Super Rare Arcade Game or Pinball Machine?

RetroRalph·video·6m 27s·analyzed·Jun 9, 2023

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.021

TL;DR

Rare Varkon vertical pinball machine explored at Pastimes Arcade with production history and market value.

Summary

RetroRalph visits Pastimes Arcade in Girard, Ohio to showcase Varkon, an extremely rare vertical pinball machine disguised as an arcade cabinet with only 90 units produced. The machine features a tilted playfield viewed via mirror and joystick-controlled flippers. The video also documents Sea Hunt, an even older Allied Leisure vertical pinball machine from the 1970s, and discusses current secondary market pricing of Varkon at approximately $8,000.

Key Claims

Only 90 Varkon machines were manufactured
high confidence · Speaker states this multiple times as defining characteristic of rarity; appears to be established fact about the game's production run
Varkon uses a mirror to display a tilted playfield that appears vertical to the player
high confidence · Speaker demonstrates interior mechanics: 'there's a mirror right here... when you're playing it, you're playing off the mirror, but the playfield's actually down here'
Varkon uses joysticks to control flippers instead of traditional flipper buttons
high confidence · Speaker confirms: 'you don't have flipper buttons. You actually use the joysticks to move the flippers around'
Current secondary market price for Varkon is approximately $8,000
medium confidence · Speaker states: 'you'd be lucky to find one for like, you know, $8,000' indicating estimated market value based on recent searches
Pastimes Arcade in Girard, Ohio has 600 operational pinball machines
medium confidence · Speaker claims: 'at Pastimes, they have all these crazy pinball machines... 600 pinball machines total that are operational and working in this room'
Sea Hunt by Allied Leisure is a 1970s-era vertical pinball machine predating Varkon
medium confidence · Speaker estimates: 'this is probably, I'm guessing, from the 1970s' and notes it uses similar joystick flipper control but with nudge mechanics
Varkon was manufactured by Harry Williams (Williams Electronics)
high confidence · Speaker credits: 'I gotta hand it to Harry Williams. I think they did something that was very innovative'
Only two locations are known where Varkon can be publicly played: Pastimes Arcade and Galloping Ghosts
medium confidence · Speaker states: 'The only other place I know where there's one that you can go and play it is Galloping Ghosts, so if you find yourself in Ohio or Illinois, give it a shot'

Notable Quotes

“It's actually a pinball machine that's disguised as an arcade game in my opinion.”
RetroRalph (Girard)@ 0:12 — Core premise of the video; establishes Varkon's unique hybrid nature
“There's a mirror right here... when you're playing it, you're playing off the mirror, but the playfield's actually down here.”
RetroRalph (Girard)@ 0:56 — Technical explanation of Varkon's innovative mirror-based display mechanism
“Only 90 of these made... so it's super unique.”
RetroRalph (Girard)@ 0:24 — Establishes scarcity as key appeal and investment value
“You'd be lucky to find one for like, you know, $8,000.”
RetroRalph (Girard)@ 4:20 — Documents secondary market pricing; establishes high collector value
“I gotta hand it to Harry Williams. I think they did something that was very innovative and maybe even a little risky for the time.”
RetroRalph (Girard)@ 1:27 — Recognition of engineering innovation and risk-taking in Varkon's design

Entities

Varkongame Pastimes Arcadeorganization Sea Huntgame Harry WilliamspersonGalloping GhostsorganizationRetroRalphpersonWilliams ElectronicscompanyAllied Leisurecompany

Signals

?
community_signal: Content creator partnership between RetroRalph and Arcade Hollywood demonstrating collaborative YouTube content strategy for arcade/pinball coverage
medium · Speaker announces: 'we're gonna have my video, his video, and then if we plan it right, there'll be a Q&A afterwards' on Arcade Hollywood channel
?
event_signal: Pastimes Arcade grand opening event recently occurred; RetroRalph attended and documented comprehensive venue coverage
high · Speaker states: 'I just came back from there from the grand opening' and teases comprehensive video featuring 'bunch of really unique and awesome things that happened'
$
market_signal: Varkon secondary market pricing has increased significantly to approximately $8,000; speaker expresses shock at current valuation
high · Speaker notes: 'I was shocked at how much this has increased in value... you'd be lucky to find one for like, you know, $8,000'
?
announcement: Upcoming premiere video of Pastimes Arcade grand opening coverage scheduled for Sunday at 9 a.m. Pacific/noon Eastern with double-feature collaboration and Q&A on Arcade Hollywood channel
high · Speaker confirms: 'this Sunday I'm gonna have a premiere video at 9 a.m. Pacific and noon Eastern Time, and then following that video, we're gonna have another video, sort of a double feature on Arcade Hollywood's channel'

Topics

Rare/Unique Pinball Machine DesignsprimaryVertical Pinball Cabinet ArchitectureprimaryPinball Machine Secondary Market PricingsecondaryHistorical Innovation in Pinball EngineeringsecondaryCollector Culture and Investment ValuesecondaryArcade Venue Operationsmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.82)— Speaker expresses genuine enthusiasm and appreciation for Varkon's innovative design, historical significance, and rarity. Maintains positive tone throughout despite acknowledging high secondary market prices. Describes experience as enjoyable and encourages others to seek out the machines.

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.019

Hey guys, welcome back to the channel. I'm in Girard, Ohio at Pastimes Arcade. This is Varkon. Now, there was only 90 of these made. When you first look at this, you're like, oh cool, it's an arcade game that I've never heard of. It's actually a pinball machine that's disguised as an arcade game in my opinion. So there's actually a pinball playfield embedded in here. And the thing is, it's tilted away from you, and you're actually playing on a mirror. It's very, very cool, and like I said, only 90 of them were made, so it's super unique. It does have flippers like a traditional pinball machine except you don't have flipper buttons You actually use the joysticks to move the flippers around. It's also got this Sinister demon looking guy in the middle. I can only assume that that's of our con There's some details about the game, but there's not a lot because they only made 90 and then it was discontinued I don't know why I guess it was just not popular with buyers at the time Okay, so I really wanted to show you the inside of the VAR con just to get the idea of what's going on here so you can see you've got a a mirror right here. So there's a mirror that goes this way. So when you're playing the game, you're playing off the mirror, but the playfield's actually down here. So if you come in with the camera a little bit, you can see the playfield's actually on the bottom. So what a wild thing, because when you're playing it, the playfield looks like it's vertically in front of you. And then of course, all your boards, the logic boards to run it are all right here. But let's just look real fast so you can see. That's what John Youssi. How insane is that? And and the playfield's actually hiding down below. So I think this is one of those things where I gotta hand it to Williams. I think they did something that was very innovative and maybe even a little risky for the time Maybe one day I find one I don know But believe it or not this one in particular was close to at auction so very out of reach for some Anyway, hopefully you enjoyed that little closer look at the inside of the cabinet. But it's very, very cool, and I was drawn to it mainly just because it's super unique and different. But the crazy thing is, so at Past Times, they have all these crazy games. They've got unique games. There's 600 games total that are operational and working in this room. I'm going to take you over here because I thought that this concept of a vertical pinball machine was just Varkon. We can go way back in time here at Past Times Arcade, and I'll show you something completely crazy off the wall that almost looks like this concept, but way before it's time. Let's go check it out. So I don't know if Varkon was the first to do this idea of a vertical pinball playfield inside a traditional arcade cabinet, but this is Seahunt. It's by a company called Allies. I don't know where this came from, really. I don't know the history, but this is also a vertical play field, but this is probably, I'm guessing, from the 1970s. I don't even know the time period. I'm trying to see if there's anything dated on it. Maybe I can look at the back and see, but I don't know. I don't know what time period. I'm going to guess the 1970s. So if you think about it, that was the 80s, so you're talking about a decade before that. But kind of cool, same concept. You control the flippers with these joysticks. on this one is a little bit different because you can kind of nudge the table by pushing it up. So instead of like a traditional pinball machine where you nudge it, you actually move these. This is super wild. Now I like Varkon better but I have a definite appreciation for something like this to think it pretty innovative in it time I don know if they did it for space purposes but pretty cool So let round off plan some Varkon and then we wrap things up Thank you. So, the other day I was curious, like, how much does a Varkon cost? And I was shocked at how much this has increased in value. I mean, you'd be lucky to find one for like, you know, $8,000. So obviously it's not in the cards for me. But it is a game where I feel like I've been on this kick of wanting to buy unique and rare titles. I want to have games that are hard to find. But $8,000 is kind of a lot. Well guys, that was Varkon. Like I said, there's only 90 of these made. If you do see him out in the wild you lucky You should definitely try to give it a play Now I wondering where all these things are hiding out at because I literally never ever see them and like I said the cost of these right now is astronomical so it not in the cards for me but I can enjoy it here at a place like Past Times Arcade. The only other place I know where there's one that you can go and play it is Galloping Ghosts so if you find yourself in Ohio or Illinois give it a shot you won't be disappointed. Alright guys hopefully you enjoyed that quick video on VARCON. Now Now that VARCON that we saw was actually at Past Times Arcade in Girard, Ohio. I just came back from there from the grand opening and this Sunday I'm gonna have a premiere video at 9 a.m. Pacific and noon Eastern Time and then following that video We're gonna have another video sort of a double feature on Arcade Hollywood's channel So we're gonna have my video his video and then if we plan it right, there'll be a Q&A and A afterwards but I'm really excited for you guys to see the whole video on Past Times Arcade we had a blast there's a bunch of really unique and awesome things that happened but hey I'm not going to spoil it now you're going to have to watch so if you enjoyed this video give me a thumbs up consider subscribing to the channel put your comments below and hopefully I see you this Sunday June 11th at 9 a.m pacific noon eastern I'll see you there thanks so much for watching and we will see you on the next one hey guys wait no sorry