Just noticed that the Family Guy playfield and the PHoF-sign look quite similar
9b7824f7903bdc9fbc9efd0db4dee7208737037a (resized).jpg
This might be old news, but I can't remember reading it...

VERY common shape used in art from what's known as the "Atomic Era". Boomerangs, stars, starbursts, rounded off squares and all that kind of stuff. Kind of bled into the mid-century modern era of art, too.

A "retro atomic" shower curtain, from Amazon:

Untitled (resized).png

A "prime example", to be sure.

Back in the early 60's, my parents had off-white living room curtains festooned with the small boomerang shape, in (of course) pink and light blue. T'was all the rage...

Looks familiar:

b20a4511fba173c010eae59fa8cce37502c21712 (resized).jpg

there are hotels and Motels that still use the "Space age" theming:
pasted_image (resized).png
Screen Shot 2022-12-19 at 11.32.23 AM (resized).png

I can remember when Best Western used to have a bunch of Motels around Disneyland that had similar theming with fancy lighting, some up until the late 1980's:
pasted_image (resized).png
pasted_image (resized).png
Many are still in the area, but have been re themed. If you ever watch the 1989 movie Gleeming the Cube, you can see shots of some of these motels (notably the Best Western Age Cosmic Inn).
pasted_image (resized).png
pasted_image (resized).png
Edit: Forgot to put the movie title in.

I personally love the Atomic Era stuff, especially the home decorations like clocks and stuff. A number of years ago I had a customer of mine(I'm a graphic designer) who wanted that kind of artwork on a new label for one of their new, special varieties of grapes they were trying to "breed". Here are a few of the many versions I made for them: V1 (resized).pngV2 (resized).pngV3 (resized).png

It's been so long ago now that I can't remember if they chose one of these or one of the other ones I can't find right at the moment. I only keep a certain amount of proofs for labels that don't get approved and it's usually just for me to spawn other ideas from them.

I am in January on dutytravel in Las Vegas.
Hall Of Fame is on my list ... any other pinball events or collectors with some sparetime there ?

A dream would be to see a original Capcom KingPin (and measure its color code from the cabinett for my homeproject). I know there are 2 in California located

So if anyone likes to have a round of pinball , a beer and a chat with a total Capcom and Alcvin G. collector from germany ... contact me.

40 modern Sterns
not a bad collection for any arcade

...

Anyone check out Stern's booth at CES? I've been too busy to attend this year.

YOU ARE RETIRED !!! How busy can you be???

5 brand new games already turned off lol

the one in the middle doesn't look very level

Good eye! Yeah, that does look WAY off.

This place is a joke. I went a couple weeks ago and wasn’t going to bash it until I started playing the few EM’s that were working and they are now 3 balls instead of 5 balls. Way to ruin the EM experience of trying to achieve a replay. Cats running around the place too, be aware people who have allergies.

Did they charge you the nominal fee of $20.00 "donation" to allow you to take pictures?

I have to defend the 3 ball game on EMs. if an EM game has 3" flippers, my belief is it should be 3 ball. it's different times now, people play *a lot* better. and especially on non-single player games with 3" flippers, 3-ball-per-game makes total sense. Now on 2" flipper EMs, yea sure, 5 balls per game. And some single player 3" flipper games (like say Jacks Open), sure 5 balls works better. But for the most part, you should get used to 3 balls per game on 3" flipper EMs, especially multi-player games (where every ball, every player, the entire game resets.) it's the norm now.

I like cats... so does my German Shepard dog...

Ok...maybe the dog just tolerates cats...

What if you request a donation and they refuse? Last I checked a donation is voluntary, otherwise it’s a fee.

94D8D25D-2DDD-4691-A7D1-FDF6293F41CC (resized).jpeg

I was in the PBHoF 2 weeks ago.
During a tour of duty in the USA . I spend 3 very nice hours there. I was wondering how many people join pinball in the US. The whole parking lot was full and the hall was full of people enjoing pinball: Young, old, familys ..... I was surprised due here in germany pinball is more a hobby for nerds and freaks
We played different machines, all were playable. There were 3 or 4 "James Bond" on the first Premium one flipper bat was a little strange but, no wonder, if so many people play on them.
Several machines were unrenovated but in the middle of the rows.
My "reason": playing the Pinball Circus, was fullfilled.

In it all: I was surpised how many people visited the hall.
It looks a little unsorted.
Pricing was okay. No fee for mobile phone pics ... no cats (I love cats, no problem if there would be some in)
We had short contact with Tims wife (!?). She was a little annoyed but friendly.
The merchandising stuff was all over uggly. I did not find one piece I necessarily needet to own. Maybe there could someone jump in and make some cool, decent promo stuff.
The handicapped parking signs are great

In it all I was happy to visit this place. I hoped to get in touch with some US pinheads but only had some nice talks in the smokers corner outside.

IMG_7371 (resized).JPEG

IMG_7376 (resized).JPEG

IMG_7381 (resized).JPEG

IMG_7383 (resized).JPEG

I wanted to respond here regarding the popularity of pinball here in California.
I joined into pinball again in Southern California about 11 years ago. I began going to the hall of fame at that time. Btw.

There was one bowling alley that had three new sterns and that was it near me. Except in homes.

Now today, just look at this map. Beautiful.
It is still a niche hobby but it is a beautiful time to be playing. One great location has 64 games and another 18 pin location very close to me.

My personal favorite game at the hall of fame is that circus pinball.
Cheers!
69B1BECA-8088-4828-9D30-557A25B727FC (resized).jpegCE4661EC-FE4F-419C-91E4-40A1DE1A346D (resized).png

The events here are great. For several years. Good community too. Golden years.

Lastly I have visited the hall of fame in Vegas as a landing pad over the last decade. I hope to spend some time there third week of may.

Had a great time when I visited last week, first time at the new location. Got to play a couple games of Spinal Tap (it's better than Thunderbirds), one game of 007 to get my Insider badge (it was playing perfect), and then nothing but EM's for the rest of my visit. Good stuff.

Clay playing the first game on the the 1st Foo Fighters set up this morning.....

20230324_110048 (resized).jpg

Whoa!!!

You mean he actually plays pinball too???

I thought he was just the World's best repair guy (and premier club operator)!

Ha! I remember uncrating and setting up those Nintendo VS. Games in 1981 or '82. Our machine movers loved them....

Yeppers! And even this guy played it right after Clay. He can't really play or repair pinball and slot machines.

701373834 (resized).jpg

I have a question>when do the Gold plates go on up front?? Thanks!!

only because he doesn't have one.

Kool,Thank-you.pri867

Greetings @prl867,

How's our favorite sign-climbing, King of Cats Porange doing since he retired as PHoF Head of Nighttime Security?

And Space Pilot (Williams) is finally back up!

3B159D99-4D0B-48DC-8E1C-DB5BF3BDCC6E (resized).jpeg

The VS. System came out in 1984.

Someone needs to take a look at AIQ, half of the switches in the game don't work, the captive balls don't trigger, Hawkeye doesn't trigger, The skill shot near the pops doesn't trigger and the black panther shot doesn't trigger.

I must be thinking of the top & bottom monitor platform (Punch-Out was the factory installed game. We are talking forty years ago so I may be off on my years.....

He looks great and very content.
What a handsome boy he is!
That first photo is worth a frame.
You're doing a great job,@prl867!

Post these pics in the cats and pinball thread if you haven't already. Handsome boy!

I was there the last couple days. Tim was at the front counter for a min, and had disappeared before I could congratulate him on the new location.

Foo was awesome!!! Now I want one......

My only real gripe was the shooters on some games were so weak the ball couldn't get to the back of the game.
There's so many machines to repair and maintain, I totally get that it's impossible to fix them all.... but the shooter should be easy, quick and cheap.

Off the top of my head: Munsters and JP both have super weak shooters (and Jp's dino head was broken).
My ball was stuck in Austin Powers, just walked away and left two creds. HA!!

Still, such a joy to visit and sample so much. Love visiting PHOF.

Did you write it down in the notebook? Otherwise, I'll be in Saturday and make sure they are aware of it / fix the issues.