# Episode 126 - Interview with Vic Camp 2 - 7-9-15 **Source:** For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast **Type:** podcast_episode **Published:** 2015-07-15 **Duration:** 111m 15s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-126-interview-with-vic-camp-2-7-9-15 --- ## Analysis Vic Camp discusses his favorite bingo machines, focusing on six-card games like Light of Line and Dixieland due to their quick pace and higher play frequency. He describes recent collection management efforts, including reorganizing his garage to accommodate new acquisitions, and discusses a 10-game bingo collection available for sale from a deceased collector's estate in New Jersey. ### Key Claims - [MEDIUM] Bally made no six-card bingo games between 1961 and 1971, creating a 10-year gap — _Vic Camp explaining the rarity of six-card games from that era_ - [MEDIUM] Light of Line was on route in Newark for 10 years straight during the 1961-1971 gap — _Vic Camp describing his personal connection to the game_ - [LOW] Continental bingo was made in 1980 with 10,000 units produced and distributed to Belgium — _Vic Camp's recollection of Continental solid-state game details_ - [MEDIUM] Dixieland was the last electromechanical six-card game made by Bally in 1978 — _Vic Camp discussing the timeline of six-card game production_ - [MEDIUM] Golden Gate is the most collectible magic screen bingo game, followed by Silver Sails and Bikini — _Vic Camp assessing rarity and desirability of specific titles_ - [MEDIUM] Golden Gate bingo machines typically sell for $750-$1,250 when in running condition — _Vic Camp estimating market value from Lou's estate collection_ - [MEDIUM] Vic has restored over 150 pinball and bingo machines in his collecting career — _Vic Camp mentioning his personal restoration history_ - [MEDIUM] New Continental Golden is a late 1980s or early 1990s solid-state six-card bingo game with significantly more features than mechanical versions — _Vic Camp comparing solid-state to electromechanical features_ ### Notable Quotes > "I like the six-card games more because that's something that I grew up playing... I lean towards the six-card games because it's a quick-paced game. You get to play more, and I love to play." > — **Vic Camp**, early in conversation > _Core philosophy explaining Vic's collecting and playing preferences_ > "There was a gap where they didn't make any six card games. So the operators had to keep those going... They were really, really en route for a long time." > — **Vic Camp**, early discussion > _Historical context on six-card game scarcity and operator demand_ > "The magic number is the machine will, once you insert the coins and get the ninth and tenth feature magic number, when you shoot the ball out of the gate... it flashes either 1, 7, 9, 25 and 22." > — **Vic Camp**, mid-conversation > _Technical explanation of Dixieland's feature mechanics_ > "I really didn't gain that much space, but in my eyes I'm looking at this through a microscope. Any inches, 4 inches, 8 inches, 12 inches, that's a lot of space for me." > — **Vic Camp**, discussing garage reorganization > _Shows obsessive attention to collection optimization_ > "I calculated all my hours. I played pool for 40 years on Tuesday night... I wish I could have documented how much I played on the bingo. It was an insane number." > — **Vic Camp**, reflecting on playing history > _Illustrates Vic's deep, lifelong engagement with bingo machines_ > "This is no warehouse find, fellas. This is a nice find... You sell one or two or three bingos, you're going to get your money back guaranteed you'll have five for yourself." > — **Vic Camp**, discussing Lou's estate collection pricing > _Market opportunity assessment for bulk bingo purchase_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Vic Camp | person | Bingo pinball collector and restorer; guest on For Amusement Only podcast; has restored 150+ machines; focus on six-card games | | Nick Baldridge | person | Host of For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast; previously had Vic on episode 46 | | Michael Camp | person | Vic Camp's son; helped with garage reorganization; interested in bingo restoration; filmed as young restoration assistant | | Lou | person | Deceased bingo collector from New Jersey; maintained collection of 10 bingo machines; passed away approximately one year prior | | Jim | person | Owner of Dell Music Company in New Jersey; bingo enthusiast; affiliated with Asbury Park Museum; part of North Jersey collector circle | | Dennis | person | Collector friend who provided Silver Sails playfield to Vic; generous within the community; known for fingerpins work | | Light of Line | game | Six-card bingo machine by Bally (1961); Vic's favorite; on route in Newark for 10 years; held in his collection | | Dixieland | game | Six-card bingo by Bally (1978); last EM six-card game; features 11-coin maximum with magic number and double-double mechanics; in Vic's collection | | Silver Sails | game | Magic screen bingo by Bally (1962); highly collectible; twin game with desirable artwork; in Vic's collection; recently acquired via Dell Music | | Golden Gate | game | Magic screen bingo; most collectible of the genre; similar to Silver Sails; estimated $750-$1,250 running value; part of Lou's estate collection | | New Continental Golden | game | Solid-state six-card bingo (late 1980s/early 1990s); Belgian manufacture; advanced features beyond mechanical games; in Vic's collection | | Continental | game | Solid-state bingo by Bally (1980); 10,000 units produced; distributed to Belgium | | Blue Chip | game | Bingo machine; recently acquired mint condition example; also a Williams pinball title in Vic's collection; collection space constraint | | Coney Island | game | Bally bingo machine; second bingo title; first to feature extra balls; in Vic's collection | | Bikini | game | Magic screen bingo; highly collectible; top three desirability with Golden Gate and Silver Sails; in Vic's collection | | Gay Time | game | Magic screen bingo; multiple copies appearing in New Jersey market; Vic has encountered three in two weeks; in Lou's estate collection | | Bonanza | game | Bingo machine in Lou's estate collection; 1970s Bally title; features bells; in excellent condition | | For Amusement Only | organization | EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast; hosts long-form interviews with collectors and enthusiasts; episode 126 features Vic Camp's second appearance | | Dell Music Company | organization | New Jersey-based music company; over 50 years in business; involved in collector community; connected to Asbury Park Museum | | Asbury Park Museum | organization | Museum in New Jersey; Jim affiliated with organization; part of local collecting infrastructure | | Bally | company | Major pinball manufacturer; produced six-card and magic screen bingo machines from 1960s-1970s; referenced extensively for game timeline and design | ### Topics - **Primary:** Six-card bingo machines vs. magic screen bingos, Bingo machine design features and mechanics, Collection management and organization, Vintage bingo game pricing and value assessment - **Secondary:** Bingo machine restoration and maintenance, New Jersey collector community and networks, Bally bingo production history and timeline, Estate sales and collector acquisitions ### Sentiment **Neutral** (0) ### Signals - **[collector_signal]** Vic Camp reorganizing garage to consolidate 6+ bingo machines for better access and space efficiency; moving non-bingo games to other rooms to prioritize bingo display (confidence: high) — Detailed discussion of moving Lady Luck to family room, reorganizing games across multiple rooms (garage, basement game room, family room, game room 4), re-leveling machines - **[market_signal]** Large estate collection of 10 bingo machines available from deceased collector Lou; positioned as affordable bulk purchase opportunity with individual machines having significant resale value (confidence: high) — Vic describing Golden Gate at $750-$1,250 valuation; collection positioned as cheap bulk deal where reselling 2-3 games covers entire package cost - **[collector_signal]** Vic experiencing space pressure from recent acquisitions (three-game package from Florida collector); Blue Chip mint condition creates urgent desire despite full collection (43+ games) (confidence: high) — Discussion of needing to rearrange multiple games and rooms just to fit Blue Chip; acknowledgment that he may need to exchange games; admits going back to acquisition mode after period of restraint - **[historical_signal]** Bally ceased six-card bingo production 1961-1971 (10-year gap); Light of Line notably remained on route for entire period due to scarcity, then six-card line resumed 1971 with Stock Market (confidence: medium) — Vic's detailed timeline: 'Valley didn't make any other six cards from that time period from 1961 to 1971. There was a gap where they didn't make any six card games' - **[gameplay_signal]** Dixieland six-card game features 11-coin maximum with escalating feature complexity: cards (coins 1-6), red diagonals (7-8), magic number (9-10), double-double (11); solid-state New Continental Golden expanded beyond mechanical limits (confidence: high) — Detailed mechanics explanation of magic number (random 1,7,9,22,25 multiplier) and double-double card system doubling payouts; New Continental Golden extends to 10-ball play vs. traditional limits - **[collector_signal]** Clear collector market hierarchy: Golden Gate most desirable, Silver Sails and Bikini close second tier; Gay Time appearing frequently in market; Golden Gate carries highest estimated value ($750-$1,250) (confidence: medium) — Vic stating Golden Gate 'probably the most collectible next to... Silver Seals... and Bikini... in that top three'; Golden Gate valuation estimate vs. other games in Lou's collection - **[community_signal]** North Jersey bingo collector community described as tight-knit, multi-generational network; Jim at Dell Music serves as connector/broker for community sales; Dennis notable for generosity across community (confidence: high) — Vic discussing 'close circle of collectors that we've all been together a really long time'; Jim contacted him about Lou's collection; Dennis giving playfield without payment expectation - **[restoration_signal]** Vic approaching 60 years old; acknowledging physical limitations affecting restoration work capacity; back issues limiting heavy work; historically worked 14-hour weekends for 10 years managing 150+ games; now pulling back (confidence: high) — Vic: 'I'm closed in on 60, I don't really feel like doing too many more games. Kind of burnt out a little bit'; 'I can't move like I used to'; lower back pain returning from reorganization work - **[product_concern]** Gay Time from Lou's collection has playfield 'stripped naked' (no art/graphics); uncertain if internal components missing or intact; requires investigation before purchase decision (confidence: medium) — Vic noting 'The play field is stripped naked. It's nothing but a board. So I don't know if it's inside the cabinet' - **[market_signal]** Silver Sails backglass NOS (new old stock) located through collector network after original broken; playfield swap negotiated with Dennis; indicates parts availability through community connections (confidence: high) — Vic obtaining NOS Silver Sails backglass from connections; trading Golden Gate playfield for Silver Sails playfield with Dennis --- ## 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 with me tonight I have a special guest. Vic Camp joins us again. He was last on in episode 46. And Vic is here tonight to talk with us a bit more about bingos How are you doing, Vic? I'm doing very well, and Nick, yourself? Doing well So, Vic, I wanted to get started tonight And just talk about some of your favorite bingo machines And why they might be your favorites Oh, okay, I'm going to start right off with that you know, I had quite a few and there's still a lot out there that I didn't play. So usually I can only really talk about the ones I've played and had. Right now I like just about all of them. I really don't find any of the games that I have now in my collection of bingos be nothing but want to be played all the time. especially now since the move so I probably like the favorite of six cards more because that's something that I grew up playing you know I didn't experience all the other one card games and magic screen games and all that stuff until later on but I do play them but in home use I like the six card games so I'm constantly playing my light of line which I really love dearly and holds a close spot in my heart because that game was on route in Newark for 10 years straight because Valley didn't make any other six cards from that time period from 1961 to 1971. There was a gap where they didn't make any six card games. So the operators had to keep those going, huh? Yeah, exactly. I mean, they were really, really en route for a long time. And they even turned them into quarters when it got to the later 60s and early 70s, probably right around that time. It went from a dime to a quarter. But I like the Dixieland a lot, too. I have that game in my collection. I had Nashville. I like that game. You know, six-card games are pretty much all alike. There's not that much difference in them like there is with the Magic Screen Games or the Magic Pockets or Magic Lines, you know, all them other games that Valley manufactured. And like I said, I lean towards the six-card games because it's a quick-paced game. You get to play more, and I love to play. That's the whole thing behind it. I mean, I don't really get anything standing in front of a bingo machine putting in 100 nickels to get one big game. Sometimes I don't have enough time for that, for patience anymore. Sort of like the six-card games I've been leaning to and playing a little bit more than them other games. But it varies. Sometimes I flip-flop and go back to the other games in my collection. I have Silver Seals. I love that game. I think that's a great game. I have Bikini. I mean, that's a great game. Also Bikini. And Golden Gate, which is very similar to Silver Seals If not identical So, I mean You know, all the Bengals are really great players No matter which way you look at it So it's really I don't know, for me it's hard to say what my favorite is But I lean towards the six-card games today Because they're a quicker pace I get to play more games You know, maneuver the balls around through the Nays-like field of numbers there I really enjoy playing I like scoring and hitting some games for some replays. So, you know, the other games are a little bit more. I have to be in a mood to play Silver Seals or something. But, you know, I've got to say, the gate time is a quicker-paced game than the Silver Seals. It seems like the Silver Seals, I'm always trying to get big odds for one big game. and I'm standing there putting a lot of nickels in to get that game. And then you get just to play the five balls and then maybe three extra balls and then you have to start over and build another big game up, you know. Yeah. Dixie Park games, it's like with Dixieland, it's 11 coin maximum. So you put 11 coins in, that's it, and you can win 2, 400 games. So to me, that's enticing as a player because I'm always looking at the Bengals through a player's mind, you know, because I really love playing. I mean, I collect them and everything. I love the mechanics and everything I'm working on, but I really love to play them, you know. And so, Vic, which ones do you have in your collection right now? I know you mentioned Silver Sails and Bikini and Dixieland and Lightline, but do you have any others at the moment? Yeah, I have Gay Time, and I have the New Continental Golden, which is a GAA game. It's in Belgium. They made these electronic bingos. Now, that game I really, really enjoy because what it does is the six-card games are pretty much limited. From Leiderlein in 1961 up to Dixieland in 1978 or whatever that year was, they made that game, which was supposedly the last electromechanical six-card game. there really wasn't too much of a difference. You know, a lot of lines are straight up forward. There are six card games. You get the first three cards for the first three dimes, and then your fourth, fifth, and sixth card you get at random. And that game will give the player a selected spot in the center, which means that at random the machine will either light any center number on any of the six cards. so you really want to play all six cards at the start and it comes up pretty easily even though it's like what they call it on the flyer a mystery fourth, fifth and sixth card to try to get them to like to play them cards they pretty much come up frequently and that's factory too you know right but what I'm trying to say is from that point on that six card game it had two features It had the select spot number, which came up at random. There was no knob on the door. And then it also had the yellow super lines, which was really enticing to try to go for on that game. And that's it. So it's a straight-up six-card game, two features. And then in 71, when they brought back the six-card game after 10 years, they opened up with Stock Market, I think. And Stock Market had the double-double feature. And then they had corners they added on. Super Lions were there again So they added another feature To the six card game And they did that right up to Dixieland in 78 But they really didn't put that much more into the features Because I don't think they could have Fit any more mechanical units In the game So my point is Getting back to why I love The new Continental Golden The solid state game I think it's a late 80's Or early 90's game and the reason being is because now the six card game has a nominal amount of features than the mechanical six card game because you can put them in on the circuitry, on the boards, on the, you know, all of that good stuff. So that game's really, really nice to play, especially if you love six card games because you can go for so much more than you can go for on a Dixieland and Dixieland's got the most. you can go for. It's 11 coin maximum. And you get the red diagonals on the 7th coin. On the 8th coin it's the 4th, 5th, and 6th red diagonals. And the 9th coin is the magic number with the 10th coin being the magic number because you need to get all 6 cards with the magic number. And then the 11th coin is the double double. Automatic double double on your replays on Dixieland. Continental, really, really, it goes far beyond that. It's pretty interesting. I really like that game. Yeah. Well, I had a couple questions on Dixieland. This magic number that you're playing for on the 9th and 10th coin? That's correct. That is the magic number. What does the magic number do? Well, again, it's Dixieland's 11-coin maximum pin. So the first six coins are all six cards. And then, like I said, the seventh and eighth are the red diagonals on all the cards. And then the ninth and tenth magic number is the machine will, once you insert the coins and get the ninth and tenth feature magic number, when you shoot the ball out of the gate and you go through the top arch there switch there the magic number comes into play you hear it click in and it flashes either 1, 7, 9, 25 and 22 I think there's the numbers I'm not in front of the machine but I think that they are the numbers there's 5 magic numbers 1, 7, 9 and the other 2 I mentioned which was 22 and what was the other one I said, Nick? 25? That is correct, 25. So there's five numbers that the machine will light up for the player when they insert the ninth and tenth point. But it's random. Sometimes you just get the 22. Sometimes you get the 25. Sometimes you get the one and the seven, which is nice. Wow, okay. So at that point, that makes all six cards, all your hits for three-in-a-line, four-in-a-line, or five-in-a-line payouts are automatically doubled through that ninth and tenth coin feature. So, you know, it's great for a player to put the extra coin in because then if you get the magic number, everything's doubled automatically. So that on a six card, a five in the line is 300. Right. So if you land in the magic number and then get a five in the line, and in your five in the line is that, say it's the one was the magic number, then that becomes automatically 600. Wow. Okay. But there's an 11 coin. Right. Now the 11 coin doubles that. They call it double-double. So, what happens is, if you insert the 11th coin, you get the double-double feature. If your card, it only lights two cards out of the six cards on Dixieland. The 11th coin double-double feature lights only two of the cards. And they're at random, too. Sometimes it's the one in the fourth, the third in the sixth. So, they switch through the circuitry, too. It's never the same two cards. So if you land in the magic number and you're on the double-double card, let's just say it's the six card and the magic number is the one. And on the bottom of the row on the six card, I think it's one, seven, twenty-one, three, and something else, six or something like that. If you get a five in a line with the magic number on the six card, If you have the double-double card, your 300 regular wins on the six card for five in a line become 600 wins through the magic number, and then become 1, 200 wins through the double-double feature. Wow. So maybe you understand that because you have bingos. Yeah. I'm just going to say it slowly so in case anyone's listening, they could understand that. And I kind of repeated myself a couple times so that... And then the icing on the cake with that, Nick, is if you have a five in the line on the six card, have the magic number for double scores. You have the double-double card lit for 1, 200 wins. then a player can hit the C credit button on the lockdown bar and a double or nothing feature will flash in front of the player's eyes. And that player has a chance to go for his regular 1, 200 wins, which is guaranteed through the magic number and double-double card. or that player can strike the D on the lockdown bar. There's a little button that has a D on it and try to turn that 1, 200 replays into 2, 400 replays. Wow. So this is why I like the six-card games because a player gets to play more games and gets to win more replays. I'm not saying you're not going to win on the other games and I'm not taking anything away from the other games. The other games are great. And there's so many things you can do with them. They're wonderful. But for me, I like to play the games, so I want to play quicker and more games, so that's why I lean towards the six cards. And players always win a certain amount of games. And on the six card, the way the four corners are set up, on Dixieland, on High Flyer, all ticker tape, stock market, You name any one of them six-card games that was made from 1971 to 1978 or 9, whatever that was, the last year that Dixon and I was made, the corner feature gives the player to win four corners on two cards, so you can get some big wins, more than 2, 400. You know what I mean? If you get the magic number and you've got the six-card and you're going for 2, 400 a year and you've got another four corners on another card because it allows you to do that with the five-ball play. Or, you know, like on New Continental Golden, you can get up to ten balls on a six-card game. That's insane. Whoa. That's another. I'm jumping now to the New Continental Golden because I don't understand how much more features they added to this digital six-card game. It was sick. and that one was made well after Valley's run of the Solid State game called Continental, I guess that was 1980 they made 10, 000 of them and they went to Belgium I think they went actually to what's the name of that company I know I know but it's not coming to me but anyway, that was made in 1980 so do you know what they've done to the creativity and feature wise an 89 or 90, I think, that New Continent, the Golden came out. I mean, them games are really fun to play with the six cards because you can play all types of games, just like on the Magic Screen games, the Red Letter game is involved with, like, on Silver Seals, you have the Red Letter game and the Golden game. You know, that's intriguing, too. And, you know, it all depends on my mood. I mean, these days, I like the quick pace up to six card games and they hold a real spot in my heart. Like I said, I played them for, I can't tell you how many years and how many hours. It's sick now. I calculated all my hours. I played pool for 40 years on Tuesday night. I documented all the how many balls I made in straight pool. I documented how many wins I had in nine ball because we used to play this format. We played eight ball straight pool and nine ball. But I documented all these numbers and I can go back and I can see what I did. I wish I could have documented how much I played on the bingo. It was an insane number. So, I mean, you know, there was no magic screen games in North New Jersey. But that doesn't mean I don't love them and I don't want to play them. But for me, I really like the six-card games for home use. It's quick-paced. You're never getting board there. There's always action. Big numbers of shoe for a lot of wins, inline wins, and it works for me. I also have Coney Island. I don't know if I mentioned to you that. You asked me about what I have in the collection now. So it's Silver Sales Gate, and Coney Island. I'm thinking about looking in my mind and trying to see my new wall that I just lined up the bingos. Yeah, tell us a little bit about that. Yeah, as you know, I, for years, had the bingos in the garage. I first had them in the basement, actually. I had everything in the basement at one time. I had puck bowlers and dart boards and Coca-Cola machines and bingos. And I had Adam's family. I just had a mixture of everything. Right now, the basement is full of wedge heads. And we're going to get to that, I hope, later. I'm going to try to not elaborate too much on the bingos because I know that's what you really wanted to talk about tonight but I know you can't help yourself with the bingos a few things anyway what I did was when I brought the bingos up from the basement years ago I don't know how many years I guess it's been quite a while probably near 10 years and don't forget the basement's changed so many times I've had 150 machines So there's going to be wedge heads that aren't down here now. There's bingos in the garage. I mean, there's bingos that I sold off that are not in the garage now. But we could talk, you know, touch base on that if you want. But like I was saying, the garage game was an oversized garage. And in there I had these shelves, metal shelves that were about 12 inches deep. And they had all my flipper mechanisms and coils. and I had all my pinball parts that I used through the years when I did all them restorations on all them 150-plus games. So I figured now that I'm closed in on 60, I don't really feel like doing too many more games. Kind of burnt out a little bit. So I decided to take the shelving out of the garage and move it into the wooded shed. So that alone was a chore because they were filled to the gills. and on top of them I had, I think, maybe 20 coin boxes from all the wedge heads that I captured over the years of hunting them down here in New Jersey because this state is flooded with game sheds, still is, especially the E.M.s. Anyway, I took the shells out, put them really neat back into the wooden shed in the yard, and then I pushed the bingos. Well, the bingos I had away from the walls so that I had an aisle behind them so that if I ever needed to go back there and tweak it or whatever, I could walk back there, open the door, look inside, and make a repair. So through the years, you know, of preventive maintenance and fine-tuning, I really didn't find myself going back to that much anymore. Knock on wood, of course. So I decided to push them against the wall, too. Not only remove the shelves from the garage, but push the bingos against the walls. It kind of dressed up the garage more, make it more game room-ish, you know, with neon signs. And I took that task on because somebody was moving from Florida here, another collector, and I ended up buying a package of three games. And let's not forget to mention about the package that I got going on, too, Nick. You know about it. Remind me, please. So anyway, I bought a package of three games, and it was a blue chip, another gate time, and a golden arrow. so I needed a place for these new games because I can't put anything into any kind of storage and not have them together and playing I don't know if I'll be able to sleep that night or whatever it's going to be anyway so I took on this big chore of opening up the garage and it was maybe a two and a half week ordeal every night coming home from work doing a little bit at a time because I can't move like I used to I wish I could I would have knocked that out the weekend. Anyway, it came out really, really nice. I really didn't gain that much space, but in my eyes I'm looking at this through a microscope. Any inches, 4 inches, 8 inches, 12 inches, that's a lot of space for me. It turned out I was unsure about how much space I would gain until it actually happened. Now that it's all together, it's great because now the next move is I'm going to get that other gate time I had at sitting in the shed out there that I got in the three package deals just recently I guess that was about a month ago and I'm going to bring that in and I can set it up in the garage and I have room to work now I have a great spot to shop again if I ever want to I'm trying to stay away from that I think I'm going to go cold turkey again I went cold turkey many years ago and I didn't sell nothing and buy nothing so I'm getting back to that position again my physical well-being is telling me that I'm going to have to give it up for a while again because I think I might have went a little bit too far and I'm starting to feel it in the lower back again but anyway it really felt good to do all that the accomplishment was great on top of gaining all that space and I got to spend some valuable time with my son Michael, who was my sidekick. I got him years ago. I had him on camera. I used to film him. Eight, nine years old, filthy dirty. He had to super clean out one hand, steel wool on the other with chrome cleaner polishing legs. I mean, this kid restored a speedball at the age of 11. He was into it. I mean, he knew every game, every wedgehead, every air to ball. I took him to shows. I think I mentioned this quite a bit, but I have to keep including that. But without his help the last two and a half weeks, it would probably take me a month and a half to get it done. So it was all good. But I'm trying to put the brakes on again now. Unfortunately, I'm going to swing over to what I wanted to mention about the 10-game package deal that I stumbled across. I guess the 4th of July I went up and looked at it. It's in New Jersey. Another big bingo collector, this guy Lou. He's a great guy. unfortunately passed away. took a ride up there and took a look at his collection. He's got 10 bingos. Actually, two out of the ten, one of the two out of the ten is just a beach club head, so it's just a parts head game. And the other one is a gay time. Seems like the gay times are falling out of the sky over here. Three gay times. I've touched it in about two weeks. That's unheard of. Anyway, the gate time, it's a whole game. I need to investigate a little more. I think it's complete. The only odd thing about it is the play field is stripped naked. It's nothing but a board. So I don't know if it's inside the cabinet. I didn't look around. I didn't really pry with Lou's wife about it. I really wanted to go around and check the games and play a couple and get a good evaluation of what these 10 games are like. So, like I said, out of the 10, there's a beach club head and a gate time, which I think can get put back together with the right guy working on that. so I think the other games I don't have the list with me I should really go get that but I'll try to remember a pretty good remembering game so let's see I know there's a Golden Gate which is I guess that's like the TKO of the Wedgeheads the Golden Gate is probably the most collectible next to I guess Silver Seals is right next to it because it's a twin game and I guess Bikini Risa Risa in that top three with them three games. So anyway, Golden Gate. There's a Cypress Gardens. There's a Ice Frolics. There's a Blue Chip. There's a Bonanza. There's a Parade. Trying to look. What else did I see there? Oh, Beach Beauty. and then there's one more. What's the other one? That's seven. What's the other one? Oh, I know. I know. It's coming to me. It's a beach game. It's not Laguna Beach, but it's another... I can't think of it right now, but it's another beach game. So, with the Beach Club head and the gate time, it's about 10 bingos. So, there's a package deal about 10 bingos. I'm looking to see if we can find a home for it so if anyone's interested they can email me and we'll talk about it it'd be a good opportunity it's going to be pretty it's going to be very cheap for all 10 pieces I mean there's going to be money to be made there's going to be a knee on the bone for the guy who gets that You know, I figure the Golden Gate's got to draw somewhere between the games. I turned the bounty on and it worked. I mean everything I looked inside so I going to be going back and checking everything over thoroughly I didn have enough time to play every single bingo but these games were up and running This guy was a collector He put work into the game He got all the back glasses Some are in good shape. Some are in real nice shape. Some are touched up and sealed. I mean, he did all the collector stuff that the collectors do. He painted a lot of stuff. I think the Cypress Garden has a yellow solid paint job over the original design work, but the play field looked really nice, and so did the back last for a little touch up in the sky. But, again, these games were working, so he's only gone about a year. Luke passed away about a year, so, you know, he was always down here tinkering and keeping his collection going. So I'm sure they may have a few little bugs, but this is a nice collection of 10 games for someone that wants to invest and then, you know, make some profit and get the games to a good home, you know, because it's going to be pretty reasonably priced. The Golden, I mean, the Golden Gate's got to get somewhere between $750 and $1, 250 running. I mean, the game's that nice. The cabinet's original. It's got a nice play feel. I looked at it, and I can't remember if the back glass, but right off the top, they'd be able to get a lot of their money back on that. Just that game and a couple other Magic Screen games. The Bonanza's in really nice shape. Probably triple nines. Nine back glass, nine cabinet, nine play feel, and that game's working. And so that's a really cool game. It actually had bells in it. I didn't even know. I thought it was just electromechanical. But Bally back in, I guess, late in the 70s decided to put a little tinker in it. I'll tell you, that was pretty sweet. And the deal was nice. And I saw Michael was playing that. So he actually wanted that game, Michael. He's like, dude, you should just get that one, man. That game's so cool. And I said, Mike, you know, I just picked up three games. I'm going cold turkey. I really don't have no room no more. And I don't want to sell the pool table in the fourth game room. Not just yet. but so kind of pulling back the reins, and someone that is interested in these 10 bingos is going to get a nice collection of bingos that the collector put some time into. This is no warehouse find, fellas. This is a nice find, so I'm telling you it's going to be a cheap price. You're going to really like the price. I don't want to just, if anyone's interested, seriously call me, and I'll lay right on the line for all 10 what it's going to be, and you sell one or two or three bingos, you're going to get your money back. guaranteed you'll have five for yourself. I actually was contacted by Dell Music Company. They're here in New Jersey. They've been around for over 50 years or more. A friend of mine who loves the bingos, he bought the business from the original owner 30 something years ago. He's around my age. He's also affiliated with the Asbury Park Museum. and he's down there, lives actually in Kingsburg, works out at almost southern New Jersey, and he gets a tremendous amount of calls. So, you know, he's in a circle that we have here in North Jersey. There's a close circle of collectors that we've all been together a really long time, and Jim and Dell Music is part of that circle. So he contacted me about Lou's Games and gave me the number. And I went up there and met with Lou's wife. And just a really nice package deal. I mean, again, if it was a warehouse, fine, I wouldn't push him. But the games are pretty nice, you know. and somebody's going to that wants to really take a chance will come out ahead. You know, but it's going to be a chore, you know. 10 bingos is not an easy haul. I'm going to have to get accommodations to get them out. And fortunately, the steps are, she has them doors that open up in the backyard there. They're really nice to open up like wings. And there's only one, two, three, four, five, six steps. I got a picture of it. so it's going to be an easy out of the basement with the bingos, which is good. You don't have to climb a flight of steps and go through someone's hallway and living room and out the kitchen and then down steps. So, you know, it's going to be a nice easy out with the right help, you know. So I also got my silver seals from Dell Music, too. Silver Seals has recently been added to my collection, I say recently, maybe a year or two or three and I got that off of Bell Music, he contacted me and I called the guy unfortunately the guy had dropped the game and broke the back glass so the game was coming without a back glass but I did real well, I started calling all my connections all over the place and I came up with an NOS silver seals back glass and I got to say our friend Dennis is such a generous great person to be affiliated with we made a little deal he gave me a beautiful silver seals play field I wanted the silver seals play field because when I got the silver seals with the broken glass it came with a golden gate play field in it and I had a golden gate so I always thought the silver seals was much more beautiful with the boats on the side the artwork of the cabinet and the flags on the head and I just love the way the design of the playfield was the coloring and the way you can see the numbers they really show up well when you're trying to make inline wins you know so just want to thank I can't thank him enough. He's just, I see him all over the place too. He just helps just everybody and that's what it's all about. So, you know, I admire people like that. He's up there on my top of the list. You know? Plus he does fingers. So anyway, I got a little dilemma. I can't get the blue chip in that I just picked up. And the thing is, mint. I mean, you know I love low played games. Mint cabinets, mint glasses, all original stuff. And this blue chip is just magnificent. I may have to do a little bit more work with somehow exchanging a couple of my games from my collection. I have 43 games so I have to kind of, I got to get the lady luck out of the garage. I have a Lady Luck Williams two-player game, which I just can't. It's a great, great player. I have to get that out of the garage because it's so wide, that head. So I've got to get that out. I've got in the family room game room, which is between the basement game room and the garage game room, I have Playboy Countdown and I have a Williams Blue Chip pinball machine, and they're pretty square heads. And then I have a Top Card wedge head. So I think I'm going to get the lady luck into that room there with the other bigger heads. That's going to give me more space in the garage. I'm going to slide the games down and re-level them again, which is going to put me in traction. And then I'm going to see if I can squeeze in the blue chip somewhere, but I'm going to have to bring the Coney Island up to the fifth level game room number four where the four and a half by nine Brunswick triple crown pool table is and my 7, 000 records. So just to gain about three or four more inches in the garage and get the blue chip in, it's going it caused me probably about another week, a week and a half work. So this is what I'm up against. If I was 40 or 30 or 50, then I could, well, I shouldn't say 50. If I was in my 40s or 30s, man, I could work 14 hours, and I did every weekend for 10 years straight on games. When you have over 150 games and you're restoring everything yourself, taking all the stuff off, rebuilding and everything, sealing glasses, you know what you go through. Everybody's doing it today. It's a co mmon thing, but it takes a toll on you. So I'm still up in the air on whether I'm going to be selling this gorgeous blue chip. And it may be a possibility. I'm not sure. It depends on how much my back hurts and how much quicker I heal and get back into the garage. Right now, I'm taking a two-day break. I'm starting to feel a little better. So, who knows? But it may become available. It may become available. So, I'm hoping that perhaps, you know, there are people interested in bingos that have been following the podcast that Nick has been doing religiously. I mean my hat goes off to Nick I gotta give him credit again every time I come on I end up wanting to give him credit because I know it's not easy and not easy he's got a lot of other priorities but yet all his priorities in order but he finds the time to do what he loves and that's a good trait not that many people can push themselves and do that so I'm hoping that with the success of your podcast. Maybe there's some people out there now that are listening and want to do maybe the 10-game deal, which is going to be very profitable. And you're going to get some nice bingos. And, you know, I'm going to go back up there and see how far they are working and stuff. I mean, they all might be working. I don't know. So, I mean, there's also the blue chip might come on a chopping block. So, we don't know. And hopefully we can find some homes, really, for the games. and that's what it's about. That's really what it comes down to. I mean, but I've been hearing a lot of chit-chat about the games and I love all the podcasts. I'm stoked to hear all these people that I knew. Danny especially, that was great. I mean, I've been affiliated with Danny for years. We've talked and everything, but to hear, to get inside his mind, you got inside his mind, you picked his brain, that's what really really interests me I really like listening to people open up about what they're passionate about especially what we all love these games, this coin-op industry it's just a remarkable industry it's still hanging in there because of everybody that's out there now collecting, I mean there's really not a market for selling pinballs to vendors anymore so let's face it really, the guys are out there now, people are participating are really holding this whole great coin-op industry alive which it dates back pretty far. It was very popular at one time. To me it's still magnificent. I still remember as a kid going in that candy store and seeing Buckaroo a wedge head. Oh man, and wedge heads. They were everywhere. The city was flocked with them. Every store you went in you saw a wedge head. I don't know why they didn't have any Williams out, but that's just the way it was in New Jersey, in my area, in North New Jersey. But, you know, that's another thing. These wedge heads, I just can't get enough of them, man. I mean, I had so many. I wonder if I could, the ones I let go, like Batter Up and Skyline. I mean, the list goes on. Kingpin, Jack's Open. I had a nice Jack's Open out, but I had another one. I mean, you know, I had to let them go because I wanted to experience more. So this is where being a collector, that's part of it. You long for other games and you sacrifice stuff. And that's why I'm trying to go cold turkey again and kind of pull the reins back and just enjoy what I have now again and try to stay healthy. So, but anyway, you know, I didn't know what you wanted to ask me about the Wedgeheads, but you have an opportunity now to kind of move over. I think I can talk about bingos another three hours but I figure we go over to the wedge heads because they're just remarkable games, man. They just stand out out of all the EMs around. That, you know, I see Ticker T. I see Circus. I wanted to mention to you, Nick, that in that bundle of bingos, guess what play field I saw that's in really, really nice shape for that original one. What's that? Circus. Oh, you're kidding. How's your play feel? Oh, man, I'm going to grab that for you. I'm going to get the wooden legs. I'm going back up to play them bingos. I can't wait to play them all. Wow. Are you interested? Do you need a circus play feel? I've been wanting to tell you that, but you know what, Nick? I don't email. I really, I've got to talk to people. If you don't call me, you're never going to get any information out of me. You get one-line answers in emails. But I wanted to ask you. I looked it over. I have a picture of it. Oh, yeah. A picture of it. Is your play field in excellent condition? It's in medium condition. It's got a scratch on it, and it affects ball travel a bit. You know what? I'm going to interrogate this play field sort of. Because I thought, you know, while I was up there, and the thing about me is if I see your collection, I'll see it, and then I can tell you just the way you have it lined up the next time you talk to me for some reason. But don't ask me any other questions. I forget everything else. Anyway, I wanted to tell you there's a circus play field up there for you. Yeah. It looked pretty good. I mean, I looked at it quick. I didn't get the bright light look. I looked at it and I always see, and the first thing I see are imperfections on things because I have that type of eye when going through all these games and restoring games and finding games in the rough and then making them a diamond. So it may be something to look into. Remind me. I've been wanting to tell you that. Okay. I won't talk too much on that. There's a kick-out hole that usually has some wear in front of it. I think it's probably populated, too. Oh, my gosh. Vic, you're making me pretty jealous here. You must be happy because you're making fun of me, and I'm going to get you that. Awesome. I'm going to get it before the guy that buys the 10 bingos. That's not what it was. They're probably listening and saying, oh, he could have threw that in with the bingo. That wasn't a bingo. It's not part of the deal. I put your name on it when I was up there. Because I remember I thought you had a circus because you sent me an e-mail and you listed your games and I read it. So I knew. I kind of knew that. But anyway, what were you saying? Thank you, Vic. And I really appreciate your enthusiasm and all you do. And it's been really fascinating for me to talk to all these guys as well. As far as the Wedgeheads go, I wanted to just kind of get your perspective on which ones were the best players. You know, we're all familiar. The Wedgeheads obviously are very popular games, and there's many different types. There are different artists, and they're all beautiful. but which ones are your favorites? Well, my favorites are the ones I have now. Fair enough. You've got to look at it this way. The gauntlet really was shining in that whole Wedgehead series from 1961 to 79, whatever it was. And the thing about it is there's a fine line between all the wedge heads. I mean, there's some players that are just okay. There's only a few out of the 100 plus wedge heads that they made. And you have to understand that there's a fine line between all of them as players. You really can't say which one's better because the line is so fine. So it's difficult to say which one's my favorite because they're very close together in everything. Looks, playability, sequence of operation, everything. But I have to say, favorites for me go back with winning replays. So I like a wedgehead that has specials. Something that a player can start the game up and start at one point and end up at the other. But in between, there has to be special when lit somewhere. And the more special when lit is attractive to me. I love winning free games. Of course, in home install, we're not going to play them. But still, I want to beat that wedge head for 15 replays. Because if I do, I'm going to have a spectacular game. And that's what I want out of my collection of games. I want to play a game in my collection and have a great game. Compete against the machine and just really beat the hell out of it for as many games as I can and then I'll move on. So with that being said, I love Sweethearts because not only is that a game that I had in my house as a kid growing up, but for some strange reason, I might have said this before, my father took me to a place to buy me a game and I picked out Sweethearts out of at least 50 wedge heads that were up in this big warehouse. And what attracted me to it was the three red lights that's the special one in front of the gobble hole. So I picked that game out of all them games because I figured, wow, there's three ways to get special and when I drop it in that hole, it's going to give me a triple pop. And that's what excites me. It's to beat the game for a high score for a replay and let that knocker go off. That's what it is for me. I got to beat the game. I got to compete against the game or otherwise I'm not interested. I don't want to look at the artwork. I don't want to do this. I don't want to work on it. I want to play them and beat them for as much as I can and have a great game. It really gives me satisfaction. So Sweethearts is a great game because it has the three specials, but then it has the all rollover special that's part of that whole game. So when a player gets four of the cards out, they get one red light for special. They get the other four, two, and the other four, three sets of four cards, which is the whole complete hearts run of cards, they then get the all rollover special. So what that does for a player is every time a player goes in any of the cards, he gets a replay. So there's three specials on Sweethearts, plus there's a purple lens that sits in front of the flippers that says all rollover specials. So when a player gets every single card out, anytime he goes through any other rollover card it's a free game it's not that easy to do but it's rewarding when you do do that so I need a game that really has a lot of specials in it and I can compete against it and win a large sum of replays and that's what I try to do in my collection I try to pin every single credit on the wheel and all the wedge has gone up to 15 Jack's open I conquered it I played one five ball game and won 15 replays. I still, my high score stands today at around 293, 000. And it's got to be, I did it in 202, so that's 13 years ago. This is what I look for every time I go down and play my games. I want to get to that game. So you have to compete. You've got to be a great nudger. And the wedge heads, they just fit me perfect. Wood wheels are too light for me. some of the Williams games are too heavy for me but the wedge head is like putting on a glove it fits me perfect I love the weight of them I can really maneuver them and take advantage of them especially if all my tilts are at the lowest capacity on the pendulum there's set points where you can set it high which is going to tilt easier mine is on the bottom one so I want to compete against the game and get to that point to win 15 replays. And the only way to get there is to have a lean and tell it, Bob. But it's so enjoyable to really get to beat a game for 15 replays with five balls. I mean, it's just when you're done playing, it's like the smoke is starting to settle. Your hands are all red. You're a little bit out of breath. And then you're like, wow, that was remarkable. That was some game. but also Show Boat's another nice player a favorite of mine that game was in my grandmother's house and I favor them because I have the connection with them I have that connection with them and that game's a great player because it has the double match feature a lot of wedge heads didn't and it has no plastics and no slingshots no other wedge heads like that the special is got a triple lens special too you can light three red lights up in front of, in between the four flipper arrangement, there's a letter B A, B and C, there's three rollover outlanes and a set of flippers in the front if you look at showboat and the B is where you collect your 200 points and your three specials but you have to get the gates, go in and out of the gates four times to get the specials. But another good game, good player. I like that game. I mean, a lot of them are my favorite. My favorite's King of Diamond. My favorite now, Golden Arrow, since I got a Golden Arrow. It's new. That game's remarkable. Once I get a game in my collection, and I think this happens for every collector, once you get a game in your collection, you really play it, you really get to know it, you really get to like it. it's different than just trying to find a game you think you might think could be your favorite game by going to somebody's house and playing it a few times or playing it at the show. You really never get the full evaluation when you have a game in your collection for a lengthy period of time. You know, I love Central Park, Buckaroo. I mean, I love them all. I mean, they're all my favorites, I really have to say. I mean, it's hard for me to sell any of them. I love Santa Great. Now, El Dorado, that's on the top of my list. That's a phenomenal player. Then I go next to that and I got Atlantis. That's a killer game. I mean, there's specials on that. There's three ways to get specials. That's why I love that game. That's why it's in my collection. That's why I let go of all them other wedges I had. Because I love a game with specials. Like Golden Arrow, I had to have that. Golden Arrow is a game I never played growing up. And once I got to play it numerous times, like it was almost in my collection, I got to realize that, you know, you're chasing a special around, you're chasing the gold arrow like on a target pool because target pools are one of my favorites. Everyone is one of my favorites. Target pools, I can tell you, I had five target pools. I got a beautiful target pool now. But that game, when I first restored my first one, the whole cabinet was blown out at the bottom. The motor was upside down scraping on the sidewalk when I took it out of the guy. I mean, it was, I went right to town on it that night, worked 10, 12 hours. The next day, 8 hours. The next day, 14 hours. I mean, until I had to get it up and playing it because I remember playing that on the boardwalk. It was one of my favorites because it's a fun game. It's a player-friendly game. It's got the high, long flip of return lanes. It's got 29 stand-up targets. I mean, it's a pool game. I love pool. I mean, that's why it's my favorite. All of them are my favorites. The games I have now, I think, out of the 25 wedge heads in the basement, I think 18 of them are the ones I played in the candy store, which was 50 feet from my house growing up. And I moved there in 1963. So I must have been about eight years old. At that point, that's when I discovered the wedge heads. that candy store used to get one in every month so the games in my collection are games that I remember playing but I went through so many wedge heads to finally figure out that I want the Sweethearts, I want the Showboy, I want the Atlantis, got three specials of the Atlantis I gotta have North Star, that's top three North Star, you got the Star Rollover Special, you got the Two-Side Kick-Out Holes for Special and you got all Rollover special on Northstar, which is the same as Sweethearts. There were only like three or four all rollover games. I think Corral was another one. I'm not sure. I don't think it stated it, but I think once you got all the numbers out, it had Corral. Corral's another good player, but there's a fine line between all these great players. The games in my collection now are my favorite. All of them are, because I've seen so many. I've had so many websites. and there's so many more other ones out there that I haven't had a chance to own that would probably fit in my collection as a favorite. So when it comes to the Wedgeheads, nobody can go wrong with them games. They are so well built. The materials on all the units in there, the hardware, the screws, the wood, I mean, everything was quality. Not taken away from Williams or Valley, but there's a feel for me and a difference that's noticeable, especially in the mid-60s games with that, they call it, with the brass in it, they call it, I forget the terminology they use for that, brass-plated or whatever. When you polish that up a little bit or you get a clean game, like I got a lot of low-play games. I just documented all my game meters on my wedge heads in all the games I have because I knew through the years from upgrading and getting all these all-original low-play games that look restored or look brand new I never really took the time to see but I got a lot of low games man 19 plays 12 plays My blue chip Williams has I think 18 plays The golden arrow just turned 17, 000 plays. That means I can brush my teeth in the bell. It's crazy. But anyway, I love the golden arrow. I mean, always the new edition gets the most attention. but, you know, I go downstairs, Big Hit is a great game. I remember, I didn't play Big Hit growing up, but I had to have it because it was stuck in my mind. I remember the old Allentown shows that way back 15 years plus ago, somebody brought a Big Hit, and I was in there, and I was like, wow, man, look at this, big flippers on top, big flippers on the bottom, like jumping jack. They're the only two games with big flippers up and down like that, four flipper game. and to have that big flipper up close like that and to have no top arch on big hit. You have to drop targets up there where the arch would normally be and shooting the ball out between the flippers, playing baseball. It counts and calculates just like the game does. Home runs, you can win games for home runs. I mean, that's a killer game. I can have some really good games on that, and that's what I want. But that's what, from a game to be a favorite of mine, it has to give me good playability, player-friendly, lots of specials, not that many sour balls. You get a few. But this is what I enjoy lately. As I've gotten older now, I've been in the hobby near 30 years, 25 years. I've pinball been around me since I'm eight years old. I have games in my house. for me now at this age I'm really enjoying you know the more player friendly games I love the two flipper games but I always knew because the last game I played on route I was 17 years old 1973 I got my license that month and high hand came out was the last game I played in the candy store I remember because the drop targets had gold numbers or gold letters on them the letters were in gold we just got done with the drop targets were fairly still young. I think Drop a Card came out in 71, I think. Now, 2001 was the first drop target game. That game is astronomical to me. I just love that game. It's one of my favorites. I can't do without 2001. That game rocks. That game really puts the player to the test. Because not only is it the first drop target game, I remember seeing that game when it came out. They unboxed it, brought it in the store. We didn't know what the hell it was. We didn't know what them blocks were. We thought, what the heck's this? What's this type of game? When we saw it in the up and down, we all buckled. All our knees were buckling. We were like, wow, we played that game weeks straight when it first came out on the scene for off the truck, out of the box. And still, the year 2015, I'm still thrilled with it. It's not as explosive as it was when I first saw it because I I was only, what, 71? I was, yeah, 15. But it looked amazing back then because you're younger, you're thinking differently. But even today, it's just a spectacular player. I mean, that's a real favorite of mine. I mean, King of Diamonds is so stuck in my mind. It's a game I used to run to on the boardwalk, and it's player-friendly. It's a two-flipper, I mean, it's a two-inch flipper game, and it's still player-friendly. Got return side lanes there to the flipper, and so many specials. It flashes to the 10, to the jack, to the queen, to the king, up to the ace. You can get it on the roto target. You can get it on the stand-up target. I mean, that's a great game to chase the special. That's a favorite of mine. I mean, Royal Guard, Domino, all great players. Spin a card. That's crazy, that game. That's a great player. Great favorite of mine. That game was in my uncle's house. I used to run go over to my uncles and play that and then you got Flip A Car Flip A Car is a really underrated game you don't hear about it doesn't come up that often it took me a while to really find the Flip A Car when that came out on location and they put it in the candy store I freaked out man it was so nice it was such a cool game because the whole setup was so much different you know they had everything was off center the flippers weren't lined up it was just great player you can spin you can spin for the special and land on the ace you can go up and down the ace I mean that's why I like Aquarius people really don't want that in their collection they want bigger name games they want to get more animation they like the artwork better I go for playability so I mean you know Aquarius is a great player to me having all them kick out holes on top that's cool you can get a lot of numbers out quickly and then you chase that special around on Aquarius. There's not that many games that Gauntlet, Maiden, and Wedgehead series that has that move-in special. Golden Arrow has it. I like it. Atlantis has it where it moves around from the stand-up targets, the three stand-up targets. You always have it on the side out, but then you can get it with completing the drop target set. So this is what makes these games my favorite. It's all about the sequence. It's about the player friendliness, the challenge of the game. I'm a player before I'm a collector. So for me, I love the artwork. There's some nights I'll go downstairs, turn all the games on because I have 455 blinkers, all NOS ones from the old days. I just love that attraction mode on it. I have 25 wedge heads twinkling the 455 bulbs. It's like a symphony. some nights I'll sit there on that bar stool and just listen to them so they're my favorites then even though I'm not playing them but you know if I had bigger space there would be more favorites but you want to know something as you get older you lose your step and to take care of these games it's not an easy task anymore so I mean just to wax 43 games is a could be a 43 night thing because you probably only want to do one at a time now when you turn 60 I could be able to do 20 then follow me I could go 14 hours straight and do them all I could take all the ball shooter rods off and polish them all one day 12 hours you know all the lockdown bars I did one day 12-14 hours I mean that's the only way to get ahead and get your games really in top form. Plus, all my switches gap right. They're always clean. I go through that tilt relay. I go through that game roll relay once a year. I get the best playability I can out of them. I want the best wax, the best droppers, every post tight. I mean, I want the best that game can offer because I'm going to play it. I'm going to play it. I'm going to try to beat it. Compete against it. And get to that point where I get a great game and I can document it in my high score book. Hopefully I can beat it, beat a score that I got down there from 13 years ago. But as you get older, your eye and hand coordination gets a little bit. So I think I'll be staring at them high scores for a while. But I still put a good fight up against them wedge heads, you know what I mean? So. So, Vic, what's your favorite playfield toy on these games? How could you have just one? I got to elaborate on them all. The roto spins, killer, kick out holes, I love them. Drop targets, can't live without them. Vary targets, what a, when you can pin a vary target that's in a tough angle, that you can only get off the tip of the flipper with the right mechanical rebuild on everything, that's satisfying. I mean, just a stand-up target can be satisfying. Like on Jetspin, I had a beautiful, gorgeous Jetspin that I may be able to buy back if I only had a spot. Anyway, I'm going cold turkey. What are you talking about? Anyway, just that stand-up target for special and that little secret gap over here is a great little hit on it. I mean, everything. Gotlip came up with what was good. There's really nothing bad. There's nothing that can't be your favorite. You've got to favor a lot of things, or otherwise you're losing out. You can't favor one thing. I mean, I love the spinners now. Golden Arrow is loaded. It's got a special you can chase. It's got a sweet pop-up arrangement. It's got a 10, 000 green lens stand-up target that isn't easy to hit. It's got the spinners in it. It's got the top arches different than a lot of the standard Gottliebs. I mean, that game has so many variations in it. It's great. So, I mean, is there anything I don't like maybe? Yeah. Boy on an EM? Let me think about that, Nick. That might be the question to ask. let me think about that I may have to think about that for a while I may put something on the next thing I don't want to waste too much time but when it comes to favorites really in this whole coin op industry really who could put down anything who could put down any game anything tabletop DMD solid state EM it's pinball it's coin amusement It is so much for the human being to love and favor. Now, as time goes on, you just change a little bit. Right now, for me, I love them DMs because it's a quick game. Three to seven minutes and you're done. Move on to the next game, especially when you've got 43 in your house. You want to get through all the other ones. You want to move on. Now, to have a DMV collection, you've got to be young. You've got to be strong, good hand-eye coordination, and be able to play a game for 20 minutes and then move on to the next game because them games consist of long playing games sometimes. You know? Yeah. Yeah, I prefer, you know, the older games. I find that it's just as much a test of hand-eye coordination. There's just fewer flashing lights on the play field, you know, to distract you. You're more in the game, I think, with an EM than you are with a DMD. There's so much extra stuff happening on those newer games. It's trying to tell you a story, you know. It's trying to play a movie for you. But really, when it all comes down to it, you're battling this machine. and I feel like it's a little more pure when you're playing an EM. Is that the way you feel as well, Vic? I agree with you 100%, but I'll tell you, I love playing in DMDs. My friends got to collect these games. And I'll tell you, I love them and I love challenging them too. It's just pinball. That's why there's no bad games out there. You can collect any pinball you want. And recently, the thing about the DMDs is I really enjoy it, but I can only play one time. Because I'll be on it for 20 minutes, and I'm telling you, I get off of here, I'm beat. Them games, they really can wear you out. It seems like they're slanted more. My wrists started hurting me from playing them games. So you really have to be programmed on them games as far as where you're, you know, your length of playability time on, because some of them games aren't quick. I played Lord of the Rings. I had a phenomenal game. But, I mean, I got to put my name up on the back of the head there, you know, dial it, type it in there when you get a high score. But I'll tell you, I was on here for a while. When I got off, I needed to sit down and have a cold glass of water. And then you probably get up and play a little more pinball. But I really, really enjoyed it. I really did. The DMDs, there's some spectacular players out there. I mean, I love everything about them, all the toys and mods and sounds. I mean, it is such a great thing to collect them. I think I would have sold all my EMs if I was 21 and got all DMDs. At least I would have been in shape to play them. I certainly enjoy the DMDs as well, and, you know, I'm really glad that they're still being made today. but yeah there's something about the EMs that keep drawing me back and the bingos especially but EMs in general I just love the gameplay you do become one with it Nick you actually are really and I'll tell you I'm a player so when you get to come here and spend some time with my collection and we meet I'm going to just play for you you're going to see I'm draped over the bingos I am, it's almost like I belong with the bingos. They should have manufactured me with them because I'm draped on them. I'm hugging them. I'm playing them. I'm part of them. And I can feel myself being part of that machine, as weird as it sounds. It really sounds weird. But I've been playing lately since I've done the garage game over. It's inspired me to get on the bingos. And there's been a lot of bingo talk with you guys. and I've been talking to Dennis and then I hear about Danny and then Jeffrey Lawton's on and Steve's on. I'm like, yeah, man, this is getting good now. I've got to start playing again. So, I mean, I just was playing the other night and I could feel myself draped over this game. I didn't even look. I'm like, yeah, man, this is the way to play them. I mean, playing the Bengals is exciting and making in-line hits and controlling that ball and beating the odds because it's like pool bingo. When you're going to first learn to play pool, it's not easy to hold that stick. It's not easy to pocket the balls. It takes something, and people give up on pool quickly and never really get a chance to play that game. And bingos is very similar to that. If you don't dedicate the time to fight through all the awkwardness and whatever it is, the complications of the game, or to literally play the game, the complication, or the complication to figure out how the game works, you know, mechanicall y to win, or sequence-wise, if you don't dedicate your time to that, you're never going to become one with the machine and feel part of the game. And that's what the EMs really do. Even the flipper games, when I play them wedge sets, people have filmed me. I did a couple of videos where I played my Central Park, and I have to admit, I took the tilt bob off. But I wanted to demonstrate, literally, how exciting playing a pinball machine. I think I've got to get this over to you somehow. Watch me play this Central Park. I played at the Allentown show almost the same way in the tournament. Central Park was in it coincidentally. But I played my Central Park here and they filmed me. I mean, I had such a spectacular game. I mean, without having to tilt, I can really make tremendous saves. And I don't normally do that. I just did that to demonstrate how to become one with the game. to really focus on every nudge, every shake, every move, and you can feel that ball. It's almost like the glass ain't on, and you're in the game as part of the game. And that's what I feel when I play the game. I really focus to beat the games, and that's almost all the time. I very rarely go down and say, all right, lolly, lolly doll, I'm going to go down there and just shoot the ball out, not shake. And if you're playing EM and you're not nudging or shaking, don't play it. Because it goes hand in hand. It's part of the whole EM experience is the EMs need to be shaked. That's why the vendors had that tilt so sensitive out in En Route. Now, I know for a fact. I've worked with vendors when I was a young kid, so I know what they did. and then I was in every establishment from all the vendors throughout the city so I know they all had the same mindset and the mindset was to keep that tilt at a spot where they can make money and not let the player enjoy himself and really compete against the machine the way they should and become one with the machine. If that tilt is too sensitive and you can't shake you're never going to get in a groove and the end won't feel the same. You won't be able to play it the way it's supposed to be played. You know? and so Vic you were around during the transition from two inch to three inch flippers what did you think of that at the time well I thought they were kind of clumsy when they first came out I said oh my god look at the size of these things now I don't know what the first flipper game was I should know that is it play ball or one of them I don't know one of them which has... But anyway, when it first came out, it was one of the baseball games that I first experienced, the three-inch flippers, and I just felt right away the friendliness. It gave the player... It felt... It gave the player an advantage to have that big of a bat. But they designed the game so that the vendor could still make money. But when the 3-inch slippers came into play, I really believed that, you know, Pong was already on the market in the early 70s, the first video game. So the craze was happening really early in the 70s. If people don't realize that, people really think the craze was the late 70s. It really wasn't for the videos. So I think at that point, I think Gottlieb started thinking more towards the player. and that's why I really love a lot of the late 70s wedge heads and the big flipper games because they're just fun to play. You know, you play GG and you've got a big gap. Now, I've got Crosstown. I picked the Crosstown up, which was another addition in this year in April, so that's why the garage had to get it retrofitted. Anyway, you take Crosstown, for instance, the gap between the flipper is pretty wide. And not taking anything away from Crosstown as a player, it's still a great player. I really enjoy it. It's challenging. It's got things going on special-wise, and it's unique to the whole series, the whole Wedget set series. But still, that gap is there, and you get – sometimes you'll play a game, no matter how good you are, no matter how great of a shaker or nudger you are, you're going to get a game on Crosstown or a couple games where you're going to get a lot of center balls. It's right down, right down, right down. It's not going to be fluid. I like a fluid open play field now. This is the way I feel now in time. And I like the flippers closed. I like the more playability game, more friendly game. It just seems to work for me now. Back when the two-inch flippers were around, that's all they had. I mean, you got what you got. You got target pool. That's a player-friendly game. The ball hardly ever goes down on me. Target pool You got King of Diamonds I don't find Is a real Sour drainer Or a monster drainer Flippers are kind of Close for me And But The big When big flippers Came out I loved them I just I just I thought it was great High hand Was a great game I remember playing And I think it was Play ball Or home run Or one of them games With the big flippers And then flying carpet Now flying carpet I haven't had a chance to home. But that's a cool color game. And also the coloring on the play field and the back there. So that kind of attracts me. Even though I'm a player at first, I kind of got attracted by Flying Carpet. Even in the early days when they brought it into the candy store. Loved that game. Nice special game. I remember that game being kind of tough to keep the ball in play though. Even though it's a three inch flipper game. So it all depends on what game it is and you know, playability how it is for the player, you know, for me. But the flying carpet's one that I'd like to get someday. I mean, a friend of mine, I played a lot of collections of wedge heads. I mean, I was inspired by a guy in Pennsylvania who had about 58 games up, or 50-something games up in spectacular, immaculate, fully restored, mechanically unbelievable. I mean, I, you know, built my collection around visiting his when I first seen his collection. He had Flying Carpet there. I played it there. And then I had another friend that was collected. He had about 48 games off of Magnificent, Mint Condition Wedge. I played his Flying Carpet. He was in New Jersey. And so I never owned one. But, I mean, that's a nice big flipper game that might turn out to be a favorite of mine. I wouldn't know until I own it. So, I mean, you know, the Wedgehead series, there's really hardly any bad games, man. You can't go wrong with them games. They're easy to work on. They play good. They last long. They sound good. They just rule the whole early 60s right into the 70s. They just ruled pinball. That was their time. I think Gatlin was great, too, with the wood reels, but I don't really have any playing time on wood reels. I never really played that many. I don't remember them. I did see them on the boardwalk. I played a few at an early age, but I had a few in my collection. I got rid of them because the feel isn't right to me. They're too light. The weight of them is not right. The heads are too small or something. They just don't feel right to me. And back then, the designers were designing games that were impossible to conquer, to make the sequence, complete the sequence. They spaced the pop-up results. They really burned the player back then. And the players, but they had beautiful artwork, and it just attracted. And pinball was fabulous because they had no flippers 10 years before. They had no pop-up. So no matter what they put out in the wood-real era, and all they added is how the pinball actually evolved was spectacular, but really the 60s when it really happened for the player. The players could reach the sequences and win a lot of games and really keep the ball in play and pop-upers got closer and things were happening that were better for the players. And then by the late 70s, it was all about the players because of where I was going before with the conversation with the video game. you know, Pong coming out in the early 70s, the Gauntlet, by then we're putting big flippers everywhere and really making the games a little more friendly, to be honest with you. They're just downright more friendly than the two-inch flipper games, but the two-inch flipper games are more challenging. Do I want that now? I still like that. But I prefer a more friendly game, a more enjoyable game, a more two-and-a-half-minute to five-and-a-half-minute game, and then play the next game, you know, and try to become one with the machine between playing each game, which only takes, you know, maybe five minutes on an average. I'll go downstairs, I'll play all 25 wedge heads in an hour, just about if I don't really try that hard. Some nights I go down and I try hard, I can't do nothing, and other nights I go down and just, you know, play and end up getting a great game. and all of a sudden I'm in a race for beating my old high score from 13 years ago. So I've got to get into a mode. I go from one gear to the next gear. That's what's good about DEMs, you know. You can do that. You It all takes one good ball and you're on your way to beating that high score and beating that game for a spectacular game that only happens once in a while. And that's what I look for. I look for that I hope that it can continue to happen because, you know, there's been pool players that have gone into their 60s and still competed, still had great, you know, eye-hand coordination. So I think pinball, I've lost something. But I think if I continue to play more and really try to stay focused, I can still maybe perhaps beat one of them old high scorers someday. I don't know. We'll see. If I go cold turkey and all I've got to do is play games, that might do it. I think that's how I conquered. at some of them stores. I actually went cold turkey for a couple of months and really played my game. I mean, played them. You know? Mm-hmm. But, yeah, you know, the reverse white chaser games are good. The Williams games are good, too. Some of the Valley games are good. So, I mean, it's all good. It's just what you, for me, it's what I grew up on. Like I told you, 18 of the 25 white chaser games I played in the candy store that are great players that have that, what I'm looking for in a game playability wise so you know it's hard to sell any for sure and do what I did years ago you know buy one I can sell one buy a new one restore it put it in the slot play it for a couple years sell that one get another one and that's the reason for me not doing that anymore is because it's harder and more difficult to take a game in and spend 80 hours to 120 hours on it I know that sounds like a high number, but I documented it. And a lot of my games are in that general area. And that counts for the preventive maintenance I've been doing on the wedge heads for the past 15 years. You know, that's documented in an index card inside the front door where the coin box is. So I took all my coin boxes up. I stacked them all up in the shed now because they were all on top of them shelves I moved in the garage. I got all these coin boxes. So I think I'm going to try to get them out there to people who might be doing the coin thing. I'd rather have it on free play myself. One game on coin play in my collection downstairs out of the 25 widgets. Which one's that? Sure Shot And why did you pick that one to stay on coin It was a game that was just in such remarkable original condition that I didn't want to do anything to it at all except bring it down. I cleaned it up a little bit. I waxed the cabinet and cleaned it all up, but it had such low plays and it looked so new that I just left it in its natural state but you know I had to have one on a coin and I picked that one because it just fit perfectly in at that time it's the first game you see when you come down the steps of the basement into the room where there's 25 wedge heads it hits you right smack in the middle of the room there so next to that is Jack's Open that's in the center of the room behind Jack's Open is Banker Ball across from that is King of Diamonds the wedge heads are in somewhat chronological order it starts off with 1961 with Showboat. Moves over to Sweetheart, 63. And the next game is Buckaroo, 65. And then there's Central Park, 65. And there's Bank of Balls, 65. King of Diamonds, 67. Royal Guard, 68. Domino, 68 or 9. And then Spinnacards, 68. And then Target Pool, I guess, I don't know when that was, 69 or 70, maybe 69. And then Mibs, that's after that and then after MIPS comes Flip A Card and then Aquarius and then I got a what they call when the red X comes up on a show and it sounds like I got North Star which doesn't belong in that spot in the chronological order then I got another sing-alongs comes up and then it starts again in chronological order with Drop A Card and then the next one over is I'm not looking at my games I'm sitting on the couch upstairs. Then the next one over is High Hand. After High Hand, Atlantis, and then El Dorado, then Bali, then Big Hit, Centigrade, and another 2001 on the end. Because when you have a limited space of 18 foot by 28 foot, that's the way my basement is. I have a bar down there. I have a 1955 Seabird BL200 jukebox. And then to arrange these in chronological order is virtually impossible, especially when through time you buy games, sell games, bring new games in. It's crazy to move games and re-level games and do all that. It's just an incredible amount of work. I've done it so many times, though. I've done it so many times because if you have 150 games it's like musical cheers yeah and the neons don't match over the games so I got to switch the neons so they match the same coloring scheme to the game which is another bad thing I have in my head sometimes I sit down and I like this one better over here it's a look nice over here but that's the whole fun part about it but after 25 years 150 games and all kinds of stuff and you're restoring every game yourself I guess you have to pull the reins back once in a while you know and this is where I'm at at this present time after a whole bunch of work because I did bring in Crosstown and I brought my wife a Playboy which is actually a solid state game in the mix that's in the family room level and I got a countdown I brought back which is a great drop target game And I like the solid state games that had that transition period from EM to solid state in the same year because Moonwalk or Spacewalk was Countdown's counterpart in the EM manufacturing. In the same month, they made the Countdown solid state. So to have that game solid state with the EM play field, there's something to be said about that. and the DC voltage brings you more power and a quicker blow response and you can set the legs up high in the back and at one time I had that countdown in my collection and I had three of them I think to make a beautiful one and it was magnificent when I sold it and to buy it back and have a second chance at a game is really good And, I mean, I didn't buy back that many games, but this is one I did. And when I got in, I really worked it over and gave it a magic eraser treatment, gave it another bath in a wax and did some pen stuff to it, took some pens on it. And I'll tell you, man, I fell in love with that game again. It really feels like an EM, but with lightning power. and being it's a drop target game that kind of mimics high hand with the four banks in almost the same locations to add the extra ball feature to that and a special feature to that and a multiplier to that and a sequence of getting the color drop targets to that and to get the bonus value up in the top that game is a favorite of mine and it almost it almost feels like an EN it really does it almost feels like I'm playing the EM that's on steroids so I had to mention that I really think that's a killer drop target game because it's so simple play feel layout it's right in your face like high hand, like volley I love them drop targets that's right in your face even Eldorado is a good drop target game because it's got two banks. But the countdown's a great player, man. I really enjoyed it. And I really like the Valley Playboy now that I have it in my collection because, like I said, you play them at the show, you play them at people's collections, and you play these games, but you really don't get to know them and really get a feel for the playability of a game until it's in your collection. That's why I don't rate any other games except the games in my collection and I wish everybody else felt the same way because then you really get a true rating. Especially the way I played them to beat them for 15 replays and a high score like that. I rate all my games through my best game. That's why they got all high marks. It's like I take the best game I had in 15 years and I remember it in my mind and then I rate it because that's truly what rating a game is about. If you can get to that plateau of an EM to really, you beat an EM for 15 replays and max out that credit wheel. Let me tell you something. You've had a game. You've had a game, my friend. So that's what everybody's got to strive for with their collection. They've got to play their games and really try to compete against them and really become one with the machine, whether it's a DMD, whether it's a 30s game, whether it's a solid-state game, whether it's a really got to become one with the game and really give yourself a fair chance at the playability of it. I'm sure people play their games, though. I don't know. I just don't really know. You know, people that have these big collections, do they go down there? Do they really play their games? That would be a question I would really want to know, truthfully, you know. But I talk to people, yeah, I play my games every night. Okay, because I'll ask the question once in a while at a show. I'll always inquire about how many games you have, what kind of collection you got, and then I'll ask that magic question. Do you play your games a lot? oh yeah every night yeah right who plays their games every night who has time for that not I unfortunately oh you're doing a lot of things well you got time you have all this youth and energy and it's valuable because I have to say I never let up on this hobby when I got into it I went full throttle man I'm telling you Nick many weekends in a row, 12 hours, get up 6 o'clock and still be working 6 at night, go into 8 o'clock Sunday, 14 hours, back-to-back weekends, every night home from work, 5 p.m. to 1 in the morning. I mean, this is a time-consuming hobby. If you want top-of-the-line games that play great and you can't reach into your pocket and pay for that, then you've got to put in the work. And that really takes up a lot of time. And you're raising a family, and you're going to work, and you have, you know, other family, your parents and other things. And, you know, you really have to find the time and do it. Or life will pass you by. You'll be older and say, damn, I wish I put more time in. See, me, I know I put a tremendous amount of time on it. I have no regrets. But it's time for me to stop. I can't do it anymore. It's just as time goes on, your body and your mind don't play games on you. They just change a little bit. So, I mean, for me, it's going to be about playing my games. And I have been playing my games for a while now because I've been pulling the reins back. I mean, I went a year without buying a game. I went, you know, maybe longer than that. And just recently now that I got back into it, all this podcast stuff with this bingo stuff and listening to all these people still so passionate. And I've been building game rooms for everybody here in New Jersey. I've been a locator of games. And I've done so many game rooms and met so many people and watch the excitement on their faces and how they're buying games and oh, they're talking to me about, oh, you were right. This is great. Oh, and here I am laying dormant. It's hard. It's not an easy task to do. So maybe I'll shut my computer off and go like to being a hermit and not think about talking to anybody or helping anybody with anything. You know? Just stay downstairs and play games for night after night after night, not worrying about who's buying this and getting that. It's exciting. I mean, that's what it's about. So it's tough to deal with when you get older and you lose a step and you had over 150 games. It gets a little bit more tougher to deal with and to make happen, you know? Yeah. but you know it's all about the young guys now like you said the DMDs I'm glad that they're still making them I mean you have to touch base on that you gotta give credit to all these guys that have these spectacular collections of DMD games with game rooms with memorabilia and stuff and one of a kind I mean it's incredible I mean what I see on the internet and what I seen on the internet 15, 20 years ago, it's night and day, man. I mean, and I always wanted this and that's why I dedicated and took time out. Through everything else, I donated pictures and I've talked to many, many people on the phone. I mean, I started off a circle of collectors here in New Jersey that's grown to, I can't tell you how many people, and fill their basements up and always, always had the time to push and keep the hobby alive back then. And now it's all worth it for me. It really is. I mean, it was time-consuming to put the information I had that's on the Internet now under my name. There's quite a few other people that have much more to me, and I commend them, but I'm just saying we're talking in general and in facts I'm not trying to boast or anything but just trying to get an idea with everybody who listens who's younger is to, you know I've seen people where they didn't find the time and they're my age now and they don't have what I have or gone through what I have because they the time is there, you have to want it you have to do it, you have to make it even if you stay up later or you get up earlier, every little time you get you can devote to your passion it's going to be worthwhile especially now that the hobby's exploded I used to think that everything I was doing was just going to go down the drain because you know I've seen the big lull I've seen all the manufacturers go out of business I've seen the shows start to disintegrate And it really got to that point where it was sinking at one point. And then, you know, the Internet and the communication and the amount of information that was available and all the people that are so wonderful in the hobby that share knowledge and take time out to help people. So, I mean, you know, this puts pinball back on the map again. It's a combination of so many people, so many people. But the younger people that rule the hobby now, that are fairly a big percentage of the hobby now, have to continue that while they're young and have the energy and they have the drive and the passion, you know. because it's going to get bigger and bigger. And the EMs will be around because of that. They'll be around because of that, because now I'm finding out through general knowledge of my own by just scanning around and keeping up with things on the Internet that a lot of people, younger people, that have the DMDs and the solid-state games and remember all that from college and they're young, are learning about the EMs and wanting the EMs and incorporating the EMs into their collections. And the EMs are now gradually starting to move upward again. And I feel that, and I'm an optimistic, positive person, so don't quote me or think like me. I just feel that they're going to resurrect again and kind of really head towards where the DMDs have gone. Not only will they be a little bit more valuable price-wise, which doesn't mean anything to me, but a hobby is driven by supplying demand in the market and everything. And eventually, people are putting a lot of time into these EMs and getting their prices now because, you know, back glass is $300 and the paint shop's more and the clear coat and the chrome. So, I mean, how much longer are the EM collectors going to take that loss? First of all, it's a time-consuming thing that they take out of their daily schedule. And not only, you know, is it something they lose profit-wise, but they're, you know, it's something. So I see gradually that perhaps, you know, VMs now are going to kind of rise again and become a little bit more popular and people will have the chance to have the comparison of a DM game and then walk to play an EM game in the same game room or environment. And it's like night and day and it's just a matter of opinion and choice. and what you like. There's no bad pinball machine out there. There's no game that isn't going to be collectible over time. I've seen games now popping up now that back in the day when we were collecting EMs because we wanted the gauntlet and the wedge heads and we wanted the Cadillac and the industry, we passed up on Williams games and Valley games. But these games are all now becoming into people's collections. You know, it's not just about the God of Wedgeheads. The four-player games are getting recognition. People are collecting these games, and what happens is they find out that once they buy this game, take it home, whether it's a four-player Williams 70s game or 60s game or any EM, they take it home. You take it home, you play it, and you have it. It automatically becomes great to you because you get to witness everything about the game become one with the game. and that's why all these other games are now becoming popular. Suspense, Williams Suspense, you name it. Golfs, the golf game, I mean, anything. There's a lot of good Williams games. Me, blue chip. Who thought that I would fall in love with a Williams blue chip? DC Voltage, late 70s games that I never played. When I got that game in my collection, you know, the attraction for me was it was a low-play, you know, a game with only 18, 000 plays I knew I could take it home work my magic and make it look new in the box and play new in the box and that's what my intentions were strictly with that game but when all was said and done and the hours were invested and I started playing that game and playing that game that game almost is like a gauntlet it's a 1 through 9 or 1 through 10 numbers game it plays like a gauntlet but it's got the Williams twist because Williams always had a little extra feature, a little something special that Wedge has didn't have, which is neat. And that game is a lot like a goblet. I didn't even realize it until I played that game. And now I love that game. It's just a great player. It's player-friendly. It's got DC voltage. And this is what's happening with all the EMs that are existing out there. People are finding them. taking them in. No one was taking in four-player games when we first started collecting EMs. Everybody wanted the cream of the crop. They wanted the wood-wheel single-player goblets. They wanted this. They wanted that. The reverse wedge, Ed Williams, single-player games, you know. Everybody was hung up on single-player games because it is good for collection. They're smaller. They're lighter to move around. There's less to troubleshoot, and it's the sequence. You're always getting a ball after a ball. It doesn't reset. But still, these other games, like, they're great games. I mean, my lady luck, I won't get rid of it. My son tells me all the time, why don't you just sell the lady luck? I'm like, well, how can I sell the lady luck at a place just like Blackjack? I think I'm in the casino when I play that game. It's got a dealer in it. He goes, there's no dealer. It's just a light up. I said, no, there's a little dealer back there behind the class. I used to tell him that when he was younger. Now he knows I was BSing him. At eight years old, they believe stuff like that. I once told one of my friend's daughters, they came over. They were playing Centigrade 37. and they told a whole bunch of stories about these blonde girls who got taken by Martians in space. And they were at these times. They went home and they told their father the whole story. And they had to have that game because they wanted to rescue the two blonde girls on Centigrade 37. You know, these games are imaginable. They're magical. I mean, you know, especially with the kids today. And I see you have the company now. I've been listening to your podcast. And I'm reading up on you. and you're doing just fine over there because I remember having Boy Scouts over. I had the city hall. All the children from the camps came over one time. And to see that, that's another thing that's great about the hobby and collecting. Not only are the games spectacular and everything, you love to play them, but the camaraderie with all ages. there's such a I'm saying it's like there's three year olds playing, four year olds playing, I know my kids were playing they were dragging their diaper from wedge head to wedge head, they were so close to my basement, I put Michael on one end he'd go right down to from Royal Guard 69 right up to 77 he'd drag his dirty diaper right across the things you know, but the EM's are hopefully making a little rebound and again your podcast the EM for amusement only I mean is there another EM podcast out there? That's my question to you. Not at the moment. There is a segment on Spooky Pinball which you've been on with a guy that I've interviewed a couple times and he runs... What's his name? His name is James Willing. Right, I heard that one that you had with him. He's cool, that guy. Yeah, he is. And he knows a ton of stuff and he's really nice. He runs a segment on every episode. It's like 10 minutes. He tries to keep it short and sweet and I do kind of the same. And then a long time ago, Clay Harrell ran a podcast called TopCast. And he talked about all kinds of EM stuff along with the newer... He kind of talked about everything and interviewed designers. He interviewed Wayne Neyens. He interviewed Steve Kordek. I mean, really fascinating stuff. TopCast. Are they podcasts? Is it TopCast? Yeah. I'll send you a link after this. I've heard some of them. I remember them back then. And I think there was a couple of people doing something like that. I remember this guy in Arizona. You probably don't recall, but he had that, he called me one night and I went on and we talked a little bit. I think that was around the time the podcast was on, but there's nothing happening with the podcast now, is there? No, I think he stopped that years ago. Yeah. so you are you are basically the EM guy out there with the podcast going on which is like you're like the savior I don't know about that this is unbelievable that's right because when you think about it no one lately has been doing that with the EMs. There's a lot of podcasts out there because you sent me the links. I asked you for it because I was interested too. And they're all great, man. I mean, all that, all the other ones, they're just fantastic too. I love listening to stuff. I love listening to people. That's the way to go. I can't, emails, you can have the emails. And I mean, you know, when you can talk and you can hear people and you can feel their words coming out of their mouth, it's coming from their hearts sometimes. it's pretty nice I'm glad you're doing what you're doing really really hats off to you again it's just incredible and I've been enjoying a lot of this stuff too a lot of it well thanks a lot I really appreciate that and you're lucky because like you said you get to talk to these people first hand and hear it from the horse's mouth per se and And that's got to be feeling pretty good too, you know. It is, yeah. To get someone's perspective that lived through a time which I certainly didn't and hear what they have to say about these great games. I mean, what could be better? Yeah. Interesting, really. It really is. I'm glad I got a chance to talk to you, you know, on your podcast. and there's never a dull moment I can tell you that I woke up at 5 in the morning I actually had a crane come to the building and crane up a 5 ton condensing unit for the boardroom on the 4th floor today so I've been up now I'm starting to all of a sudden I went into like a slow talk mood I'm headed towards that 10 o'clock mood but I got to get out a little earlier today, me and I went in early well, Vic, I appreciate you coming on again and as always you're welcome back anytime I hope to do this again sometime here soon, but I'll let you get some rest for tonight, sounds like you've earned it alright, let's see if we can come up with it next time and we'll talk again. I'm always interested. Sounds good, man. Thank you very much. Thank you. I'll be listening. All right. Take care, Nick. Thanks. You too. Good night. I want to thank my guest, Vic Camp, again for coming on the show. And Vic, if you want to get in touch with him on that 10 bingo deal, which sounds fantastic. Contact Vic at campgames at yahoo.com. One other quick note, all ten of those bingos worked 100%, except the one that was just a parts game. So someone's going to get a really nice deal. And thank you again for listening. 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 Cast, via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter, at Bingo Podcast. You can follow me on Instagram at nbaldridge and you can listen to us on our website, which is forumusementonly.libsyn.com. Thanks again for listening and I'll talk to you next time. _(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v4)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 60a1bd95-5165-42bd-81d1-341dedf2407c*