You Haven't Seen These Before on My Blog!

Sunday, January 27, 2018
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You Haven't Seen These

Before on my Blog!

Please click here to redirect to Morphy Auctions on Liveauctioneers

As I write this post, this auction by Morphy Auctions is going on. The  auction

is for arcade games (pinball games). I'm writing brief descriptions because these 

machines were complex for the times, and the well-written explanations can be found on Liveauctioneers. For this post, I've included the lot numbers for reference should you want more information on Liveauctioneers.

I remember in the 1950's when my parents would take us to Belmont Park in Montreal. 

Belmont park was an amusement park with all kinds of rides and an area with lots  of arcade machines (Pinball machines). It was fun to play, but it would have taken 

lots of 5 cent pieces (a nickel) to become skilled at the game.

What's interesting to note with the descriptions below is that these machines in 1934 

and later also cost 5 cents!  That was a lot of money then, and "treating" a child to one of these games was a real delight.

LOT 0016

Western Equipment and Supply Company Centre Smash

College football themed pinball game

One nickel gives 1 ball. Patron plunges the ball into one of nine

slots for odds between 10-200. There are 7 college teams. Ball must land

in one of the skill holes as shown on the light display

Dimensions"  56" Tall x 28 1/2" Wide x 46 1/2" Depth ( 142.2 cm x 72.5 cm x118.2 cm)

Circa 1936

Lot 0046

5 cent Jennings Sportsman Pinball Machine Cabinet

Points are obtained when a ball falls into one of the numerous holes on the board.

Dimensions: 42 1/2" x 22" W x 38 1/2" D  108 cm x 56 cm x 98 cm

Circa 1934 

Lot 0197

Gottlieb's "The Mermaid"

Artwork by Roy Parker,  only 600 of these machines were manufactured.

Dimensions: 64" T x 25 1/2" W x 54" D  162.5 cm x 64.7 cm x 137.2 cm

Circa 1951

Venture over to Liveauctioneers to see the bids 

that were placed for these pinball machines.

You's be surprised how some people bid.

Obviously they're collectors and not players on these machine.

If I was a bidder, I'd bid on one to play with in my house!

* You may have noticed that I'm using less coloured letters than before. 

I asked my wife to look at my blog on her cell phone, and she said that the red lettering was difficult to see on her cell.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

Pinball Machine Rescuers

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Pinball Machine Rescuers

(Pinrescue.com)

   Earlier this week,someone had asked me whether he should restore a set of old Cor-Cor toys. I gave him an answer and checked out his website. He sells cartridge video game consoles and games from the 1980's and 1990's - much too "young for my blog". However, this gave me an idea to check vintage pinball games. I checked out a few websites, and found today's post - Pinrescue.com. 

In Their Own Words...

Please click here to visit the fine website of Pinrescue.com

    I can remember when  we were growing un in the mid-1950's (that sound so old). Mt father and mother would naturally take the 3 of us - Myself, and the twins Brenda and Michael to the pinball arcade or to a place called Belmont Park - an amusement park with rides, games to win toys, and so forth. We also went to Atlantic City, when it was a tourist attraction for the family, and again we played pinball arcade games. 

    The basic nature of the game was the same. You'd load a large-sized shiny ball-bearing ball into a spring-activated slot, pull the spring, and the ball would enter the action area.All kinds of bells and bongs would sound, and lights would go on and off. The ball would be bounced around, until, by gravity it fell towards the bottom. There, you had to "flippers" that would allow you to send the ball back up to the play area for more action.  I never really got to master this form of game, but it sure was fun. Also, you could play by yourself, or play with 2-3 other players. Sometimes, if you tacked up enough points, you could win a free game. The last Arcade game that I played was in a bar, and it was Pong - the latest computer video game in the early late 1960's or early 1970's.

   Pinrescue.com is a company that not only sells these vintage games, but also maintains, repairs, and restores them. I had looked for games that were even older, but couldn't find many on the net. I once thought of buying a pinball game, and having it in my house. Of course, I didn't. However, hat certainly would have helped me practise at home, to them "show off" at the arcade centres.

I screen-captired this image for the neon sign of the company. I had cleaned it up, and removed everything around to focus on the sign and of course, the pinball machines.

The basic design of these machines is the game base and the counter. The counter is above the game base. What I noticed when I was isolating the different games for presentation against a white background, was that the game sides were decorated with the theme of the game. As an example, notice that the above console has the head of a baseball player, and a moving baseball with red and white lines behind it.  You never saw this feature because the pinball machines were always so close together in the arcade.

What's also interesting is the fact that these games are so colourful. The game face was usually lithographed on a wood base, and later perhaps on a more durable plastic.  Also, for those who don't know, there was a switch of some kind built into the unit. If you tried to lift, kick, or tilt the machine (cheat, in other words!), the machine would shut down. You them, embarrassingly had to call for the arcade owner or technician to come and reset the machine.

I'm sure there are many people that have in fact purchased these fine machines from a not so long ago era. I'm even sure, that they're children and grandchildren even have loads of fun on these machines.  They're not like a smartphone or IPad or computer, where yo u use your fingers. You have to use your hands and figure out how to gently load the ball-bearing, and then carefully use those flippers to send the ball back into the action area. 

I've read that today's surgeons adapted faster to the new laparoscopic surgery because they had growing up playing computer games and had fine hand-eye coordination with the mouse and the computer screen.

I wouldn't count out those 60-70 year old surgeons who grew up with the pinball machines.

That did have a type of hand and eye coordination. Also  know of a surgeon who worked on me for a few small operations that adapted easily to the new technology, and he's in his early 70's.   

Pinball anyone?

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

Toysearcher@gmail.com