Coin-op games: Do you own one?
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This is quasi-related to amusement parks, I suppose. How many of you own a coin-operated game machine at home? I'm talking about pinball, video games, Skee-Ball... anything of that nature.
I just bought the Jurassic Park pinball machine made in 1993. Outstanding condition and refurbished. My wife and I dumped tons of money into a similar machine at a shopping mall arcade near our college, when we began dating, in 1994. The arcade was selling it at the time, but we were poor college students. We vowed to buy one if we ever saw one again, regardless of the cost.
This one we bought at a shop outside of Cleveland, looking at machines in general. On a whim, we asked if they had one, and sure enough it sat dormant in their warehouse. It needed TLC, but was otherwise in good condition. Worth every penny.
When we move to a more permanent place, a Skee-Ball machine is next.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
I just bought the Jurassic Park pinball machine made in 1993. Outstanding condition and refurbished. My wife and I dumped tons of money into a similar machine at a shopping mall arcade near our college, when we began dating, in 1994. The arcade was selling it at the time, but we were poor college students. We vowed to buy one if we ever saw one again, regardless of the cost.
This one we bought at a shop outside of Cleveland, looking at machines in general. On a whim, we asked if they had one, and sure enough it sat dormant in their warehouse. It needed TLC, but was otherwise in good condition. Worth every penny.
When we move to a more permanent place, a Skee-Ball machine is next.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
My dad had a really cool roller coaster pinball machine in the earlier 90's. We moved out of town and he didn't want to take it with him so we had to sell it.:( That was a sad, sad day.
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What is life without ups and downs!?!? *** This post was edited by Josh the coaster freak on 2/24/2001. ***
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What is life without ups and downs!?!? *** This post was edited by Josh the coaster freak on 2/24/2001. ***
I myself used to own a coin-op game back in the mid-80s. The arcade that I would frequent all of the time at my local mall was selling off older , not so popular games. The game was called Egyptian Tomb. It never became known but for some reason I liked it so I purchased it for $150.00. When it finally kicked the bucket about 4 years after purchase, we just got rid of it. This was a big deal back then because I was about 12 or 13 years old with a full model arcade game in my house. Man, when I first got it, I was the talk of the neighborhood.
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"SAVING THE WORLD BEFORE BEDTIME" Powerpuff girls *** This post was edited by Chitown on 2/25/2001. ***
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"SAVING THE WORLD BEFORE BEDTIME" Powerpuff girls *** This post was edited by Chitown on 2/25/2001. ***
Well, being the son of "captian crazy," yes, I do own some co-op games. Well my father accually. He owns a baseball theemed pinball game from the 50's (may be 60's, I'm not sure), but it is sort of odd. It's not like the traditional pinball games of today. I't has wooden sides, and instead of two flippers, it only has one. I believe this is because of the fact that it's baseball theemed, and the flipper is a baseball bat. The objective is like any other pinball game, to hit flywheels and such, and rack up points.
He also owns a duck-shoot game, which I find quite interesting. It has a glass top and front, and metal sides, bottom, and back. There is a grey aluminum gun fixed to the front, and the objective is to shoot ducks that pop up in the back. The "ammo" used to shoot the ducks are pennies you put in the gun. Each time you put in a penny and shoot, it despenses a gumball. It's just a countertop game, nothing electronic.
My dad's sort of a game/gumball machine nut. Each year there is an annual expo in Chigago, held in April and November we try to get to. We've only gone once, but it's a possibility we may get there this year. It's great fun. Plenty of games and machines, new and old. If you are honestly looking for a Skee-Ball machine, I suggest you try this place. They're easy to find, and are almost always in good condition, or are new, and are generally reasonably priced. I can give you the information if you'd like.
Any way, back on subject...Coasters, parks, coasters :).
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"Shut up brain, or I'll stab you with a Q-tip!"
~From the brilliant mind of Homer J. Simpson.
He also owns a duck-shoot game, which I find quite interesting. It has a glass top and front, and metal sides, bottom, and back. There is a grey aluminum gun fixed to the front, and the objective is to shoot ducks that pop up in the back. The "ammo" used to shoot the ducks are pennies you put in the gun. Each time you put in a penny and shoot, it despenses a gumball. It's just a countertop game, nothing electronic.
My dad's sort of a game/gumball machine nut. Each year there is an annual expo in Chigago, held in April and November we try to get to. We've only gone once, but it's a possibility we may get there this year. It's great fun. Plenty of games and machines, new and old. If you are honestly looking for a Skee-Ball machine, I suggest you try this place. They're easy to find, and are almost always in good condition, or are new, and are generally reasonably priced. I can give you the information if you'd like.
Any way, back on subject...Coasters, parks, coasters :).
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"Shut up brain, or I'll stab you with a Q-tip!"
~From the brilliant mind of Homer J. Simpson.
Well jeff my downstairs living room according to my wife is an arcade here are my games.
2 player shooting game operation thunderbolt
3 player shooting game from sega laser ghost
2 player shooting game revolution with aerosmith
2 slot machines 1 playboy and the other a harley davidson one.
1 coin op pool table and dart game bought from a closing bar.
You should see them all on at once its great and the electric company loves me.
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Army rangers lead the way
2 player shooting game operation thunderbolt
3 player shooting game from sega laser ghost
2 player shooting game revolution with aerosmith
2 slot machines 1 playboy and the other a harley davidson one.
1 coin op pool table and dart game bought from a closing bar.
You should see them all on at once its great and the electric company loves me.
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Army rangers lead the way
If I had the money and was able to find one, I would love to get a Skeeball machine so I can practice during the off season.
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Joe Cernelli
Head Webmaster, Kennywood Boulevard
kennywood@coasterbuzz.com
http://kennywood.coasterbuzz.com/
Phantom's Revenge in 2001!
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Joe Cernelli
Head Webmaster, Kennywood Boulevard
kennywood@coasterbuzz.com
http://kennywood.coasterbuzz.com/
Phantom's Revenge in 2001!
I've got an air-hockey table, and I've been eyeing several old coin-op machines (Tempest, Gyruss, Joust). I WILL own a pinball game someday, too, but I don't have the space for it yet.
Oh, and I have a "MAME machine" in my living room, too. (That is, a PC dedicated to running the Multi-Arcade-Machine-Emulator)
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--Greg
http://www.pobox.com/~gregleg/
Oh, and I have a "MAME machine" in my living room, too. (That is, a PC dedicated to running the Multi-Arcade-Machine-Emulator)
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--Greg
http://www.pobox.com/~gregleg/
I love MAME... it helps Mr. Do live on. ;) Actually, the place I bought my pinball machine had a Mr. Do machine, but it was in pretty bad shape.
After doing a little more investigation on the subject, the Internet seems to indicate that every large market has a few stores that specialize in this stuff. While fewer and fewer pinball machines are being made every year, there are a lot of collectors and shops out to preserve them.
And if you haven't checked it out, do so!
http://www.skeeball.com
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
After doing a little more investigation on the subject, the Internet seems to indicate that every large market has a few stores that specialize in this stuff. While fewer and fewer pinball machines are being made every year, there are a lot of collectors and shops out to preserve them.
And if you haven't checked it out, do so!
http://www.skeeball.com
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
Oh thank god for MAME. I can relive my youth in Port Austin, Michigan, hanging out at the local arcades. (Does anyone else here miss an actual dark, smokey, arcade too?) I have to say Cedar Point has far and away the best classic games around.
Root Robby5150 in the 2nd Annual MAME Championships
http://mapage.noos.fr/marpkt/kt.html
Root Robby5150 in the 2nd Annual MAME Championships
http://mapage.noos.fr/marpkt/kt.html
I've been following MAME since version 0.01 pretty much. Great stuff. :)
I picked up the Dragons Lair game (and laserdiscs for Space Ace and others) partly because MAME won't (and can't) run them...
One of these days I'll get around to building or buying a MAME cabinet.
The last "real world MAME" setup I was in was a coin-up museum in St Louis that has since closed... The next-to-last one I was in was at Cedar Point.
I picked up the Dragons Lair game (and laserdiscs for Space Ace and others) partly because MAME won't (and can't) run them...
One of these days I'll get around to building or buying a MAME cabinet.
The last "real world MAME" setup I was in was a coin-up museum in St Louis that has since closed... The next-to-last one I was in was at Cedar Point.
So Jeff, when you get that Skeeball alley installed, are you going to give out tickets? :)
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Scott W. Short
scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com
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Scott W. Short
scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com
Ha! It's funny you mention that, because I thought about that. I mean, isn't half the fun of Skee-Ball getting the tickets? Mind you, it's a lot more fun now that many of these places have the little ticket counters to give you receipts. That's a much better system than the clerk with the yard stick!
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
I know I couldn't live without my Addams Family pinball machine. That's my favorite of all time. The next one I'd like to purchase is William's Taxi. That's the one that got me interested in pinball back in my college days. It's really kinda sad that Williams/Bally went out of business, and that Stern bought out Sega/Data East. Nowadays I can't even find a Stern machine to play. Truly depressing. Other than coasters, pinball is my passion.
One other thing. Kevin, who is the manufacturer of your 'Friday the 13th' pinball? Only reason I ask is that I've never heard of it. I've only heard of Gottlieb's 'Nightmare on Elm Street' (complete with knife glove ball saver) and Data East's (I think) 'Tales From The Crypt'. Not that I'm doubting you, I just want to know who made it, or maybe I'll consult my coffee table book for it. Hmmmm.....
One other thing. Kevin, who is the manufacturer of your 'Friday the 13th' pinball? Only reason I ask is that I've never heard of it. I've only heard of Gottlieb's 'Nightmare on Elm Street' (complete with knife glove ball saver) and Data East's (I think) 'Tales From The Crypt'. Not that I'm doubting you, I just want to know who made it, or maybe I'll consult my coffee table book for it. Hmmmm.....
The shop I got mine from had a "Nightmare" and "Tales" machine in great condition.
You know there's actually a Web site I found for owners of the Addams Family machine? How odd is that?
So who is making pinball machines these days? I feel an editorial coming on and I'd like to know. It's a shame that no one sees them as a profitable venture anymore.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
You know there's actually a Web site I found for owners of the Addams Family machine? How odd is that?
So who is making pinball machines these days? I feel an editorial coming on and I'd like to know. It's a shame that no one sees them as a profitable venture anymore.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
In the February 2000 issue of EGM (Number 127) there was an article titled "Is Pinball Really Dead?" I'm not going to re-write the whole article (that is against copywrite laws and the article is like 10 pages long) but I can tell you that (new) pinball pretty much is dead.
Williams, the biggest manufacturer of pinball machines in the world, closed down it's pinball division in late '99 due to losses well over $18 million.
In the year 1999 there were only about 15,000 new pinball machines sold, as opposed to the two hundred 200,000 sold in 1992. Today, the only pinball manufacturer left in the world is Stern Pinball Inc. (http://www.sternpinball.com/)
I hope that answers your question, Jeff.
Ryan
Williams, the biggest manufacturer of pinball machines in the world, closed down it's pinball division in late '99 due to losses well over $18 million.
In the year 1999 there were only about 15,000 new pinball machines sold, as opposed to the two hundred 200,000 sold in 1992. Today, the only pinball manufacturer left in the world is Stern Pinball Inc. (http://www.sternpinball.com/)
I hope that answers your question, Jeff.
Ryan
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