THE 1996 COIN-OP SUPER SHOW
by Russ Jensen
Often in past years about this time I
have reported on two
coin-op
shows - The Loose Change Fun Fair and the Coin-op Super
Show. Well this year even though there was a Fun
Fair (of sorts)
this
article will mostly be devoted to the latter show. But first,
a few
words about the 1996 edition of the Loose Change Fun Fair.
The Fun Fair this year was held on
Saturday and Sunday, July
20 and
21 at the Pasadena Exhibit Center in Pasadena, California.
Well,
my friend Ron Tyler and I decided to go, along with a friend
of
Ron's and my 8-year-old grandson, Paul, who was visiting us at
the
time. We left early enough to arrive
about a half-hour before
the
scheduled starting time of 10 AM.
When we arrived, parked, and walked to
the entrance to the
show
area there was virtually no one there.
After purchasing our
tickets
in another building we returned to that area about 10
minutes
before show time, but still the area was almost vacant.
When
the doors opened and we walked in I couldn't believe my eyes -
the large room which in the past had been
full of exhibitors'
booths
(and at one time two rooms were almost full!) was only about
one-third
full!
Well, we went in and started looking
around. There were a
couple
of pingames there, and a smattering of slots, juke boxes,
etc. After roving around for awhile and looking
at the few things
there
my grandson kept saying that he wanted to go back to the
"Playboy
Table" - I thinking that he saw some Playboy magazines for
sale at
one of the booths.
When I mentioned that to Ron he told me
"no, there is a table
where
some Playboy 'centerfold girls' are selling autographed
photos."
Being curious i walked over to that
table with Paul and
started
talking to one of the three ladies there.
She told us her name was Sharon Johansen,
was married to comic
Jackie
Mason, and had had a small part in the Steve Martin movie
"The
Jerk". When Paul asked her if she
could sell him a picture of
herself
for the fifty cents he had she told him that she just
couldn't
do that. I then asked her, just for the
heck of it, if
she
would sell him a photo for five dollars?
She replied "OK, I
guess I
can sell him a 'bikini photo' for that".
So the lady graciously personally
autographed a photo to Paul
and he
was thrilled! I know he'll treasure
that for years! It was
really
nice of her because she told me that she usually sells that
photo
for $20. After later reading her
autograph in detail I
learned
that she had appeared in Playboy in October 1972 - just tow
months
before the issue that had a fine article on pinball history.
We later left the show very disappointed
at the meager turn-
out of
exhibitors and visitors. I have a
feeling that that might
be the
end of the Loose Change Fun Fair, the pioneer Los Angeles
area
coin-op show which started way back in 1979.
We'll just have
to want
and see?
THE
SUPER SHOW
The 1996 edition of the Coin-op Super Show was held in
conjunction
with a toy show called "Toyrific" (Antique and
Collectable
Toy Show). It was held September 20,
21, 22, also at
the
Pasadena Exhibit Center - the home of this show for several
years.
My friend Ron Tyler and I had planned to
attend this show far
in
advance. I also called my old Junior
High buddy form over 40
years
ago who lives in Pasadena and he agreed to meet me there just
like he
did last year (that being the first time I had seen him
since
the early 1950's). So on Saturday
morning Ron, myself, and
a
friend of Ron's left for the show and arrived about a half-hour
before
show time.
When we got to the area of the show
entrance there was a
fairly
large crowd waiting to get in - very reminiscent of the Fun
Fairs
many years ago and unlike the Fun Fair we attended two months
earlier. I also met my old friend's Rob Hawkins and
Don Mueting
waiting
in front, and Rob and I exchanged something we had brought
for
each other. When the doors to the show
room were finally
opened
at 10 AM we had to wait for a long line (again reminiscent
of the
large shows in bygone days).