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This page contains a brief description of each pin I own. I include a little story of what each pin means to me and why I have it in my current collection. After the description is a picture of the pin as detailed in the Flyer. Current Collection
Would Like to Own
"Howdy Partner..." I purchased this game in February 2001 from Cooperative Distributors located in downtown Louisville. This pin has speech, music, ramps and a Dot Matrix Display (DMD). The theme is family oriented. Its geared around white water rafting. Along with Wet Willy, you can ride the Rapids, the Whirlpool and cruise down Insanity Falls. Watch out for Big Foot who is located at Big Foot's Bluff on the upper playfield score. Shoot the pinball into Boulder Gardens and down the Lost Mine. Great family and party game. Up to 4 players. Game play is GREAT - everyone enjoys playing it. This game was a real good value!! The game was very dirty when I purchased it. It came right out of a Laundry Mat. Besides a major cleaning, new leg levelers, a few bulbs needed replacing, the BOULDER GARDEN bumper cap was missing (I found a NOS, but it cost me some $$$), Green Lite/Lock targets were missing (I found NOS ones - they weren't cheap), a couple of targets were not the correct type and color (these were easy to locate and were affordable). The marquee plastic box has a crack on the right side, but no one can see it. This was my second game and I wanted a newer DMD game. I spent about 4 months narrowing down which game I wanted and finding it at a good price (price + shipping). I was very happy to find it within 1/2 hour of my house and at a very affordable price. I added a PF modification to protect the expensive BOULDER GARDEN bumper cap. Dennis Paisley came up with the concept. Its a shield made of an old, clear VHS tape case - this is to protect the cap from "flying air balls". White Water Owner's Site (maintained by Dennis Paisley)
"Looks Like Rain..." I purchased this game in August 2002 from Tim Kirby located in Richmond Kentucky. This pin has speech, music, ramps and 2 16-character Alpha Numberic Displays. The theme is family oriented. Its geared around Tornados. My home was destroyed by a Tornado in 1996, so I thought this pin would be appropriate. The features of the game fit in great with the Tornado theme. It has very cool thunder claps and a good light show that mimics lightening. There is a fan on top of the game that blows wind at you when you accomplish certain tasks...very cool! There are 3 spinning disks that are located on the center of the playfield - these spin when the fan is blowing. This causes the ball to act in unpredictable ways. The game also features six (yep, 6) Pop Bumpers, a 3-bank set of drop targets, a stand alone drop target, 2 ramps, 5 stationary targets, a spinner target, 3 flippers, 2 ball captures, 1 ball saucer and a 3-ball multiball. The John Youssi artwork is cartoonish and looks super. It looks wonderful next to my White Water, which also features artwork by John Youssi. The game was designed by Pat Lawlor, one of the all time great pinball designers. This is a classic, highly desirable pinball. Great family and party game. Up to 4 players. Game play is EXCELLENT - everyone enjoys playing it. The game was very dirty when I purchased it. I had to do a major shop on the pin...I don't think one had been done in yyyyeeaaarrs. New rubber kit installed. The entire playfield was stripped and cleaned, along with all of the playfield parts and ramps. New leg levelers & chrome leg bolts were installed. A few bulbs were replaced. The POWER drop target was partially broken. Two of the yellow stationary targets were chipped so I replaced them. I ordered new repro "FEEL", "THE", "POWER" decals (from Ray Johnson) for the drop targets. I ordered Alan Meyer repro SPINNING DISC decals (from Kerry Mantis)...these look AWESOME. I also purchased the "TORNADO" drop target decal from Alan Meyer. I orderd the COMPASS and BONUS LADDER decals (from Pinheadz). The operator who previously owned the game did not put the lower playfield mylar on so this area was in sad shape. These decals really brought this area back to life. My kids and I originally played this game at an auction in Spring of 2000. I've been looking for one ever since. I wanted to find it at a good price (price + shipping). I was very happy to find it within 2 hours of my house.
This game is often referred to as "the most beautiful pinball ever made". Its playfield and backglass have meticulous details. The blues used in the artwork and the lighting affect set the "mood". The voice sounds are perfect. The background noise pace picks up the intensity the longer the ball stays in play. The game was very advanced for the year it game out:
I was lucky enough to purchase this pin in January 2002. This is my restoration project for 2002. I have a separate page dedicated to this project. To see all of the details follow the link below. Fathom Owner's Site (maintained by The_Black_Knight) Follow me to --> Fathom Restoration Pages
I got this game in the Summer of 2004. It is in really nice cosmetic shape with an issue on its Sys7 MPU (I should be able to fix that with no problems). This game is considered one of the "Awesome Foursome" by WMS that came out in 1981. WMS delivered four games that had multi-levels (Black Knight, Jungle Lord, Pharoah & Solar Fire). This was the first game with a Multi-Level playfield and is highly respected by pinball players. The artwork is very cool and the game play it excellent. This is a highly sought after game.
Joker Poker - Gottlieb 1978 I picked up this game in the Spring 2004. I had been looking for this for over a year. This game is considered one of the best Gottlieb Sys1 games. It has Drop Targets everywhere. Simple game (based on an EM layout) but very fun. Decent artwork. The game was filthy when I got it. I had to do a complete shop job on this game. Playfield cleaned up nicely, 15 new Drop Targets were installed in the game, a new Plastic Set was installed, a new Power Supply was installed, a new MPU was installed and several other new small parts were installed.
Flash Gordon - Bally 1981 I picked up this game in the Summer of 2005. A fellow collector picked up this game but it did not have a Backglass. I had a Flash Gordon Backglass in my collection so I bought the game from him and restored it. I had not played this game (other than 2 times at Expo 2003) since it was first released in 1981. The artwork is campy and based off of the original theatrical release. For me, the game is extremely hard. Since restoring the game, I still have trouble getting a decent score on this game.
Teed Off - Gottlieb 1993 I got this game in the Summer of 2006. I'd been looking for almost 2 years for this game in at a decent price in unshopped condition. Well, it is definately unshopped - whew, it really stinks so I'll have my work cut out for me when I shop this game out (eta Winter 2006). This game is a golf theme. They had one at the local bowling alley that we played quite a bit - the kids told me to get one of "these". We'll see how well it does at home.
Simpsons - Date East 1990 I picked up this game in the Summer of 2006. I wasn't exactly looking for this game but when the opportunity presented itself I thought I'd give it a try. It was complete but it smelled really bad. After an all out shop job (I took EVERYTHING apart) the smell was eliminated and I was left with a nice looking game. The artwork is very colorful. Very family oriented game.
This game is actually owned by my father-in-law (Bob Kellerman). This is a four-player game. It is the old-style Electro-Mechanical game (notice how the numbers are on "wheels" instead of LCDs)...no Printed Circuit Boards or software! Different playing game than today's pinball machines. A 2-player version of this pin was made...it was called Space Odyssey. This is a fun game - we play it every time I go over there. Amazing that a game over 25 years old is still entertaining! Its good to have Father-in-Law who enjoys playing pinball, when his daughter (my wife) starts in on my "hobby" he supports me :^)
This page was last updated on 08/27/06 |
