Quoted from pinwiztom:Update:
Sorry, but I had some old info about Sam's current status.
According to Matt Christiano
"Sam has been home for at least 2-3 months. He has a hospital bed in his living room, and visiting nurses who come in 2x/day."
I still believe he is bedridden and has not had any knee operations.
Glad to hear this somewhat better news from Pomona....
Quoted from pinwiztom:Update:
Sorry, but I had some old info about Sam's current status.
According to Matt Christiano
"Sam has been home for at least 2-3 months. He has a hospital bed in his living room, and visiting nurses who come in 2x/day."
I still believe he is bedridden and has not had any knee operations.
I wish I had more vacation time and I wish I lived closer to him. I would love to go and visit him for a week and just sit and talk pinball, or whatever he wanted to talk about. Or just visit so he would have some company and fetch stuff for him if he needed. I can't help but imagine him not having someone there to talk to for long hours during the day since he doesn't do electronic communications as I understand it.
Having said that, is there any way we could get his physical address to send a card or a letter or a simple care package? Something just to say we are thinking about him and maybe a several page letter to at least occupy some of his time stuck in that bed. I understand if you don't want to publish his home address, but maybe we could send it to someone who could get it to him, or receive his address via PM.
Thanks for any considerations on this matter.
Yopp
Quoted from dyopp21:I wish I had more vacation time and I wish I lived closer to him. I would love to go and visit him for a week and just sit and talk pinball, or whatever he wanted to talk about. Or just visit so he would have some company and fetch stuff for him if he needed. I can't help but imagine him not having someone there to talk to for long hours during the day since he doesn't do electronic communications as I understand it.
Having said that, is there any way we could get his physical address to send a card or a letter or a simple care package? Something just to say we are thinking about him and maybe a several page letter to at least occupy some of his time stuck in that bed. I understand if you don't want to publish his home address, but maybe we could send it to someone who could get it to him, or receive his address via PM.
Thanks for any considerations on this matter.
Yopp
PM Sent.
Anyone talked with Sam lately? I was watching Special When Lit again today and wondering if his incredible collection of press photos and other historical items has been digitized for posterity?
Sam is at home now, but until he hands his paperwork collection of flyers and schematics and photos
over to someone else, it will not get digitized or stored online, as you probably well know
Sam does not have a computer or any online email accounts or access to the internet.
I believe that Sam has put in his will that his pinball paper collection,
to go to Tim Meighan of Seattle to archive at some later date.
He has about 10 4 drawer file cabinets full of schematic and paper & S/I cards etc
and about 2 dozen huge binders of flyers and other pinball paraphernalia paperwork
including his serial number chronicles and PF post color locations.
I have this posted in the other Sam Harvey thread...
Just a little update:
-
I was able to see Sam a few days ago.
Sam says:
'Hi to everybody, and thanks for caring'.
He has two care givers a day...He has lost about one hundred pounds.
He is more or less bed bound and watching T.V.
I know he is not happy that the doctor's have not been able to do knee surgeries
for him.
In all,
Sam as Azmodeus says 'He's got an interesting sense of humor'.
Yes, he still tells corny jokes.
Hopefully, Sam might be able to get back on his feet again and see everybody.
Sam's a great guy. Met him at a couple of pinball expos.
Tell him to concentrate on his health and we're thinking about him. Hope to see him once again at a show.
Happy Birthday to Sam Harvey today Aug 19 2021.
He will be 74 today.
Some of Sam's friends, 2 weeks ago, went to visit him at home in Pomona,
to get about 50-60 games and other stuff out of one of his last storage units
so he no longer has to pay storage fees.
They are headed to the pinball ranch at Matt's outside of Hollister,
where most of the rest of Sam's pin collection is currently housed.
Sam still has about 60-70 games left stashed at his house,
where Sam is now convalescing (confined to his bed).
Sam is doing fine otherwise, though he has gained a lot of the weight back
that he lost over the past 2 yrs.
There is a summary of the trip to Pomona and back to Hollister,
that I may post later once I get permission from the author (Matt)
as it was quite the pinball adventure, that ran into all kinds of obstacles
along the way, but finally succeeded without too much collateral damage.
cheers Tom
Happy BDay Sam
Quoted from pinwiztom:Happy Birthday to Sam Harvey today Aug 19 2021.
He will be 74 today.
Some of Sam's friends, 2 weeks ago, went to visit him at home in Pomona,
to get about 50-60 games and other stuff out of one of his last storage units
so he no longer has to pay storage fees.
They are headed to the pinball ranch at Matt's outside of Hollister,
where most of the rest of Sam's pin collection is currently housed.
Sam still has about 60-70 games left stashed at his house,
where Sam is now convalescing (confined to his bed).
Sam is doing fine otherwise, though he has gained a lot of the weight back
that he lost over the past 2 yrs.
There is a summary of the trip to Pomona and back to Hollister,
that I may post later once I get permission from the author (Matt)
as it was quite the pinball adventure, that ran into all kinds of obstacles
along the way, but finally succeeded without too much collateral damage.
cheers Tom
Happy BDay Sam
I remember we had the same birthday. Happy Birthday Sam
Sam called me a few weeks ago. He was in good spirits and as per normal started off with a couple jokes for me!!
HAPPIEST of Birthdays Sam!!
Keep on concentrating on your health and getting those surgeries! Hope to see you at a show soon!!! 
Phoebe
Just heard from a fellow pinball collector that Sam Harvey fell out of bed a few days ago
and broke his leg and ankle and had some brain bleeding.
Sam at first refused to go to the hospital but after some more coaxing went to the hospital and they set his leg
and the brain bleed had stopped.
At first, in the ER with all the beeping, Sam said "this arcade must have 200 games".
So he still has his sense of humor.
He is doing OK for now, but at his age and condition, anything may happen
but is scheduled to come home in a few days.
Keep him in your prayers.
Hi just wondering if there has been any updates on Sam? I don't know how to do it but it would be great if he had a go fund me page. He is such a kind and amazing guy!
Had a zoom call with a bunch of (mostly West Coast) pinball addicts tonite.
In talking with the group moderator, Matt,
he mentioned that He talked with Sam within the last week
and Sam seems to be doing fine,
or as fine as someone can be who is confined to his bed.
He also stated that He will be visiting Sam along with a few others from NorCal in April
to truck most the rest of Sam's Pin Collection, about 75 bodies and 50 heads, and a ton of BGs and PFs
and about half dozen of file cabinets full of pinball paperwork and schematics
back to Nor Cal for safe keeping along with the rest of Sam's collection already there
in storage or set up to play at the pinball ranch.
They will leave about a dozen games at Sam's that are currently already set up,
but Sam is unlikely to play any more, since he is bedbound.
He also still has rack and racks of bins full of vintage misc pinball parts,
that will hopefully still be salvageable to help restore many games in future.
Thank you for continuing to update us, I am glad Sam is doing well despite the hurdles he has faced.
It breaks my heart that Sam isn't able to play his beloved "Slick Chick" anymore being confined to his bed. If you manage to communicate with him, either directly or through the West Coast pinball folks, please tell him that there are people in the pinball community that think of him often and appreciate all the things he has done for the pinball collector community over his decades of service in the hobby.
Thanks.
I never met Sam, but he was a legend at the expos in the 90’s at the Ramada O’Hare. Always writing down serial numbers of all the machines in the exhibit hall. Gave a few seminars, just a pleasure to be around. I’m sorry his health has not been good. The knowledge he has about those 50’s and 60’s games is amazing. Just a great, great guy.
Just got off the phone with Sam to wish him a 76th Happy Birthday.
Sam was in good spirits
though i must have caught him, out of a sleep or something
because he seemed a little out of it and his speech was slightly slurred initially
but as the conversion went on he became more energetic and talked with more clarity.
He is still bedridden.
We talked about pinball in general
also about his jukebox
a Seeberg AY-160 and his vast collection of 45s.
He is selling off a vast majority of his collection
At least his doubles
and his vast collection of NOS Playfields and Backglasses.
Contact Matt Christiano
His joke to me today was
Why did Santa have no kids?
Because he only comes once a year and that is down a chimney.
I believe Sam's games are usually advertised on craigslist in Hollister, CA. For example:
sfbay.craigslist.org link
sfbay.craigslist.org link
Quoted from MarkG:Sam's games are usually advertised on craigslist in Hollister, CA
Yeah that is Matt postings for some of Sam's games and parts etc.
Sam Told me that he got most of those NOS Playfields about 30-40 yrs ago
from someone back east unloading his stuff for about $10 per PF.
Geez wish I was collecting back then.
As Tom and Mark mentioned, I am selling Sam's NOS playfields as well as his duplicate
games. I keep an ad for the games on craigslist (SF Bay Area, South Bay area), but I also
maintain a listing on my site at: https://museresearch.com/gamesale/gamesale.pdf
(The playfields are a separate listing on craigslist).
The listing on my site has links to pictures of the games, which I can't put on craigslist.
I don't ship these games or playfields, because I want people to see what they are
getting. Most of the games haven't been set up for years (20+), and some of the
playfields are seconds, so it's best to be able to inspect them personally.
I don't normally read pinside, but 2 people have emailed me in the past 2 days stating
that they saw a thread about Sam here. So here I am.
Like Tom, I called Sam yesterday to wish him happy birthday. He was upbeat as ever.
Unfortunately, I have only heard 2 new jokes from him in the past several years. He
used to have 2 new jokes every time we saw him. 
One other thing - on the other thread I saw a few things that weren't quite right. Sam
lives in his own house - it doesn't belong to his friend Billy. And over the past 6 months or
so, Billy has come and gone (I believe he is not there now, which is unfortunate - I hope
he will be back soon). Sam and Billy have known each other for 60+ years.
Also, someone asked about his jukebox. That won't be for sale, he has specified who
should get it in his will (no, it's not me). He loves that jukebox!
4 of us made a trip to Pomona in late April (myself, Don Highley, Dave Buchanan, and
Lou Perazzoli) to move the rest of his stored games in his house up to the ranch.
It amazes me that he had 60 games in such a small house. We also moved 150 of
his NOS playfields, but none of the backglasses. And we left all the games that
are set up (approx 11-13 of them). Even so, it completely filled a 40' trailer.
Now he has a bit more breathing room in the house, although that only helps
people who visit him, since Sam is confined to bed. It's sad that he can't play
those games. And to the person who said he needed an 8 ball deluxe - yes, you
do. Just yesterday Sam told me it is the best game Bally made, and I have to
agree with him (not counting the 90's games, which are really WMS games anyway).
Actually, I think Sam tells me that just about every time I call him. 
We all wish Sam the best.
Matt
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