It's been a long time since my original man cave post, and we've acquired some new stuff and done some redecorating, so I figured I'd take some snaps and try posting some panoramic photos.
Although there are a few artifacts and jaggies if you look closely, I think the panoramas came out decent, and they give you a pretty good feel for the space.
This is awesome on more than one level... Elin Nordegren Woods posing with a vintage Playboy pinball machine.
Hot chick? CHECK
Hot topic? CHECK
Pinball? CHECK
It's a trifecta! Should attract a lot of search engine traffic too. Win win.
Still can't believe he cheated on THAT. What an idiot!
P.S. What's the difference between Tiger Woods and Santa Claus?
...
Santa stops after three ho's.
Collectible pinball games are old, complex machines with a large number of moving parts. The playfields eventually get worn from use, the cabinets get scratched, the wood bodies get cracked or warp with age, the circuit boards can fry, and I've even seen a machine catch on fire once. I often tell people I know that owning a classic pinball machine is just like owning a classic car. It's going to break down from time to time, so be prepared to pay for some occasional repair work and try to enjoy yourself whenever it's running well.
That being said, just like a classic car, a pinball machine can be torn down and rebuilt piece by piece into something more reliable and more beautiful than the day it was made. The best in the business of pinball restorations is High End Pins.
Chris Hutchins and his team at High End Pins will take a pinball machine from this:
To this:
In the process they will strip off every single part, and clean, replace, or rebuild it as needed and give you back a classic machine that is in better than new condition.
This is an art form, and I've got tremendous repsect for these guys for helping to preserve classic pinball machines that otherwise would eventually end up in a landfill from neglect.
Check out their photo gallery for some amazing before and after shots and detailed views of the process of rebuilding a pinball machine.
Someday I hope to have my games redone by these guys. Should I start with Dungeons & Dragons or Sorcerer? Hmmm...
UPDATE: Check out this news video on High End Pins.
After picking up Dungeons & Dragons, Haunted House, and Black Hole for my game room, I thought my pinball buying days were over. Then one evening while browsing on Ebay, I stumbled across a listing for a sweet little machine called Sorcerer. I thought the name sounded cool, and truth be told was kind of jealous, because it was a better looking game than my first love Dungeons & Dragons.
My wife took a peek at it and she was really enchanted by the artwork, which was somewhat reminiscent of one of her favorite art nouveau painters, Alfons Mucha, mixed with swords & sorcery of course. Well, here I was, already the owner of three pinball machines which most folks would regard as three too many, and my wife (of all people) was urging me to buy another one! Can you believe that?
It was meant to be... so how could I not buy it, right?
Sorcerer was made in 1985 by Williams, and according to the markings on the machine mine is serial number 53257284 and was completed on May 30th.
Here is an overall view of the game:
Here is a view of the playfield detail:
My high score to date is featured in the column on the right.
UPDATE: Here's a YouTube video of Sorcerer in action. Love the 80's sound effects and music!
After Bally's Dungeons & Dragons launched my pinball addiction, and Haunted House reinforced it, I eventually began looking for yet another pinball machine for my game room. Since I enjoyed the unique features of Gottleib's Haunted House, that game's older brother Black Hole seemed an obvious contender. I did a little research on the game, and everything I read sounded great, so off to the pinball store I go.
These classic machines aren't a dime a dozen, and machines in decent condition are even more rare. I absolutely was not expecting to get as lucky as I did looking for Haunted House, but what do you know? My local pinball store had not one, but two Black Holes, and both were in good shape!
It was meant to be... so how could I not buy it, right?
Black Hole was made in 1981 by Gottleib, and was the first pinball machine ever to feature a lower level playfield under glass. According to the markings on the playfield mine is serial number 04610, and was completed on September 9th.
Black Hole pinball has it's own page at Wikipedia.
Here is a overall view of the game:
Here is a view of the playfield detail, including the reverse lower level under glass:
My high score to date is featured in the column on the right.
UPDATE: Here's a YouTube video of Black Hole in action. Great sound effects!
After Bally's Dungeons & Dragons launched my pinball addiction I knew I'd have to have more than one machine for my game room, so I began looking into all the different games out there looking for that perfect choice. Being a child of the 80's I decided I'd focus on that era.
Eventually I stumbled across a listing for a game called Haunted House and fell in love with it. I'd never even played it, but I knew it was the one from it's cool Scooby-Doo style imagery, spooky theme, unique multi-level playfields, and cult status among pinball afficianados. Haunted House is regarded by many as one of the most collectible pinball machines ever made.
So I decided my first step would be to stop by the local pinball store that had started my obsesson and see if they had one (fat chance) or could help me locate one. When I walked in, the guy working was in the back room and as he walked out I saw a flash of green through the open doorway. It couldn't be that easy, could it?
"Is that a Haunted House back there?" I asked.
"Yeah, we just got it in today and I was checking it out before putting it on the floor" he says.
It was meant to be... so how could I not buy it, right?
Haunted House was made in 1982 by Gottleib, and according to the markings on the playfield mine is serial number 08232, and was completed on February 15th.
Haunted House pinball has it's own page at Wikipedia.
Here is a picture of the game:
Here is a view of the playfield detail, including the reverse lower level under glass:
So far my highest score is around 800,000 points, but I can't find where I wrote down the exact figure.
UPDATE: Here's a YouTube video of Haunted House in action. Great music!
A few years ago I was strolling through a local pinball store thinking about buying one of their used video arcade games for my soon to be finished basement game room and I spotted a Dungeons & Dragons pinball game. Now, I was never really into pinball, and in fact I never knew this game existed, but I WAS a big Dungeons & Dragons collector, so I decided I had to have it. After the game was delivered I played it... and played it... and played it and pretty soon I was hooked on pinball!
Dungeons & Dragons was made in 1987 by Bally. There were 2000 units made in total, and according to the markings underneath the playfield, mine is serial number 663 and was completed on October 27th.
Here is a picture of the game:
Here is a view of the playfield detail:
My high score to date is featured in the column on the right.
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My home was built in 2000 and had a large unfinished basement with decent ceiling height. In late 2007, after years of putting it off, my wife and I finally decided to turn it into finished living space. We did most of the work ourselves with the assistance of my father-in-law Bob and his huge colection of power tools.
Now, after a year and a half of weekends and evenings, it's about 90% finished. The bathroom is incomplete and there's much more decorating to be done, but it's close enough to be enjoyed and finally looks good enough for me to share some pics with my blog buddies, so here goes.
THE GAME ROOM - This is the main room you enter when coming down the steps. There's a foosball table, an arcade game, some pinball machines, a slot machine, a dartboard and a variety of fun and funky decorations.
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