I just wanted to take some time for the obligatory introduction.
At the moment, I do not own any pinballs currently nor have I in the past. I do own a Seeburg LPC-480 jukebox, but that's another story.
Unlike so many of these introductions that I have read here, I don't have a lot of memories of playing pinball when I was younger. I do recall hanging out at an arcade on Yonge St in Toronto on several occasions and spending more time with the arcade machines than the pinballs.
Fast forward to today and my on again/off again romance of owning a pinball is back on again. Perhaps it is owning the Seeburg that has rekindled it, who knows.
My interest, though, is not in any one particular machine or style. I love the mechanics of the things. The way they work is what holds my interest, more that the game itself. The creation of the early EM machines with all that wiring and mechanical parts fascinates me. Moving ahead into the SS era and there is the marriage of early computer technology with a lot of the older EM tech to create some great games. The newer games with their flashing lights and complicated rule sets and gameplay don't hold the same fascination for me and I tend not to look at them that much. That's not to say that they aren't wonders in their own right, just not to me. They are more like video games exported into the real world, lots of bright flashiness and sound and plenty to do, just too distracting for me.
My goal for my first pinball is the somewhat elusive but extremely popular Firepower. I have never laid a hand on one to know the feel of it but everything I have seen of it makes me believe that it is the best first machine for me.
And that, dear reader, is my introduction.
If anybody here knows where I might get a line on a Firepower within a 3-4 hour drive from Waterloo, ON, I'd love to hear from you.
Thank you and good night.
Thom Smith
At the moment, I do not own any pinballs currently nor have I in the past. I do own a Seeburg LPC-480 jukebox, but that's another story.
Unlike so many of these introductions that I have read here, I don't have a lot of memories of playing pinball when I was younger. I do recall hanging out at an arcade on Yonge St in Toronto on several occasions and spending more time with the arcade machines than the pinballs.
Fast forward to today and my on again/off again romance of owning a pinball is back on again. Perhaps it is owning the Seeburg that has rekindled it, who knows.
My interest, though, is not in any one particular machine or style. I love the mechanics of the things. The way they work is what holds my interest, more that the game itself. The creation of the early EM machines with all that wiring and mechanical parts fascinates me. Moving ahead into the SS era and there is the marriage of early computer technology with a lot of the older EM tech to create some great games. The newer games with their flashing lights and complicated rule sets and gameplay don't hold the same fascination for me and I tend not to look at them that much. That's not to say that they aren't wonders in their own right, just not to me. They are more like video games exported into the real world, lots of bright flashiness and sound and plenty to do, just too distracting for me.
My goal for my first pinball is the somewhat elusive but extremely popular Firepower. I have never laid a hand on one to know the feel of it but everything I have seen of it makes me believe that it is the best first machine for me.
And that, dear reader, is my introduction.
If anybody here knows where I might get a line on a Firepower within a 3-4 hour drive from Waterloo, ON, I'd love to hear from you.
Thank you and good night.
Thom Smith
