For the second installment of my Pinball Features series, I talk about the iconic element that makes pinball, pinball: The Flippers! How do they work? Has the design changed much? What is an end-of-stroke switch and how does that work? What are the parts of a flipper assembly?
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.
This is a common issue with Stern’s Jurassic Park pinball machine. The shooter lane throws the ball into a vertical up-ramp delivering it to the right flipper, but in some cases it doesn’t reliably do so and it messes up the skill shots. Here’s a fix that is based on what appears to be a manufacturing defect with the playfields.
Sometimes an opportunity comes along that is really special, and you’re reminded of how awesome people in the pinball community can be. Here’s one such story.
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
One of my favorite ways to play pinball with other people is a cool competitive format called “Pin Golf.” What makes this type of competition fun is that it works with both novice and skilled players, and it allows people to compete in teams and encourages cooperation. In this video I show you how we run Pin-Golf events, both sanctioned and un-sanctioned.
It’s not every day when you can get a pinball machine that was in the Pinball Hall of Fame in Vegas, much less something so rare.
