Copies of back issues of COIN SLOT were available at this

booth, and people could also subscribe there as well.  I

personally directed several potential new subscribers to Dan's

booth, some of whom subscribed.  Dan had also prepared a list of

all pinball articles appearing in the magazine (since it went

quarterly) which he gave out at the booth.

 

     Expo host Rob Burk also had a booth which, among other

things, contained two quite interesting machines.  The first was

a 1931/32 era counter-top pingame called DOUBLE PLAY, which was

actually manufactured in Rob's home town of Warren, Ohio, by an

outfit calling themselves Warren Manufacturing.  This was a "two

player" game with a playing card theme (in fact, it appeared that

actual small playing cards were glued to the playfield).  The

machine had "ball lift" and "plunger" mechanisms at each side of

the front of the cabinet, one for each player.

 

     Two sets of balls were contained in the game, each set being

a slightly different color, and apparently having a slight

difference in size, which allowed the machine's ingenious

mechanism to return the proper balls to the proper player's "ball

lifts" at the start of a new game.  The apparent object of the

game was for each player to shoot balls to land in playing card

holes, thus forming a "five card hand".  The two players could

thus play against each other to see who could get the "best hand"

in either Poker or Twenty One.  A very rare, interesting, and

novel pingame indeed.

     The other interesting game in Rob's booth was a Genco "roll-

down" game from the late Forties with a baseball motif, and

called simply, BASEBALL.  This was an example of the "roll-downs"

designed by Expo guest Harvey Heiss, and mentioned by him in his

talks for the past two years.  It was also the type of game that

Harvey designed recently which he showed at this year's show as I

mentioned earlier.  I remember playing that type of machine in

the Los Angeles area as a kid; in fact, this was the closest

thing to a pinball in many areas of Los Angeles county for many

years, due to "anti-pinball" ordinances.  It was nice to see one

of these games displayed at the show so that others could see

what Harvey had been talking about.

 

     There was also a booth selling Pinball Expo '86 souvenirs.

For sale were various pinball bumper stickers, including one that

said "I 'Love' Pinball", the 'love', of course, replaced by a

'heart'.  Also available for purchase were "Pinball Expo '86"

caps, and some very nice satin jackets with "Pinball Expo '86"

emblazoned on the back.  Even Expo napkins were available at the

booth.

 

     To conclude my description of the exhibits I have decided to

include a list of all the pingames on display in the hall, an

idea which was suggested to me several months ago by my good

friend Jack Atkins from Utah.  I will first list all the new

games displayed by the manufacturers present at the show, then

list the rare "limited production" solid state games exhibited by

Mike Pacak, and finally all the other games offered for sale at

the various booths.

 

     The games shown by the manufacturers included:

 

     From Bally:  STRANGE SCIENCE, SPECIAL FORCE, MOTORDROME, and

HOT SHOTZ (a very interesting "pool game" using pool balls and

having large flippers.  Also on display was a midway pin from

1964 called RODEO.

 

     From Premier:  GENESIS, and GOLD WINGS; and also displayed

was the rare two player, two playfield, Gottlieb game from 1971,

CHALLENGER.

 

     From Williams:  PIN-BOT and ROAD KINGS

 

     The "limited production" digitals displayed by Mike were:

Gottlieb's KRULL, Stern's ORBITOR, and AF-TOR, produced by Wico,

and a small "counter top" (shades of the Thirties) pin called

MICROPIN.

 

the other games, shown at the various booths (in chronological

order) included:

 

GAME                          MFG.                               YEAR

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

DOUBLE PLAY                   Warren Mfg.                        1932? 

ONE-TWO-THREE                 Mills                              1938  

SNAPPY                        Chicago Coin                       1938  

FLEET                         Bally                              1940  

BIG HIT                       Exhibit                            1946  

SURF QUEENS                   Bally                              1946  

HAVANA                        United                             1947  

HUMPTY DUMPTY (ROLL DOWN)     Gottlieb                           1947  

RIO                           United                             1947  

VANITIES                      Exhibit                            1947  

SHARPSHOOTER                  Gottlieb                           1949  

JUST 21                       Gottlieb                           1950  

MINSTREL MAN                  Gottlieb                           1951  

FOUR CORNERS                  Williams                           1952  

MARBLE QUEEN                  Gottlieb                           1953  

BIG TIME (BINGO)              Bally                              1954  

LADY LUCK                     Gottlieb                           1954  

SKYWAY                        Gottlieb                           1954 

TWIN BILL                     Gottlieb                           1955  

WISHING WELL                  Gottlieb                           1955  

STRAIGHT FLUSH                Gottlieb                           1957  

SUNSHINE                      Gottlieb                           1958  

CORRAL                        Gottlieb                           1961  

FOUR ROSES                    Williams                           1962  

VAGABOND                      Williams                           1962  

GIGI                          Gottlieb                           1963  

SLICK CHICK                   Gottlieb                           1963  

SQUARE HEAD                   Gottlieb                           1963  

WORLD FAIR                    Gottlieb                           1964  

SKYLINE                       Gottlieb                           1965  

BIG STRIKE                    Williams                           1966  

HURDY GURDY                   Gottlieb                           1966  

PALACE GUARD                  Gottlieb                           1968  

BRISTOL; HILLS                Gottlieb                           1971 

FIREBALL                      Bally                              1972  

POP-A-CARD                    Gottlieb                           1972  

MONTE CARLO                   Bally                              1973  

NIP-IT                        Bally                              1973  

BIG SHOT                      Gottlieb                           1974  

MAGNOTRON                     Gottlieb                           1974  

AIR ACES                      Bally                              1975  

KNOCKOUT                      Bally                              1975  

SUPER SOCCER                  Gottlieb                           1975  

WIZARD                        Bally                              1975  

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC             Bally                              1976  

GRAND PRIX                    Williams                           1976  

SPACE MISSION                 Williams                           1976  

TARGET ALPHA                  Gottlieb                           1976  

EVIL KNIEVEL                  Bally                              1977  

FREEDOM                       Bally                              1977  

JACK'S OPEN                   Gottlieb                           1977  

JUNGLE QUEEN                  Gottlieb                           1977  

LIBERTY BELL                  Williams                           1977  

WORLD CUP                     Williams                           1977  

KISS                          Bally                              1979  

METEOR                        Stern                              1979  

SOLAR RIDE                    Gottlieb                           1979  

STELLAR WARS                  Williams                           1979  

SUPERSONIC                    Bally                              1979  

ALI                           Stern                              1980  

SILVERBALL MANIA              Bally                              1980  

BLACK HOLE                    Gottlieb                           1980s 

BLACK KNIGHT                  Williams                           1980s 

BLACKOUT                      Williams                           1980s 

BUCK ROGERS                   Bally                              1980s 

FIREPOWER                     Williams                           1980s 

GOIN' NUTS                    Gottlieb                           1980s 

JOUST (PINBALL)               Williams                           1980s

 

 

     Well, that concludes my coverage of this fine show, Pinball

Expo '86.  The number of attendees was about the same as at the

previous show, but there were a lot of "new faces" who did not

have the pleasure of attending last year.   I'm sure all who were

present are hoping that there will be a "Pinball Expo '87".  So

lets hope that we can attend another fine Expo next year.