Because nobody can own just one...
-- plea made to a pinball wife


My Current Collection

Here are the machines in my collection. (Click on a backglass image for a playfield photo.)

    

Miss Annabelle

The first pin that I ever played! In 1963 it was on location in the recreation room of Borde Du Lac Lodge, a family-cabin camp in Bennedict, Minnesota. (The recreation hall consisted of a ping-pong table, a jukebox, and Miss Annabelle.) I not only learned to water ski at Borde Du Lac, but the fun of playing pinball as well. Each year I looked forward to returning with my family for another week at camp, and each year Miss Annabelle was still in the recreation room; waiting for my dimes.

That now-classic woodrail was still there on our last visit in 1966.

I searched for a suitable “Miss A” in the New England area for many years. A Connecticut reader came across my want list in June 2006 and contacted me about his Miss A, which had been in home use since the late 1960s. Prior to that, she had been on location at John's Variety on Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport, Connecticut. She has a new home now, and actual pictures (replacing these from the Internet Pinball Database) will be here soon.

Specifications

Players: 1
Manufacturer: D. Gottlieb & Co.
Model: 158
Date: August 1959
Manufacturing run: 1300
Designer: Wayne Neyens
Artist: Roy Parker
Gottlieb's first single-player game to use score reels.

Buccaneer

An Ebay find! This excellent-condition machine was purchased in the Spring of 1999 from an owner near Scranton, Pennsylvania. There were a lot of high-profile pins under auction at that time, and this Buccaneer went relatively unnoticed. (You never know...)

Specifications

Players: 1
Manufacturer: D. Gottlieb & Co.
Model: 390
Date: June 1976
Manufacturing run: 3,650
Designer: Ed Krynsky
Artist: Gordon Morison
Also produced as "Ship Ahoy" (AAB) and "High Seas" (Italian)
    
    

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D)

Purchased in October 2000 by my father at an estate auction in Seneca Kansas, this surprise gift needed only a spring for the shooter ball-release gate to return it to operation. (The missing spring caused the balls to shift out of position in the four-ball opto mechanism. The CPU would detect this, but reported the problem as a failed playfield fuse. Since it wouldn't play, potential bidders passed it over.) With the addition of a new glass to cover the backbox translite (the glass had been shattered on the way to the auction), undoing a few ill-advised “structural” fixes, and some cosmetic shopping, the game turned out to be a very good purchase.

I didn't play D&D on location, and it took me a few plays to get the hang of the Magic Save feature. Now I've come to enjoy the fast play! The attract-mode light show is also among the best ever (and very cool)...

(Photos from the Internet Pinball Database—I need to upload mine soon!)

Specifications

Players: 4
Manufacturer: Bally Midway Manufacturing Co.
Model: 0H06
Date: October 1987
Manufacturing run: 2000
Designer: Ward Pemberton
Artist: Pat McMahon

El Dorado

My second pin, purchased in 1997. I played many a game of El Dorado at the Blue Wall in the UMass Campus Center, so an El Dorado was high on my want list. (Love those target shots, and the single-player format requires the player to strategically hit them all.)

This specific machine also has sentimental value, as it was originally on location at the, now defunct, Mountain Park on Mt. Tom in Holyoke, Massachusetts. (I don't remember if I actually played it during one of my visits to the Park, but I like to think that I did...)

Specifications

Players: 1
Manufacturer: D. Gottlieb & Co.
Model: 370
Date: March 1975
Manufacturing run: 2,875
Designer: Ed Krynsky
Artist: Gordon Morison
Also produced as "Gold Strike" (AAB) and "Lucky Strike" (Italian). The popular playfield layout was also used in "Solar City" (1 player) and "Target Alpha" (4 player). El Dorado was featured in the film American Graffiti.
    
    

Evel Knievel (SS)

My first pin, purchased in April 1995 from David "Ace" Humphrey (of Ni-Wumpf replacement pinball circuit board fame). I'm not an Evel fanatic or motorcycle enthusiast, but I've always liked the play of the game. (I played EK mostly on location at the Seven O's bar in Sunderland, Massachusetts in the late 1970s).

This has been a good training machine for solid-state repairs, as I've had to rebuild the rectifier board and replace the MPU board, as well as a flipper coil and shorted switching transistor.

Specifications

Players: 4
Manufacturer: Bally Manufacturing Corporation
Model: 1094
Date: September 27, 1976
Manufacturing run: 14,000 SS, 155 EM
Designer: Gary Gaton
Artist: Paul Faris
In addition to both EM and SS commercial versions, a home version was produced by Midway.

Royal Flush

This Gottlieb classic was purchased in the Fall of 1999. I used to play this game a lot at the UMass Campus Center. I love those targets behind the targets. Easy to play, but with very greedy side drains (at least there's the gate save on the right side...).

Specifications

Players: 4
Manufacturer: D. Gottlieb & Co.
Model: 373
Date: April 1976
Manufacturing run: 12,250
Designer: Ed Krynsky
Artist: Gordon Morison
Also produced in two-player version, "Card Whiz."
    
    

Spirit of 76

Obtained in June of 2010, this wonderful Gottlieb game was first acquired by my next-door neighbor (one house ago). Yes, I was partially to blame for reviving his interest in EM games. We've both moved to smaller homes now, and his lack of suitable space for the Spirit was my gain! (As with Evel Knievel, my wife to be and I also played a Spirit of 76 on location at the Seven O's bar in Sunderland, Massachusetts in the late 1970s).

(Photos from the Internet Pinball Database—I need to take some of this machine soon!)

Specifications

Players: 4
Manufacturer: D. Gottlieb & Co.
Model: 381
Date: December 1975
Manufacturing run: 10,300
Designer: Ed Krynsky and Wayne Neyens
Artist: Gordon Morison
Also produced in a two-player version, "Pioneer," and a special two-player AAB version, "New York," to celebrate the lifting of the laws banning pinball there in 1976.

What's Next?

At this point, space has become the enemy. I'm still seeking a reasonable Williams 8 Ball. Other machines of some interest are included in my want list (more acquisitions are unlikely, but I'm always looking for that incredible deal and I have friends that are also on the lookout...).

Former Games

It's hard for me to say goodbye to a game, and I've only parted with one thus far. (See how strong the addiction can be?)

    

Sinbad

Sinbad was a major-project pin that I purchased in 1999. This was to be my most challenging attempt to date (but a good chance to learn the problems with System-1 machines up close and personal). The game wouldn't boot (board and connector issues), the cabinet was faded, and the bottom needed replacement. However, the playfield and backglass were in very good condition. I accumulated a number of replacement parts, but never got very far with this planned effort. It went to a good home...

Specifications

Players: 4
Manufacturer: D. Gottlieb & Co.
Model: 412
Date: May 1978
Manufacturing run: 12,000 SS (System 1), 950 EM
Designer: Ed Krynsky
Artist: Gordon Morison
Also produced as "Eye of the Tiger" (2 player, EM only).

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Last updated: June 6, 2017