I was a player on location before i could purchase a machine. The collections are made because we want to own the machines...even if there were more places to play the games, I would still want to own machines so I can play them whenever I want....especially since many machines on route are not maintained to the proper standard(ie: clean and working).

what good is money in the bank you can't play with it. And I have no problem paying money to play a game but most of the time the machines are broken.

I was on vacation at Disneyland and Univesal studio and found just 1 pinball machine and there are none in my home area. So to me it's hard to see how I would do without any home pins.

Don't give Obama any ideas tho he's sure to think home pins are bad if only wealth can enjoy them.

i was down there a couple of years ago and only found 4 in one spot all stern and all didnt work right.

Same here, not many locations in my area and the places I went kept their machines in terrible condition.

The last machine I remember seeing on location within 50 miles of my house was a High Speed in a 7-11 game room around 87 or 88. If there was anything on location after that, I don't remember seeing it or knowing about it. The arcades in my city just had video games. After 7-11 got rid of the High Speed and their whole gameroom, I had no pinball to play other than pinball simulations on the computer or on gaming systems, and that didn't cut it.

When the 90's came, I heard news of Williams/Bally releasing all these incredible pins, but I had no place to go and check them out anywhere close to me.

Then 2007 comes around and I have a chance to buy my first game, a TZ. This pin was 14 years old at the time, but it was new to me. Now I've been making up for lost time as all the machines built after that HS I last played at 7-11 are all new to me. It's been great, I must admit, to be able to go down into my gameroom and fire up a pin and play it to my heart's content. If I didn't have them, I'd probably not be playing anywhere on location, as I still know of no pins on location anywhere close to me.

Oh god no. In my area there's like 5 shitty machine on route around here in a 30 mile radius. I'd either have to move or find another hobby

There was a kids show on Saturday that my daughter was watching....the older "puppets" were explaining to the younger ones what a record player was...since the younger ones didn't know what it was by looking at it...sadley I am sure this the case with many young kids today regarding pinball.

I'm happy to say, that we are in a resurgence

I was at disneyworld last year 4 pins in one arcade but 3 were broken.

We did have the national pinball museum nearby but that's closed down

There are a few pins on route around here. I would feel very weird going to a restaurant just to play the one pin in their little game room off the waiting area.

I do just that and dont think twice about it. There is a BSD in a local restaurant about 30 mins from me. I have stopped by just to put a few bucks and 30 mins on the pin and walked right out the door.

This summer I was playing Donkey Kong on a multicade machine in a restaurant's waiting area. It was crowded. It had been years since id played a real arcade game, so i had a great time!

As i played the little kids were watching me play. They seemed enthralled (as was I). But to sum up the situation the oldest of the kids ( maybeasked me. "Hey man, what do you win, when you play this game".... I just said no tickets for this one, if you do good enough you can out your name up on the high score list.

Went completely over his head.... Had a look of but i want tickets so i can exchange them for cheap plastic crap toys that break.

Sigh

If you outlaw pins then only outlaws will have pins.

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I'm really lucky that there are two fantastic arcades near me. In about 1.5 hours I can be at either one. Lanes & Games in Cambridge, MA has a wonderfully maintained collection of the latest Stern machines. Metallica, Star Trek, Iron Man, Tron, and if anything goes wrong the owner will usually fix it in a day or so. We also have Pinball Wizard in Pelham, NH. They have a nice collection of slightly older Sterns (Tron, LOTR, Family Guy...) but they have the 90s covered (TZ, BSD, CP, IJ, ...), and a bunch from the 80s as well (EBD, Space Shuttle, Space Station ...). I think PW has at least 75 games up and running, oh, and WOZ! The only reason I don't own a Tommy is I get to play it at PW.

Location pinball like these places are very rare though. And even with them available to me, I love owning games. There is something to be said for the fact that I can play a game of EBD before leaving for work. No location can replace that.

If there were people willing to put games on location (and take care of them) in quantities like the old days, the number of manufacturers would go up and the quantity of games would go up. There simply isn't much of an operator market anymore. Pinheads (ie: collectors) playing on location can't sustain the business.

Jaz

P.S. A majority of the operators out there don't take care of what they have on location and that is one cause of the decline.

I have to go to a truck stop or laundromat to play pinball here. Pass. There are a few at bars, but they are afterthoughts of the establishment. No different then a soda dispenser.

My local operator is a friend, he says pinball makes $10 a week. New game or old game, no difference.

Hence the reason there aren't that many pins out on location

I would stop playing pinball again if I could only play them on site. There is only ONE location in my area where the operator seems to have a conscience. His machines are fully functional - most of the time - and reasonably clean. If I could only play his 4 or 5 titles, I would give up entirely. The only other way to play is by hitting the locations where a bar-owner happens to be a pinball enthusiast - and they may have one or two working machines if you can get lucky and know where they are located.
With pinball in the home, I can fire up a reliable, clean, trouble-free (mostly), game at-will. No traveling, no quarters, plus I can invite my friends over for dinner, a beer, and some good fun in a private parlor type setting. We can play 'til dawn and if the machine breaks..........the operator is usually standing by for immediate repairs (and a refund - lol).

If the bubble "bursts" and all of us whacko's who rescue these wonderful toys stop saving these machines from the bone-yard...........indeed. What will happen to pinball??

I love the look on the faces of my friends' children. We keep step-stools available so the young ones can step up and play a risk-free game. So wonderful to see their little faces light up as they marvel over action. And there is no disappointment at their lack of skill. Just punch in another game please!!!
These kids were likely to never see or play a pinball in their lives. That, or they were likely to play at least one run-down, lame-o, usually broken/partially functional machine which would steal their quarter, their joy, and their enthusiasm for the game.
I'm glad I could change that for them by having them in my home.

You think that's weird? I went to Chuck E. Cheese alone to play POTC to decide whether to buy one.

I'm guessing that doesn't happen that often. Did I feel weird? Heck yeah I did.

You shouldn't feel uncomfortable at all. The location is probably splitting the earnings with the op, so they should be happy to see someone playing the game.

I did the exact same thing with TSPP a couple years ago. People probably thought I was a child molester.

I'm surprised they even let you in without a child with you.

I love playing pins in bars, but wish there were more out there around here. I'm not in the position to start a bar myself, but I would happily support a kickstarter for a good barcade in DC, and I bet a lot of folks would do the same for their area if pins are lacking...

I told the dude at the door I wanted to play the pinball machine b/c I was thinking about buying one and he didn't even know they had one.

Only 3 other pins in my area I know of:

A barely playable SM at a bowling alley, a (completely unplayable) Avengers Pro at another local arcade-ish place and TSPP at another bowling alley. That's all I know within a half hour drive.

Avengers should never be put on location unless the operator lives in an apartment above it. It's a nightmare. Even AVLE down at Flippers in NC didn't work right and they have 50 pins or so in awesome shape.

I'm near The Shark Club in Howell, MI where he keeps 50-60 of the most collectible pins on location for the public (and kept in fantastic condition.) But it still does not stop me from wanting to buy pins for my own home. I just enjoy collecting them and working on them (and playing them.) For me ... collecting pins simply became feasible with the explosion of the WWW. I would have been extremely intimidated to buy a game without knowing A) Where to find one B) How to work it C) How to fix it and D) Just understand the game differences and values. But suddenly ... I had it all at my fingertips. Bought my first game (TOM) off of eBay 12-13 years ago (before eBay pricing got absurd.) Have never looked back.

Agreed CraZ....I would still only have 1 pin in the collection if not for pinside....and it wouldn't have LED's in it either

Ha i see a new luxury tax headed this way. lol

I think that would be awesome. Playing on location is way more fun than playing at home.

Currently, about 60% of Stern games go to operators. Most overseas. Watch any recent Gary Stern seminar on youtube and that's what he'll say. Because the company isn't publicly held, those numbers aren't written in stone. I believe him though.

Have any of you guys ever considered putting some of your own games out on location? That's what I did. Best way I know of to support the hobby. I'm also a regular location player, and I don't only play my games. To me, playing at home is just practice. Playing on location is much more fun. You never know what will happen or who you will see.

With pinball's recent popularity, now is a very good time to solicit new locations. At my newest location, it took about 10 minutes of talking with the owner to reach an agreement. Ask and you might like the answer (and the added income, hobby karma points, etc...).

If most operators buying Sterns are in Europe, it begs the question: why is location pinball more successful in Europe?

In the documentary "the Space Invaders" there are cities that do not allow coin op games in a residence.

I could happen to you.

Actually, that's kind of old news... Gary has changed his tune in the last couple years. Of course, the fact that he's flip-flopped hasn't gone unnoticed by collectors like us...

Jaz

Yes, after one week there was 5 bucks in it and the PF glass was etched.
I gave the owner of the place his $2.50 and loaded it up.

What game was it and what was the location?

WCS '94, waiting room at a gas station.

Bummer!!

I was having a errrrrrr "discussion" with the local Stern distributors about the price increases on STLE.

He said "why don't you buy it (for 13,500 nzd) and put it on location!! You can claim back the sales tax!!"

I said "because the first kid that comes in will carve his name on the side and I will start crying" lol

Just imagine it!!

I love playing on location. Nothing beats getting a high score and putting "RD" on there.

It's exactly the same buzz I got when I was a little kid and I was getting good scores on Galaga or Donkey Kong.

Putting pins on location is a business venture, unfortunately for me it is one that doesn't stack up financially or time wise. I would spend more money on gas going to fix them than I would ever take in the coin box.

Instead, to advance the hobby I invite people to my place to play for free. I'll have 50 guys here for a meet on the 1st December. A few newbys coming too.

rd.

lol! +1

I restored that game and donated it as the tourney prize at the Hollywood Park show, I doubt it will ever go on location again.

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Good on you for donating it!

Did those nice looking ladies in the picture thank you personally?

rd.

Those are the Laker Girls and my son got a signed picture.

Come on over when my basement is done. Lots of pins to play and I'm 45 minutes from you. In fact lots of pinsiders within 30 minutes of where I am that would love to have some playtime!

If there were no pins in homes then I would not be playing any pinball.

I haven't noticed that. Do you have any examples? Below is a seminar from earlier this year where he mentions (roughly) 60% (starts ~51:00).

Of the couple of dozen or so NIB and player games I've had out in the last 7 or 8 years, only one has been damaged in any way. The coin door was pried open and they got maybe $30 in quarters. I bent the door back straight (it was hardly bent), put a new lock on it and it was good to go. Games don't typically get trashed like they used to. Players will do bang backs and death saves if you let them (loose tilt), but I've had zero issues with damage to the glass or games.

Check your local pizza parlors. Gas station waiting rooms are old and busted. d

I bet I played that game at that show. Damb that was a cool show. Weird show (pinball outdoors...wtf?), but it sure was cool. Thanks for bringing and donating that game.

I thought it was a great location for a show, the So Cal guys that didn't make it missed a good one.

The closest place for us to play pins is about 6 hours away.I would hide my pinball stash underground if it was outlawed! We live in the country and always have brought the entertainment to our home for example we watch movies on a projector on the side of house while we pop popcorn in a comercial popcorn machine and watch the hotdogs spin around and around on a comercial hotdog machine all summer long while shooting off fireworks! We started to buy video games to enjoy at home way back with the first release of ATARI...We have not stopped.(playing Donkey Kong country on a 15 foot screen outside is AMAZING) The next step is to build a huge games room for our 9 kids and soon grandkids. Why drag everyone out to a place full of other people and having waitin line and PAY someone else to play when you can do ALL that in the luxury of your own home with your family. It dosnt get better then that plus at home it OPEN 24/7 and you can wear your pyjamas and eat BACON!