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Pinball Ad Catalog Volume 3, 1936 is out and can be purchased!  Pinball is my main hobby. I have just finished the third 1930s ad catalog in the series (see link above). Three books, over 900 pages. Add in Pinball and World War 2 and I've generated over 1,000 pages of pinball fast food for consumption. The latest book also contains pricing info on 1931-1939 games.  In 2008 I finished creating a new game from scratch, Gooligan's Hooligans (see link above). I brought the game to the Pinball Expo 2008 show in Chicago and unveiled it at a seminar I gave. The game was then available for people to play over the weekend in the exhibit hall. I updated the software in early 2009 to support external USB devices so you could use your own MP3 songs as background music during the game or in attract mode. I also added an interactive tutorial controlled by a scripting language.  In 2004 I worked on building electronics and code for an existing wired playfield (Solar Ride). The game and rules are controlled from a PC. The details are at the Pinnovations web site (see link above). Solar Ride 2004 is finished and I play it like a regular game. 
 
I have designed PC pinball simulations for Epic MegaGames in the past, and I collect older pinball machines and keep them in my basement. View an excellent nostalgic video of Epic Pinball here. Youtube users have also uploaded videos of most/all Epic Pinball and Extreme Pinball tables. I am also interested in most other aspects of pinball such as playing (of course), design, restoration and history. I also collect pinball and other coin-op literature and flyers. In the last few years I have created the publications Pinball and World War 2, Pinball Ad Catalog Volume 1, 1931-33, Pinball Ad Catalog Volume 2, 1934-35 and now Pinball Ad Catalog Volume 3, 1936. 
The books are an enormous amount of work and the payback is small. Please support me by visiting the for sale page (see link at left) and buying some books here, or from your favorite pinball book dealer. My small collection of games numbers around 15-20 somewhere, with games from every decade from the 30's to 90's (and when I win the lottery it will be populated with more 90's games also). In addition to the custom solid state games I also have one custom (albeit simple) EM pinball-like game that I built around Xmas 2001 called "Nut Hunt!". Large PDF file (1.3mb) describing it here. I intend to build more custom pinball or pinball-like games. If you want to hire me to create something and you have money, I'm all ears. Do some Java flipping. I am about to start crameniating potentially on another book partially related to pinball. Got any neat photos of pinballs on location in the 1930s or later? Please let me know - I could use some for the next volume. I pay ebay prices for good photos! In general I am also interested in buying photos, postcards paper and magazines related to old coin-ops. Magazines like The Billboard, Cash Box, Automatic Age, Coin Machine Journal, Pacific Coin Machine Review, Jennings Tips 'n Topics, Mills Spinning Reels, Bally's Ballyhoo, etc. all have good information that I could use and love to read and I will pay well for these if I need them!
Pinball and World War 2 A big story about Pinball and World War 2. Please have a look. What is online is about half of the original edition. The greatly improved 2nd edition can be purchased. Also check out the Pinball Historians page included there if you want to find out anything about pinball history in general. This is not meant to be a special exclusive club or anything, just a list of knowledgeable peopl that I can vouch for. Neat Pinball LinksThese are neat and/or useful sites related to pinball that I've visited. All links verified as of October 21, 2008.
Pinball and Related PublicationsThere are a couple of publications with pinball content that I receive and recommend. The following table lists them.
Last updated: March 23, 2010 |
