The Pinball Collector DVD: Quick Review

[goatdan]

I got a bunch of copies of the new pinballvideo.com production The
Pinball Collector a short while ago for sale on the GOAT Store and at
the Midwest Gaming Classic. I'll be adding them to the GOAT Store
soon, but they aren't there yet. Anyway, I had a chance today to sit
down and watch the DVD, and I thought I'd type up some quick
impressions of it...

Before I watched this, I had heard that it was a very well produced
video, but that there were also some quirks to it. The main complaint
seems to be that the games that there is no explanation of why the
games that were picked were picked, and it seems that there is not
necessarily a rhyme or reason to each game that is picked. I wish
there was an extras part that would have explained why the games that
were chosen were picked (the back mentions that they all have a
popular theme, mechanical novelty or gambling contrivance, so this is
somewhat addressed, but I'd like to also hear about it), and also
perhaps a short interview with the collector / museum curator who owns
this collection of machines. I'd especially like to know more about
where he finds parts, how he keeps them running and so on.

Having said that, other than at the end of the video, I can't say I
really thought about that during the video.

Now, full disclosure -- I've always been fascinated with early pinball
machines. I just bought with some help (thanks Bryan!) a 30s game
that I'm hoping to restore over the summer and have for future MGCs.
I own four (well, four and a half) late 40's flipper games --
Cinderella, 1.5 Lady Robin Hoods, Maryland and another one I'm
forgetting now). Unfortunately, they are currently in storage because
I haven't had the time to dedicate to restoring them. But I really
like something about the gameplay in this era, and so getting to have
this DVD walk through 30 games and show the details of these games was
great. For someone like me, who is really fascinated by this era of
gameplay but may never see some of these games in real life --
Carousel for instance the video notes there are three known to exist.
It was very cool seeing it working in this video.

And ultimately, that is what made this a winner for me. I'm WAY too
young to have ever seen any of these in the real world, and looking at
pictures of them on IPDB is great but it doesn't show me what the
games actually do. There was so much experimentation during this era,
a lot of these games are games are very unique. Many of them I doubt
there is any footage of them working online period, so this is the
ONLY way you'll get to see them. For someone like myself that finds
this era fascinating, it was a riveting hour of video. If you aren't
that interested in this era though, I doubt you'll find much here that
will really make it worth your while. To me though, this is where is
all really began, and even if you don't have any interest playing the
games I feel like everyone should have some interest in at least
seeing what they did.

The video has various period videos that are related to the table
topics that are shown, and the presentation is top notch once again.
The opening animation, which essentially shows a pinball collector
getting the bug is hilarious and oh so very true. Overall, I think
it's a very solid title and I'm happy to add it to my collection
beside Tilt, Pinball Passion and Pinball Video.com's earlier effort
Pinball 101.

If you want a copy, I'm sure I'll be making an announcement about
adding them to the GOAT Store later this week, so watch for that ;)

[goatdan]

Oh, and no clue why I used the word "Quick" in my topic, I was
intending that to be a "full" review. Sorry if you came in wanting
the quick version, and to make up for that here it is:

Like old games or want to see weird features various companies
expanded with before the 60's? Buy The Pinball Collector and you
won't be disappointed!

[L8-Vid]

>...perhaps a short interview with the collector / museum curator who owns

> this collection of machines.  I'd especially like to know more about
> where he finds parts, how he keeps them running and so on.

I do have the owner's comments about the games shown on the DVD.
Perhaps I'll include them in a future Blu-Ray version.

>  If you aren't
> that interested in this era though, I doubt you'll find much here that
> will really make it worth your while.  

For the pinball enthusiast I recommend buying the DVD, watching, then
forming your own opinion... :)

--r.e.

[DirtFlipper]

I purchased, and enjoyed watching the video. I had restored the '34 Gtb Merry Go Round and the '35 Sportsman (except the payout mech) that are shown, but sold those (along with several other 30's/40's games) to the present owner. Glad to know they are still working and in good hands, and it was fun to watch them in action again.

[Stevebo]

I think it's a great video. Well made, nice narration, interesting
historical facts, and good quality video to boot.
stevebo