A Cold December 1997

In a break room at an oil refinery a co -worker who never read the ‘sports’ part of the newspaper was reading it -very odd. Like clockwork and on cue he would often walk by everyday and say -

“Sports? I’ll tell you exactly what’s in there - ½ the teams won and ½ the teams lost” I got this from him every day at 9am but today he was reading ‘sports’ and turned to me and said

“you know it says that an arcade auction is going down near by with anything related to coin -op.”

Sat. morning we found ourselves at said auction they had a lot of stuff and a lot of junk (read crap)

I found myself drawn by a Bally Nitro Ground Shaker in fact after taking a step back we saw more and more people were into this ‘pin’ then the others. I thought this one is for me and the bidding started .

It was fast talking and moved quickly I was shell- shocked ! I had never been to an auction before.

I didn’t raise my #23 and someone went home with N.G.S. for $380. Also what still haunts was this old Midway Sea -Wolf vid that went for $105. Bigger then a fridge but what a cool sonar report that stayed on during the bidding, I remember as a kid playing that Submarine game.

For the next two or three weeks my buddy ken didn’t let me forget how I punked myself out at my first auction he even drew a pic of me on a wall with a #23 card shaken like a leaf !

But then another auction came up deep in South Jersey I would have my revenge and Ken would witness it.

Rented a big van from Sears and took along $2000 in cash , on the way down I boasted -

“I’m going in heavy ! Gona fill this van with 5 pinball machines, Yeah!”

We got there and it was a disaster only about 15 or maybe 20 ‘pins’ up for bid and none I really wanted.

I had to come home with something, Two machines caught my eye one was a Stern with some kind of ‘Neptune' theme might have been Trident ? The other was a talking pin with a Red Devil on it.

The Red Devil turned out to be ‘Gorgar’ and it played well and the Stern one didn’t work at all.

It was Gorgar or nothing we went across the street to find dinner before the bidding,

when we got back a ton of people were now there and Gorgar was drawing a large crowd.

But somehow Gorgar wouldn't start it had broke in less then 30 minutes! It would let out a weird electro -Bllaaaw sound.

My buddy Ken said 'Look everyone is into that pin its drawing people to it and we know it works because it played for us -has to be something real simple?'

The bidding started and I waited till it came to Gorgar the Auctioneer barked out a price and no one bit,

He loward his price and one guy jumped in after a few seconds of fast talking I jumped in and raised my card playing it off like I do auctions all the time , It went past my bid and then he pointed -

“Sold to #55 -$400” and that was me .

1979 Gorgar the first talking pinball machine I latter found out, came home with me that cold Dec. night. That Bllaaaw sound? it was the 'tilt' inside the coin door you know the ball that rolls on the incline plane? was jammed closed.

I learned the hard way about ‘pins’ on Gorgar and still have it in my collection 10 years latter.

-Gorgar Speaks!