Life & Pinball ...then and now.

It all began as a young kid going to arcades at the beach. For me "as a kid" means late 60's to early 70's when EM's were going strong! I was always fascinated by the mechanical aspects of the machines and the very cool backglass artwork. As I got older and into High School (mid 70's), my interest in electronics and electro-mechanical systems grew. I acquired an old EM "wooden leg" pinball machine called Gladiator from a friend whose parents were going to throw it out. It was pretty trashed, so I took the entire thing apart, including all relays, mechanisms and wires. Then I made my own playfield, and designed a machine from the ground up that I called "Starship Electron". It was pretty lame in retrospect, but the experience was amazing.

I did the "live at the beach with friends" thing and was lucky enough to get a job at Marty's Playland, one of the biggest and nicest arcades on the boardwalk in Ocean City, MD. Over the course of 5 seasons, I was able to learn the hard core aspects of pinball repair, video games, and other arcade amusement equipment.
The family I worked for was awesome, and it was probably the most enjoyable job I've ever had. Now jump ahead about 20 years all the while playing the occasional pin in a bar or bowling alley until.... I meet Lloyd Thoburn of the Coinopwarehouse. He had a warehouse full of old pinball machines and other games in various states of repair as well as newer DMD's and many older machines from my days working at the beach. I bought 2 Xenon's, one for parts, one to revive. That's where the current collection began and the rest is history. It's a great "hobby" and very therapeutic after a long day at the office doing Electronic Engineering stuff for the "real" world.

I also do freelance repair work on solid state and EM machines (time permitting) and continually look for the next game to add to the collection...