Pinball Wizards

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Pinball Wizards Page 24

by Adam Ruben


  PAPA20 marked the last pinball competition inside Kevin Martin’s warehouse in Carnegie; Martin announced that he’s moving future events, starting with PAPA21, to an even larger and better venue. Sweet.

  There can be no more inspiring story about the future of pinball than the shocking outcome of PAPA20. After surpassing the usual group of luminaries (including Cayle George and both Sharpe brothers) in the semifinals and finals of A Division, Bowen Kerins faced off in a tiebreaker against Escher Lefkoff—age thirteen. Kerins was once the youngest PAPA world champion himself, winning PAPA4 at eighteen years old, and at PAPA20, he lost that title on a game of Skateball (1980) to Escher Lefkoff. Streaming PAPA TV shows Kerins draining his last ball unexpectedly, falling to his knees, and an overjoyed Lefkoff jumping into the arms of his dad, Adam Lefkoff—who himself took seventeenth place in A Division, losing in the first round to his son.

  It was an invigorating outcome for pinball, a sign that the youth are ready to receive the torch. Nor was Escher Lefkoff the only young pinball prodigy at PAPA20—the B Division winner was sixteen years old, and the D Division winner was eight. I think pinball will be all right.

  Maya, now age six, often asks to go to VÜK, or as she calls it, “pinball pizza.” I love to tell her yes.

  Appendix

  * * *

  SO YOU WANT TO PLAY PINBALL, or at least learn more about it. Here are some useful resources and some awesome places and events to visit. All are current as of this writing. Bring quarters.

  Magazines

  Gameroom Magazine, www.gameroommagazine.net

  Pinball Magazine, www.pinball-magazine.com

  Pingame Journal, www.pingamejournal.com

  Blogs

  The Gameroom Blog, www.gameroomblog.com

  Pavlov Pinball, www.pavlovpinball.com

  Pinball News, www.pinballnews.com

  Podcasts

  Coast 2 Coast Pinball, www.podcastgarden.com/podcast/coast2coastpinball

  The CoinBox Pinball Podcast, coinbox.libsyn.com

  Dead Flip, www.deadflip.com

  Gameroom Junkies, gameroomjunkies.com

  Geek Gamer Weekly, www.geekgamer.tv

  The Pinball Podcast, www.thepinballpodcast.com

  Spooky Pinball Podcast, www.spookypinball.com/podcast-2

  Pinball Museums (United States)

  Ann Arbor Pinball Museum, Michigan, vfwpinball.com

  Asheville Pinball Museum, North Carolina, ashevillepinball.com

  Coney Island Pinball Museum, El Cerrito, California, www.playland-not-at-the-beach.org

  Lone Star Pinball Museum, Hockley, Texas, www.lspinball.com

  Museum of Pinball, Banning, California, www.museumofpinball.org

  Pacific Pinball Museum, Alameda, California, pacificpinball.org

  Pinball Arcade Museum, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, www.facebook.com/DellsPinballArcadeMuseum

  Pinball Hall of Fame, Las Vegas, Nevada, www.pinballmuseum.org

  Pinball Perfection, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, www.pinballperfection.com

  Quarterworld, Portland, Oregon, www.quarterworldarcade.com

  Replay Amusement Museum, Tarpon Springs, Florida, www.replaymuseum.org

  Roanoke Pinball Museum, Virginia, www.roanokepinball.org

  Seattle Pinball Museum, Washington, www.seattlepinballmuseum.com

  Silverball Museum, Asbury Park, New Jersey, and Delray Beach, Florida, silverballmuseum.com

  Pinball Museums (Europe)

  Budapest Pinball Museum, Hungary, www.flippermuzeum.hu

  Dutch Pinball Museum, Rotterdam, Netherlands, www.dutchpinballmuseum.com

  Krakow Pinball Museum, Poland, www.krakowpinballmuseum.com

  Paris Pinball Museum, France, www.pinball-gallery.com

  Museums with Pinball but Not Solely Dedicated to Pinball

  American Classic Arcade Museum, Laconia, New Hampshire, www.classicarcademuseum.org

  Coney Island Museum, Brooklyn, New York, www.coneyisland.com

  International Arcade Museum, Pasadena, California, www.arcade-museum.com

  Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum, Farmington Hills, Michigan, www.marvin3m.com

  Musée Mecanique, San Francisco, California, www.museemecaniquesf.com

  National Videogame Museum, Frisco, Texas, www.nvmusa.org

  Retro Arcade Museum, Beacon, New York, www.retroarcademuseum.com

  Route 66 Arcade Museum, Atlanta, Illinois, and America’s Playable Arcade Museum, McLean, Illinois, www.vintagevideogames.com

  The Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, New York, www.museumofplay.org

  Supercade, Los Angeles, California, www.facebook.com/supercade

  Online Resources for Locating Pinball in Public

  Pinball Map (with smartphone app), www.pinballmap.com

  Pinball Rebel locator, www.pinballrebel.com/locator

  Pinball Spot, www.pinballspot.com/web

  Pinfinder (with smartphone app), www.pinballfinder.org

  Pinformer (UK only), www.pinformer.co.uk

  Other Online Resources

  International Flipper Pinball Association (IFPA), www.ifpapinball.com

  Internet Pinball Database (IPDB), www.ipdb.org

  Pinball Bash forum, www.pinballbash.com

  Pinside forum, www.pinside.com

  Professional and Amateur Pinball Association (PAPA), www.papa.org

  Rec.Games.Pinball Forum, groups.google.com/d/forum/rec.games.pinball

  Tilt Forums, www.tiltforums.com

  Tournaments, Shows, Events, and Conventions

  California Extreme, Santa Clara, www.caextreme.org

  Free Play Florida, Orlando, wp.freeplayflorida.com

  Louisville Arcade Expo, Kentucky, www.arcaderx.com

  Lyons Pinball Spring Classic, Colorado, www.lyonspinball.com

  Michigan Pinball Expo, Rochester, www.mipinball.com

  Midwest Gaming Classic, Brookfield, Wisconsin, www.midwestgamingclassic.com

  Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show, Tacoma, Washington, www.nwpinballshow.com

  Ohio Pinball Show, Cuyahoga Falls, www.ohiopinballshow.com

  PAPA World Pinball Championships, Carnegie, Pennsylvania, papa.org

  Pinball at the ’Zoo, Kalamazoo, Michigan, www.pinballatthezoo.com

  Pinball Expo, Chicago, Illinois, www.pinballexpo.net

  PinFest, Allentown, Pennsylvania, www.pinfestival.com

  Pintastic Pinball and Game Room Expo, Sturbridge, Massachusetts, www.pintasticnewengland.com

  Portland PinBrawl, Oregon, groundkontrol.com/category/portland-pinbrawl

  Replay FX, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, replayfx.org

  Retro Gaming Expo, Portland, Oregon, www.retrogamingexpo.com

  Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown and Gameroom Expo, Denver, Colorado, www.pinballshowdown.com

  Southern-Fried Gameroom Expo, Atlanta, Georgia, www.southernfriedgameroomexpo.com

  Texas Pinball Festival, Frisco, texaspinball.com/tpf

  Vancouver FlipOut Pinball Expo, British Columbia, www.vancouverflipout.com

  White Rose Gameroom Show, York, Pennsylvania, theyorkshow.com

  These are just a few of the major events in the United States and Canada. For plenty of others, and events outside the United States, see www.pinballnews.com/diary. Also see a list of IFPA-sanctioned tournaments at www.ifpapinball.com/calendar. And for a list of IFPA-sanctioned leagues, see www.ifpapinball.com/leagues.

  Manufacturers

  Dutch Pinball, Reuver, Netherlands, www.dutchpinball.com

  Heighway Pinball, Ebbw Vale, Wales, www.heighwaypinball.com

  Jersey Jack Pinball, Lakewood, New Jersey, www.jerseyjackpinball.com

  Spooky Pinball, Benton, Wisconsin, www.spookypinball.com

  Stern Pinball, Elk Grove Village, Illinois, www.sternpinball.com

  Accessories, Parts, and Mods

  Bay Area Amusements, www.bayareaamusements.com

  Coin Taker, cointaker.com

  Marco Specialties, www.marcospecialties.com


  Mezel Mods, mezelmods.com

  Pinball Life, www.pinballlife.com

  The Pinball Resource, www.pbresource.com

  Pinball Swag, www.pinballswag.com

  The Pinball Wizard, www.thepinballwizard.net

  Planetary Pinball Supply, www.planetarypinball.com

  Pinball Charities

  Pinball EDU, www.pinball-edu.org

  Pinball Outreach Project, www.pinballoutreach.org

  Project Pinball, www.projectpinball.org

  Acknowledgments

  * * *

  NO TWO WAYS about it, Marina is a saint. Thank you for picking up all of the household tasks, double child care included, during each of my trips to some far-flung pinball destination. Thank you even more for editing this book.

  I’m equally indebted in the latter regard to Marina’s mother, Vicki, for her extensive edits, and to Roger Sharpe, for fact-checking the entire book and providing a lot of valuable historical context.

  So many people were generous with their time in granting me interviews and answering questions that it would be impossible to thank them all, but I’ll try. In alphabetical order: Duncan Brown, Jody Dankberg, Bill and Linda Disney, Barry Driessen, Charlie Emery, Steve Epstein, Jack Guarnieri, Andrew Heighway, Dan Hosek, Ken Kalada, Bowen Kerins, Pat Lawlor, Jody Levchuk, David Marston, Ben Matchstick, Scott Nash, Constance Negley, Barry Oursler, Kevin Perone, Ash Preheim, Ed Robertson, Paul Rubens (no relation), Joe Said, Jim Schelberg, Joe and Julie Schober, Daniel Spolar, Jay Stafford, Gerry Stellenberg, Amber Streath, Josh and Zach Sharpe, Gary Stern, Pete Talbot, and Dan Toskaner.

  Thank you to my agent, Laurie Abkemeier, and my editors at Chicago Review Press, Jerry Pohlen and Lindsey Schauer, for all of their help in making this book a reality. Thank you to Mike Freeman for Googling “pinball league” in 2003 when searching for a birthday present for me, and thank you to Lee Hadbavny for joining me at PAPA19.

  Finally, thank you to my family for our numerous trips to the pinball arcades of the Delaware seashore. If you want to go back, just let me know. I’m ready anytime.

  Index

  * * *

  A. G. Soccer-Ball (1991), 127–128

  A-B-C (1951), 72–73

  Abess, Brett, 178, 181–182

  Abess, Leonard, 178–179

  Achterberg, Rich, 131, 132

  add-a-ball feature, 38n

  Addams Family, The (1992), 122–123, 127

  Advance (1933), 17

  Aerosmith (2017), 245

  Alice Cooper’s Nightmare Castle (2017), 245

  Alien (2017), 198, 246

  Alvin G. and Company, 127–128

  American Pinball, 246

  America’s Most Haunted (2014), 190–191

  Anghelo, Python, 87n

  Ann Arbor Pinball Museum, 76–78

  Arcade Access, 187

  arcades, 79, 95, 109–118

  Arnold, Tim, 81, 126, 167n, 185, 207

  artwork, 59–60, 87n, 176

  backboxes, 2

  backglass, 2

  Baffle Ball (1931), 19–20, 19n

  bagatelle, 12–17, 12n, 13n

  Baker, Brad, 208

  Bally Manufacturing, 20, 24, 72, 73, 105

  Ballyhoo (1932), 20

  bangback, 66

  Bank Shot (1976), 88, 89

  Banzai Run (1987), 174

  barcades, 114

  Barenaked Ladies, 98

  Barnes, Richard, 105, 106

  Batman 66 (2016), 245

  battery backup, 22n

  Beercade, 114–115

  Bellah, Bill, 37

  bells, 22

  Belsito, Jim, 231

  Bermuda (1948), 70

  Bethesda, Maryland, 240–241

  Big Flipper (1970), 74

  Big Indian (1974), 62

  Big Lebowski, The (2016), 201–203, 202n, 223n, 246

  Bill Paxton Pinball, 189

  Billboard magazine, 19–20, 85

  Billet, Sadie, 27

  bingo machines, 38n, 72–73

  Bingo Pinball War, The (Lawton), 73

  Black Cat, The (venue), 97–98

  Black Fever (1980), 62–63

  Blackpool, England, 195n

  BMI Gaming, 110n

  bounce passes, 7

  Bourdain, Anthony, 80

  Bride of Pin·bot 2.0 (2013), 201

  Broadway Arcade, Manhattan, New York, 43

  Broughton, John, 109

  Brown, Duncan, 142, 143, 144

  bumpers, 3, 22, 22n

  cabinets, 2

  Capcom, 128

  Cardboard Teck Instantute, 187

  Carnegie, Pennsylvania, 45

  cash payouts, 24–25, 37–38

  Charles X (king of France), 13

  Checkpoint (1991), 171

  Chicago Coin Machine Manufacturing Company, 70, 105

  Chicago Tribune, 144

  chill maneuvers, 7

  Christie, Chris, 80

  Cirqus Voltaire (1997), 87n

  claw machines, 31

  cockamaroo, 13n

  Cohn, Nik, 105–106, 106n

  coin acceptors, 37, 145

  Coleco, 85n

  competitions. See tournaments

  Complete Pinball Book, The (Rossignoli), 107, 238

  Comte d’Artois. See Charles X (king of France)

  Conditt, Jessica, 238

  Contact (1933), 21–22

  conversion kits, 61

  Costello, Frank, 24

  Crain’s Chicago Business, 111, 121

  Cuban, Mark, 208

  Cunningham, Gene, 125

  Cupids and Canines tournament, 41–42

  D. Gottlieb and Company, 19–20, 62, 62n, 69, 71–72, 105, 128

  D&D Pinball, Tucson, Arizona, 117

  Dankberg, Jody, 148, 152, 155–159, 161, 161n, 178, 181, 191

  Data East Pinball, 128, 151, 171

  DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) Pinball League, 96–97, 101

  death saves, 66

  Defender (1982), 111

  delirium pinball tournament, 131, 131n

  Dialed In (2017), 175, 177, 245

  digger machines, 31, 31n

  Diner (1990), 61–62

  Disney, Bill and Linda, 116

  Domino’s Spectacular Pinball Adventure (2016), 245

  dot matrix displays, 125, 171–172, 201, 202–203

  double-button press, 98, 98n

  drain, 2

  Driessen, Barry, 200, 201, 202

  Drop Kick (1934), 35

  Drop Target (zine), 173

  drop targets, 3, 74, 89

  drum score reels, 107

  Drunk History (Comedy Central), 91, 91n

  Duff, Michael, 35

  Dutch Pinball, 200, 201–202, 223n, 246

  Dziatkiewicz, Lukasz, 170n, 173n

  Economist, The (magazine), 144

  EightyTwo (venue), 116

  El Dorado (1975), 88, 89

  Elaut USA, 168, 170, 178

  Elwin, Keith, 45

  Emery, Charlie, 188–193, 209–210

  Emery, Kayte, 192, 193

  Epstein, Steve, 43–44, 46, 95

  extra balls, 37, 38, 38n

  Faris, Paul, 60n

  FAST Pinball, 208

  Firepower (1980), 111

  Flash Gordon (1981), 231–232

  Flipper City, 77

  flippers, 3, 69–71, 74, 98, 98n, 102–103, 131, 133

  Foley, Red, 98n

  Fontaine, Romain, 197

  Fonz Pinball (1977), 85n

  Fonzarelli, Arthur “the Fonz,” 85n

  free plays, 37–38, 49

  Free State Pinball Association (FSPA), 6, 54, 96

  Freeman, Mike (author’s friend), 6, 29

  frosted glass tournament, 131

  Full Throttle (2015), 196, 198, 205, 223

  fun, concept of, 33–34, 235–236

  Funhouse (1990), 87n, 121–122

  Funland, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, 4–5

  Gagno, Robert, 4
1, 231–232, 234

  gambling devices, 24–26

  Game of Thrones (2015), 149, 152, 158, 160

  George, Cayle, 65, 66

  Ghostbusters (2016), 214

  Gibala, John T., 25, 28, 34–35

  Goldstein, Murray, 32

  Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida, 39

  Gomez, George, 141, 142, 144, 160

  Gorgar (1979), 110, 199

  Gottlieb, Alvin, 38–39, 161

  See also Alvin G. and Company

  Gottlieb, David, 19

  See also D. Gottlieb and Company

  gradient lines, 90

  Guarnieri, Jack “Jersey Jack,” 79, 163, 164–172, 173, 175, 177–183, 210

  See also Jersey Jack Pinball

  Hackenburg, Frederick L., 34

  Hadbavny, Lee (author’s friend), 214, 215, 216, 219, 220, 230

  Happy Gang (1932), 63

  Harrell, Clay, 76–78

  Hauser, Jon, 26n

  He Called the Shot (oil painting), 92

  Headlam, Bruce, 144

  Heckendorn, Ben “Heck,” 189, 190–191, 192

  Hefner, Hugh, 60n

  Heighway, Andrew, 194–200, 205, 239, 246

  Heighway Pinball, 195–196, 246

  Heltzel, Koen, 201

  Hercules (1979), 74

  Herjavec, Robert, 208

  “Hidden Artwork on Pinball Machines,” 87n

 

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