A World Under the Glass

By kyle5574

June 09, 2016

This story got frontpaged on June 09, 2016


7 years ago

My love of pinball started as a child in the mid-80's in the back of a small Indianapolis pizza place called Mother Bear's. Tucked in a dark corner room was a small arcade to distract the kids that were waiting for their pizza. They had a Final Fight, a Robocop, a rare Haunted Castle, and, most importantly, a Funhouse pinball. I was better at the video games. It was risky for me to drop quarters in the Funhouse because I wasn't that good at pinball, but I was still intrigued with the world under the glass. Rudy convinced me to give it a chance. "Hey Bucko!" That machine got me started. I didn't have transportation of my own, so aside from that Funhouse, I played whenever I happened across a machine and could convince my mom to part with a few quarters--mostly at movie theater arcades and the Aladdin's Castle at Castleton Mall. I learned that there was more to the game than keeping the ball in play and I started to take a look at the playfield layout and how to make the ramp shots. Eventually Mother Bear's shut down, most pinballs were replaced by video games and redemption games, and I kind of forgot about pinball.

When I was 15, I got my first job at the La Chica's Mexican restaurant down the street from my house. They quickly cycled through a series of arcade games in their lobby. Those machines helped me pass the time when we were slow. Then suddenly the video games were replaced by a Banzai Run pinball. Two playfields?! I fell in love with pinball. I played that game all the time. I'd even drive to work on my days off just to play it. With such a clear objective in that game, I learned that there were goals in pinball aside from just making cool ramp shots and loops. "He's challenged Red Hot--go for the hill!"

When I was 18, I went to college at Purdue University and found the little arcade in the Student Union. Medieval Madness! I missed a few classes spending precious beer money to slay dragons, catapult cows, and destroy the castle. "I am the Duke of Bourbon and I will destroy you! *hic*"

I rarely saw pinball for the next 20 years or so and, when I did, they were always in a sad state of disrepair. I'd pretty much given up on pinball. Then one day I was looking for a game to play on my new tablet and I found Pinball Arcade. It all came rushing back when I played Funhouse and Medieval Madness on that small screen. When I happened across "Special When Lit: A Pinball Documentary" on Netflix one night, it was all over. I looked for places to play in Indianapolis and didn't find much, so I started looking to buy my own machine. Ogdog in Fort Wayne had a Sorcerer that caught my eye and, when I drove up there to buy it from him, he easily talked me into buying a Cyclone as well. I had to call my wife to get clearance--"Hey Honey, guess what's better than one pinball machine in the house? Two pinball machines in the house!!" Shortly after that, and after measuring, re-measuring, and re-arranging what has now become the "pinball room", those two machines multiplied and I've added a Getaway and an Elvira and the Party Monsters.

I'm hoping one day I'll find a Funhouse, a Banzai Run, and a Medieval Madness that need a good home.

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Comments

7 years ago

I was reading your story and was surprised on how similar it is to mine.
Very interesting and glad you got back into pinball. I had missed it as well for a long time.
No worries, you'll most likely be thinking of an addition to the home to add more machines soon.
Good luck in your search for your wishlist.
Rick.

7 years ago

Good story. Thanks for sharing. I've played pinball in Purdue Student Union several times over the years, ... lived in W Laf 13 yrs or so growing up as a kid/teenager.

7 years ago

good stuff! What's better than 1 pinball machine?!

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