Nic, been following this thread and your adventure for a while. Nice of you to do this for folks, even if it is just for food, some publicity, and a good feeling karma thing. Want to put it out there for you, duplicate. Create the Nic-o-Licious tour bus, training center, show traveling adventure yearly in the summer, and take the old school knowledge to a new level with others that can and will do what you do even better. Wishing you the best, and 'Keep Getting EMs-Up'.

Per IPDB, Pinball Magic was their first title out the door.

I hope you do it again, meet more pinheads, get more EMs up and running, use your power tool on other's pins, and ultimately start a reality TV show about it and the adventures you encountered. Congrats on doing what nobody else had done and documented it with entertaining prose and good photos.

I had a feeling you would end up in a liberal minded area. PacNW suites you very well indeed. Glad you used this as a means to an end, and a journey as well.

First things first, in pinball, is the original gangstar, TA. Then the do it up a level in 'social media' which was and is always Mark and Clay, then some folks came in and did other stuff including back story and demos/game play theory TNT, and recently (and I know I'm forgetting some folks) Nic. Nic did a fine job, took a TON of time documenting and having fun, beer and wine, traveling and balanced it all out. He did something nobody had done, and without question brought value. I just wish he had gone into Mexico to see the pinheads there, and survived to tell the story. Now that would have made the trip so epic, so absolutely balls to the walls glory for the US of A, it would have Trumped both TA and Ninja.

What might make sense is the art of duplication. The hardest thing to do successfully, but worth a try. Mobile Team EM resurrected? Have Slick Nic's Chicks properly attired with a Poirier Wonder and promote. Maybe a skin calendar to help raise money for local charity. I recall a few years back, junk slings for pinheads were in fashion (bad memory and image). Finally get "NickoLickoLess' Wicked EM Legions" heading out to the four corners of the globe to ensure all pingames have 3 to 6.5 obliquity of the ecliptic. Do this all before Aug 21st and its a very successful follow up tour.

Apparently there is no follow up or plans for a taco/burrito/pin Mexi-tour. Still would love to see those south of the border get their share of help.

Good luck on the repeat trip to the Chicago area.

Maybe a new thread can be started, as this is now morphing into no longer the NNAPT, but more of the Midwest Chicagoland Tour.

close this topic out? its run its course, folks are talking now about modern pinballs and theme selection, etc. No longer really about the EM adventure that was a long time ago finished.

with Nic doing his God given duties to make EMs work again, and again, and tour, it will be a long time then until this thread is done. Keep on Keepin' On!

Nic, please learn and share, discuss and dissect the works of nearly 23+ years of the master from GTB that came, conquered and then vanished without much of a word about how he was disgusted. Your GTB games are all (as I recall) designed by him.

Cool what you are doing, but some may think Fonzie's Jump the Shark. Keep On Keepin' On.

Some original post stated you were asking about 200 bucks for a stop and shop experience for the customer you were going to. Has anyone actually given you 200 bucks?

If Nic-da-nomadic-EM-guy does a video series, I hope its not partially or even mostly a duplicate of what is already out there on the UBoob, or done on Wiki, or Clay's TOPS/Ninja/Documents efforts, or Randy Fromms videos and books (just about the most boring on the planet), etc. Yes the fresh faced update has and is fun, but there is everything (nearly) you need to learn online to augment with a simple Google search. Agreed if a new teacher brings you more understanding, and thus more fun, its great. Thus the tour and the cost.

https://ibb.co/cjoynb
https://bingo.cdyn.com/machines/united/caravan/resources/manual-caravan.pdf

These two links may be of some use, first is just the page on how to build a test prod.
The other is the manual with that page.

Bottom line is clean on, all surfaces, and around, and at the base of a switch contact. The games came from factory set, and if they were out of adjustment the notice given to new owner/operator was simply (go through game and adjust). If time has played a roll, then clean and adjust to factory specifications. Shipping is a bitch, so is time, and so is time/plays. Get it back by taking the entire game apart and doing it all back to factory, and believe it or not you will likely have a game in your game room with love playing for decades.

Since you are leaving Tejas, the logical choice seems to be Washington State.
Your hard leaning liberalism, and being used to no state income tax makes this a simple choice.
Weather (or not) is TBD, stay a winter there, you can decide.
The glow-in-the-dark three headed turtles, radiated (for free) sea food and nuclear wind is a plenty since Fukushima.
Oh, and the 6 dollar espressos, never forget them.
Anyone making odds on where NicV lands next? (a poll might make sense too).

Break Free at Wally is about the best as it gets, a polyester based lube that does the trick. Others try, but this stuff has served me well in some 10K plays per year (on EMs) for years. There are larger locations that use it on 200+ machines where 100K per month is the norm. its the preferred product for professionals.

Is that a Randy (of randy land fame) Senna mannequin in the back ground to the right, in the dark?

Sounds to me like the League of Pin Vagabonds has now been formed. The head Vaga by default would be NicV, and an ever growing group of retired guys

apparently when the cat is away working, the mice will play. This thread needs to be retired, and a new one for each trip created. Thus keeping the doldrum posts (and whining about them) from happening between significant and related posts.

Prayer.

The cold solder joints are a dime a dozen for sure as usual suspects. We all know you are heading to WA state, so what about another kick or two of 2-3 states off the 'family feud board' of options...

I too have seen more than 50% of the tug-a-war-failures on GTB, no question there is an issue with cold solder.
You, Me, others that have been around for dozens of years prior to our being alive have said the same.
Now, lets hold our breath for the

Your point, 'don't be such a pussy/cat?'

Glad to hear you are keeping it pure, idealistic, and realistic. Marketing is everything, and a burnishing brush at 32 bucks per is key. The New Plan sounds a lot like the New Deal. Can't wait to hear it all pan out, and implement it for the benefit of the EM crowd.

The jig was up a while ago, we all know its Washington State for your progressive fix.

"Microbrewery. A brewery that produces less than 15,000 barrels (17,600 hectoliters) of beer per year with 75 percent or more of its beer sold off-site. "

I'm pretty sure the Great Repubic of California has more microbreweries than any other state in the USA at nearly 1000 as of last month.

It seems the most progressive states in the USA are some of the most drunk and stoned.

228 = about 100 gallons of fuel in the southern states right now, and
with 20-25 MPH that is about 2500 miles on a tail wind. I'm guessing
flying to Hawaii at this time is about as likely a chance as getting a real
look at a birth certificate and a quality guy pushing buttons there as well.

Who has points/money on the PacNW for the contact burnishing nomad?

FL is the US state with the lowest of high points. Islands protected/territories are the real winners for the US.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_elevation

One that thinks for a minute that the talent behind the man, which is the phenom and *the* seller of brush tools will work for an arcade open 24/7 or at best really short hours and resulting income all because of midlife crisis which came early... You have me and I suspect quite a few others verklempted.

If there was ever a desire, a wanton desire and deity of 'EM' pinball it would be the quasi-zen of the Jedi of Tesla fantasy equivalent, or...

"... pause, 'he' sent us four quavers, a group of five quavers, a group of four semi quavers."

Its obvious the PacNW and chiefly addicted to the town of Sealth.

I'll 'chime' in on this. GTB got it right, chimes, mechs, innovation, complexity with interesting game play, quality, and the logic... The logic can be 'complex' at times yet the reality is they did it to save costs/mechs on any given BOM. Raise up innovation, reduce parts and thus operating farts. WMS was next, and then Bally. The rest are also-rans.

Gottlieb often used 'reduce' as an ends which in design is very often *easily* the justification to the means. Sadly, at some point they were so silo-ed/stubborn into their process, and afraid along with established as the best they forgot to innovate when a large change occurred. This is also part of a problem when you are family owned for decades. We know the rest of that story to SS and beyond.

MG, that was like 2 weeks ago.

Alex: Your turn Dave
Dave: Goofy Old Farts for 400
Alex: A Pinside out-of-work beatnik tech deadbeat hit the road in 2017, and landed in Washington state. This trip was modeled after what pinball machine?
Dave: What is a Gottlieb 19?? ??????????.

Post #1446 in topic tells the tale.

Your prediction is based on what evidence?

Interesting quote, maybe Shultz is after the San Diego experience. Golf, military, liberals, pinball, PPE/gang, others in pinball. Could almost see it, but still going with the 'long shot' of the ultra liberal, dismal depressing, fishy smelling, sloppy soggy wet, stoned, drunk and murderous/suicidal great Washington State.

Bah, its WA state. We all know it, he even said so regardless of a misdirect to the Cali land of fruits and nuts.

If Nicholas Bingo, Nic Brushman, Ben Paxton along with Greg F and his sidekick Nord would get together it may provide a high end 'custom' EM market made in heaven. Just think about it, the 10K you get to fork over for a old-school line production EM would not only employ some nearly-free labor, but likely great graphics and simple but modernly complex EM game play. Yep, all for 10K, the folks lining up would fork out a ton of dough they just have sitting around for this grand idea. The failure with WNBJM was that it was 'modern', and also everyone knew it was a left over waiting to be remade (Pabst anyone?). The original 3 digital custom, and the one off EM are highly desired and play well.

Mayor McCheese played out the end game where the Hamburglar lead to the downfall of the kiddie clown. What you do about it is of course up to you. Good luck with all the fish.

Congratulations on picking the Republic of California. WA doesn't deserve you after all, It needs guys like you

EMs are dead regarding modern marketing, sales and designs.

The KoD as a first 'commercial' remake attempt as mentioned many time prior was a huge, miserable fail. WNBJM was fun to look at, supported the artist and designer a bit emotionally and maybe got them both jobs. Those in the know loved the art and at 2011 Expo sold out to friends and then others testing the waters. Game play was a second issue, and novelty was a huge part of the interest. That interest is gone now, proven by Stern re-do of remaining product commitments to PBR. Coming next was the 'feel' of an EM by Spooky folks, and a major PHLOP with the Jetsons as a 'feel likes an EM' home version type game via simple design and theme.

Go to any barcade or pin-museum and it MUST have video and modern pinball as the bread, butter, and meat. The rest is just for nostalgia and completeness of show. The failure of National Pinball Museum is a great example of this problem. PHoF 'EM Aisle' is for the most part empty most of the time when busy, acting as a human overflow reservoir when the place is stocked full of humans.

Apparently you either don't own one or don't recall well. The overlay bubbling was monumental FUp and HS was advised against that decision by MANY prior to it being a 'done deal'. Herb over chromes, and sadly he made a very bad decision on the art on the PF. Pricing at the time was 4995 as I recall, and that was astronomical and still is for a remake of an EM even with 4 player wedgehead remake. To boot, and this one kicks it down the river a bit, they sold as I recall less than 50, and it effectively was an overseas production. None of this made well for EM folks, nor for pinball. HS had a great a great idea, likely WAY ahead of its time (still is, nobody is buying EM remakes), but great ideas don't make for great execution, or even design.

Some refer to HS as 'Dr. Over Chrome' regarding his restorations. My chrome comment was in the context of bad decisions and the overlay fiasco. I also highly doubt charging 5K would have resulted in increased or accelerated sales. How/Why would a higher MSRP have allowed you to make more... Just for the fun of it?

BTW, did some folks on that project get pooched out of money owed for the board work?

Always wondered if it gets on your hands, why not airborne as well? Has black lung or 'EM lung' ever been discussed? We talk about solder fumes and washing your hands all the time.

Aspiring Atlas? Either way Virgin or Californicate, its a challenge and you get to pick (hopefully not bleed out in the process).

If not already documented, it would be a good idea. I think there are many folks with rethemes that would benefit from coverage of such a layering and bonding process with vacuum. You guys seem to be immersed in the DIY/Maker markets, so was all this done with Maker type tech, or commercial?

But would you dare share da hair of yar nair-region in a borat 'junk-in-a-sling' garment all time to prove your point?

https://tinyurl.com/ManItsAlmostOver

TY for all the fish Good luck with safe travels, new digs, and new friends. Virginia, never would have guessed it. The closest Hard Eight that I found was located in The Colony, TX. 15 mins or so away.

https://tinyurl.com/cutting-the-thread

Well to be honest, your results on the road and your tourney road results don't show you being the best judge of EM skills or play Just sayin'.