Category Archives: Electro-Mechanical

Announcing a new series: Pinball Features – Episode 1: TILT!

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As more and more people discover the joy of playing pinball, I find myself getting more basic/general questions, and this seems like a good time to launch a new series I’m calling, “Pinball Features”. Each video will focus on a certain element of pinball and offer some basic information on this feature/component of pinball. While this is geared for laypeople, I hope that regardless of your skill level, you may find it informative.

The first episode is dedicated to the Tilt Mechanism. I go into how it works, why it’s there and the different types of tilt devices found in pinball machines.

Pinball Stories #21 – A grail game from a special place!

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I’m a firm believer of being patient in the pinball hunt. I’ve always wanted a Bally Wizard EM. It’s such a great game and has such beautiful artwork. They made a bunch of them so why has it taken so long? Because they’re an A-list game and often command A-list prices and I wanted a good deal. I waited and got more than what I wanted…

Here’s a video I did when I first picked the game up: https://youtu.be/kXVg88WqMIo

Pinball Stories #17 – Random phone call and random pickup

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This just happened yesterday so it’s a timely addition to pinball stories. Got a call from a friend who had a bead on a retired guy who had two games in his garage. We’d each take one of the machines. What does he have? We don’t know – mystery game time!!

Pinball Stories #9: Paying It Forward

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This game pick up is a bit bittersweet. It reminds me of another game that slipped out of my hands and how different types of collectors in the community look at trading, buying and selling differently.

It’s a pretty heated argument among the pinball community whether or not there’s any true objective “ethics” involved in the buying and selling game? Everybody has their opinions, and I have mine, which is, I don’t step on other peoples’ deals. I honestly believe if you take care of others, you end up better off than if you play the dog-eat-dog, first-person-with-the-cash-steals-the-deal type strategy in pinball acquisition.

Pinball Stories #3: Slick Chick

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Amusing story of how I acquired a 1963 Gottlieb “Slick Chick” pinball machine. Pinball Stories are short, sometimes amusing, often interesting monologues about where pinball machines come from. We hear a lot about the games and their themes, but not much about the provenance and “the hunt” to find them and the trials and tribulations of acquisition. In this series I try to tell the story behind each individual machine.

[Show picture list]

Inside Dan Ferguson’s “Lone Star Pinball Museum”

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A friend and a true legend in the pinball community passed away this week. Dan Ferguson, owner of the “Lone Star Pinball Museum” and one of the iconic enthusiasts in the region. Dan was a fixture at all the Texas pinball shows and had one of the most amazing collections of games and memorabilia anywhere. Eight years ago was one of the first times I got a chance to take a peek inside his infamous private museum, that was typically only open by invitation (and was an inspiration for our own PinChurch facility).

Here’s is a video I shot of a quick walk-thru of his amazing place. We miss you Dan!