(Topic ID: 300282)

What pinball things that are gone do you miss?

By mrgone

2 years ago


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    There are 61 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 2.
    #1 2 years ago

    I miss Bowens papa tutorials.
    I miss, coast to coast pinball podcasts. Nate set a new bar in pinball podcasting that has been missing for far too long.
    I miss shows , they are starting to come back.
    I miss league and tournaments. Also coming back but I moved.
    I miss the community. The punk rock attitude of us against the world.
    It wasn’t about money. It was about hanging with your friends and playing pinball.

    What do you miss in pinball that is gone now.

    28
    #2 2 years ago

    4k NIB games

    #3 2 years ago

    Affordable prices

    #4 2 years ago

    25 cents per credit.

    #5 2 years ago
    Quoted from BrewinBombers:

    25 cents per credit.

    Come to my arcade for that, lol

    #6 2 years ago

    Steve Kordek at Expo

    #7 2 years ago

    I miss livestrramed A-level tournaments where the world's best players are trying to figure out the best strategies on a brand new game that was just released, and having knowledgeable commentators parsing what the players are doing.

    19
    #8 2 years ago

    Old school arcades. I miss going to the mall and having 20-25 pins in one location. I know I can go to shows, and I do, but a large selection of pins in one location or even being able to play at the local 7-11 is sorely missed.

    #9 2 years ago

    Ashtrays.

    which is a little weird, cause I don't even smoke.

    #10 2 years ago
    Quoted from Pinbub:

    Old school arcades. I miss going to the mall and having 20-25 pins in one location. I know I can go to shows, and I do, but a large selection of pins in one location or even being able to play at the local 7-11 is sorely missed.

    I agree and was going to say the same - Old school arcades. I know there are barcades and breweries with pins, but they aren’t the same as the old school arcades. I have a lot of great memories at those places.

    10
    #11 2 years ago

    I miss when pinball was everywhere. Arcades, bowling alleys, convenience stores, laundromats, movie theaters, airports, etc. And games were 25 cents. At least I got to experience that in my youth. A true golden era that we will never see again.

    #12 2 years ago

    Several amazing on location pin places in my area have been lost in recent years that I miss.

    Pinball Wizard - Pelham NH
    Lanes and Games - Cambridge MA
    Flat Top Johnny’s - Cambridge MA

    RIP

    #13 2 years ago

    I miss Gameroom magazine. I enjoyed the excitement of it showing up in the mail and reading about what was new in the pinball world.

    30
    #14 2 years ago

    One version of the game upon its release.

    No pro, No Premium, No LE, No CE, No VE, No SE, No BSE....etc

    #15 2 years ago

    Brilliantly-designed games with only one ball. And yeah pinballs in bowling alleys, but nowadays it's hard to even find bowling alleys.

    #16 2 years ago

    I am still really enjoying pinball and the new games coming out

    Only thing I really miss is games with more simple rules. Love JP but the rules are too deep for my skill level.

    #17 2 years ago

    Last one I bought was a WPT for $2600 and that was only 15 years ago. Them days is long gone even if you account for inflation.

    #18 2 years ago

    Drop targets. My buddy's TMNT was the first time I noticed it was just a target "bar" instead of actual drop targets...

    #19 2 years ago
    Quoted from MusiKyle:

    Drop targets. My buddy's TMNT was the first time I noticed it was just a target "bar" instead of actual drop targets...

    Hey PINBALL COMPANIES, target bars suck!

    #20 2 years ago

    Generic titles.

    #21 2 years ago

    I miss a time before there were upteen pinball podcasts.

    #22 2 years ago

    - ReplayFX
    - Classic Game Room pinball reviews on YouTube
    - Playfield toys you can actually hit, not mounted above a standup target

    #23 2 years ago

    The scarcity of NOS parts as production runs are much smaller these days compared to 30 years ago...

    #24 2 years ago

    Woodrails.

    #25 2 years ago

    Bingo.....wait, just me?

    #26 2 years ago
    Quoted from TopMoose:

    - ReplayFX
    - Classic Game Room pinball reviews on YouTube
    - Playfield toys you can actually hit, not mounted above a standup target

    Right! I loved the classic game room videos.
    From the disco pinball dimension!

    Home of the waffle making flamethrower.

    #27 2 years ago

    Williams and Gottlieb

    #28 2 years ago

    Pinburgh…..

    #29 2 years ago
    Quoted from Ericpinballfan:

    Bingo.....wait, just me?

    My friend just got one I actually kind of like it. They’d probably be really easy and cheap to make solid state. But the EMs are fun to look at and listen to.

    #30 2 years ago

    Affordable prices, cheesy themes, and playfield surfaces that are not made of Jello.

    #31 2 years ago

    Worry-free playfields

    #32 2 years ago

    Topcast

    #33 2 years ago

    I don't really miss it but I really appreciate the phase of being a total pinball noob.

    Unless you were born into it most of us have come to the hobby as total beginners at some point. Once you've completed your heroes journey and learned to maintain games you'll never lose those skills, but it's a path fraught with frustration and lots of basic questions for LTG.

    I try to remember this when talking about pins to new owners or new people to the hobby. There's always a lot of fear when it comes to dealing with this giant wooden box filled with complicated bits of plastic, steel, and silicon. I let them know it's not so bad and you just have to work slow and use all the available information resources out there.

    But what I REALLY miss is that inner spark of joy you would get as a child when a random game or an entire arcade would appear on whatever errand your parents were dragging you around on. Even if you didn't get to play the game, just seeing one and touching it and imagining you were playing it was a thrill!

    Now there's just none of those around. Although I think if I did stumble across a random game in a 7-11 or something it might spark a little bit of that feeling again!

    #34 2 years ago

    I miss 4 player numeric scoring displays being there at all times allowing me to look at a glance and see how much wood I'm going to have to chop to catch up on ball 3. I thought the addition of those old score displays on TNA was a stroke of yestertech brilliance.

    #35 2 years ago

    Hard Wood

    #36 2 years ago

    Reasonably priced games.

    #37 2 years ago

    Miss simple menacing phrases from pinball machines like a Gorgar, Centaur or Black Knight. Maybe artwork played into it, but pins had a character all their own -challenging you to drop a quarter!

    #38 2 years ago

    Kickbacks!!!

    #39 2 years ago

    Being able to grab games at cheap prices on Craigslist, even when they had been on there for a few days.

    #40 2 years ago
    Quoted from jackd104:

    Several amazing on location pin places in my area have been lost in recent years that I miss.
    Pinball Wizard - Pelham NH
    Lanes and Games - Cambridge MA
    Flat Top Johnny’s - Cambridge MA
    RIP

    Let's see: Last lineup at Lanes and Games was all Stern (probably in this order left to right, back to front - from memory): Star Trek, Kiss, Tron, Ironman, Spiderman, Game of Thrones and Ghostbusters Pro. And a Chexx.

    Pinball Wizard front wall row in one spot had IJ TPA, MM and NBAFB in order left to right. This is the partial lineup I've tried to emulate in my basement. They also had a brand new when it came out STLE near the front door entrance at the end and a new BM66 near it. I remember watching for the progression of ball dimples in the BM66 and STLE every time I went there after reading about that on Pinside. Still have some tokens from PW Pelham.

    #41 2 years ago

    Single girls in the mall arcade vs old men with beer guts playing Mandolin in the kitchen.

    #42 2 years ago
    Quoted from bushav:

    Single girls in the mall arcade vs old men with beer guts playing Mandolin in the kitchen.

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    #43 2 years ago

    Tailgating at the old PAPA location, Pinburgh anywhere and a really good pinball buddy…..

    #44 2 years ago
    Quoted from mrclean:

    One version of the game upon its release.
    No pro, No Premium, No LE, No CE, No VE, No SE, No BSE....etc

    This all day long. Complete elitist bullshit.

    #45 2 years ago
    Quoted from Vino:

    [quoted image]

    Burl Ives?

    #46 2 years ago

    One version of a game.
    Reasonable prices
    Friends that have left us too soon.
    Going to a pin/arcade show and then realize you didn’t even play a single game because you were too busy hanging out with friends. I have done that more than once LOL!

    #47 2 years ago

    Not knowing what the next pin was until you walked into a location and being surprised when you saw it standing there. That thrill is gone now.
    Also, 5 balls for 5 cents.

    #48 2 years ago

    I miss seeing a cheap game you like on Craigslist and sometimes having a week or two to think on it.

    #49 2 years ago

    Also: Pinball 2000.

    There should have been more games. Imagine a Pin2K game with an upper or lower playfield, modern themes or more advanced animations. They were only able to scratch the surface of the possibilities.

    #50 2 years ago

    Wliams/Bally 1991-1999

    There are 61 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 2.

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