Toronto, ON
Watching it, you realize so little has actually changed. Surprisingly decent report that captures the mid-70s pinball revolution.
(Topic ID: 213926)
Ann Arbor, MI
"Pinball is a type of arcade game, in which points are scored by a player manipulating one or more steel balls on a play field inside a glass-covered cabinet called a pinball machine (or "pinball table")."
No one calls it a table old man! And it's not aboot points anymore it's a magical journey of storytelling....or some shit like that.
Quoted from TheLaw:it's a magical journey of storytelling....or some shit like that.
Nope. World under glass, sir.....
Quoted from jwilson:Anyone want to take a stab at dating it based on the games seen?
1976-77
This is a fairly accurate representation of what pinball was like in the late 70s when I was a teenager.
Almost as real as that arcade scene from the movie Dazed and Confused.
Quoted from o-din:Almost as real as that arcade scene from the movie Dazed and Confused.
So Dazed & Confused with hip kids ready for a night of partying is little more real than middle aged men playing pinball in the worst clothes I've ever seen? Or did everyone naturally look goddamn 50 years old back then?
Quoted from TheLaw:So Dazed & Confused with hip kids ready for a night of partying is little more real than middle aged men playing pinball in the worst clothes I've ever seen?
Exactly! That may be what LA was like, but here in the suburbs Dazed and Confused was spot on! From the high school parking lot looking like a car show, to open fields where we would all gather till the wee hours of the morning.
And that pool hall with all the pinball machines and kids getting stoned brings back memories for sure. Don't remember too many adults being around except like that McConaughey character as there were always a couple of those.
Great video. I never played pinball in the 70’s because I was sexually frustrated. Not sure where they came up with that. We played because there was no cable tv, cell phones with data packages, computers etc. Also....we had very little money. $2 went a long way on a pinball machine back then.
Quoted from eagle18:I never played pinball in the 70’s because I was sexually frustrated.
Ha! We played not only because it was fun and cheap, but also because it was where the other cool kids gathered including plenty from the opposite sex. 
If there was one defining moment that put an end to the 70s and it's relaxed, partying culture, I'd have to say it was this. Thus started the most uptight decade I can remember, and in some ways we are still reeling from it.
Did not see this as a kid when it aired. I have seen it since. Really captures the pin scene back in the glory days. Some seedy dudes in that footage. Probably turned some parents against pinball. I had a few friends who's folks told them not to play "those pinball machines". Waste of money? Yes. Great fun? Yes! A good mid 70s time capsule. Just think, Capt. Fantastic was a new game then.............
Quoted from pinkid:Just think, Capt. Fantastic was a new game then..
I remember when they dropped a new Captain Fantastic at one of the local malls.
Never before had there been a game so easy to win a replay on! You want to talk about making your pocket change last...
The original Bad News Bears, Used Cars, and Slap Shot will take you back to the mid 70s too. I liked the world better then............
Quoted from jwilson:Weird not seeing a single electronic game.
They were new and most still in the experimental stage.
I remember when they first started popping up, and the cold reality hit that pinball as we had known it was being killed and it would never be the same again.
They felt hollow compared to what we were used to. At the time I had never seen inside them but turns out that's exactly what they were...hollow.
This brings back some fond memories.
First nib pin my father purchased was a Space Odyssey back when it was first released.
I used to hang out in a number of the Las Vegas hotel casino arcades back in the 70s while my folks gambled. My fave was the original MGM Grand- had a really cool arcade.
Quoted from phil-lee:A game for sexually frustrated loners to take their aggression out on, yeah,about right.
The dude that said that stuff was a pervert to begin with. A little disappointed that Dan Rather interviewed “the man who made the first x-rated cartoon”, and promoted him as an expert on pinball. Of course he thinks everything has to do with sex! He probably says that people who drink coffee without cream or sugar, or people who read books alone in a
Library are sexually frustrated loners, too. Everything else about the piece was good viewing.
Quoted from Blitzburgh99:“the man who made the first x-rated cartoon”,
Ralph Bakshi not only did Fritz The Cat, but also went on to do Wizards and Lord of the Rings among others.
Whatever he said in this interview does not change my opinion of him as one of the greatest animated movie producers of our time.
Quoted from o-din:Ha! We played not only because it was fun and cheap, but also because it was where the other cool kids gathered including plenty from the opposite sex.
If there was one defining moment that put an end to the 70s and it's relaxed, partying culture, I'd have to say it was this. Thus started the most uptight decade I can remember, and in some ways we are still reeling from it.
Nancy was one bookend. The other bookend was: 
imgres (resized).jpg
Sandwiched between the two was the new scourge called AIDS. Once it was determined that it did not discriminate on sexual preference the discos closed down.
Quoted from cottonm4:Sandwiched between the two was the new scourge called AIDS.
I thought it was some washed up old actor that was sandwiched in between them. He could hardly remember his lines and keep a straight face at the same time
Quoted from cottonm4:Nancy was one bookend. The other bookend was:
Sandwiched between the two was the new scourge called AIDS. Once it was determined that it did not discriminate on sexual preference the discos closed down.
The Moral Majority is neither....
Quoted from o-din:but here in the suburbs Dazed and Confused was spot on! From the high school parking lot looking like a car show, to open fields where we would all gather till the wee hours of the morning.
And that pool hall with all the pinball machines and kids getting stoned brings back memories for sure. Don't remember too many adults being around except like that McConaughey character as there were always a couple of those.
This! I grew up in the suburbs of Sacto. I was that 9th grade kid rolling with the stoners. This movie was my exact high school experience, except for the whole weird paddling thing. We didn't do that shit.
Quoted from fireball2:except for the whole weird paddling thing. We didn't do that shit.
True. But Hoby Brenner put me in a trash can once when I was a freshman. He was a football player. A real big guy. You might have heard of him. That's what I get for having an older brother with friends.
Looks like this was shot late in '76 with Captain Fantastic, Royal Flush, and Space Station all released then.
Quoted from o-din:But Hoby Brenner put me in a trash can once when I was a freshman. He was a football player. A real big guy. You might have heard of him. That's what I get for having an older brother with friends.
Well then. I didn't say we didn't have bullies; we were just old school: trash cans and beat downs, mebbe a swirlie in the toidy or two. You got bullied by the best!
Also, did you notice how tattered and filthy the flipper rubbers are on that Capn Fantastic... right as he's talking about controlling the ball?
We had Keith Van Horne of 80s Bears fame on that high school football team along with state wrestling champ Matt Clark and some others. The Indians were a real powerhouse back then but never won it all. Got really close though.
Quoted from o-din:Exactly! That may be what LA was like, but here in the suburbs Dazed and Confused was spot on! From the high school parking lot looking like a car show, to open fields where we would all gather till the wee hours of the morning.
And that pool hall with all the pinball machines and kids getting stoned brings back memories for sure. Don't remember too many adults being around except like that McConaughey character as there were always a couple of those.
Damn - Dazed & confused was spot on. I miss those days!
Great video. I couldn't tell if the chime sounds were coming from the pinball machines or the tight bell-bottom jeans everyone was rocking back then.
Interesting as this video was done in a city that until recently didn't have any pinball. And not for many years. Where 30 miles away, we had them since I could walk. So we were kind of oblivious to their situation.
Cool clip...a time capsule for sure. I was too young at the peak of pinball in the 70’s to get into pinball. I liked it but video games drew me in. Into pins more than vids now. Though new pins look fancy they haven’t evolved a ton as far as game play. But it is very tough to find pins on location easily these days. Wish there were more pins in the wild.
Quoted from o-din:1976-77
Yeah, right on the money, that's when Space Mission came out. They showed a lot of that game in the video!
Found the numbers interesting. Machine cost $1500, made $1500 a year. Betting a new high end pin at 9K could possibly net the same. Any ops care to share their average on a new pin on location today?
Quoted from o-din:Ralph Bakshi not only did Fritz The Cat, but also went on to do Wizards and Lord of the Rings among others.
R. Crumb, the creator of Fritz the Cat, hated Bakshi's movie so much that he decided Fritz would be murdered in the comic book. Not my judgement of Bakshi though, I don't know his work at all. Just found it funny.
Quoted from JMK:This brings back some fond memories.
First nib pin my father purchased was a Space Odyssey back when it was first released.
I used to hang out in a number of the Las Vegas hotel casino arcades back in the 70s while my folks gambled. My fave was the original MGM Grand- had a really cool arcade.
Yeah, that was a pretty nice arcade. I went in there a lot. My dad took me to see Jai Alai and would bet for me and my brother at the MGM also. He was a pit boss in the casino there.
Köln
Quoted from RoyGBev:Not my judgement of Bakshi though, I don't know his work at all.
I must have watched this one 20 times already. Many times in the theater back in the day. Took several viewings just to remember what it was about.
Quoted from hAbO:They don't and wont make em' like that anymore.
Indeed.
Beside the far out Bakshi movies, this video does give a good representation of the games that were shipped to our area in the 70s. Lots of four players and mostly Ballys and Williams.
After the big success of Fireball in the early 70s, Bally was pretty much the king around here with it's modern look and forward thinking gameplay. Each new one always drew a crowd. And that went on well into the 80s.
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