Cant just be me, is it? Might be....
When we have family and friends ( especially with a lot of kids ) come over I kind of have to , in a nice way mind you , let them know to be VERY careful with the games seeing how when there is more than 2 * kids* they tend to turn into a pack of Hyenas. No matter how I word it I always feel somewhat like the bad guy for even saying it. Normal? Overly cautious?
Lighten up Francis.
These are made for public bars. Kids can’t break them.
So unless they pull out sharpies or knives how are they going to hurt them?
Might not just be you, but it’s not me. I’ve never seen guests, adult or child, do anything to my machines that comes close to what pins are subjected to in a commercial setting. Kids tend to push the flipper buttons way more than necessary, but ultimately, that affects their gameplay more than my machines. Curious as to what they are doing to get you concerned?
Quoted from ExSquid:Cant just be me, is it? Might be....
When we have family and friends ( especially with a lot of kids ) come over I kind of have to , in a nice way mind you , let them know to be VERY careful with the games seeing how when there is more than 2 * kids* they tend to turn into a pack of Hyenas. No matter how I word it I always feel somewhat like the bad guy for even saying it. Normal? Overly cautious?
I would say both your reaction as well as the way they behave are both normal, as a pack of kids are at their very core a pack of hyenas. Ha.
They tend to imitate each other, so if one of them appears to be having fun being rough on a game the others will imitate that as well… though conversely one kid that knows how to play and treat a game and having fun doing so appropriately will also get imitated (e.g. pressing one flipper button at a time, etc.)
Personally, it is pretty enjoyable when I see young kids playing pinball and having fun… especially seeing which games are more interesting to them. My nieces and nephews seem to all be drawn to AC/DC for some reason for example… my brother and brother in law have even mentioned that their kids ask them to put AC/DC songs on now.
At any given time we have 4 6 year olds from the neighborhood roaming the house. They haven’t done any more damage than anyone else. Usually if something is gonna break it doesn’t matter who is playing it…fate decides ha. No food and drinks on the games is all I’ve really had to ask anyone to not do.
Quoted from Zero_Hour:Might not just be you, but it’s not me. I’ve never seen guests, adult or child, do anything to my machines that comes close to what pins are subjected to in a commercial setting. Kids tend to push the flipper buttons way more than necessary, but ultimately, that affects their gameplay more than my machines. Curious as to what they are doing to get you concerned?
Banging on the glass mostly. Throwing balls around the machines . Wrestling right next to them Etc ….
Quoted from skink91:Personally, it is pretty enjoyable when I see young kids playing pinball and having fun… especially seeing which games are more interesting to them. My nieces and nephews seem to all be drawn to AC/DC for some reason for example… my brother and brother in law have even mentioned that their kids ask them to put AC/DC songs on now.
Oh no doubt ! Just sometimes have to remind them to take it easy. Especially when they throw their phones down on the glass .
Quoted from ExSquid:Oh no doubt ! Just sometimes have to remind them to take it easy. Especially when they throw their phones down on the glass .
Are you worried about them breaking their phones?
Quoted from ExSquid:Oh no doubt ! Just sometimes have to remind them to take it easy. Especially when they throw their phones down on the glass .
I would think if they're old enough to take care of a phone...........
I generally only say something if a kid starts banging on the glass and that doesn't happen all that often. I even had a kid headbutt the glass, but that was because he was trying to watch the ball drain.
Quoted from Monk:I even had a kid headbutt the glass, but that was because he was trying to watch the ball drain.
Haha that’s awesome
Quoted from usandthem:Do new games have slam tilt feature? I don’t even know. My idiot friends and I became well-versed in the ways of the slam tilt of W/B in the 80’s and 90’s in arcades. Sorry, operators.
Slam tilt has been gone from modern Sterns for at least 5 years, maybe more. There's a plug that says optional slam tilt where the switch would normally be.
Quoted from SantaEatsCheese:I walked downstairs to see my kids taking turns doing penalty kicks using this double set of glass doors as the goal during half time for one of the world cup games. Shut that down FAST.
[quoted image]
Nice setup!!!!
Seconding, thirding the relaxed attitude. Don’t let the kids treat the games like crap in general, yes. But there’s really nothing they could possibly do short of throwing a pinball AT the glass, that would do anything at all. I’ve had games where I’ve slammed my fists down on the glass after a drain… nothing happened. All the damage happens in transport. Have a beer, play a game! These are not priceless treasures from antiquity
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:Seconding, thirding the relaxed attitude. Don’t let the kids treat the games like crap in general, yes.
That's all I'm doing, I'm not treating these like the Ark of the Covenant. Just an easy " just be careful guys". Then go upstairs for some beers!
Quoted from Black_Knight:Lighten up Francis.
Quoted from ExSquid:Yes sir SGT Hulka!
download (resized).jpgMainly teach them not to chimp flip if you can; but sounds like you have more than a few so that would be tough
If its purely them AROUND the machines then there isn't much that could happen. Possibleba glass breaks but very rarely ever see it
I had my young nephews over for the holidays. My wife and I were debating about giving them a "please have fun playing our pins, but be respectful" speech.
The topic of snacks in the pin room came up and my wife and I agreed that eating "Cheetos" was the worst thing they could snack on and play. So we got rid of all the Cheetos in the house.
Low and behold, they came through our door with 2 bags of Cheeto Puffs. My wife and I nearly died laughing because Cheetos Puffs is far worse than just normal Cheetos. As soon as they put the bags of chips down, I hid them. Everyone had a great time! 
Quoted from TheLaw:Mainly teach them not to chimp flip if you can; but sounds like you have more than a few so that would be tough
If its purely them AROUND the machines then there isn't much that could happen. Possibleba glass breaks but very rarely ever see it
The only thing I'm truly worried about is kids holding onto the shooter rod and then hanging on it.
Quoted from Haymaker:The only thing I'm truly worried about is kids holding onto the shooter rod and then hanging on it.
2 of my nephews do this ALL the time. I almost feel like they are going to grab it with both hands and start doing pullups!
A lot of young kids have had no exposure to Pinball,Now is a good time to Teach them How to act around Someone elses property and Let them enjoy Pinball.I say make the be careful and this is how the machine works now have fun speech.
There are legit worries here. Grabbing the shooter rod and ripping it back as hard as you can really pisses me off. Kids also throw stuff, kick stuff, and wield random stuff that can tear up your cabinet.
Quoted from ExSquid:2 of my nephews do this ALL the time. I almost feel like they are going to grab it with both hands and start doing pullups!
After getting my Old Chicago home from a pinball expo, I noticed the plunger was really bowed. Luckily I had another proper era rod to swap in. And this game was only in the tournament area. Jeez.
Quoted from Sandman33:There are legit worries here. Grabbing the shooter rod and ripping it back as hard as you can really pisses me off. Kids also throw stuff, kick stuff, and wield random stuff that can tear up your cabinet.
Probably no worse than anything I’ve done myself moving a game or accidentally dinging something up…or trying to set up a game after a few drinks and pulling it up by the shooter rod ha. Of all the crap in my house that kids could potentially break, pinball is the least of my worries when there’s nerf darts flying around by my tv!
If they start throwing toys balls or other things around as kids sometimes do that could possibly break a backglass, that could be devastating and dangerous actually. I would just emphasize that to the kids no ball playing or throwing things in the gameroom. Otherwise just play and have fun!
And yes the no drinks and snacks allowed in the game area of course!
Quoted from ExSquid:Banging on the glass mostly. Throwing balls around the machines . Wrestling right next to them Etc ….
This sounds like the kids are out of control. Maybe close the game room to them, or quit inviting them until their parents teach them some manners.
LTG : )
They don't "normally" do these things. Its just every so often they have to be reminded. The kids are cool. I don't want to make it like I have lunatics at the house , that's not what this was about I was just wondering if anyone else told their kids/friends etc. to be careful around the games. That's all. Just a discussion.
Quoted from ExSquid:They don't "normally" do these things. Its just every so often they have to be reminded. The kids are cool. I don't want to make it like I have lunatics at the house , that's not what this was about I was just wondering if anyone else told their kids/friends etc. to be careful around the games. That's all. Just a discussion.
Heck, just make their parents sign waivers and put up collateral.
Just having fun! Kids always need direction. I have 3, and though they are better behaved than most...they still have their knucklehead moments. Don't ditch the speech.
Kids will be Kids.My parents took us to a friends Ranch the adults went inside and the Guy who owned the place said go check the place out.Wasnt an hour before me and my 4 Brothers were trying to ride Cows.Kids need the speech.We would have been throwing pinball machines at each other.
Kids don't even know or understand what they're doing half the time...and it's not on purpose, they're just kids. My Dad bought a huge wooden big screen TV back in the late 80's and if you were around then, you know how expensive those were. The screen was plastic and it had lines in it, it thought it was cool and started scratching it with my finger like a record, it sounded cool....I had NO idea I was leaving permanent marks in the screen because when the tv was ON, you couldn't really see it, but when off, it was ugly.
My Dad threatened to set me on fire and bury me in the backyard like my older brother...I told him I never had an older brother...he said that you KNEW of....really freaked me out for about 5 minutes till I realized he was joking.
That being said I can imagine kids not knowing any better taking markers or colored pencils to your cabinet like a giant coloring book and not even realizing what they're doing.
Quoted from RC_like_the_cola:Slam tilt has been gone from modern Sterns for at least 5 years, maybe more. There's a plug that says optional slam tilt where the switch would normally be.
LMAO .... Another .50 per switch per game in Gary's pocket !
Proper manners and respect for other people's property is mandatory. But when they're over to play my games, I also tell my brother's kids that there's pretty much no way they can hurt my games. They're literally made to withstand kids using them as jungle gyms and drunk idiots puking on them. I don't think many of them weigh over a hundred pounds dripping wet. I set the boundaries, but give them total freedom within those boundaries.
They don't even really know how, or that they can nudge the games. I have to show that to them. Then they get all excited because to them it feels like legal cheating.
Unless they start bringing tools, sharp toys, or other strange items to hold onto while playing your games, you'll be fine.
Quoted from SantaEatsCheese:I walked downstairs to see my kids taking turns doing penalty kicks using this double set of glass doors as the goal during half time for one of the world cup games. Shut that down FAST.
[quoted image]
Ahhahahaha....”Kids.....STOP having FUN in the GameRoom”......hahahahhahahaah
My biggest concern was kids getting hurt in the game room. That place with all those games you start wrestling around and some kid gets a head smashed into the legs. Gash your head open in a second. Not really worried about the games as much as the kids getting damaged. Although I am a bit protective of the HEP CV!
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