Why does pinball seem go hand in hand with nerdy pursuits?

I hear ya. Hey I had a Harley for two years before I wrecked it. After the accident I just couldn't ride the same anymore.

Just let me know when it's time to throw down. (Even though I actually am an engineer).

I have gone through extensive training sessions.

Hwa: Perhaps I'm just gettin older. Had a small motorcycle back in college days, but it got stolen. Would like to ride a Harley, but figured I would get killed out on the road by one of the other crazy or brain-dead drivers. Still drink some beer & alcohol, but don't like gettin hammered or slammered anymore. Too painful next day.

Here is a pic of my retro muscle car ('09 R/T), and my combo canoe/kayak & pin hauler.
They are paid off, so I'll just stick w/ these as long as I can.

09-Dodge-Chall-RT.JPG

Nice! I've never been way into Dodge, but I do like what they've done the last few years.

Was this troll post intentional?

Which post are you referring to? The OP's original post?

I dont know but my peeps are coming out. Feeling at home again : )

Hell yeah!!!

Lol, Respect that!!

Sorry amigo. I know that is a tough one to deal with.

I agree that this hobby is heavy on tech/nerd types and I think this is why.

Pinball machines break. The more machines you own, the more repairs you need, and that leaves you with two choices.

First, you can hire someone to repair your machines. Parts can already be expensive and adding labor can get really expensive. The guys who can afford this will be successful people from all walks of life, and there are plenty of those guys in this hobby.

Second, you can fix it yourself. Obviously this is less expensive, which means for those fixing their own machines, the cost to enter the hobby is less. That means we should see more of the technical types of people because they're the ones who can fix machines. As a technical guy, I know that we technical types often get along better with machines than people.

Clearly there will also be overlap between these types, but that doesn't affect the reasoning.

TL; DR:
Technical skills mean you have a lower cost of entry into the hobby, which means you will have more technical people in the hobby.

True, but not all nerds are tech savvy. Case in point ... me.

The OP's.

Pretty sure I will be training this evening as well, lol.

Let's do some real nerdy shit and have a pinside pinball party, purely online.

Gearheads and rednecks maybe. But nerds? Nahhhhhhhhh.

Revel in thine nerdyness, tis was sets us apart and above! Nerds and geeks kick ass. I'm a strange one to peg hole tho, self proclaimed nerd-geek pin-head, gun toting crazy bastard! Now that my coffee table project is done (http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/freaking-cool-or-desecration )
I'm gonna build a pinball gun cabinet

The "priciness" of the pinball hobby is a very recent development. Several years a go and earlier, there were tons of games available regularly at low prices. There still are some now (EMs, DE/Sega, some less popular titles), but the "rich-guy" aspects (with people buying lots of NIBs and LEs) including the "barbie doll" aspects (pretty LEDs and decorative toppers and other dress-up accessories) are more recent. Many folks who've been into pinball for a while are primarily into buying games (generally older/used) and getting them to pay smooth as butter, and playing them. This is not necessarily a rich-guy activity, although many of the veteran pinball enthusiasts seem to be absent or less vocal around here.

I don't know, but it makes me think of this...

Lol, sounds like you are not saying much about the old group : )

Zippy:
You must be a cool nerd.
Not sure if cool and nerd can be together in a stereotype classification such as this. ??

Anyhow, I checked out your pinball coffee table thread earlier, and I like your idea about a pinball cabinet gun cabinet. Are you gonna go w/ a wood/steel framed glass door for good looks, or a non-glass door for increased security and stealthiness?
FYI: I measured the length of my rifles & shotguns and compared the length to the long dimension of my pinball machines.
My 2 late 70's Gottlieb cabs are 52" L, and my 2 Bally cabs (late 70's/early 80's) are 51.5" L, as well as my 1990 Williams Rollergames is 51.5" L. All outside dims (not from inside the cab).
Not sure which pins have the longest cabs (besides Hercules), but that may be something to consider. Hey, are you going to use a Big Guns pin cabinet for your gun cabinet?
Of my guns, the longest is my 12 gauge Winchester pump at 48.75" L, so that may just barely fit if it were placed in at an angle. Other guns would fit easy. Show us pics later of your new project.

Cheers,
Mike

You might be a pink hat pinballer if...

Anyhow, that was an epic thread. I remember it fondly. It ranks just behind the bottom boyz thread as my favorite pinside thread.

thread jacked. sorry.

My take on this is that pinball has, to one degree or another, been a counter-culture thing. There was always something a touch rebellious about it. You found machines in bars, pool halls, newstands, and soda-shops. It was always associated w/ gambling, and wasting time.

By the 70's this was blatant--rock musicians, not just just hot but suggestively posed chics, back-glasses that looked like they were straight off a rock album or comic book, or high-end sci-fi fantasy paintings (Centigrade 37, Paragon, Medusa, Embryon, Arena, Fathom, Blackout, and more). Some of this art is a direct tribute to, or rip-off of (depending on how you look at it) comic book art. By the 80's, the easiest way to appeal to consumers who were somewhat counter-culture and still be commercially viable was to follow in the foot-steps of comics and fantasy creators. That, and I know a lot of pinball guys are also comic fans.

That's my take on it. As a comic guy, I may be biased.

Just to prove a point, though. Check these out (don't know why I've never seen anyone else point these out). The comic is almost 20 years earlier--great Jim Steranko art. The backglass doesn't do it justice.

blackout.jpg fury.jpg

I'm all about going to pinball get-togethers, shows, community events, and expos - as long as the vast majority of them bathe.....

If you don't know that 'nerdy' is a derisory judgemental term you'll never understood what he meant.

I don't consider this thread trolling. In fact, I think it was a legitimate question that sparked some interesting dialogue.

It's not judgmental when you are using the term as a form of self deprecation. I think most of us in this hobby can agree that we posses certain "nerdish" qualities.

And that does not sound like a nerd at all : )

I notice a disproportionate amount of use of the word disproportionate. Just my observation.

Not sure. In many ways I'm quite nerdy/geeky. I love science, superheroes, video games, pinball machines & electronic gadgets of all kinds.

In other ways I don't think I'm so nerdy....I love motorcycles (have owned three), football, golf, Shoot in a men's pistol league (I have a Ruger .22, Springfield 1911 .45, Custom Fusion 1911 .45 and a Smith & Wesson 6" 41 Magnum Revolver). I'm also a certified scuba diver and lift weights 4x a week.

I don't what I am.......but I know what I like.

Pinball is super nerdy. It reminds me of my youth during the post video game crash around 1985. Only the non-cool kids still played video games.

One fellow league player made an observation I agree with, which is that despite all the nerdiness, the people tend to be nice and pretty genuine. What you see is what you get.

Pinball is also very DIY, and there's been sort of a DIY movement in the last decade. Whether it's computer case modding, maker faire, burning man and so on. However, in many ways, the DIY personality is kind of private and shy by nature. They need a cool gadget or project to gather around.

pinball is awesome. only 'sport' that you can see

1. fat people
2. athletes
3. nerds/dork/geeks
4. antisocialists
5. hipsters
6. hot chicks
7. stoners/drunks
8. list can go on and on.

i love a different crowd

I like pie!

#1, #3, #7, and probably #8...... Dammit.

For as long as I can remember it was primarily the nerds and the geeks going to the arcade to play video games and pinball. The difference nowadays is that geeks run the world and can afford their own pinball machines.

Amen! Currently, I'm on a pecan kick.