Lit the 1. There is no "rolling" Big Daddy.

i'm gonna count lighting the "1" as rolling it for that machine... rolling it to 2000 would be, dare i say, epic...

It's on three ball play my friend, and that is where we leave it.

I never really appreciated EMs until I got a chance to play a bunch of beautifully maintained examples during this past Expo Brawl. I forget the name of the collector who brought all those games to the show, but it was really awesome of him. I think his name is John something.

yea, but you've played it about 10,000 times....

you ARE a sadist, aren't you?

My personal favorite is Fast Draw or Atlantis. I have owned two Gottlieb Atlantis machines. This is my current one. Spectacular art.

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If his daughter can do it you can too Chris. My daughter and neighbor kid lit the star on my Skill Roll way before I could. Drove me crazy.

Yeah, in one hour.

i really think that this is an important point... most who say "slow/boring/etc." have not played a properly set up em... "slowness" is a non-factor...

Personally I'd rank them GTB Chimes>Bells>Stern Exball chirp>Bally Chimes. I've rerubbered those Bally Chimes on a few games and they never ring out. Thunky chimes make for bad times.

yea, but i may need odin to prepare my trailer, cuz it will likely take me awhile...

gotta love those short ball times...

We can usually get in about 10 games during the commercial break of the football game.

From my perspective there are three things that make me love EM's

1) I grew up with them. So they take me back to the happy place right quick. The Artwork, the sounds of the game starting up, the hypnotic paths the ball would take across the PF at slower/spinning trajectories. Something you don't see too often in newer and faster games.
2) The skills needed to play them. This is why many pinheads who stick to newer, faster designs will stay away from EMs. You have to be able to adapt and work the game differently than playing a modern SS/DMD deck. Watch the highest level players play both kinds of games, they can do it all and many times will pull a save on a new stern that many SS/DMD players would not even consider as the trick was pulled out of the EM hat.
3) I take a good look at what designers of the past were doing and how their work influenced the games being produced today. For me the big three were Ed Krynski, Steve Kordek and Ted Zale. Ed was the king of his day. The sheer amount of games he produced (and many were heavily borrowed by other designers or were completed in multiple forms, take El Dorado for example). Steve Kordek while not as prolific or as celebrated as Krynski, did some fantastic work in the early 60's and was the overseer of Williams and their stable of talent to the end. I don't know of any designer that worked with him that didn't appreciate the wealth of knowledge that he brought to the second golden age of pinball. But for me... Ted Zale is the MAN! There are others who did it before him, but the asymmetrical designs of the 60's through the early 70's had more interesting shots and "flow" than the works of either Master K or Centurion K. Add zipper flippers and multiball. Absolutely incredible in a gazillion different ways. Talking to Bill Manke over at Boxwood pinball, the name that comes up most often and the one that I see the most in his designs are influenced by... Master Zale!

Ok, there are more than three reasons... but these are three REALLY good ones!

EM's are what it's all about! You don't have to put up with the distracting sound and light show, unnecessary ramps and boring shot repetition of the newer games. With an EM you get basic rules and a well designed table with virtually the same dimensions of the newer stuff. They certainly must have offered plenty of challenge, we're still playing them!

2 of the best 70's EMs that Gottlieb put out to take our lunch money:

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I went back to school many days with belly rumbling and a grin on my face from ear to ear.

This is a point that a lot of people ignore - pinball is just an interface between flipper buttons and a ball. My pinball playing skills developed on 70's EM games and are just as applicable today, 40 years later, as they were in 1974.

Let's talk about the skill shot aspect on El Dorado - plunge the ball to land right at the upper left flipper, drop catch the ball here, then take out the lit drop target for 5000 points all in one relatively fluid motion. I've been applying this skillset to all pinball. To overlook that your skills can be applied satisfactorily on an EM is shortsighted.

Card Whiz is a masterpiece.

Gigi only has 3 pop bumpers. The other 11 are passive bumpers.

Still, getting 5 advances is next to impossible. Keeps you coming back for more.

I wasn't around pinball in my youth. I'm 48 now, got into pins 3-4 years ago approx. Only wanted Em's. It wasn't sentimental, I just knew what I liked. New pins and rules are like the old Dungeons and Dragons games some kids used to play. I never ever, for the life of me, understood the draw of that stuff. The folks commenting on how they could never own an Em, are my counterparts. I get it.

Also, the comments about playing a properly maintained and set up Em are REAL. I played some Em's at a show, and it was like night and day compared to how mine play. If my only experience with Em's was at that show, I probably would have re-thought the whole 'pinball' thing. In fact I know I would have.

Lastly, Em guys and gals are nice. Not one has mentioned the neck beards and mouth breathers who dislike Ems.

I remember when solid state machines arrived on the scene, and I got a very cold feeling. I said to myself it's over, they will never make them again. The beeping sounds and the electronic scores did nothing for me.

I can appreciate all pinball now, and have all different machines, but if you look at the sheer number of machines before and after that happened, maybe pinball never fully recovered.

My one and only - Roller Coaster:

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https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fireball-vs-joker-poker-best-em-ever#post-2190196

I saw this Bowen Kerins PAPA gauntlet video a while ago:

He burns though target scores on Tommy, Elvira and the Party Monsters, Centaur, and RFM in the first five minutes. Minutes 5-10 are spent on Volley.

yup i remember too, and i had the same feeling... my quarters starting going into video games right about then...

lol, you just didn't look close enough at my receding hairline!

I miss my Card Whiz. I love my Volley.

I like the lower scores. Big numbers make my head hurt.

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To what degree do you guys think WNBJL can satisfy the lack of an EM in a small collection?
Any guesses as to if it will be a proper substitude?

There you go, well done, posting that photo of your EM game with wire form ramps!

Wow, that mini ramp/outlane configuration is actually pretty sweet. Nice gimmick!

the magic 8 ball says... "unclear at this time"...

edit: it needs to be produced so "we" can play it... it will definitely lack some of the em charm, but (assuming all goes well) should be fun and straightforward... it's more like a very low scoring early ss machine, with a few em pf tricks mixed in...

imo, ymmv, etc.

nice catch...

I'm on the younger side (27) but the more I play I like older and older games..
Yes new sterns are great and flashy but they "flow" too well sometimes.

Grand Prix has been my go to game lately because Gotleib's Atlantis left and I am horrible at both of them. When you make your shots and the reels flies it is so much more satisfying then looking at a dmd for a jackpot call out and animation.

I get that they don't look as flashy and if the themes are no longer relevant but the shots are harder and more satisfying and good lord if you want to practice accuracy and nudging you can not beat a well set up em.

Only if it a $1400 game folks!

10k by Christmas!

You're kidding, right? There's not even any software.

So? There are still rules. EMs are a lot more fun to play when you understand the goals and strategies.

Here's all the "software" they need.
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Nice Fireball. =)

Pretty sick when you can just peer into a machines cabinet and know the title. Is there a 12 step program somewhere for us?

This was the technology that got us to the moon.

OK then, let's play "Name That Game!"
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For me, it's the enjoyment of taking something that's been sitting and rotting and turning it into something fun again.

Tough one there as I'm not a 50's collector. But I'd say it's some flavor of 50's Gottlieb EM.

That looks like the bottom of Gottlieb Queen of Diamonds.

You guys are close enough. It is the inside of the Universe that Robert in Utah is sending me later this week. Why do I like EMs? Because they don't make em like that any more.
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Not according to Joe Rogan:

=)

Edit: O-din beat me at his own game.