Greetings,

I'd like to join the Saviors of the Universe club.

I have a fairly nice Flash Gordon; my first and only pin. I bought it from a guy in Mobile, AL who was selling off his collection of machines. He had Flash Gordon, a Haunted House, Evel Knievel, Strikes and Spares, Gorgar, and Dolly Parton left of his once 30 machine collection. Being a fan of the movie and having seen it in the theaters when it originally released, I had to have a vintage Flash for my house. This Flash Gordon came out of a bar in the 80s and remained in the previous owner's posession ever since. The MPU is original, with no battery damage if you can believe that. I installed the strobe (missing) and used water line from a refrigerator to build the risers.

I'd call this in good playable condition, with some cosmetic issues but not enough to get in a twist over. Some light sockets are dead, and a crack or two in the plastics but anything needed for a score works. Some minor separation on the silkscreen too. For not ever being restored, this is a nice machine I think. The pictures speak for themselves. That is my recently set high score.

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I've had this machine since since last summer. It was soon after I set it up that I realized I was a masochist. Each time I dared challenge Ming for supremacy of the playfield, and the Universe, I was punched in the junk.

Then went back for more.

And I thanked Ming for the lesson every time.

Yeah. I know. I worked up two games to 1.2 and 1.8 million today. Then this evening just got done having my rear end handed to me on a Mongonian plate. I played 13 games and was thwarted at multipliers every step of the way.

Ming, it appears, has had enough of my insolence. He is indeed Merciless.

What is the correct flipper bat size for this pin? My eyes aren't so hot but it looks to me that I have two different flippers. The left one looks a little fatter and shorter than the right one. What's the correct size?

Ok thanks. They aren't of different lengths. One is thinner. Either or both are incorrect.

Cool. Checks in the mail!

Only Saviours will appreciate this. Pix at end, please bear with the story.

Sam Jones came to the local 'con this year. Rather than bring in an apron for signature, I decided I would figure out how to get my backglass safely in and out of the con, with his signature on it. It wasn't easy. I had manufactured this "envelope" thing of cardboard, paper, and bubble wrap. It did the job as far as keeping things safe. THe hard part was getting past security.

I was turned away the first time ("sorry kid, no glass permitted"). Wait, what? I found some other security guys and explained the issue to them. They offered to escort me into the building so that I get it signed and then get out.

Sam was more than happy to sign the glass. He seemed pretty impressed and, I must say, the looky-loos were as well. One asked if it was a translite. I actually laughed..."Are you kidding? This is vintage glass baby, straight out of a working pin". Sam helped me get it out of its wrapping and safely on the table. The silkscreen has be triple-thick coated with triple-thick so potential damaging effects of being on the table are minimal.

The silver marker I brought didn't work well. Sam educated me on the finer points of autographing glass, stating, "You'l note I have no silver on my table for just this reason...doesn't work...see? But, you at least you will have a unique signature now with some silver and black."

He did state he never had a pin of his own but will be receiving one this year in Texas. He said, as someone else had posted, that he was never offered a machine. We talked a good bit about pinball...just two guys having a chat. Except for me it was chatting with Flash Gordon! Before I left I asked him if he was ever sampled for the voice synthesis. Explaining FG was the first mass market machine with a voice. He said no, he wasn't, and was curious if it was actually his voice. I said I only know "a voice" is that says "FLASH" occasionally in the game. Not that it was his voice specifically. Which is why I was curious if he was sampled for that machine. He said he wasn't.

Anyway, attached are a few images from the experience. The third image is taken when we were talking about the voice module.

The glass is now safely back in its back box.

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From IPDB.org:

"First split-level game from this manufacturer. First game to use the "Squawk & Talk" board, and the second production Bally game with speech. (Bally's 1979 'Kiss' prototype was the first, but the production game did not contain speech. Bally's 1980 'Xenon' was the first production Bally game with speech.)"

So, first with squawk and talk is more accurate. Also, my point to him was that despite the numerous Ming lines, the only non Ming line is the one that says, FLASH on launching a ball...also at other points. I wanted to know if SJJ was sampled to produce that line.

Good for you. Looks great. Love the alternative flippers and black rubber as well. Are they transparent? Looks sharp.