Introduce yourself thread...

[chrisnack]

Hi everyone,

just wanted to introduce myself as i'm new here. I got my first pinball probably 8 years ago now i think it was, i picked up a Gottlieb Sinbad and learned all about System 1 systems and replaced all the plastics and cleaned up the playfield nice. My roommate and friend thought i was crazy buying a pinball machine as he hated pinball. However i thought it would be a good addition to the game room which already had a MAME machine i spent a year building and a full-size stand-up dart board (shot league darts). About a year or two later i got a Cleopatra that wasn't working for $300, turned out it was just a blown fuse. In 2010 i took a new job in San Antonio Texas and was moving across country, so i decided to sell the pinballs as i didn't want to move them.

In 2012 i ended up moving back to WI because my fiancé got a job back here in WI and i could work from anywhere (IT Consultant) so i moved back to the frigid north and to snow. I've had been after a new pinball for awhile, and about a month ago i emailed the guy i sold both of my pinballs to and asked if he still had them, not only did he have them, he was selling the house and wasn't sure if he wanted to move them. So... 5 years later i bought my Sinbad and Cleopatra back. I just couldn't pass up getting the same machines back again...

And now it begins... again... my buddy Charlie just bought a Black Hole off a member off here (i was an idiot and said i'd help him move it). I'm looking forward to meeting some of the folks and just getting a chance to play other machines and meet people who understand this "pinball thing".

Oh yeah, my old roommate, ended up playing the pinball more than anyone else, he had/has the high score, which still stands to this day on the Sinbad.

-Chris Nackers

[Hilton]

welcome and great story of your pinball life to this point!

Hope to meet you soon. If you stop out to one of the local monthlies you will meet a whole bunch of the regulars.

[chrisnack]

welcome and great story of your pinball life to this point!

Hope to meet you soon. If you stop out to one of the local monthlies you will meet a whole bunch of the regulars.

Where do i find out about local meets and such?

[Hilton]

welcome and great story of your pinball life to this point!

Hope to meet you soon. If you stop out to one of the local monthlies you will meet a whole bunch of the regulars.

Where do i find out about local meets and such?

pooleys, 2nd wed of each month 6:30
schwoeglers, 3rd sat of each month 6:00

www.madisonpinball.com has info about any other upcoming events and we usually post stuff on here and also on IFPA calendar.

[chrisnack]

Thanks!

[cad-kid]

Welcome to the forum Chris

[Wisconnyjohnny]

Well I am here introducing myself. Johnny. Played all my life. I know some of you. Black knight 2000 tales of Arabian knights and Theatre of magic are favorites games. Initials are "JJM"

Look forward to playing with many of you!

Cheers

[cad-kid]

Welcome to the site Jonny

[RustyLizard]

What part of the state Johnny? Welcome.

[BEK1966]

Hey everyone,

My name is Brad and I just signed up here this weekend and to Pinside not too long ago. Last year my house was struck by lightening and burned - pretty much taking everything with it. Thankfully the family (wife and 3 teenage kids) was fine and we're finally back into what is essentially a new house. There's always good that comes with the bad and one the good things to come out of the fire was the opportunity to finish our walkout basement and transform it into a nice space that we all can enjoy. Since August we've been building a small collection of games that are listed below. I've already bought my tickets for the MGC and am taking part of Tom Talyor's open house on Friday.

Looking forward to being a contributor to Wisconsin Pinball.
Brad

[Hilton]

Welcome Johhny and Brad!

Tim (Ralphwiggum) runs a great site here for the WI pinheads so glad you found us all! Already met Johnny IRL and hope to meet you also Brad.

Bummer on the house fire but glad the family was all safe. Did you lose any pins in the fire?

[cad-kid]

Welcome Brad.

[BEK1966]

I didn't have any pins at the time of the fire, just the Shuffle Alley which was in the basement. The fire didn't make it down to the basement, but thousands of gallons of water did! The Shuffle Alley is back, albeit worse for wear. My son Andy and I decided we'd try to resurrect it and have been making some decent progress. All we need is a replacement pin reset motor and the related cam and relay switch. The switch and the cam are causing intermittent pin resets. The machine scores fine, keeps track of the player numbers and frames - so we're close.

I didn't play much pinball until college. My friends and I made midnight runs to 7-Eleven to take a break from working in the studio. We found PinBot, Highspeed, F14 and free refills to be a great way to blow off steam. It's been 26 years since I graduated and I haven't played pinball since - too busy with work, family and other interests.

We bought our house in 2003 when the kids were young and the plan was always to finish the basement, but we never got around to it. The need to rebuild from the fire came at the right time. Our kids are in high school and could really use a fun place to hangout with friends and my wife and I like the idea of them hanging out with friends at our house rather than friends houses. The finished portion of the basement is a little over 1,000 sf. It's a walkout with lots of windows and a large French door (perfect access for games). It's finished nicely and doesn't look like a basement. We also have a 280 sf Hobby/Work Room that is tiled and well lit that is a great space to work on machines.

We bought the Ball Bowler in July, shortly after moving back in. It's in great shape and works perfectly - it's a lot of fun to play. The first pin, FastDraw, came a couple of months ago. It's a well played machine (not great playfield), but the back glass is in nice shape and the cabinet is decent. I have replaced the rubber and plastics and have cleaned and polished everything else. I was surprised at how much everyone enjoyed playing it which lead to the purchase of Beat The Clock. This is the 1962 Williams version. It was in someone's home since 1968 and is in really nice shape. Small flippers and bumpers that score 1 or 10 - a lot different than FastDraw - but fun! We also picked up a SuperChexx hockey game at the Chicago Coin-op show. The game is a blast and has lead to marathon doubles tournaments. We just got RBION, in fact I am picking it up tonight. I've played this only a few times, but it seems like a pin that will be enjoyed.

Thanks for the welcome guys. If you're every heading to the Kenosha area let me know - I'd love to meet some of you.

[Ken]

Welcome to the new people! Look forward to playing some pinball with you guys someday.

[BigDaddyBanjo]

I just realized I have never responded to this thread, so here it goes. My name is Garrett Peterson. I suck at pinball, so I often am asked to play dollar games with the amazing pinheads here in Wisconsin.

Aside from the 8-10 games I have in my basement at any given time, I am also one of the partners at Madison Pinball (along with Sean and Hilton) and help to maintain and keep almost 20 machines on location in the Madison area. Text me if you are going to play at Schwoeglers and chances are I will drive over and hang out.

I like beer.

My pinball obsession really started in college when like many of you I wasted my money and time on these machines rather than studying. Many years later I started hanging out with Sean and started buying/fixing machines. I have been collecting for 7 years or so now and since then I can't believe how many awesome people I have met through this hobby, and that is the real reason I keep doing it. I love you guys (and gals)!

My son Brodde is also an active player in Wisconsin and he doesn't suck (Nobling often points out that he obviously gets his hand/eye coordination from his mother).

The BigDaddyBanjo moniker is a combination of the nickname my kids gave me and the musical instrument I bought and store in my office so I can stare at it and have a daily reminder of another of my hobbies that I am not proficient at.

Garrett