The Monster made me do it

Okay, how do I start? I wasn't a pinball fan growing up in the arcade days. I always seemed to flock to the flashier, fighting type arcade games. Street Fighter, Galaga, Mortal Kombat, and Contra sucked so many of my quarters up. I remember just walking past the pinball machines back in the early 70s and mid to late 80's because they just didn't seem to grab my attention like the video games did.

Well, things have changed since then. Grown up, got married, had kids, worked several jobs just to keep the family going, blah blah blah. Well, one thing led to another and I decided to build a house with a pool table downstairs in my newly built gameroom. I thought one day how could it would be to put a pinball machine in the corner just for the nostalgic look. "Oh, stay away from those pins, they break too easily" is what the salesman told me at the local Pool hall supplier. Ofcourse, I didn't listen and went and bought my first pin, a Star Wars Episode 1. (Can you tell I'm a Star Wars nerd) I found one and bought it. Brought it home, plugged it in, enjoyed the beautiful lights and sounds and played a couple of game and then BAM! The pinball went out! Curse you Murphy's Law!!

I tried to get it fixed. I really, really loved the machine. I took it back, sold it to the vendor from whom I bought it from and missed it so bad I went and got it back. Ofcourse, went out again. I sold it and about gave up on the hobby. "Man, that guy was right" I thought to myself, "I should have listened to him!" I couldn't get the thought of owning a pinall out of my head. I thought back to the arcade days trying to remember what pinball stood out in my head that I would recall seeing and thinking it was cool. The only pin I remember was Terminator 2, so I went and found that one. The pin played great, but just kinda seemed boring to me and the stupid pinball kept getting stuck behind the plastic Terminator head. I ended up selling it about 1 month later.

By this time I was about to give up on pins. I really wanted one to grab my attention with cool toys on the playfield, funny sounds and eye catching lights to light up my mancave. I got on the internet and came across a picture of Monster Bash. Okay, I love the Universal Monsters and I use to play in a band. Two plusses in my book. I wanted this one real bad but, in case you already know, pinball machines are very hard to find anymore in order to play before you pay. The pin was pricey but I took the chance and bought one.

HALLALEUJAH!!! I pressed the start button and fired the ball. The game started to talk to me and what do you know, do you mean to tell me these things actually have stories to tell and objectives to hit in order to progress thru the game and beat it. Okay, shoot for Frankie! (He's the big one in the center) OMG, the targets are dropping and the ramp is opening up. Wow, I hit the ramp and now he's lowering on the playfield, taunting me to hit him to collect his instrument. Needless to say, I was hooked!! Who would ever thought those boring pins with nothing but pop bumpers and flippers would lead to a story that I had to finish. This whole time I thought pins was nothing but "hit this and that" to rack up your points. How could I have been so blind!

Well, the bug has hit. I had to see what other "stories and adventures" waited for me to beat in these pinball machines. Four years later and countless youtube videos and internet articles watched and read, I became a pinball fanboy! My current collection is getting big because of my addiction, and I'm loving every minute of it. Countless friends met because of this hobby and I couldn't ask for anything more. Thanks Monster Bash for showing this middle age man the light!