(Topic ID: 217248)

Poll -- At what age did you play your first game of pinball?

By TractorDoc

5 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 25 posts
  • 24 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 5 years ago by tamoore
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

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Topic poll

“How old were you when you played your first game of pinball?”

  • 0-5 years old 17 votes
    16%
  • 5-10 years old 56 votes
    53%
  • 10-20 years old 25 votes
    24%
  • 20-30 years old 4 votes
    4%
  • 30-40 years old 3 votes
    3%
  • 40-50 years old 0 votes
  • 50-60 years old 0 votes
  • 60-70 years old 0 votes
  • 70-100+ years old 0 votes

(105 votes)

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#1 5 years ago

Do you remember how old you were when you played your first pinball game?

Bonus questions:

1. Do you remember what game it was?

2. At what age did you purchase your first pinball machine?

I was in my teenage years. I will not swear to it, but I think it was a Flash Gordon.
I did not purchase a machine until I was in my 40s; it took me awhile to have enough expendable income and then actually know where to find one.

#2 5 years ago

Bally Bow and Arrow upstairs at Farrells ice cream parlor at oxmoor mall in louisville. 8 years old. 1975-76. Great memory. Purchased Royal Rumble 2003 when I was 35.

#3 5 years ago

First pin I can remember playing was in the late 1960's, would have just turned 5 or could of been 4. The pin had a shelf, so a Williams pin between 1960 Darts to 1961 Hollywood, that covers 10 different games. Can not remember the theme, it was a dime to play 1 game.
Bought my first commercial grade pin in 1982, still have it.

#4 5 years ago

I was 15 working at McDonalds that was inside a Walmart in IL. I would take my break and go play RoadShow in the Walmart gaming area. I was completely hooked, would lose track of time, and would end up not eating anything for lunch. Small price to pay and it was probably healthier for me anyways.

#5 5 years ago

Gottlieb Flying Carpet in 1973 at Frank's Pizzaria in East Norriton, PA when I was 13. At 14 got a job at a swim club my neighbor owned and one of my duties at $1.50 an hour was cleaning and removing coins from the 5 pins in the snack bar. All were older push the ball up games and remember Slick Chick and Kings & Queens. Later he got a High Hand which was big deal since it actually ejected the balls for you, a big deal then, lol.

#6 5 years ago
Quoted from tomdrum:

Gottlieb Flying Carpet in 1973 at Frank's Pizzaria in East Norriton, PA when I was 13. At 14 got a job at a swim club my neighbor owned and one of my duties at $1.50 an hour was cleaning and removing coins from the 5 pins in the snack bar. All were older push the ball up games and remember Slick Chick and Kings & Queens. Later he got a High Hand which was big deal since it actually ejected the balls for you, a big deal then, lol.

Funny, mine was Flying Carpet, too! It was in my uncle’s basement, and he owns a pizzeria. He still has the machine.

#7 5 years ago

I voted 5-10. But was probably 0-5. I remember my first babysitter had a Mini Cycle machine in their basement. I don't actually remember playing it, but do remember saying "I wan't to play pinball (again)."

I was 3 when I went to that sitter.

I remember dad taking me to the arcade in the 6-7 age range and seeing a Bally Playboy. At that time I had no idea what the theme was about.

#8 5 years ago

Klondike was the first pin that I remember playing & being able to actually win games on.
Cherry city bowl, Salem, Oregon

Probably about 1972-3 - Guessing I was about 14 then

#9 5 years ago

was either 9 or 10, i forget. bally playboy. was 28 when i got my first pin, T2. still have it

#10 5 years ago

I *might* have played in my early teens, down at the Jersey shore, but was more into SkeeBall (and the crap you could redeem the tickets for). My first solid memories of playing pinball were freshman year in college, EVERY night after dinner in the student center. Not sure of the first, but Volley, Abra Ca Dabra, Fireball, Magnotron, and Top Card were in the rotation.

#11 5 years ago

Was probably 8 or 9.

Local bowling alley.

Gorgar was the first pin I think I played. At least it was the one that left the most impression at the time!

The demon on the backglass and on the pf. Wondering if that girl on the backglass was sacrificed and dead!? That thumping heartbeat! And the damn thing talked to you! Was a scary game to play and the art automatically drew me to it. I had never seen any coin op game with that intense type art, left a lasting impression as a kid!

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#12 5 years ago

I'm 0-5

King rock with my dad in the basement

#13 5 years ago

Played in high school but did not know a new one could be owned really until my early 30s. My Dad got me my first game World Cup Soccer I think when I was 16 or 17. I know makes no sense.

#14 5 years ago

6 years old. Buck Rogers in 1980. Played it because of the show. It was in the local convince store/ diner. Big John's variety. That was on the corner of our block

It had Buck and Evel knievel.

Was in this location
Big john's variety cigars and cigarettes

527 Upper Sherman Ave, Hamilton, ON L8V 3L9
(905) 383-2812

https://g.co/kgs/FNmBuU

It's now a Halal meat place and a dive shop.

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#15 5 years ago

Fire!. Musta dropped a hundred dollars worth of my grandads quarters that family retreat when I was 8.

Didn't get my own game until I was 37. But she was a goodern.

#16 5 years ago

0-5 . Bad Cats when it was a new pin (I was born in '85). Though I also recall playing Cyclone very early on as well (in each case my father was likely doing much of it). Was in a Mall Arcade (that I was always able to go to when my parents went to the Ruby Tuesday next to it). Of course I had to be boosted to mess with it, and certainly didn't get to play it much, but "Baaaaad Cats" would be heard throughout the arcade regardless and was burned into my memory (in addition to all those sounds I now associate with system 11). It was still there in the MK1 days too. I wish I was a bit older back then to have been able to participate in the lines/crowds that would form on those machines (SF/KI, etc.). Being able to play Bad Cats at TPF '15 was a highlight for me as I was first rediscovering pinball.

#17 5 years ago

Starting around age 3, I would go to the bowling alley every weekend with my dad. After a game or two I’d get bored, so I’d go explore the rest of the alley. The pinball machines were my favorite—I wouldn’t use my candy bar quarter on them, but I’d check for extra credits or unplayed balls every week, and once in a while would get lucky. There was a constant stream of different machines coming and going, so I don’t remember most of them, but I do remember Spirit of 76.

#18 5 years ago
Quoted from timtim:

I'm 0-5
King rock with my dad in the basement

What our kids (and grandkids) will say someday in some future AmaFaceChatPin poll... teach them well...

#19 5 years ago

I was 11 when I played my first game Captian Fantastic at the corner 7/11. I bought my first pinball machine in 1994 (I was 29). The game.... you guess it Captian Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. The local Arcade in Savannah GA in 1975 was "The Quarter Bag" and we sold pop bottles for money to play. My favorites then were Nip It, CC Gold Record, Fast Draw.

#20 5 years ago

I remember an Eight Ball Deluxe being at the corner store near my house. For years I wondered what the game was, but I remembered a cowboy dude. As an adult it makes sense that that was the game.

I had to have been about 6 years old. I also recall that was the last pinball the store had. It was replaced by an Omega Race, and then a Donkey Kong showed up and I remember the store being filled with dozens of kids at that point.

#21 5 years ago

First pin I played was Hit the Deck. My dad brought it home on my 10th birthday in 83. Wasn't a present, just lucky timing that my dad got home on my birthday after a roadtrip. Still have it.

#22 5 years ago

My mom and aunt were avid pinball players. I can remember being four or five and helping them flip a Fireball (Classic or II, not sure which) and a Williams game with sh*tty art (Phoenix, Gorgar or some such) at a campground in upstate NY.

#23 5 years ago

Started playing bingos with my dad at Failoni's Tavern (now called Failoni's Cafe) in St. Louis about 1957 when I was 5 years old. My grandparents lived a block away. Failoni's has been open since 1916 and still going strong. No bingos though.

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#24 5 years ago

12 year old in the basement of the the Contemporary Hotel in Disney World, when the arcade was in the basement.

My brother brought me over to pinball machine and taught me how to play, with his limited knowledge. Was hooked. I don't remember which games I played that night. I do remember the Simpsons a year or two later.

I remember playing Tails from Crypt in the Polynesian a couple years later. A couple years later, I remember playing Batman Forever at the Grand Floridian.

#25 5 years ago

Freedom 76 in the spring of 1976, in a long since defunct pizza parlor in my home town. 10 years old.

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