Good point, and nobody does.

But speaking from experience: when I fell into the silverball hole last fall and found this site, the fact that those companies had their own sub-forums actually legitimized them to my newbie eyes. I mean, wow: this Pinside Archive thing, you could actually flag and own machines that weren't built yet so that meant they HAD to be guaranteed and real as opposed to joe-hobbyist one-offs, right?

It was only after I explored the offerings some more, that I began to question them more highly. Then of course things happened to implode and here we are.

Personally, I don't understand why those projects were legitimized with their own sub-forums and manufacturer statuses and archive entries before a single machine was actually sold with an invoiced bill of sale.

Meanwhile: completed, verified, vaunted and sold rethemes like Goonies, Ghostbusters, and Futurama, don't even have archive entries, while unobtanium and/or unfinished prototypes do.

It's confusing, if not misleading.

Interesting that so many people say "pinball was historically not family friendly" and yet.... I'd be willing to bet most of those same people would say "Oh yeah, I got hooked on pinball as a kid / teen [and it was NOT on the Playboy machine]...."

Certainly there are some racy themes out there... and may there always continue to be. But how may "adults only" arcades are there?

By and large, the most popular games with the widest appeal are not the raciest or even riskiest. Consider the public arcades and other places where pins used to be, to attract the widest audience, to plant the seeds that resulted in probably 90% of current hobbyists: what level of behavior is generally expected in a public space? What normally gets you kicked out?

Sure, emotions can boil over because we're only human... and as pointed out, there's been a lot of fuel of late. So it's understandable to a degree.... but just like how getting in a fight at the arcade would get you tossed, same rules should apply here. It's fine. You cool off, come back, and don't do it again.

Here on this forum we're all presumed to be adults, and self-moderate our discussions accordingly with respectful decorum. In a thread about Playboy, Sexy Girl, T2-profanity mods, etc... maybe anything goes. A reasonable adult should know what to expect: You don't walk into a strip club to play Bugs Bunny's Birthday Ball, so you don't click on a NSFW thread to whine about morality.

But for the most part, pinball IS a family-friendly activity when it's done "right". The rest of the site should reflect that.

I don't think what Robin is asking is unfair, unreasonable, or even all that difficult.

Long before my time, I'll admit... but I'm familiar with those tales of history and legend.

Still, many Pinsiders fondly recall and lament the passing of the big-time arcades' heydey. And when did that begin? The 70's... surviving a blip-crash in the early 80's, and lasting well into the 90's.

That's a full quarter century where pinball evolved not just technologically, but through venturing from the dark caves of the seedy underworld, into the bright caustic light of the general public space. And most all of the games on the Top 100 are borne of this era.

Subtract a quarter-century from the ages of many people here, and most of the incoming newbies, and what you'll find is a group who came of age being exposed to these games.

Add in the years from 2000 onward, and pinball hasn't been an exclusive diversion of the good ol' boys club for over half of its existence since flippers were added.

"History" is something to be learned and acknowledged, but rarely a valid excuse...