Collecting now for 40 years

Pop Bumper Pete

Pinball Pirate
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Favorite Pinball Machine
White Water
I realized today that I have been collecting pinball machines now for 40 years
the first game I bought was Sure Shot, the local arcade were selling off all their Gottlieb EM’s, $100 bought you a single player, $120 for a two person player.
this was followed two years later with an The Empire Strikes Back
my first DMD, Creature From the Black Lagoon, in 2004
First NIB, Batman TDK, in 2008

Still enjoy playing
 
Sure Shot looks like a pseudo-modern layout, in that you can hit a bunch of things directly from the bottom flippers. Is there an FP or VPX version you like?

Me, I'm still kind of bummed I lost my three EM's in the mid-90's. Life was too chaotic for me to keep them those days, but if it was somehow possible, I'd love to have one of them magically transported to my current residence. Probably it would be "Atlantis," which I was able to cut my teeth on, repair-wise.

Before I lost that machine, I was bumblingly going about creating a custom backglass to replace the one all flaked off. It was going to center around an image of a mermaid rising from the depths. I.e., Kirsten Imrie. <NSFW PIC>
 
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Sure Shot looks like a pseudo-modern layout, in that you can hit a bunch of things directly from the bottom flippers. Is there an FP or VPX version you like?
back when i was playing VP, i never played a recreation of a game i owned
why play a recreation when you have the real thing?
i did use VP tables to try games i was thinking of buying, get to hear the sounds, get to know the layout
 
Well, both sims have come a long way since the 'good ol' days.'

For me it's a lot of fun to see the many physics improvements. The fact that VPX now properly simulates both the shooting and resting coil in a flipper. The way the flipper can get knocked back slightly by the ball. The way DF2 physics in FP-BAM are now simulating drop catches & hot catches, etc.

Not to mention, authors still clearly need real EM owners to help them calibrate their tables. So many nice-looking tables are set up with wonky physics, it's a shame.

If I didn't have the health stuff going on, I'd be pretty tempted to get a Duotron or Magnetron fixer-upper and see if I could get it running. That's the only one of my three EM's I wasn't able to figure out. Maybe because it had some custom wiring going on.

Would also love to hear what @pinballdaveh might have to say about his collection.
 
Well, both sims have come a long way since the 'good ol' days.'
FP this last year in particular... huge bounce back, pun intended :D

For me it's a lot of fun to see the many physics improvements. The fact that VPX now properly simulates both the shooting and resting coil in a flipper. The way the flipper can get knocked back slightly by the ball.
Actually, FP does that too, the knock back if ball hits the flipper hard. Always did! Just too fast to see and depends on flipper/ball mass so most are unaware of this and tables need to be updated... stuff

Actually, if you activate slow motion, you can even see the flipper does not stop going up or coming down immediately. Like there's a spring in there taking it's time to stop bouncing. Again, too fast to see but there is quite a bit of movement.
Lighting also got improved with raycast ball shadows.

The way DF2 physics in FP-BAM are now simulating drop catches & hot catches, etc.
I posted a demo of all the new stuff around here somewhere. DFv2 is already good enough but also still not finished so it'll improve.

Not to mention, authors still clearly need real EM owners to help them calibrate their tables. So many nice-looking tables are set up with wonky physics, it's a shame.
True. One can eyeball it and no 2 tables play the same but just one match to real counterpart would be awesome.

Would also love to hear what @pinballdaveh might have to say about his collection.
Me too!
 
Actually, FP does that too, the knock back if ball hits the flipper hard. Always did! Just too fast to see and depends on flipper/ball mass so most are unaware of this and tables need to be updated... stuff

Actually, if you activate slow motion, you can even see the flipper does not stop going up or coming down immediately. Like there's a spring in there taking it's time to stop bouncing. Again, too fast to see but there is quite a bit of movement.
Oh wow, is there a way to enhance that effect?

Strange how the effect is typically over-exaggerated in VPX and evidently under-represented in FP-BAM.
 
The knock down effect it's easy to get as much as you want. It affects aiming a bit though so it needs to be carefully studied.

About the "spring" effect on the flipper reaching ends... I have no idea. If it is connected to rotation charts maybe there's a way.
 
The knock down effect it's easy to get as much as you want. It affects aiming a bit though so it needs to be carefully studied.
Great! So how does one make that adjustment?


About the "spring" effect on the flipper reaching ends... I have no idea. If it is connected to rotation charts maybe there's a way.
Okay, any idea on who to ask?

I'm still slightly in disbelief over this stuff, because I've rarely seen it in FP tables with the naked eye. And I keep thinking that if it was really possible to adjust, some gonzo FP author would have done it before, in an outlandish way. More like you see with many VPX tables, I mean.
 
Great! So how does one make that adjustment?
Adjust flipper mas low enough so when the ball hits the flipper it'll move. Adjust for high speed balls coming down only.

Okay, any idea on who to ask?
@ravarcade?

I'm still slightly in disbelief over this stuff, because I've rarely seen it in FP tables with the naked eye. And I keep thinking that if it was really possible to adjust, some gonzo FP author would have done it before, in an outlandish way. More like you see with many VPX tables, I mean.

Like rotationalcharts that I've seen years ago (finally JLou made them work), it's a feature that's been here for quite some time. This video is from 2018! This is the video that made start trying to use rotationcharts... but I failed.
 
Adjust flipper mas low enough so when the ball hits the flipper it'll move. Adjust for high speed balls coming down only.


@ravarcade?



Like rotationalcharts that I've seen years ago (finally JLou made them work), it's a feature that's been here for quite some time. This video is from 2018! This is the video that made start trying to use rotationcharts... but I failed.
Here is a list of pinball machines in the order that i owned them. Because of moving many times my collection was never more than 3 machines at one time.
Gottlieb Foto Finish
Gottlieb Lite-A-Card
Gottlieb Universe
Gottlieb Minstrel Man
Williams Hayburners
Bally Space Time
Gottlieb King Kool
Bally Flicker
Gottlieb Card Whiz
Williams Blue Chip
Gottlieb orbit
Williams Doodle Bug
Gottlieb Target Alpha
Bally Eight Ball Champ
Williams Solids & Stripes
And 1 honorable mention to Williams 1957 baseball Pitch and bat
 
Here is a list of pinball machines in the order that i owned them. Because of moving many times my collection was never more than 3 machines at one time.
Gottlieb Foto Finish
Gottlieb Lite-A-Card
Gottlieb Universe
Gottlieb Minstrel Man
Williams Hayburners
Bally Space Time
Gottlieb King Kool
Bally Flicker
Gottlieb Card Whiz
Williams Blue Chip
Gottlieb orbit
Williams Doodle Bug
Gottlieb Target Alpha
Bally Eight Ball Champ
Williams Solids & Stripes
And 1 honorable mention to Williams 1957 baseball Pitch and bat
Oops I forgot about Williams Doozie.
How could I forget about that one?
Not a very memorable game.
 
3 pinball machines at a time is already good. I did not know about some of those like Bally Flicker for example, looks quite fun.
Thanks for sharing
 
@AnonTet,
Thanks for the info. I'll give that a whirl, later. Will also take one last stab at getting Seawitch to run without crashing.

Foof, I'm kind of burned out on pin projects at the moment. Been really busting it the past few weeks on upgrading our backglass art collection, with an eye to integrating them in to furio upgrades the last few months (about ~60 tables in all).

A hobby is nice & enjoyable until it becomes a job, which is when you realise you need to go work on some other hobby for a while. Somehow that simple fact of life can get all too easily forgotten...

Also annoying that karaoke shut down around here, which is where I went to sing and play most Friday nights. I need to figure out more stuff I can do quarantining in my apt. :s
 
@pinballdaveh,
Thanks for sharing the list! So you collected mainly EM's, but work / worked on SS's as a job?

I'm regularly amazed how you have an answer or good idea for almost every scenario!

Do you have a favorite machine that you've owned, or just a favorite in general? (I wonder if there's a decent FP or VP version of it)
 
You'll never work a day in your life if you're doing what you enjoy.
Hobbies are what we enjoy. And the best part we can "work" at our own rhythm ;)
 
Ah, that's "Hobbies & Work 101," my man!
When I first started out working for a vending company the em to solid state conversion was just starting to happen. So I was able to work on a variety of older em equipment along with puck bowlers and other arcade machines even when the SS machines started coming in there was still plenty of em machines still on route. So I have a love of em’s but I made most of my living working on SS equipment.
 
When I first started out working for a vending company the em to solid state conversion was just starting to happen. So I was able to work on a variety of older em equipment along with puck bowlers and other arcade machines even when the SS machines started coming in there was still plenty of em machines still on route. So I have a love of em’s but I made most of my living working on SS equipment.
My favorite machine that I have owned is the gottlieb target alpha. It was the machine that I made the most playfield modifications adding extra GI lighting and that it had 15 drop targets. Other em favorites include Ted zales designs that have multi ball play.
 
my list:

Heat Wave
Abra ca dabra
Card Whizz
Shure Shot
Eight Ball
Playboy
Star Trek
Xenon
Spy Hunter
X's & O's
Medusa
Sinbad
Close Encounters of the third Kind
Black Knight
Pharaoh
Flash Gordon
Strange Science
Earthshaker
Black Knight 2000
Funhouse
Black Rose
Creature from the black Lagoon
The Getaway
Fish Tales
White water
Cirqus Voltaire
Scared Stiff
Monopoly
Starship troopers
Lord of the Rings
The Simpsons
Attack From Mars
Ironman
Batman
Spiderman
Twilight Zone

my favorites are Sinbad, Card Whiz, White Water, CFTBL, Mars Attacks, Ironman
 
My favorite machine that I have owned is the Gottlieb Target Alpha.. Other EM favorites include Ted Zales designs that have multi ball play.
Hmm, I was 10yo old when that machine came out. It's got a wildly different layout than most EM's, no?

IIRC, last time I played one IRL, I nearly threw myself out the window trying to finish both target banks. That's usually a good sign though, to ignore the savage within. :p

@Pop Bumper Pete,
Hot damn, I think I'd give up a leg to own that list!

Peg Leg Pete Disney.jpg
 
Hmm, I was 10yo old when that machine came out. It's got a wildly different layout than most EM's, no?

the funny thing is the layout has been used for 5 different machines
El Dorado/ Gold Strike
Solar City/ Target Alpha (also used to test Gottliebs Solid State)
El dorado, city of gold
 
the funny thing is the layout has been used for 5 different machines
El Dorado/ Gold Strike
Solar City/ Target Alpha (also used to test Gottliebs Solid State)
El dorado, city of gold
Actually lucky strike and Canada Dry belong on the list as well.
 
Bits of history. One more reason to watch this thread :D
 
Bits of history. One more reason to watch this thread :D
There's a comprehensive pinball quiz below, if you feel like testing your pin history.

I was doing well until I got to the final question, which deals with the longest recorded session of pinball playing. Amazingly, the player was well on his way to collapsing (and possibly dying) before concerned people dragged him away from the machine!

I don't know if a pinball-related death would or wouldn't be good for the scene. :p Anyway, the quiz:

Btw, an earlier question is sort of wrong about the 'largest pin in history.' I wrote a short article here about that:
 
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