# Episode 87 - Interview with Taylor Reese 5-31-15

**Source:** For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2015-06-06  
**Duration:** 68m 42s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-87-interview-with-taylor-reese-5-31-15

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## Analysis

Nick Baldridge interviews Taylor Reese, a longtime EM/pinball collector and River City Flippers league organizer, about his collection philosophy, preference for simpler gameplay mechanics, and his journey from casual player to enthusiast. They discuss the challenges of EM restoration, flipper feel differences across eras, and recommendations for new collectors interested in entering the EM market.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Taylor Reese is 43 years old, turned 43 in February — _Taylor directly states this early in the interview when asked his age_
- [HIGH] Taylor first seriously got into pinball in the early 1990s during college, specifically through Addams Family — _Taylor recounts his history, noting he played casually as a child but didn't get serious until '90s college years_
- [HIGH] Taylor's collection is primarily WPC solid-state, with a recent addition of a 1978 Stern Stars machine — _Nick asks about collection makeup; Taylor confirms WPC primary with Stern Stars addition_
- [MEDIUM] A working Gottlieb EM like Snow Derby typically costs $1,000-$1,200 — _Nick (as expert source) provides pricing estimate for functioning Gottlieb EMs, noting this reflects condition and mechanic verification_
- [HIGH] Nick Baldridge disabled flippers on a 1947 Exhibit Mystery machine because they were wired with continuous power (no impulse circuit) and a 50-amp fuse, creating fire hazard — _Nick explains technical details of the dangerous wiring; describes scorch marks under playfield as evidence_
- [HIGH] Taylor has tilted through and been DQ'd from a classics tournament at the York show due to tilting too aggressively on EMs — _Taylor recounts personal tournament experience_
- [HIGH] Taylor is winding down his competitive pinball focus and shifting toward playing for fun rather than rankings — _Taylor states early in interview: 'I'm not really worrying about it too much. I'm just enjoying pinball. Not so much having to win, but just having fun.'_
- [HIGH] Twinkie (peacock-theme EM) is an add-a-ball game with 2-inch flippers that requires sustained play to achieve score thresholds for extra balls — _Nick describes the Twinkie's mechanics and gameplay after Taylor mentions playing it_
- [MEDIUM] EM games with high-tap setting (transformer coil power adjustment) perform better at shows with voltage drops than low-tap settings — _Nick explains high-tap adjustment for EM coil power distribution and its effects on show performance_
- [MEDIUM] Grand Prix is challenging for new EM collectors because it's one of the last EM games Williams made before solid-state transition, with many complex mechanisms to maintain — _Nick advises against Grand Prix as first EM due to complexity and maintenance burden for inexperienced owners_

### Notable Quotes

> "I'm not really worrying about it too much. I'm just enjoying pinball. Not so much having to win, but just having fun."
> — **Taylor Reese**, early in episode
> _Reveals Taylor's shift away from competitive play toward casual enjoyment, a key theme of his collecting philosophy_

> "Nick is the guy who comes over to your house, you invite him over... Nick's the guy like you go up and you say hello and you're like instant friendship, instant conversation, it's all good."
> — **Taylor Reese**, mid-episode
> _Public compliment to host Nick Baldridge; illustrates community relationships and reciprocal restoration help_

> "It's amazing. There's scorch marks under the playfield. I mean, I'm glad that it didn't catch on fire, but it's got some battle scars."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, discussing 1947 Exhibit Mystery
> _Highlights hazardous wiring practices in vintage machines and restoration discoveries_

> "I had a flipper hop. Yeah. Yeah, that was frustrating. That was pretty frustrating."
> — **Taylor Reese**, discussing Stern Stars maintenance
> _Common EM maintenance issue; contact cleaning and coil power adjustment resolved it_

> "I'm always thinking, oh EM. Like on Craigslist you go, and somebody has a $200 EM and it's just a fuse, and then you realize every cable has been cut in the game."
> — **Taylor Reese**, late episode pricing discussion
> _Reflects frustration with damaged/butchered machines listed cheaply; illustrates hidden repair costs for apparent bargains_

> "Spinner, spinner, spinner, spinner. I love it. It's challenging, man. It kicks my butt every day."
> — **Taylor Reese**, discussing Stern Stars gameplay
> _Shows appreciation for simple, repetitive mechanics and challenge over narrative complexity_

> "If the flippers, if one flipper flips, even like kind of just wobbles, I'm good, man. I can be, I'll be satisfied for hours."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, discussing house rules
> _Illustrates community etiquette and casual play values; contrasts with maintenance obsession as designer_

> "They cut all the wires going to the head. Like, why would anybody do this? All you have to do is unplug these plugs, but instead, they went right below the plug and cut all the wires."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, late episode, discussing Chris's Grand Prix
> _Example of poor machine modification/destruction; illustrates avoidable restoration headaches from previous owners_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Taylor Reese | person | EM/WPC pinball collector, River City Flippers league organizer, competitive player winding down serious competition in favor of casual play |
| Nick Baldridge | person | Host of For Amusement Only podcast, local EM/pinball expert, restoration specialist, and community figure known for technical knowledge and friendly demeanor |
| River City Flippers | organization | Local pinball league that Taylor Reese helps run; features games like Grand Prix |
| Stern Stars | game | 1978 solid-state Stern machine recently added to Taylor's collection; features chime sounds reminiscent of EM era, simple gameplay with drop targets and spinners |
| Addams Family | game | Pinball game that sparked Taylor Reese's serious interest in pinball during the early 1990s |
| Grand Prix | game | Williams EM game with spinners and complex mechanics; featured in River City Flippers league; presents maintenance challenges for new EM collectors |
| Doctor Who | game | Solid-state pinball in Taylor's collection with pop bumper maintenance issue that Nick Baldridge helped fix during house visit |
| Twinkie | game | EM pinball with peacock-theme backbox animation, 2-inch flippers, add-a-ball mechanism, brought by Nick to York show and played at his house |
| Exhibit Mystery | game | 1947 EM game in Nick's collection with dangerously wired flippers (continuous power, 50-amp fuse) that Nick disabled; features wood rail design |
| Pop a Card | game | EM pinball with all drop-target design, add-a-ball mechanism, difficult gameplay |
| Police Force | game | Pinball machine in Nick's collection; Taylor played it but noted flipper feel very different from other titles |
| Matahari | game | EM pinball with saucers and spinners that Taylor has considered acquiring after watching tournament play at Fairfax Opens |
| Snow Derby | game | 1960s two-player Gottlieb EM with spinners, four saucers, three pop bumpers, and bonus travel mechanic; typically costs $1,000-$1,200 when in working condition |
| Pinburgh | event | Pinball tournament where Taylor played single-player EMs and experienced tilting, DQ'd from classics tournament at York show |
| York Show | event | Pinball show where Taylor and Nick met; Nick brought Twinkie; Taylor played in classics tournament and tilted through |
| Fairfax Opens | event | Tournament held in Northern Virginia where Matahari gameplay was streamed, watched by Taylor for strategy study |
| Williams | company | Pinball manufacturer; made Grand Prix (one of final EMs before solid-state transition) and other machines |
| Gottlieb | company | Vintage pinball manufacturer; made Snow Derby and other EMs; machines command premium pricing in used market |
| Pirate Land | venue | Mobile home park campground in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where Taylor's grandmother worked; featured arcade where young Taylor played pinball and arcade games |
| The Bird | venue | Local historic cinema where Nick worked as projectionist; context for his expertise in technical systems and noticing operational details |

### Topics

- **Primary:** EM (electromechanical) pinball collecting and restoration, Flipper feel and mechanics across pinball eras, Competitive play versus casual enjoyment in pinball, Game design philosophy: simplicity vs. complexity, Pinball machine maintenance and repair
- **Secondary:** Pricing and market value of vintage EM machines, Local pinball leagues and community, Pinball tournament play and strategy

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0)

### Signals

- **[sentiment_shift]** Taylor Reese explicitly states he is 'winding down the competitive side' and shifting focus from rankings/winning to pure enjoyment. This reflects a broader pattern in the community where players re-evaluate priorities. (confidence: high) — Taylor: 'I'm not really worrying about it too much. I'm just enjoying pinball. Not so much having to win, but just having fun.'
- **[design_philosophy]** Taylor expresses strong preference for simple game mechanics (Stern Stars, Grand Prix) with fewer rules and elements over complex modern rule-heavy games, valuing approachability and fundamental challenge. (confidence: high) — Taylor: 'there's just something about... the simplicity of it' and praising Stars for having 'five switches on the playfield' vs. modern games' 'stories that they tell'
- **[product_concern]** EM machines with more mechanisms (like Grand Prix) create higher maintenance barriers for new collectors without prior EM experience, limiting market appeal and creating recommendation challenges. (confidence: high) — Nick advises against Grand Prix as first EM: 'the more mechanisms you have in a game, the more difficult it is to maintain and understand'
- **[community_signal]** Strong evidence of reciprocal support and mentorship within local pinball community; Nick provides technical help at house visits, Taylor acknowledges Nick's community contributions publicly on podcast. (confidence: high) — Taylor's extended compliment: 'Nick is the guy... instant friendship, instant conversation' and example of Nick diagnosing Doctor Who pop bumper
- **[restoration_signal]** Discovery of dangerous electrical wiring in 1947 Exhibit Mystery (continuous power flippers with 50-amp fuse and scorch marks) illustrates serious safety oversights in vintage machine design/modification. (confidence: high) — Nick: 'continuous power... no impulse... wired into the GI with an extra heavy duty fuse, like 50 amps... scorch marks under the playfield'
- **[market_signal]** Taylor's expectation of cheap EM bargains ($200 on Craigslist) conflicts with actual market reality for functioning machines ($1,000-$1,200 for Gottlieb), with hidden repair costs on damaged machines inflating true acquisition cost. (confidence: high) — Taylor: 'I got into the hobby when you could pick up a piece, a WPC for a thousand bucks' and experience finding $200 EMs that need extensive cable repair
- **[technology_signal]** EM high-tap transformer adjustment technique allows operators to compensate for voltage drops at shows; proper setting becomes critical variable for playfield performance and shot accessibility. (confidence: medium) — Nick explains high-tap setting and notes his Twinkie 'performed really well' at show due to being on high-tap; affects flipper power and ball momentum
- **[gameplay_signal]** Significant differences in flipper responsiveness and feel across pinball eras (WPC snappy vs. EM softer) create distinct player experiences and learning curves; affects game difficulty assessment. (confidence: high) — Taylor values 'flipper feel' differences and wants to experience EM flippers; discusses weak right flipper on Stern Stars after contact cleaning improved response
- **[operational_signal]** Machines perform differently at shows vs. home due to voltage drops; EM games continue functioning under voltage stress (unlike WPC/modern games that reboot), but require high-tap adjustment for optimal playfield play. (confidence: medium) — Nick: 'Twilight Zone at a show can be... just reboots the whole time' but with EM 'it'll keep trying to go' even with voltage drop
- **[restoration_signal]** Instances of destructive previous owner modifications (cutting wires instead of unplugging connectors, butt-connector splicing) create significant hidden repair work and frustration for subsequent owners. (confidence: high) — Discussion of Grand Prix where 'they cut all the wires' instead of unplugging, then 'reconnected them with butt connectors' despite wires being 'looped stuff over each other'
- **[collector_signal]** Taylor collects across eras (1930s-1990s mix per Nick's description) with emphasis on playfield features (pop bumpers, spinners, saucers) over theme licensing; recent interest in EM acquisition indicates shift in collection strategy. (confidence: medium) — Taylor considering Matahari and Snow Derby; prioritizes mechanics over theme; Nick describes Taylor's collection spanning 'from the 30s to the 90s'

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## Transcript

 What's that sound? It's For Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to For Amusement Only. This is Nick Baldrige. And today I have a local collector friend of mine, Taylor Reese, on the horn. He is a collector who's been in the scene Taylor is a collector who's been in the scene for many years and he has a beautiful collection of games. He's also one of the members who runs the River City Flippers, which is one of the pinball leagues here in town. And he is also into competitive pinball. How are you doing, Taylor? I'm doing all right, man. I'm doing great. Excellent. So I hear from your latest podcast, Escapade, that actually you're kind of winding down the competitive side a bit. I just, yeah, I think that I'm not as competitive, as serious of a competitive player as I wish I'm not really worrying about it too much. I'm just enjoying pinball. Not so much having to win, but just having fun. That's the thing. Whatever keeps it fun is really of interest to me. Oh, yeah. It's a fun hobby. I got into it because it was fun. I didn't get into it because I was worried what I was ranked. Right. You know, and I'm not, I mean, it's not like I'm ranked highly, but like, when you're, when you're, yeah, I don't know. I'm just not, I'm just not into that anymore. Okay. There's nothing wrong with that. You know, every, there's so many different aspects in this hobby, you know, to be into. There's not just one thing that anybody, I think, can point to that they like other than the game itself. Well, I wanted to start off and ask you how old you were. How old I am now? Yes, at the moment. That's awkward. I'm 43. 43, all right. I'm 43. I turned 43 in February. Awesome. So when was the first time you remember playing a pinball machine? Oh man, I honestly do not remember. My grandmother, she lived in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. And she lived at, she had a farmhouse that was in like central South Carolina. She had a trailer in Myrtle Beach that was at a place called Pirate Land. And Pirate Land was a mobile home park. And she worked there. So she had a farmhouse because somehow, I have all these farmers in my family in the center of South Carolina. And somehow she ended up, she still had her farmhouse, but she worked at this like Pirate Land campground. And in the Pirate Land campground, we would go down there during the summer for maybe like two or three weeks. And they had an arcade. And so my brother and I, we would, you know, I think we were allowed to use the golf cart or something, but I don't remember how, I have a brother who's two years older than I was. I'm pretty sure he drove the golf cart. But we would, we would go or we'd ride bikes and we would go to this arcade and we would I'm going to go ahead and just play games. I don't remember pinball specifically, but I know I played it there. Because this would have been pre-arcade stuff. When did arcades come out? We had, oh yeah, when did arcade, when was the golden age? Like video? Yeah, video, like Pac-Man. I remember Pac-Man on location. But so it had, yeah, because I mean, I was born in 72, so I was definitely younger than that. So it was definitely pinball. So I think maybe what, I don't remember pinball specifically because that's all there was. You know, like that's what you had. But I do remember like going to the boardwalks and stuff and you know, playing, yeah, I remember playing pinball. But I didn't really get into it until really the 90s. I mean, like, 90 is when I went to college, and that's when I was, you know, I was going to arcades and going to the back of the arcade where the pinball machines were. And, I mean, that was really, like, early 90s, and then from then I've kind of, I've been into it, spent a lot of time doing that. That was my short story. That's why my podcasts are an hour and a half and yours are only 13 minutes, because I can just talk and talk and talk. Well, you know me, I can get talking too, but I try to keep the text short and sweet, and especially if I'm talking to myself, it's hard to keep that momentum up. I hear you. You can't point to any one specific title though. Not from the early days. I mean, from the 90s, it was the Addams Family. But from the early days, I just don't remember any specific title. Well, that's fair enough. So, now you have primarily a WPC solid-state collection. Yes, I do. You recently added a Stern Stars, which is a 1978 Stern, classic Stern. It is, yes. I love it. And that's got some of the classic chime sounds, which are reminiscent of the EM era. Yeah. Now, have you ever given thought to adding an EM to your collection? Oh, I would love to do an EM. I think that, you know, like space is always an issue. Well, yeah. Yeah, so, and I've, you know, I've always considered, I mean, I've always been intimidated by the EMs just because you open the back box or you look inside the cabinet and it's just filled with stuff. Yeah. And it's all mechanical. And you hear all these nightmares about, you know, if something goes out of adjustment then everything can get off kilter and then you have this, And then you just have a big paperweight. And I don't necessarily know how to work on that. I don't know how to work on WPCs, but I just figure it out. I think that EMs are just like, it seems like it's a different language. But like I've really enjoyed, like, I mean, it's still saws, sate, I guess, but the 78 Stern stars, I really appreciate the simplicity of it. And I actually got into the idea of just getting something like that, We have a mutual friend who has a Grand Prix and I love the Grand Prix. You know, I just love the simplicity to it and, you know, it's like spinner, spinner, spinner, all day spinner, collect, but it's just so difficult. It's just such a challenging game and, you know, I really, I like pinball so I'll play about anything. I mean, you know, but I like the simplicity of it. And Stars is a very simple game. I mean, you have two banks of three drop targets. You have two spinners and a pop bumper and then just five switches on the playfield. You have a couple rollovers. Yeah. But it's just simple. I mean, it's just like, you know, it's all about points. And I like that. I mean, I like, you know, the modern games. I like the stories that they tell and I like the deep rules set. But there's just something about, you know, building up your bonus and then just like Like figuring out, you know, what's that shot you need to make. Like Stern stars, you get the five targets, you get all five stars lit, you get your drops dropped enough to get to three times multiplier and then you're just killing the spinner. You know, it's just spinner, spinner, spinner, spinner. I love it. It's challenging, man. It kicks my butt every day. Well, yeah, Grand Prix is kind of similar now that you mention it in that it's got, You know, two spinners and you've got that bonus collect which Stars doesn't have but yeah, it's a fun game. And as far as Grand Prix, you know, I mentioned that you are one of the members that runs the River City Flippers. Does that come up as a league game often? Often it does. And yeah, I think people like it. I think people have grown to it. One of the tricks with Grand Prix that I've run into is that on his game, the right saucer will kick straight down the middle. And it's just, it's one of those things where it's just, it's such a simple game, but the recovery, I feel it's not there like a more modern game. So when that thing kicks out, you're done, you know, so that can be frustrating when it's already a hard enough game. Right. And the objectives are simple, but it's, it's, it's hard. It's hard. So when you make a shot, you know, so if you're going for that saucer and you make it and then it just, you lose your ball. That's really frustrating. When you only have, if you only have six elements on a table and one of them is not working, that's so frustrating. Like my, my stars, my pop bumper, like, um, it has a single pop at the very top of the playfield. It's about like, you know, seven eighths of the way up the playfield. So at the top, You shoot the ball and it comes out and then on your right hand side like two like ten o'clock on the pop bumper is a target so there's your white star and then you have a yellow and a green star maybe on the right side but when you plunge the ball if it comes out and it bounced off that there's a gate up there bounce off that gate a lot of times they'll come down the left side if it comes down the left side it'll hit that star the pop bumper will pop but when it comes and it'll roll down the right side of the pop bumper it It won't pop. It's just dead. Yeah. It's dead. And it sucks because the way that the playfield is configured is so you have your two targets and you have like a little post that's below the target and then your open playfield. And the way that that ball, if it comes off a dead right side of the pop bumper, it just seems like it just wants to go straight down the middle. And it has a center post in the game, but it still just finds that perfect spot between the left flipper and the center post. And like, my games are on Berber carpet, but I have got those like rubber pads under them, so you're not slide saving the thing. I mean, you're like really shaking it. And my tilt, even on that game, is pretty tight. And that's frustrating. And I keep messing with it, like I mess with the spoon. I mean, you know, I've got to say like, Nick is a treat of a person to have over to your house because, you know, Nick and I kind of, sorry, I'm just going to like give you some compliments. Nick is an outstanding guy and, you know, he's the guy who comes over to your house, you invite him over and I met, Nick and I, we talked a little bit before but then we ended up meeting at the York show, right? So we met at the York show and you know Nick's the guy like you go up and you say hello and you're like instant friendship, instant conversation, it's all good. And I had Nick over, we both like I've been over to his place, he's been over to mine and Nick was great like we were playing Doctor Who and on Doctor Who one of the pop bumpers wasn't really active, right? Yep. And so I, you know I'm like oh man let's just, you know I have nine tables or at that point I think I had eight, or no I had nine. I had nine, and so I'm like, man, let's just go play something else. Let's not even mess with this. And Nick is just like, you know, I'd really like to work on that pop bumper. You know, like, no, I don't want it. Let's work on this. You know, so Nick, we lifted the hood on the doctor, and Nick got in there, and, you know, we spent like 15 minutes, like, trying to adjust this pop to be as sensitive as we could make it. And it was great, and it was great. And I thank you. Thank you for being one of those guys who's just like, you know what, I'll go under the hood because knowing that this game is going to be playing well is as important to me as playing it. And I appreciate that. So thank you for doing that. Absolutely. So it's been nice meeting more people locally in the hobby. And you are definitely one of the good guys of the hobby, helped a lot of people out. And so yeah, so there's Nick. Well done, Nick. Yeah, man. Nick Vujicic, Once I finish blushing here, I'll... Oh, sorry about that. Nick Vujicic, No, it's... Yeah, you know me. I mean, I really dig into the technical side and that part really fascinates me. But also, you know, it's like when I go to play a game on location, now that I know what makes them tick, I know when they're broken. Oh yeah. And it drives me absolutely crazy. And I worked as a projectionist here at the Bird, you know, which is a local old... Oh yeah. ...for years, and it's the same thing. If I go to a movie now and in one of the big chains and watch it, I see every mistake that the projectionist has made. Now I don't want to have you over in my house anymore. Well, the good thing is I know how to- That's a lot of pressure. That's a lot of pressure. You, golly man. I was going to invite you over soon but- Well, I guess I ruined that. Yeah. But yeah, I need to have you over again too, because I've got two new machines since the last time you've been over. You know what? I don't... Yeah, I've been waiting for an invitation, but I... But, you know, I... Check your mailbox. You know what? I did check my mailbox, and I'm pretty sure I haven't seen an invitation lately. And I'm always up for playing to somebody else's house. Well, then you get to tell me how my pot bumpers are screwed up. I'm not going to say anything. If I go to somebody's house and they have their games on free play, my mouth is shut. You know what? I mean, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. If the flippers, if one flipper flips, even like kind of just wobbles, I'm good, man. I can be, I'll be satisfied for hours. Well, so yeah, so I have had you over and you've gotten to try all my games from the different eras. And I've got machines I think I've mentioned on the podcast before, but I've gotten from the 30s to the 90s. So I've got a nice mix of solid state with the later machines and a lot of EMs. What was your favorite last time you were over here? Oh, my favorite was easily police force. Yeah. No, I'm just kidding. Center ramp. Center ramp, center ramp. Oh, I mean, you know, I'm glad you have one, but I don't love the police force. But I had fun. I mean, but I love, you know, it's all pinball. It's all good. Right. But, you know, I really like the bingos. I mean, I think that I have an addictive personality, which, and I have a problem with gambling and so I don't do it. But the bingo's, I mean, you know, I couldn't have put nickels in that thing any faster. I mean, it was like literally like, I'm like, so, you know, bingo machines and like, I don't, I still don't understand anything that you taught me. Nick patiently went over everything I playing it For 15 minutes to me like there there buttons all over the machine there buttons on the coin door on the lockdown bar I mean there so much stuff going on and like the back box and he just like you know he explaining like we hit the yellow button and it does this and you hit the red I like all right how many how many nickels should I put in this thing like where where should I you know like where the cutoff yeah like I was just trying to think of a way to I figured out like what is it what does a normal bingo person put into a machine because you could just drop nickels all day right yep and so um and so as an addict as a gambling you know having that problem I'm willing to put nickels in all day um and I could have done that I mean I did really poorly like I couldn't get any balls to see where I wanted them and um you did You were in at least a pittance, didn't you? I won very little. Whatever I won, I just put it back. I mean, I was just like, you know, yes, I want to maybe possibly have a ball land in hole number 18 and it'll be yellow and then I can move the card because nothing is anywhere near that ball. And I love Nick because Nick is just like, oh yeah, he's like, this hole is, this is This is like the most popular hole that you want to go for. And my ball doesn't go anywhere near it. I mean, I'm like, I don't even understand. I mean, it's like Plinko on The Price is Right. And I'm like, I didn't win anything. Like I didn't win anything. I didn't even win like the blender. I like nothing. I won nothing. Yeah. I had a great time doing it and I could have just kept dropping quarters and I was just like I had to, I had to eventually walk away. But I, I enjoy, I mean, so I really enjoyed the bingos. I really like, I mean you've got a really nice collection. I mean very like, there's the one that has the retrofitted flippers on it. That's to the, that's behind the, or not behind the bingo's, but it's facing the bingo's by the store. Yeah. Now what was that, that was a... It's an exhibit mystery. It's a 1947. And it would, but it's just, yours is just, it doesn't have the flippers, but the flippers are still in there. What was in there? So I disabled them because of the way that they were wired in. You were light on fire. Yes. So no end of stroke. So it's all power all the time as long as you're holding the button. They're not impulse so they don't automatically go back down like Williams from that era. And they were wired into the GI with an extra heavy duty fuse, like 50 amps. Crazy. What are these people? How did people live? How did anybody survive? It's amazing. There's scorch marks under the playfield. I mean, I'm glad that it didn't catch on fire, but it's got some battle scars. That was a fun, that's a very pretty game though. And you redid the backglass on that, right? Yes. Did you reproduce it? Yeah, it was very nice. Very nice. And that, was that a, that wasn't a wood rail though? Yeah, it was. Yeah, that was really nice. And then the Twinkie, right? That's the peacock one. Yep. But is it called Twinkie? Yep. It's called Twinkie. It is called Twinkie. Yeah, so he had this game at the... That was the most recent York show. Yep. So he brought his game to the most recent York show, and I played it there, but I played it again at his house, and it's a really nice game. It has the peacock switch, which Which is the peacock button, which is really interesting. I think every game should have one. Yeah, what were the objectives of that on Twinkie? So Twinkie, this version is the add a ball. And so your goal is to just keep the ball in play for as long as possible. And you do that by achieving score thresholds. It's like winning a replay, but instead of, you know, being able to play a free game, You get another chance. Oh, it's got the little teeny tiny flippers. Yes, two inch flippers. You can't trap because it'll roll down the in lanes to the out hole. That is a brutal game. It's super. Oh yeah, that game was brutal. It's fast too. It's got that mechanical back box animation and so you push that peacock button to stop When you are at the highest point and it rotates if you'll recall. And yeah, yeah. So yeah, but it's just it's fast man and it's brutally difficult, brutal. So and you had a you had a you had the card game. What was the card game? Pop a card. Pop a card. That was yeah, that was a good one. Yep, that's another add a ball and it's all drop target. I'm not sure. I did not play very well on those. They're difficult, man. It's a different skill set. Yeah. Yeah, the pop-up card was, yeah, that definitely, that kicked my butt. They both did, actually. I think that's why I went on, got on police force and it's like, well, I think that the flipper feel is really different. It is. It's just so different. And I think like one of the reasons why I wanted to get a Stern Star as well, even though it's not, you know, as old as an EM, it's still the flippers just have a very different feel. Yeah. And that's something that I needed to add to my collection. And it is one of the reasons why I want to have an EM is just that flipper feel, like being able to go from a WPC where you're expecting like a real snappy, Yeah. Starving Wenn ver. We're working towards, you know, my fellowship. You know, it's like, oh, I bricked. I'm done. I bricked. I'm done. That's it. Or I just tilted through. That's the one thing about for me on E! because I'm pretty heavy handed. I'm heavy handed when I play. And that's my only thing is when I played the earlier games. At the York show I played in a classics tournament and I tilted through to the next player so I got DQ'd and that wasn't good. I played some single player EMs at Pinburgh last year and you know you tilt and your game is done. Done. Right. So I was playing, I can't remember the name, I played El Toro, it may have been like a boat theme or something and it was right next to Elvira and the Party Monsters. I had a good game on that and then I went over to this thing and I was just like and I tilted and my game was done. I mean, I was like, it was so bad. I had like 50 points or something. I don't even know if I had that. I mean, it was like first ball tilt, done. Was it Delta Queen by any chance? Man, I don't know. I could, I honestly don't know. I think that Popa, what was that one you mentioned? Delta Queen. Yeah, I don't know. It's a reverse wedge head, Williams. I don't know if it was a... I don't know if it was a... Oh, yeah, that might have been it. No, I think it was a different... No, it was different, because I don't think the back... the playfield was... it wasn't that interesting. It wasn't that interesting. That's a pretty fun-looking game, actually. It's really fun, yeah. Now, so what... I mean, so say I wanted to get an EM. You know my... what's in my collection. Sure. Nick would be a decent EM. Like you could get a decent EM for under five, right? If you're willing to put in some work. You know, that's the whole thing. So what if you don't want to put in any work? What if you want to, what if you want to, what if I wanted to pick up, if I came to you and said, Nick, what do I want to get? I want an EM that's going to be like relatively trouble free. I'll play it regularly. What would you recommend? Like under, oh jeez, I don't want to break the bank on it. So under a dollar but over 50 cents is it? Yeah, maybe. Maybe free on the side of the road. Like if I'm driving down the road and there's a bingo on the side of the road and I'm like, oh man, this game is worth me like pulling several back muscles to load it in my car. Like what EM am I looking for on the side of the road? Or maybe what should I pass by? Well, that's an excellent question. So, if you're someone without any EM repair experience, something like Grand Prix, though it's got a lot to do on the playfield, is probably not a good first EM game because it's one of the last EM games that Williams made before they went to solid state. And so, what that means for you, as someone who has to maintain The only thing that's really interesting about playing it is that there's a lot of stuff to break. Yeah, yeah. And the more mechanisms you have in a game, the more difficult it is to maintain and understand, especially if you haven't fixed a different game, you know, that's simpler. So, you know, people starting with a bingo may not want to jump into a magic screen game like the bounty, the one that you tried. Right. There's a lot going on. But an earlier game is probably more up their alley. And they're also lighter. So there is that. I'll take the lighter. Yeah. But as far as for your collection, are you thinking two inch flipper or three inch flipper? I mean I like the three inch flipper, but I would do it too. I mean I want the rules to be a little interesting. I think the thing that worries me about the shorter flippers is just like it seems very hard to get it back up to the top of the playfield. That might just be the games I've played and me not really knowing what I'm talking about. But I want to be able to get the ball to the top of the playfield. I know I've played some games where it may have been shows, so like more games that may have been underpowered or something like that. But I feel like once the ball gets to the lower half of the playfield, it's just like you're in that range. Like I want the ball, I want full table to play. So there's a couple things to note about that and the first is if you're talking about games from like the 40s and 50s, the wood rails, those are all about control as the ball is descending. Exactly, yeah. I don't know that I want to do a wood rail. There's no ascension game really. They're not engineered that way. Yeah, I hear you. But as far as 60s and 70s games, at a show, the issue is lack of power. Yeah, oh absolutely. That happens with WPC, that happens with modern games. Like Twilight Zone at a show can be... Just reboots the whole time. And yeah, I mean it's when you get that big voltage drop, but the thing about an EM is it'll keep trying to go. Right. So, uh... with an EM there's an adjustment called high tap uh... where you can change how much power is diverted to the coils okay uh... basically just changes the winding on the transformer that powers all the coils and uh... when that's set at a show typically the game is alright like my Twinkie that I brought you know performed really well I thought yeah and It was on high tap. Okay. Now, that also, if you have it on high tap at home, where you have kind of controlled conditions, it's going to be easier to get stuff up to the top of the playfield. Okay. But the other thing is, you know, you've got adjustments. So, it doesn't have to be super steep, you know, like a WPC game. The flatter that it is, the more upward momentum you're going to get from a flipper shot. Well, you know, like I said, my star is like really steep. Super steep, yeah. Yeah, super steep. And I know that you feel like it's a little steep, but you can definitely make all those shots. And I went in and I filed the contacts or whatever, I cleaned the contacts on the flippers. Awesome. And it gave me more power. Mm-hmm. I had a problem with the right flipper starting to get, it just felt, the shots felt weak. Esta hora podemos compartir término debere al el dia 4貴 Kings essencial de este video. Thank you for watching. I had a flipper hop. Yeah. Yeah, that was frustrating. That was pretty frustrating. So, and EMs, you know, with two-inch flippers, that can happen too. Yeah. So, yeah, then the thing, you know, if you throw theme out the window, which, you know, I kind of come to theme last myself, but what I tend to focus on is a particular feature. So you want something with backbox animation? Do you want something where you have chances to save the ball like an up post in between the flippers or zipper flippers? I want, I like pop bumpers and spinners. Pop bumpers and spinners you can grab on a lot of games. So I like saucers as well, like Mata Hari, right? Yeah. Because that was in the EM. It was. I mean, that's a fun game. I mean, I've played that title a bunch of times. And I've actually considered picking one up because there was one floating around kind of maybe locally. And yeah, so I considered it. And I've played it. My name is John Popadiuk. I'm a professional baseball coach. I'm a professional baseball coach. I'm a professional baseball coach. I've played baseball for a long time. I played it like I knew it was going to be in a tournament. And so I kind of studied up on the play a little bit. And I watched at the one of the last Fairfax Opens, which was a tournament that was held up in Northern Virginia. They streamed some Matahari play with some decent players and watching those guys play it you appreciate, you know what you can actually do on a game like that. Because a lot of times I just get on, it's just like survival. You know, it's like as soon as I plunge that first ball, I'm like, I just hope I survive five balls. Yeah. And, you know, I just hope for the worst for other people. That's all you can do. Hey. Yeah, so no, but I think that that's a fun game. I like, yeah, like so pop bumpers and like maybe a couple saucers where you like, you know, a bonus gets counted off. Have you thought about something like snow derby? Snow derby. That's a two-player Gottlieb from the 60s. And it's got a couple spinners and a bonus. I'm struggling to remember if it has saucers or not. I guess I do have the internet here. I going to tell you what it has It has a bunch of saucers It has four saucers at the top right Yeah Yeah those are saucers right And then it has the three pops Oh man I may have played this somewhere. It's a pretty, yeah, I mean, that's, and so basically you travel around, right? So is that your bonus in the center where you travel around like Indy 500? Yep. And, yeah, man, that looks cool. Yeah, so... I played something like this at Pinburgh as well because, like, in the middle of the Where it has those those out these gains you know like you've got it yeah like I played a game that's similar to that that had that shot in it that's a good shot yeah and then so if you get and then if there's a spot where if you show there's a spinner there's two spinners two spinners and a plunger return so what do these usually go for like what kind of price are you looking at on us on a snow derby well if you're if you're looking to You get an EM and you're looking at a Gottlieb, there's kind of a tax or a penalty that you pay for that. Because if you're looking for a working one, you're looking to spend probably, and this may be low, but $1,000 to $1,200. Really? Yeah. Wow. And why is that? It's a Gottlieb? It's a Gottlieb. Also, it's fully working. I mean, you know, someone's already gone through all the mechanisms and made sure everything's going and all that. But this is a fairly easy title to work on. And the gameplay is really fun. And it's got, you know, a little bit of everything that you talked about. Steve, I think for me what's hard is like when you're in a dollar range. I got into the hobby when you could pick up a piece, a WPC for a thousand bucks. Right. I think that for me, I'm always thinking, oh EM. Like on Craigslist you go, and somebody has a $200 EM and it's just a fuse, and then you realize every cable has been cut in the game. What you saw on Chris's Grand Prix where they cut all the wires going to the head. Like, and I love it because, it's in the back of the head and he's like, why would anybody do this? All you have to do is unplug these plugs, but instead, they went right below the plug and cut all the wires. Like, that would have taken so much more time than unplugging the plugs. Because then they reconnected them with butt connectors. Oh, it was crazy. So they had to strip all the wires and then... How to creep them. Every single wire. It was crazy and they... I know they looped stuff over each other so they removed all the tie downs and stuff, but anyway. That's crazy. But yeah, so, you know, I'm a cheapskate. Yeah, so am I. I'm a cheapskate. I am. But that's why I buy them broken, man. Well, see that's, okay, so that would be my question. So you know, I mean, I'll get my hands dirty. Like, I will buy games. Generally when I buy games, I buy them, I don't turn them on. Have a good game. So, sitting on his back so I can look at the playfield. Like I think that's what I find intimidating. Like I go to Allentown or I go to York and I see all these games out there and I'm like, man, $300, like that seems like a great deal on any pinball machine. What am I getting? You know, like what is scary? I think that I'm intimidated by that because I just don't know what I'm getting into. I can look at a WPC and say, okay, well it's got all the boards, it has all the parts, it's complete. We're going to have Jay Gjorgje or Rick Jones on阿 match the If you have a good playfield and a good back glass, most everything else is fixable. Even if stuff is missing, you know, for the most part, you can find a replacement somewhere. But the thing to look for are obvious missing pieces. So if you've got a situation where one of the score reels is not in the window, then, you know, someone's cut that out probably. And that's going to be one of the more difficult pieces to replace, especially if you're just starting in the EM repair, because you'll have to know how it all works. Right. And as far as the playfield goes, it's the same thing. Look for obvious missing pieces. If the game has two spinners, like snow derby, and one of them is gone completely, then you can get a new spinner. That's not the issue. The issue is the parts underneath. Exactly. Because often they're robbed if the part on top is robbed. Now as far as other units, for the most part, at least in my experience, and I've worked on many more games than just my own, the units inside are not typically missing unless they're just obviously gone. So like in that example with the score reel, I mean, you know, you look at it and something's not there. Right, yeah. Pretty obvious. And as I say, you know, most everything else can be made to work, even a situation where they slice all the Jones plugs like that. You can eventually figure it out. Right. But it's just more difficult. So, yeah, I mean, if you're just getting into it, it's probably best to get a machine that is mostly working. You know, it fires up. Right. It doesn't score correctly. You know, if you start with something with a smaller problem, it makes it easier. And then you can use the experience fixing that to kind of understand how all the mechanisms work together holistically. Right. So that would probably be my advice. Of course the other thing, if you get a nice title that I'd love to play then just have me over and I'll fix it for you. Tell me what are you looking for? What are you looking for in a $300 range? $300 range? I don't want to spend any money. I can't spend any more money on this hobby, man. It's too expensive. I'm done. Well, $300. I saw a ice review. It's gone, but there was one up in DC and it looked like it was in pretty good shape. It looked like it would have to have been carried up some stairs, but anyway, that one's gone. Let's see. I did see a Palm Springs bingo. There's one locally for $250, I think. But that's That's a big... The fact that you haven't picked that up makes me worried. Well, you know, you've been over. I have. I mean, I don't have a whole lot of space and I'm pretty bad about getting rid of stuff once I get it. So, that's the thing. I mean, you know, another thing is we could do some kind of temporary trade deal. I would do that. Yeah. But anyway, we can work out that detail off the air. Yeah, I like that. Yeah, I'll do that. But, you know, park a fully working AM at your house and I'll fix yours. Oh man. But that could be dangerous. Yeah, I need to pick one up, so I'll definitely, I will give you a call. Yeah, man. Well, you know, I mean, I've done that before. I'll send Nick an email. Just say, man, what about this game? What do you think? Yeah. I like them all. That's kind of my problem. So, you know, I find the good in most games. That said, I mean, there have been some that I've just walked away from, but it's pretty rare. So, would you be more interested in a multiplayer, you know, since, you know, you're probably thinking about league play especially? I mean, we've talked about that before. I think that, I mean, a single, I mean, it doesn't matter. I mean, the way that my league is set up, you're playing in groups. So the scores are just going to all be compared against whatever group you're in. So it doesn't matter. I mean, a two player, I think is nice. I mean, a single player would be nice because it's just not, it's more simple. It's also more simple to work on. But a two player, at least you're like, you have two scores competing right there. You know, there's something about that drama where you actually see... It's what they said. You know, it's more fun to compete. So... Yes. So I think I would like a two player... I mean, four player is nice, but it's not necessary because a lot of the times guys in the league, they get too confused by which player they are. Like on the Grand Prix, you get guys that are like playing balls out of turn and they're like, what, what, what am I, which one? So, I mean, maybe for my league after like, you know, it gets later in the night with a couple beers, maybe it'd be better just to be a one player. Straight forward, yeah. We would actually be able to play out of turn on a one player EM though. We set the bar high. So, yeah, and that's another thing. So, would you be more interested in a game that disqualified your game on tilt or one that disqualified your ball on tilt? I mean, I think either way. I think that either way. I mean, I respect the way that the game is set up. So, I mean, at this point, yeah, if you know that your game is going to end when you tilt, you're going to play it a lot differently. So I would certainly, you know, because then it's no longer about like, oh, if I just save my ball. Right. If it's about, you know, you could end your game, well, yeah, you're going to play tight. I mean, I think that, yeah, I think that's pretty challenging. You know, I think that that would, yeah, I mean, I would be for either. I wouldn't discount the game because it would tilt your game away at all. So basically you're saying you like everything. I like everything. I mean, I don't know that I want to do a bingo because I do like flippers. Like I'm a big fan of the flipper. I love the flipper. You know, I think the bingo is great, but I do, I mean, I think that the bingo, like if I made people bring their own nickels. Well, you can get those on free play too. I'm just... Yeah, but there's something about, there's something about that game where when you're gambling like that and you're putting money in where it actually, if it means more to I'm just trying to build up replays, but I like flippers. I want to flip. I do want to flip. So I think we've already been through this, but just to clarify, so a flipperless wood rail would not be in your wheelhouse? No. No. www.willywonka.com So, I think I want to have some flips. So, I'd want it to flip. It could be at least a two-footer, pop bumpers, spinners, a couple saucers. I mean, I would do a race car theme. I'm not into racing, but I have an Indy 500, so I've, you know. I mean, that's a good theme. The theme really doesn't matter. I mean, some of the themes are kind of, you know, they're a little goofy. But, yeah, I'd probably be open to whatever. I think you should give a good hard look to that snow derby. I think that would be a good fit for you. Man, I will, you know what, I will keep an eye out for a snow derby. I feel like I saw one recently. Let's see, how many of these were made? A thousand units. That's pretty good. Yeah. Your chances are pretty good. There was also a, it was either a single player or a four player version called Snow Queen, I want to say. Snow Queen, yep, and that was a four player. And they made more of those, I think. Yeah, fourteen hundred and eighty. Fourteen eighty. Yeah. And the play field is the exact same. Yes. Right, so it's just four player. Yep. And I feel like I may have played this game. You know what? I played a volley. That's a good game too. That's a good game, right? I played that at the After Effects Pinball Open as well. I think they had that in the free play area. Mm-hmm. And now, Sinclair, right? Or do they have a... Now, it has drops, right? Drop targets, 5 Bank in the middle. I think so. You're testing my knowledge here. Let's see. I've got it up on my screen already. So you're cheating. Well, no, it has more than 5. Whoa, this has got a lot going on. It's got 15. It's got one on either side. It's got one, oh, that's a, yeah, a volley. I think there was a volley I saw on Craigslist recently. Yeah. The Valley Company, Subsidiary of Walter Kidde & Co., Inc., Mirco Playfields, Tim Kitzrow, Scott Danesi. So EMs are not necessarily, you know, binary creatures. They do have adjustments that allow you to change it to four ball play, for example, and five ball, three ball, you know, whatever you want. Up to eight or more. It just depends. And that's just one example. But I mean, you have replay thresholds just like on your WPC games. I mean you can set whatever replay threshold you want. So I found a volley for sale, $950 or best offer, sold as is. It says it's in very good condition. Playfield is a 9, backglass is an 8, and cabinet is an 8. I'm guessing that one or more things is broken? Yeah, I don't know. I can't tell the listing. I want to say Volley has a commonly broken plastic. April 19, 2015. Look, I'm getting a free plug for this guy. I mean it still listed so I assume it Yeah it still listed so I don know Maybe I hit them up There a plastic right under the center pop Yeah. And that's pretty typically broken. Yeah, it's similar to Dracula's, right? Oh, yeah, it's, yeah. Dracula, I think, may have been based on this game. I'm just joking. Now you know where they got their inspiration. I do. But yeah. Look, that's a fun game. I played that. Yeah, I think they had one of those at the FPO, and I know that we were like, my friend Hugh and I, we were kind of hooked on it. Like, yeah, this is ... No, wait, it wasn't ... Oh, man, I can't remember. I can't remember if he was up there. But yeah, it was a fun game. Yeah. Um, Volley's a good one. Uh, it's obviously a later EM. Um, let's see, what is that? 76. So, uh, Gottlieb actually made EMs for another two years, but the other manufacturers were switching to solid state at that time. Um, so what you can see is the, the flippers on Volley are actually the same flippers that they carried through System 80, um, all the way up to System 3. Right, yeah. So those kind of fat, gauntly flippers are present. But yeah, that's a good one. Lots of drops. A lot of drops. I will say the drops were not mentioned as a criteria for you, so... You know what? I do like drops. I do. I, you know, I had an issue with mine on my Stern Stars when John Popadiuk, Bob Betor, Knapp Arcade, And, um, but yeah, drops are, yeah, I love drops. Yeah, I think drops are, yeah, drops are good. I think, I think drops are right up there with pop bumpers. Like, I like pop bumpers, but drops, yeah, drops are good. I definitely, I have to have drops, man. Oh yeah. I changed everything, right? Cause now Snow Queen is out. Oh well. Sorry about that. What about a sharpshooter? That wasn't, it was, that's not an EM though, right? No, sharpshooter solid state. There is a sharpshooter that was made in the 40s, but I'm guessing you're not talking about that one. That's a Gottlieb? Yeah. All right, look, I'm quick. No, I'm not talking about that one. That one does not look very good. Game plan? Um, I'm not sure. But it... No, it's a Gottlieb. It's a 19... 1949? Yeah, that's the 40s one I was talking about. Oh yeah, it has those crazy... it has the flippers where they're pointing out instead of in? Yes. I bet. That just messes with your head. Yeah, I can't even... That's a really fun game. It's really difficult but super satisfying when you win. Now, do they have pop bumpers at the... I mean, will the pop bumpers kick the ball back up Up above the flippers? Those are passive bumpers, I believe. Oh, okay. So just... I think those are pops, but I might be remembering wrong. You hear me frantically clicking. I'm looking. I think... it says there's two pops. They must be the ones at the bottom. I think they're active. And yeah, they do... They don't look active. I don't know. They don't have the typical flange that I look for in a pop. You have seven at the top, seven pop bumpers at the top and like that bullseye configuration. Right. And then, yeah, that's a crazy looking game. So you have two flippers that are facing outward with a- Reverse articulated. Reverse flippers, yeah, and then at the bottom, so then it looks like maybe four inches below that you have, they're not slingshots, but they're rubbers. Are those lights, the 8 and the 9? Or are those switches? Those are switches. And they use the same kind of lamp shields that the bingos use. Right. So it's the same plastic but with a number printed on it instead. And then on the outside, it says two pop bumpers. And so maybe the pops up top are plastic. I see them now. The bottom two red bumpers. The rest are passive, I guess. Yeah, that's really interesting. So yeah, but that was at York last year too. Oh, it was? Yeah. Oh, I don't remember that one. It is super crazy fun. It is really hard. Yeah, I don't know that I could do that. Oh, I think you could. Oh, well, you know, maybe. I think you'd do well with it. It's one of those ones where you just keep pressing start, you know? You just can't help yourself. Oh, yeah. I think that's one of the allures about those simpler games is that it can end so quickly and you're just like, oh, there's only three things I need to do. I know what I need to do. Yeah. So it's not like, I think that that's one of the things that really does draw me to them, more so now, just because I've been collecting for a while. It's just, yeah, it's just simple. There's no like trying to like think about like 20 steps down the rule set, you know? It's just about, like I said earlier, you know, target, target, target, spinner, spinner, spinner, spinner, spinner, spinner, spinner, you know? Alright, well, yeah, we'll have to, we'll have to, you'll have to help me out. We'll start looking. We'll start looking. Maybe that'll be a goal by this time next year. I'll have an EM in the game room. That'd be awesome, man. It's good to have variety. Oh, absolutely. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Like, I think Starz adds a great variety to your current lineup. Oh, and it's just, I mean, I will camp on that game all night. I'll come down and I'll just camp on it. I'll just turn that game on. And I have it sitting next to my Doctor Who, which I did a full restoration on, and then on the other side of that is my Wizard of Oz. Thank you. And there's Stern Stars, and it's just so good. Yeah, it's a great game. I've got to get that pop-up worked out, though, because that's going to drive me crazy. I keep tweaking it, though. I have to have you over just because I'll get you to play that. That'll be the first game I'll put you on and then you'll sit there. Yeah. Oh, man. So, it's, um, that's an early solid state and, uh, it probably doesn't have high power contacts on the pop. And the thing about those early solid states is depending on who the operator was, they might have cleaned them incorrectly at some point in your life. So I don't know if you've tried replacing the contacts. I think I did. I think I replaced it when I... Because I completely stripped the Playfield. That's right. I tore it down. I did a complete rebuild of the drop targets, the pop bumper. I went in and I... It's one of those angled pop bumper caps. And so the problem with a lot of them is you'll see that they're burned. They have those burn marks on them. So I went in and I retro... I put in, like I got new bodies and everything from PBR and, but I rewired it so it would take a 555 LED. Now, you know, the thing that I told you later on is that they actually make shorter incandescents called 51s. You did. Yeah. But it was too late. I know. Well, yeah, so I did that and then I put in a quick connect so it wasn't just hardwired, so I just put in a two pin Molex so you could take that whole thing out. Oh, that's a good idea. Yeah, and I replaced the switch. I mean, I took basically everything off. I mean, I did a full rebuild on the flippers and then I took the drop targets completely apart, cleaned and polished everything, replaced the actual targets and they're shorter. John Popadiuk, Bob Betor, Keith Elwin, Laser Los, Bowen Kerins, Lyman F. Sheats Jr., orbit ramps, Automated Amusements, Python Anghelo, Joe Kaminkow, Jim Kitzrow, Jeff Keefer, and Kenny Keefer. John Popadiuk, Bob Betor, Keith Elwin, Laser Los, Bowen Kerins, Lyman F. Sheats Jr., orbit ramps, Automated Amusements, Python Anghelo, Joe Kaminkow, Jim Keefer. They are shorter than the original ones. I ended up the coil, the plunger mech. Not the stop, the actual plunger, the plunger, right? The plunger itself. The plunger itself. I cut that off. I made that shorter so that when it was drawn up, is that right? Is that what I did? The plunger, right? The plunger itself. Yeah. The plunger itself. I cut that off. So, I made that shorter so that when it was drawn up... Is that right? Is that what I did? I thought you ground down the stop. Maybe I ground down the stop. Oh, I did. I ground down the stop so that it would suck up more. Right. Right? So that the travel would be longer. So, the travel would be longer so it would kick them up a little bit more so that the little ledge would sit better. John Popadiuk, Bob Betor, Keith Elwin, Laser Los, Bowen Kerins, Lyman F. Sheats Jr., orbit ramps, Automated Amusements, Python Anghelo, Joe Kaminkow, Tim Kitzrow, Scott Danesi. John Popadiuk, Bob Betor, Knapp Arcade, John Popadiuk, Bob Betor, Keith Elwin, Laser Los, Bowen Kerins, Lyman F. Sheats Jr., Like he wasn't going to use those anymore, so he sent me like, so I've got like four backups. Huh. Well. So, that was fun, man. It was, yeah, I mean, I'll get my hands dirty. Yeah, see, and you know, you go through that kind of story and, you know, you're talking about being worried about working on an EM, it's, it's kind of funny, man. You'll be fine. You will hold my hand the entire way, I hope. I will, I will. I'll be gentle. So, the thing with drop targets too, I mean, if you do get a Gottlieb, you'll see a difference in the design. Yeah, okay. I mean, it's amazing. They're so much nicer. You know, those are kind of the Bally style because Stern basically took everything Bally. Yeah. Hell yeah. Yeah. So, but yeah. So, you don't think a bingo's in your future? I see a bingo's in my future when I come over to your house. Fair enough. Like I'm happy that I know a guy who knows how to work on them and will keep them running smoothly so I can come and enjoy them. And I'll put your nickels in. Hey, that's always fun. So yeah, this new one, you'll have to come try it out because it's got a six coin max. So it only accepts six coins. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, so it changes the gameplay considerably. And that's got to be a later game, right? Well, they made those from the beginning up until the end. Where they limit the amount of coins you could put in? Mm-hmm. Oh, that's interesting. It's because they limited the features. So it's also a simpler game to understand. All those pictures I keep posting are me winning on it. Oh I see, I saw that. You posted one today where you got the first like column all lit, right? Five in a row, yep. Now what was the payout for that? So the normal payout was $120 but this machine has a feature where you can double or nothing. And you went for double or nothing. And I went and it gave it to me so I got $240 which is pretty good. I know you're watching this because each one instead of being a nickel is a quarter on this one so that's quite the payout. Oh yeah, that's very cool. Yeah, I got to get over there. Yeah man. Well, as far as EMs go so you know hopefully you'll get one at some point in the future. If not, you're always welcome. Come over here and enjoy. I appreciate it. You're always welcome to come over here as well. Even if my games are all working, you're still welcome to come over. You mean I can just come play them? That's the idea. I just wanted you to come and play them. And then you're just like, no, we got to fix that. I'm like, ah man, come on, let's go play. And I think we went to play something else and that wasn't working properly. And I was like, ah, of all nights. Keep moving down the line, keep moving down the line. It eats at me, man. I can't let it go. Of course, then you come over and I have the same thing happen to my stuff. That's just the way it is. That's the way it is. It's pinball, man. Yeah. Stuff breaks. Well, Taylor, I've really enjoyed talking with you tonight. Hey, man. It's been a pleasure. Thanks for asking me. Absolutely. I'll talk to you soon. All right, Nick. I'll talk to you later, man. Thanks again. Yep. So, right after we closed out the recording, I realized I forgot to talk about quite a There are a few things that Taylor's involved with as far as the hobby goes, and so I wanted to take this opportunity to correct this mistake and spend a moment and talk about Reese Rails, which is Taylor's oak replacement playfield rail service that he provides. www.willywonka.com RVA on Pinside. Now, Taylor is also very active on Instagram with the username Richmond Pinball, all one word. And he also hashtags Reese Rails, again all one word, on Instagram to show off some of his work. You can also find information on some of Taylor's goings on on RVAPinball on Facebook or RVAPinball.org. There's a blog run by another local collector who I hope to have on one day here soon. And it talks about River City Flippers and other happenings here in the Richmond pinball scene. So, thank you again, Taylor, for your time. And for those of you on pin side, you can see an example of Reese rails in the thread Oak Replacement Playfield rails, which Taylor posts some photos of some of the rails that he's made. And again, they're just absolutely gorgeous. So I plan to give him some of my rails from Gigi because mine are super rough. And, uh, get those remade into something nice and pretty. So thank you again for joining me. My name again is Nick Baldridge. You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com. And you can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on our website, which is 4amusementonly.libsyn.com. Thanks again for listening, and I'll talk to you next time. www.subsedit.com

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 07409ff3-eafd-42cb-b194-7acb4112712b*