Vail, AZ
Quoted from Jackalwere:Gene had purchased TAG (Thomas A Grant) in 2001. Stern was using both CGC and TAG to make playfields at the time that Gene bought TAG. After the purchase, Stern switched to Churchill (CGC). Just speculation on my part but Gary was unhappy to have competition and did not want to put money into his competitor's pocket. Unfortunately for CGC, when they made playfields for Stern, they used the Williams process, which they didn't own because they had been contractors under license from Williams. Of course Gene had also acquired the exclusive rights to re-manufacture Williams parts, which included the playfield process. He leveraged those rights against CGC's unlicensed process to get the BBB playfields made as compensation.
I don't recall what happened after that, if CGC switched their playfield process to match Data East's, which Gary did own. Perhaps Wayne, or someone from CGC, or even Martin from Pinball News knows more. But it certainly appeared that Gene attempted to force CGC and Stern (his competition) into becoming a revenue stream.
What was the “Williams Process” for making playfields? Shoot, what was the “Data East Process”? I had a Hook for a while and while the art style was never my favorite, the Stealth Coat had held up very well over the years. So if Gary was “stuck” with the DE way I don’t know that it was really all that bad of a thing. Would love to know the differences though.
Victoria, BC
