Pinball - my story

My fascination with pinball began during the late eighties and early nineties when my grandparents would take all the grand kids (once or twice a year) to a local arcade to play redemption games and win prizes. Redemption games are fun but I was mesmerized by the pinball machines and in awe of some of the players I watched. So I would step up to the game, put in the tokens for one play, and my game would be over in a minute or less! Then of course one of the adults would say – “stop wasting your money and play a game where you can win some tickets.” Which I did but always thought how cool it would be to have some pinball skills.

Throughout my high school and college years if I happened to be in an arcade or bar hanging out with friends or family I would naturally play pinball (if available) as it was my favorite game in an arcade, but wouldn’t seek it out on my own as something to do. I remember Indiana Jones and the Simpsons, as my favorites to play, as I love both themes, but never got hooked, I was just a casual player. And at some point I forgot about pinball all together.

Fast forward to January 2010, I took my wife and our 2 year old son to Walt Disney World’s Pop Century Resort as our first family vacation. Our daily routine was simple - get to the parks early in the morning, come back in the middle of the day for a break (wife and son napped), and head back out at 5:00 for dinner. I’m not one to take a nap so I found myself with 2 or 3 hours to kill at the hotel. I noticed the arcade room on the second day. They had an updated (Stern) Indiana Jones, and a few other pins – this time I was hooked. For the rest of the trip the wheels started to turn as I began wondering what arcades do with old games, and how much a used game would cost.

Within days of returning from our trip I found this whole world of pinball collecting that I never knew existed and of course this site, Pinside. I stared reading as much as I could about the hobby - pinball reviews, how to repair, part shops, etc. As a family we started going to an arcade every so often so my son could play games, and I managed to sneak in some pinball of course! I was close to buying a game a few times during those first months, but decided to be patient and wait until after Pinball Expo in October where I could experience a lot of different games.

I purchased my first game one week after Pinball Expo 2010, a Bally World Cup Soccer, and completed my first shop job on the game a few months later. I now have acquired two more games in less than one year (plus one for my son that he helped me restore – trying to pass on the passion) and hope to buy a few more. I love the addictive qualities about this hobby: playing pinball – a game you can never really “beat” but always trying to play better for a higher score, shopping out games – learning how it works and the satisfaction of getting a game working and looking great, and hunting for new ones to add to my collection – it’s a great feeling to drive home with a new game in the back of the car. They are all fun and exciting.