My pinball collection is constantly changing. I keep telling myself I'm going
to stop acquiring them, then something comes along.
The table here details
my current collection. I still have pictures from some previously owned games, which
can still be seen from clicking on the links below the table. I have listed all of
the games I've owned throughout the years, and what has become of them.
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Big League - 1946 - Bally It's got wood rails, but no
flippers. The ball moves slowly, but the games are short. A truly different kind
of playing experience, with a different kind of skill required to score well. This
particular unit was a big restoration project, from the ground up - literally!
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Spot Lite - 1951 - Bally This is my first bingo game,
and is a project in progress. It's a single-card game, and is the first "Futurity"
game produced by Bally.
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Stars - 1978 - Stern Electronics One of the earliest
games with digital scoring, yet still has the old-style chime unit for sound. Steve
Kirk's first design, and is a true target-shooting game. It's a pretty fun little
game, but often overlooked due to the fact it's not from one of the 'big three' manufacturers.
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Spectrum - 1982 - Bally Unique gameplay of a type not
seen before or since. It is the pinball equivalent to the popular 1970s board game
"Mastermind". There are no pop bumpers, no slingshot bumpers, and not even
a shooter rod! Scarce game with fewer than 900 produced.
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Rollergames - 1990 - Williams This game is based on a
television show by the same name which ran from 1990-92. It is a roller-derby theme,
which features ramps, multi-ball, a kickback lane, upper flipper, magnet and some
very catchy music!
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The Shadow - 1994 - Bally Based on the mid-90's movie
starring Alec Baldwin, this pinball game is a lot better than the movie (or so I'm
told). Has a reputation of being a real "player's game", it can be incredibly
frustrating to play... Which makes the good games even more satisfying.
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Safe Cracker - 1996 - Bally Another unique game from
Bally. It is physically smaller (about 20%) than a standard game. It is based on
time rather than number of balls played. It awards 'Magic Tokens' for accomplishing
certain tasks. And when the tokens are put back in the machine, you play a special
mode not available through regular gameplay! Another scarce game, with only a few
hundred made for domestic use.
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High Roller Casino - 2001 - Stern Pinball This is a recent
release by the only major pinball manufacturer left. This was my first New-In-Box
game. Dot matrix scoring, and the first (I believe) to use the mini-DMD display.
This is one of Diane's favorite machines.
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The Simpsons Pinball Party - 2004 - Stern Pinball Here's
my second New-In-Box purcahse. This ia a very deep game, with many many different
modes, and one of the most difficult games to "complete". I may never
get there, but it's fun trying!
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The Evolution of my Pinball Collection:
My current collection is marked by the *.
1. Galaxy : Stern Electronics, 1980
2. Black Knight : Williams,
1980
3. Drop-A-Card : Gottlieb, 1971
4. Top Score : Gottlieb, 1975
5. Darts
: Williams, 1960
6. Darts : Williams, 1960
7. Flip Flop
: Bally, 1976
8. High Roller Casino : Stern Pinball, 2001
*
9. Cirqus Voltaire : Bally, 1997
10. High
Speed : Williams, 1986
11. Stars : Stern Electronics, 1978
*
12. Big League : Bally, 1946 *
13. Spectrum
: Bally, 1982 *
14. World Fair : Gottlieb, 1964
15. Monte
Carlo : Bally, 1972
16. Safe Cracker : Bally 1996 *
17.
The Shadow : Bally 1994 *
18. Spot Lite (bingo): Bally 1951*
19:
The Simpsons Pinball Party: Stern Pinball, 2004*
20: Rollergames:
Williams, 1990*
The Gameroom
Here's
what my gameroom looks like as of December 2005. The desk has been moved out of
the way so that I can now fit eight pinballs along with the Joust upright.
Here's my gameroom from some time ago. The Darts, High Speed and Cirqus Voltaire
are no longer in my collection.
Here are some older pictures showing machines which are no longer in my collection.
The Galaxy machine, which was my first pinball, went to my parents,
and the
Flip Flop was shipped to a guy in Utah. The Darts game sold to a collector in Australia.