My first of 2 games is an EM. I love it! I'm 24, which means the game is 15 years older than me, and I still love playing it every night!

Definitely! And why not? Take away the ramps, toys, soundtracks, 45 minute games, etc, and what's left is challenging objectives on virtually the same playfield dimensions. The only difference is the price you've paid for that added bling.....

I'll be joining the club tomorrow!

For a quick game of pinball, I'll all ways fire up an EM game.

I used to have a Volley and found that I missed it after it was gone. Got back into EMs several weeks ago with a Gottlieb Vulcan. Next week, I will be getting a Gottlieb Atlantis and Cow Poke delivered. I'm hooked. So much to like, and the prices are actually reasonable.

Yep.

Super jealous you've found an Atlantis. That's at the top of my list to find/add. Love the theme.

It sort of found me. (Thanks, Mark!) Can't wait to get it. It's a great pin.

Not to mention, games with 'playfields' designed by the industry's best.

I've always said... we were lucky to have had the great designers we did.

'The Fab Four'... Neyens, Krynski, Kordek and Clark.

And I wouldn't mention these... without mentioning Harry Williams or Harry Mabs.

Incidentally, Wayne Neyens (the last of the big guys) has a birthday coming up this Wednesday, he will be 97.

God bless him. I'm going to send him a birthday message. Gotta give him a call again soon. I haven't spoken to him in a couple of years.
I hope he's doing well.

Good idea, I'm sure he would love to hear from you.

And to address this post more directly... nobody is happier about new people getting into EMs than I am.

Especially when these folks happen to be a lot younger than me. These people are the hope for the future of EMs. I see myself as only the custodian for the machines that I own.

And hope very much that future generations can enjoy them as much as I did.

I hope to be joining the club soon. I don't know what has changed recently but I've broadened my pinball wish list to games other than 90s B/W. Unlike newer pins, I find that EMs are so difficult to pick since there are so many choices (or at least thats how it feels as a noobie to the EM market). How did you guys decide on your first EMs?

Best....EM.....pin.....ever.

Did I say I like Atlantis?

I was able to pretty quickly work down what EMs I like via this method:

-Do you care about the flipper size? Large or small flipper will quickly narrow down the age range you are looking at.

-Do you care if it is multi-player or not? The general thought is single player tend to be "deeper" because things that you did with your previous balls carry over to the next ball instead of fully resetting between balls.

-Do you care about the targets? Drops, stand-up, spinners, roll overs. I really dislike roll over targets, so that will quickly eliminate several pins for me.

-Add-a-Ball or Replay pin? Most people seem to have a strong preference. Generally the rule set will be noticeably different between the versions.

What is great about EMs is the price is low enough that you can buy a few, try them out and sell what you don't like without worrying too much the price. If you overpay a little or sell a little too low for a quick sale you are not talking about a big chunk of money.

Great advice! I'll use that criteria as I start looking through ipdb for potential examples. I guess it's hard for me to grasp that there are not any EMs that are generally regarded as "the best" to the masses like MM, TZ, and TAF are to most people that love the B/W era of games. I know, I can hear the gasps of disgust concerning my ignorance. But, when I first got into pinball, it was easier for me to understand what most people appreciated about certain B/W games. With EMs, it seems like so many games have these small cult followings for one reason or another. On the other hand, I have an odd respect of EMs for that reason as well.

Strangely the Paul Bunyan is a two player but it does carry over to the next player which makes it fun because one player may get the ABC targets in order then drain the ball and the next player takes advantage of the high scoring and shoot again ball options then resets the ABC and drain the ball.

For those new to EMS try playing them at pinball shows and EM arcades to get an idea of which game types you like.

Just picked up my first EM yesterday.
Interflip Dragon. Awesome game.

Buy whatever is cheap & local. Gottlieb, Bally, or Williams. Fix it up (learning EM repair along the way), & play the hell out of it.
If you like it, keep it.... if not rinse & repeat. Best way to learn is to screw something up. Lots of good patient repair gurus here in the EM forum.

Read Clay's EM repair guide... VERY GOOD stuff here.... http://www.pinrepair.com/em/index.htm

Also a lot of good pin history here too .... http://www.pinrepair.com/

Great advice, thanks! I'm totally comfortable doing full restorations on 90s B/W pins but EMs seem like a whole other beast. Is there anything different on EMs that you check for first when looking at its condition? I would imagine the biggest thing would be planking of the playfield and chipping of the backglass. I would imagine most everything else could be made to look new again aside from those two things (remaking plastics, painting the cab, etc.)

Count me among those who didn't get the EM thing for quite a while. We got one about a year and a half ago and I figured my husband would be the only one playing it. What a surprise. Now the rule (MY rule) is that Fast Draw can only leave if it replaced by another EM. We go to the Silverball Museum once a year when visiting family in the US. Used to avoid the EMs there like the plague. I think I spent 2 hours straight on Joker Poker the last time we were there.

Having said that, I still can't play the ones with the short, stubby flippers... Too hard...

Is it too early to call "dibs" on your Dragon Erak? (<---- totally serious though...)

Nice to hear more EM players are being minted!
I'm going to go out on a limb and throw out O-Din's name for the un-official "West Coast" ambassador because he truly embodies the EM spirit.

Recent example:
VidCon was here this last week/weekend (in Anaheim) and some of the guests visiting asked my wife about cool/fun things to do in the nearby area not related to Disneyland; she of course (being my awesome wife,) asked if they liked playing pinball.
Since O-Din and I already had dinner plans that night she asked me if around 8-10 people could come over to play after we ate.
O-din was gracious enough to oblige her on such short notice, having complete strangers descend upon his "Spicoli Sanctum."
Ages ranged from 20-40+ and the majority of them had never played a working EM before, let alone EM's that had a manual ball loader, two inch flippers and no score reels to boot!
They were pretty much hooked once we showed them the ropes.
In fact, William's Pinky had one of the younger guys glued to it the eNtIrE night.
I joked to O-din: you should've wired it back up for coins, you could've made like- two dollars!
The "Big Daddy Challenge" and "Tahitian Challenge" on Trade Winds was also a popular goal amongst the younger crowd.
DMD's and some of the SS machines still got some love that night but honestly, it was refreshing to see the younger people enjoying the EM's as much, if not more than- the newer, flashier, titles.

My wife told me the next day that all the people that came over had an amazing time and definitely wanted to come back (with even more people ) next year to visit the almighty OoooooDiiiiin!

Maybe O-Din will be an official YouTube celebrity by then?

Great report. Hats off to Odin.

There are em's that are more highly regarded and generally prices are higher. For example Kings and Queens/Buckaroo from the 60's ( In the movie Tommy ). But there are a lot of great games. There are A titles but you will never get consensus on this.

The top 100 has many, many classics in it. Only a guideline as charts are easily manipulated!

http://www.ipdb.org/lists.cgi?anonymously=true&list=top300

Same with B/W era. I don't like TZ, TAF but do like MM but like AFM best.

I figured a few EMs like this existed that let multi-player games take advantage of the other players scoring.

Please post any that you know that have this feature. I always enjoyed having a couple in my line-up for group playing. I know many "modern" pins let players steal each others "locked" balls to get multi-ball going.

What I really love about EMs is once you are over the steep learning curve of figuring out how they work it becomes pretty easy to fix all of them regardless of the manufacture. Not a lot to go wrong. Generally I get them "dead" only to find out that only one or two contacts got too dirty and that killed the pin. After that the pin just sits dead for years until I would find it. Also the fixes are normally very cheap, they just take time (like cleaning a lot of contacts)

As long as an EM looks complete and has not been flooded, on fire or had a vermin infestation I am normally pretty sure I will be able to get it working cheaply and quickly. A real contrast with SS pins that are dead. So don't let a dead EM pin scare you off from buying it. Dirty and dead but undamaged EMs are normally a good buy and often very cheap.

I purchased my first pin a few months ago, with a lot of help from the "EM's Craiglist" post. Now that I have had it awhile, the EM pinsiders have been really great getting me help with setup/cleaning/fixing etc.

Being 28, I tend to think I am one of the younger ones who like EM's. I was told I was crazy by a lot of people in my life for wanting a pinball machine and espcially an old mechanical one.

But my 4MBC is having the last laugh with people when they come wanting to sneak down to the basement to play I also like the fact you can steal the multiball away from your opponent if they drain with a ball stuck in the volcano or tarpit.

Sure I would love some newer machines, but for my price range there are a few EM's if they ever hit a craigslist near me 4MBC may have some new neighbors.

Interesting, I had no idea. Are there others like these two? Would Joker Poker also fit into that category?

This is the only one I know of because I have the game. I assumed all multi player games carried over to the next player until I found out here that most supposedly don't do this.

Maybe others can provide names of games that also do this here?

Bruce

Many titles can fit into this category.

Joker Poker, Charlie's Angels & Evel Knieval are sought after due to their rarity. They started life as an EM game, but then switched teams and joined the Solid State generation.

TKO is priced higher because it was the last wedgehead created by Gottlieb.

Mermaid is a holy grail for many woodrail collectors, so it commands top dollar.

Just like the SS/DMD world, EM Machines can be classified by their market value. That doesn't mean you cannot find a pricier machine in someone's garage sale and pick it up really cheap.

And there will be those that do not appreciate the market value for some EM games because they feel all EMs are basically the same. But it's important to understand that there is a healthy market for restored and refurbished EM machines.

Marcus

Super Score (1968 Gottlieb) lets uncollected bonus carry over, depending on the luck of the roulette wheel. Also has the "endless" backglass art.

Here is that dragon 7784 plays on the counter inside.

The paper envelope inside still had the bulbs and
Replay score cards in it.

The only thing I did to it is swap for Leds. I know some people dont like them. But I figure Dragon is almost entirely made of plastic. And regular bulbs get pretty hot.

I want it to stay looking great.

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Your entire post was a huge help, thanks! I'm really getting taken so EM school in this thread. So you brought up another great point about restorations. EM collectors strike me as the type that would want everything original. I know there is a market like that for later solid state but I feel like high quality restorations are still considered highly collectable and sought after. Are those two markets pretty much the same or is all original far more desirable within the EM collector community?

There's a market for both but an original game with an original bg, playfield, and cabinet in very nice shape is what most of us are looking for. The Patina from an older game shows it comes from that era - so it's an antique that's retro to that era that you can play and have fun on. There are people out there that like and will will pay for the quality restorations, but it's a minority simply because most of us want to do the work ourselves and save money. We can still restore our own games and make them look and play nice without paying to have it done. We may have to buy new pop-bumper caps, plastics, drop targets, misc. parts, etc., and even a repro backglass, but the game still retains most of that originality.

For new EM folks: I run a podcast called For Amusement Only which discusses woodrail, EM and Bingo pinball. I put out an episode daily focused on gameplay, an aspect of restoration, or tech.

I created this podcast specifically to help out folks new to EMs or that may be thinking about getting an EM or a Bingo with what to look for/how to fix if broken.

http://foramusementonly.libsyn.com - you can listen to us on the website, any podcast app, or Twitter, FB, etc.

Short list of future topics include how to use your meter in an EM game, transformers, the list goes on. I've interviewed several folks in the EM and Bingo hobby, and am always happy to interview more - it doesn't matter your skill level. If you have one machine or 1000, or are thinking of buying a machine.

For existing EM folks - I hope that perhaps some Bingo talk will spark some interest.

OK, advertisement over.

Picked up my first EMs last night, a Grand Prix and Boomerang. I have a lot to learn, they both have issues.

Jealous of the Atlantis, one of my favorites!

I posted this elsewhere, but since I mentioned it here...

Cow_Poke_in_place.jpg

That Cow Poke is well-traveled.

Got my first EM about a year ago and have added a few more since then. My favorite EM is Abra Ca Dabra. I pretty much play it every day as I just can't get enough of it!

I like (and own) SS/DMD pins too, but there's just something special about playing an EM. I was a teenager when the switch to SS happened in the late 70s, so I feel fortunate to have grown up during a time when there were so many great EM and early 80s SS pins available to play in the arcades. (Can't get enough of Centaur either!)

The other part of EMs that I like is the EM guys on Pinside. No drama and everyone is so nice and helpful. The price of EMs is nice too!

Yup. Actually, I discovered that it was routed in England. The company that bought it is still in existence, which I found surprising. I spent most of my young adult life in England, so it is especially nostalgic for me to have a pin that also lived there for a while (though a bit earlier than I did!).

LOL, you picked a nice simple game to learn on in Grand Prix.

Agreed. I feel more comfortable here.

Bruce

I know, I am so new to EMs I didn't realize that Grand Prix was one of the more complicated ones. Oh well, jumping in with both feet

The nice thing about Grand Prix is that most of the units have exact clones nearby! Be careful of the relays mounted at the back of the playfield - I've fixed a couple with issues from broken wires in that area.

Thanks Nimblepin! That was a very fun night and I enjoyed meeting the guys from Harry and the Potters and their friends. They are a great bunch of guys! I always enjoy seeing people having fun playing machines they may never see anywhere else and as usual it is the oldest games that seem to make the best impression.

Grew up with EM's in my basement

But bought my first one last month (Aladdin's Castle) Got it for a good deal just needed a clean, rubbers, and a few bulbs

I love playing most EM's, There's just a certain charm to them.

I'm 26 but pinball is pinball to me and older games are cheaper. You can still have fun with older games, it kinda drives me nuts with the hate I've seen towards older games

If you know of people who have a good working older game that they hate and want to get rid of, there are plenty of people on this forum that could probably be persuaded to take those awful games from them and free them to enjoy their modern games. Consider it a benevolent service from the Pinside EM gang...

Dibs on everything in my half of NC!

Count me in, guys! My first two EMs came this week. I got a Gottlieb Big Hit which is cosmetically great just needed a few adjustments, and a Gottlieb Solar City, which will require a complete makeover. I realize Solar City is the red-headed step-child of El Dorado, but the price was right, and it'll give me a chance to learn my EM repair chops. Wish me luck.

Rob
Creditdotpinball.con

It's actually smart to start with a 2p Solar City or a 4P Target Alpha before you buy the El Dorado. Nothing wrong with getting practically any GTB em - no red-headed step-child ever came out of the factory

Big Hit is a fun game too.