I was going to post this a little message later when I finished my Gottlieb Airport restoration as Vic sent me a Pinside message a few months ago of a very very very rare occurance, a Craigslist listing for an original Gottlieb Airport backglass for sale (which is a game you almost never see complete or in parts, but also not very desirable so parts are even harder to find, not a good mix) - I went there and bought it and the guy said he had bought it, just the backglass, at an auction in 1984 (or was it 1982?) and it hasn't seen the light of day since that year when he put it in his basement storage completely in the dark. That was very bizarre to me because thinking of buying something that hasn't seen the light of day for 33-35 years is very strange, thinking of all that has changed since then and how it missed it all. Yes, it's just a piece of glass but weird to think about. It survived in pretty miraculous condition given the circumstances. The seller was absolutely thrilled and shocked to hear it was going back into a real Gottlieb Airport machine, he was just a layman (think he might of had one machine though) so he just figured they would be wall art, he was so surprised I will never forget that. "Oh wow, oh wow" with a big hearty grin on his face, a kind older gentleman. Really made me feel good.

Vic definitely helped me out there and it will look great in my restored Gottlieb Airport machine when I am done with it, it is a big upgrade from my previous backglass - I wasn't even seeking it out, Vic just knew the condition of my glass from seeing the machine in person.

Anyways, the reason I am posting this now is because I just discovered there was an issue with my e-mail account and that it had been filtering out Vic's messages to me and I just discovered them all - he had been sending me a nice handful of meetup invites and Craigslist notices of games I either wanted or games he thought I might like for prices I could afford easily. I feel very bad my e-mail account made me miss this (especially because he was spot on with a lot of great deals!) but I am happy I am aware now so I can look forward to them in the future.

Vic has been very helpful and a terrific kind friend since I met him and I am very grateful to have friends like him in the hobby. I really appreciate it.

Steven

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(Vic visiting my gameroom in October of 2016)

I agree. He is very passionate about the hobby too, his games are factory original immaculate and there is nobody else so picky about his pop bumpers! (Meaning, all of his games play GREAT)

Recently found his pinball owners page and was blown away at all the great information and stories he has shared there for each machine, makes me feel less bad about always typing so much myself! http://www.pinballowners.com/campgames

Last but not least he even sold his cherry Gottlieb Royal Guard to a brand new collector overseas and made 35 (yes 35) videos on maintaining the machine for the man who got it, covering every single aspect of maintaining it, setting it up, and other tips for owning the/a machine. What a guy! (The videos are here with many other great ones too including a tour of my own gameroom: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1KO137wpu6iiZVaMXjH_YQ/videos)

I am really looking forward to the next time I get to visit his collection and home, I think it has been about over a year and a half now since I have been there. (Feels way too long, definitely keeping my eye out even more on being invited now) Feel lucky to live in the area, always a good time to be had I'm sure.

I am thankful for many people in the hobby, you yourself have helped me out of a jam multiple times Ken. A prime example for this thread is remembering when I brought my Domino to Pinfest and it went down on setup day and I also had legs that were too short on it, you had a spare pair of 31" legs and Vic brought some score motor switch blades to help get the game looking right and going for all to enjoy over the weekend.