Clifton, NJ
A while back.....I got a call on a Saturday night from an elderly man in his 80's about a Gottlieb 1965 Bank a Ball, who coincidentally lived just a mile away from my home. He told me he would like to get his game restored/working and give it to his son who had four young sons for their home use. He mentioned that everyone he called who were somehow connected to pinball looked at the game and either wanted to buy it very cheap or told him to restore it would cost $1000 to $1500.
I said to him, I am getting ready to go out to dinner with my wife and we both could stop by to evaluate the game for him afterwards and he said that would be great. So to make a long story short the game was in horrible condition both cosmetically and electro-mechanically, but I didn't tell him that. I could tell the game hadn't been played in over 30 years and just sat dormant and would need at least 50 hours work to make it right and last a while without breaking down in the future.
After talking a while with him i could see on his face and in his voice the disappointment that he was experiencing about trying to hand down the game to his son and grandsons, which meant a lot to him. Then i noticed on the card tray of his game a sticker that was from an amusement company called Coin Amusement. It was a company i work for from 1969 to 1973. I explained that to him and asked him if the name of the guy who sold him the game was either Vito or Warren. He said it was Warren and still had the bill of sale upstairs which indicated in 1970 when he purchased the game for $75.
We continued to talk some more about other things besides the pinball and had a really great conversation. It felt like i was talking to someone that i knew for a long time. At that moment i turn and said to him that i would repair all that the game needed and get it looking good and working perfect. He pause for a second and said i couldn't afford to do that. I said to him wouldn't charge him a penny but he had to be my assistance and help me work on the game. I told him i would bring my tools over on Saturdays and Sundays and we would work together bring the machine back to life.
He was an electrical engineer and love to tinker with stuff all the time and was so happy to be part of the restoration process . After more than 50 hours of weekend work on the game it came out very nice and played terrific too. I didn't let anything that i thought would make the game better slip by, even though he keep saying please don't go any further working on the game...that it was good enough the way it was.
It felt great when he emailed me a picture of him, his son and his grandsons standing by the game at the games new home. It was feeling i will never forget.
Oh i almost forgot the "icing on the cake" ending. My final and last visit the old man said he wanted me to have his card tray with the sticker with the logo Coin Amusements on it for my game and give him the one off my game in my collection. The funny thing is his card tray was mint and i had been looking to upgrade the one on my game for years.
