(Topic ID: 142092)

What was your first pin and what did you learn?

By Atreyu

8 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 47 posts
  • 44 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 8 years ago by Riptor
  • Topic is favorited by 3 Pinsiders

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#17 8 years ago

Gottlieb Foto Finish. Used to play it at an outdoor mall's amusement area on 163rd St in Miami when I was 10 or 11. Totally stumbled upon one in the classified ads around 1979 or 80. What I learned is that pinball games with carryover features are a lot more appealing in the wild than at home.

I also learned that is a LOT easier to get into the hobby today than in 1979, when you were pretty much on your own.

Game doesn't work? Parts broken or missing? Need a set of LEGS? No schematic? You were on your own. You had to network and develop personal relationships to find games, parts and people from whom you could learn how to maintain and repair pins and to read schematics. And being a corporate ladder-climber at the time, I was relocated every 2.5 years on average, so I had to find local help and hobbyists every couple weeks. Long distance calling was expensive

Here's what wasn't available: the internet, Ebay, Pinball Resource (Steve Young was working at IBM), Marco, PPS, Pinball Life, MAD (don't buy from them if you don't live in the USA , Clay Harrell and all of his contributions, pinball books, pinball repair guides, RGP, Pinside, pinball shows...(Expo was still 5 years away and when it started, who knew?), Paypal, repro parts (NONE), repro playfields, repro backglasses, Pinball Trader, Pinball Collector's Quarterly, Gameroom, Pingame Journal, Craigslist, Chicagoland, mods and LEDs, automotive clearcoat (not just on pins, but not at all), NAVL, Dennis Dodel's Pinball Moving Co Inc, Magic Eraser, home-use vibrating tumblers or ultrasonic cleaners, and Jelly Belly's.

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