Heres the really cool thing that I don’t think people realize about Tommy’s trip to Calgary yesterday: How many other pinball company owners will drop what they were doing at the spur of the moment and trek a game 12 hours each way?

I was on the phone with Tommy Friday just chatting away when he had another call come in on the other line. When he called me back later there was this sense of determinate urgency in his voice and he happily told me that our conversation would have to wait because he was now just gonna drop what he was doing to bring that Star Wars LE out here to Calgary. Im sure it was a special case, and i know Dan’s Alien was also involved in the trip but the bad ass thing was that it just didn’t phase him. He was happy to do it and make everyone happy too. Definitely a top shelf attitude when it comes to business and customer service. Any company, Pinball or otherwise should take note of that enthusiasm.

I think a boycott is exactly whats needed.

Not going into too much detail, but P1 is already on the list for a nasty phone call from me later today.

Not only will i never deal with P1 again, but now i will refuse to deal with anyone who gets inventory from them.

Well, Nitro is the only game to trust in town out here.

John’ Jukes wont ship to Alberta, Jay Richardson can take a long walk off a short pier, and don’t get me started about that ass clown Tony Fisher at SML.

Stern’s only hope north of the 49th is Nitro.

Changing corporate culture for the better isn’t hard. Ive see it done in person in much larger companies then P1. Swift, large, and drastic changes from the top down can be put in overnight. Waiting any longer does a disservice to everyone involved.

Because at the end of the day some people are just ignorant (not in the negitive way). Example in point: Upper middle class household wife wants to buy something “really cool” for her husband for birthday/holiday/anniversary. Doesn’t do her reserch, but has seen SML locations in the mall, or remebered that time they bought a hot tub. Goes in, doesn’t price check or shop around, they realize what shes looking to buy and are all over it.

Its not like it happens every day but it still happens. This is also just one of many examples. And also why you see money grubbing jerks trying to sell gutted, beaten down 1980’s arcade cabinets fitted with LCD’s, 20+ “Aliexpress special” buttons, a pair of crap joysticks and a 9000-in-1 board for $2000 on Kijiji. A foolish person who doesnt know any better will buy, eventually.

6 years ago i walked into an SML not knowing any better and got a quote for a Konami 4-player simpsons cabinet. $3500. Used. Going rate for that in the community today is $600-1200. For the next 6 months i was trying to figure out how i could save up an extra $3500. Good thing i never bought it.

I made these today...

They're starting to multiply on my desk. Every couple hours there's more. At what point should i be concerned that they'll take control of my house and hold my loved ones hostage?

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Yep, a mold. I could make crystal clear ones too if there was demand.

Love that Hoth side art

Picked up another pin today. A Gottlieb El Dorado EM. Condition is pretty good for something that was made in 1975 It's gonna need a bit of wood repair in some spots, few bits have some surface rust, and I have yet to plug it in, (it was like 1:30am when i got home from the pickup...). Very happy with it and very excited to get into my first EM. I'm the second owner of this particular El Dorado. Its original owner bought it brand new the year it was released and he told me it was also the first game he purchased brand new when he became an operator.

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Sadly due to a massive change in schedule for another commitment, I personally had to pull out of YEGPIN almost completely. If I get some time off from production I might take a day trip up to hang out.

Josh's half of The Canadian Arcade will be representing tho, so if you see him walking the game room with his camera, be sure to photobomb it. A lot.

I usually buy my stools from KMS tools, and then recover them. For the Nintendo one i used glow in the dark thread...

https://www.kmstools.com/performance-tool-shop-stool-with-rotating-padded-seat-959

For cocktail games i also buy the flat pack storage ones from Canadian Tire and have logos embroidered on them too.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/home-collection-foldable-ottoman-brown-0680931p.html

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Posted this in the tools section, but I thought it might be helpful to leave this here as well.

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Working on a plug and play fix for the annoying sound board hum produced on all Data East pins. (Not the DMD or Flasher hum, but the other persistent one). Prototypes are built and starting to get into the hands of locals in the Calgary Area. Idea behind this is simple, it should take longer to open up the game than to install. And it should be an easy improvement that keeps the game as original as possible without hacking wires or adding extra dedicated power supplies. Thought id share.

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Rush sucks.

Geddy Lee’s voice sounds like a burlap sack filled with feral cats in heat, being constantly sprayed with a garden hose.

No thank you.

Jeff Attwood and I did a thing! and then Josh Brown talked about it online! ...lol

The White North Retro Data East noise filters are now Live on Pinball Life for $39.95usd!
https://www.pinballlife.com/data-east-noisehum-filter.html

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You're probably right, thats why we put it on the board.

Big news in the coming weeks...
New boards, New vendors, New Availability.
...Tell your friends.

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(ok, I realize before posting that not everyone knows what these are... So here's JoshODBrown to tell you about it!!)

Hey Data East Pin Owners, THESE ARE BACK IN STOCK!!!

The White North Retro HB-001 Data East Pinball Noise Filter is now back in stock! Shipping world wide from both Pinball Life and Marco Specialties. Canadian customers can now also buy direct from us too! Links below.

The “HumBucker" HB-001 from White North Retro is the simplest way to help mitigate the annoying and constant 12v hum thats emitted over the speakers on most Data East pinball machines. It doesn’t require any soldering or conversion to your games, just simply plug it in-line with the soundboard power cable and go. The device works on all Data East games as well as the first three SEGA games: Baywatch, Batman Forever, and Frankenstein. Developed and made in Alberta, Canada. The HB-001 is a must have for any Data East or Early SEGA pinball machine.

For a closer look and installation steps visit:

MSRP: $39.99 USD (or $49.99 Canadian direct)

Canadian Orders: http://WhiteNorthRetro.ca
Pinball Life: https://www.pinballlife.com/data-east-noisehum-filter.html
Marco Specialties: Link Coming Soon!

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What are you guys using to ship games to the border these days? I'm looking to ship a game from Fargo, MN to the Alberta border crossing at Sweetgrass MT.