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New member and second time Pinball owner.

strongs

strongs

Registered
5Years
Joined
Oct 18, 2015
Messages
935
Location
United Kingdom
Hello to all you Pinheads!

I'm Scott I'm 32 and I live in Leicestershire. I've been into the general coin ops hobby now for about 8 years.

My love for coin op games started when I was about 8 or 9 years old when we used to holiday on the East Coast of the UK specifically Mablethorpe and Skegness where we used to frequent the many arcades on offer.

I also recall watching the film BIG in which Tom Hanks wishes he was "big" and in one part of the film Josh (played by Tom Hanks) now in his adults body purchases a huge open plan apartment and in it he has all the toys a big kid would want! including a huge trampoline, basketball hoop and of course arcade and pinball machines!! I remember thinking "when I'm older I'm going to do that!" so the buying started as soon as I got my own place with my very understanding wife (girlfriend at the time)

I started with a generic Jamma wired arcade machine and since then I've owned a few dedicated machines such as Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Defender, Donkey Kong and even an Atari Star Wars cockpit to mention a few.

I've never owned more than one or two machines at one time as I'm a little OCD and not a big fan of clutter. So if a new machine is coming in, one is normally on it's way out of the door.

About 4 years ago I purchased a Stern TDK but I sold it about a year later as it just didn't "do it" for me.

I also enjoy retro console gaming I attended Play Expo 2014 and was also present at Play Expo 2015 which is where I decided I was going to make another Pinball purchase. But which one?

I remember playing TAF a lot in Skegness in my teens but at the time I was just shooting a ball around the table not really paying any attention to the rule sheet but there was just something about that machine that I loved. So I started searching for TAF machines on eBay and joined the pinballinfo forum.

Shortly after I spotted an Addams Family on eBay priced at £3500 and it was in Leicester! I contacted the buyer a few times but he never replied.

A couple of days later I logged onto pinballinfo and hit the For Sale section. Low and behold another Addams Family for sale...in Leicester!

http://www.pinballinfo.com/community/threads/taf-the-addams-family.30787/

Surely this is a sign that I should be buying one. This one was priced at £3300 and it had been modified with LED's and plenty of playfield toys! It was being sold by Dave from @Tilt Coffee House in Leicester City. Sadly due to Dave closing his doors for the last time :( (such a shame I never even knew the place existed until it was too late).

I called Dave directly and told him that I was very interested in the machine that he had for sale and arranged a viewing the very same day. Dave agreed to swap the legs for chrome legs and he also threw in a glare guard, some leg protectors and a few other bits and bobs...well as they say the rest is history and I am now the proud owner of my very own Addams Family and I LOVE IT! :)

It's also great because a few weeks prior to me purchasing my machine a friend of mine had purchased a Stern Family Guy so it's been great having a close friend to chat about our new toys and to discuss the features and high scores etc.

Now I understand the rules and the features of the table I love the game even more. I just need to practice. I've been watching a few Pinball technique videos on YouTube (flipper control etc)

Anyway, I look forward to becoming an active member of the forum and chatting with you all soon.

Scott :wave:
 
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Welcome mate. Killer machine is TAF. Thing is with pinball, once you realise it's so much more than just stopping the ball going down the middle, the flood gates open and you'll spend your life researching the next machine.
 
Welcome Scott,
Great intro story, huge fan of the movie Big as well that features a Williams Pinbot.

Top choice of pin choosing TAF, Dave is a great bloke who bought my BSD off me a couple of years ago. Such a shame he had to close his doors.
When the time comes to have a change around this is the place to sell, trade or buy your next machine.
It can be addictive researching all the info about pinball machines and what can be done to them.

If you are free on the 28th and 29th of this month there is a big pinball get together and comp happening at the Pipeline pub in London that is well worth a trip to check out and get your pinball fix.
Details at londonpinball.co.uk

Cheers Chris
 
Welcome Scott, by the way you are a Southerner. The problem with some people down there is that they think anything North of Watford is North and still in the dark ages.

By the way I'm just waiting on the sun to rise before going out to hunt for my food and collect wood for the fire to keep the cave warm tonight before the snow sets in.
 
Scott, welcome

I live in the Midlands and have actually found Leicester to be the epicentre of Midlands Pinball. I have been to Leicester more times in the past 12 months than in my previous 42 years, all due to pinball.

You ought to look into the midlands pinball league. I stumbled across it this year, I think three of the six 2015 meetings were very close to Leicester. So whilst it is terribly sad that Tilt has closed down, there is still plenty going on that is local to you

http://ukpinballleague.co.uk/schedule.php

There are usually 8 or more games. 2 hours optional practice. Food. Then league play where you record a single 4 ball score on each game, this might be another 3 hours. So it does not matter whether you are a good player or useless, as there is no knock-out element. But watching good players will also help you learn
 
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Welcome Scott to a fellow midlander (let's start our own "area") I'm only in nuneaton so if you want to pop over and play my ss sometime let me know.
 
Thankyou all for the warm welcome, useful information and very kind invites!

@Chris P unfortunately I'm not free on those dates but appreciate you letting me know. I will keep an eye out for future events.

@Cmor111 Southerner. Noted.

@DRD It's good to know I live in a very active Pinball area. Do you know the exact location of the event on the 26th? It states that Phil Dixon is hosting. I'm interested in attending but need more info.

@unity_neil & @ronsplooter Most kind you guys. I will keep you both in mind!


Scott
 
Has anyone posted a guide on the forum in regards to general cleaning of Pinball tables? Something that includes methods and products to use would be great. I've heard a lot about the Novus 3 part cleaner but don't want to use anything too abrasive. I just want to carry out a light clean of high traffic areas on my TAF without having to remove any play field plastics.

Also a guide to replacing rubbers would be good. I'm sure it's very straight forward but I'd rather know I'm doing it the right way than to cause any damage to the flippers etc

I would appreciate someone pointing me in the right direction. :)
 
Have a look in the Shop Logs section @strongs_uk Some of my logs will cover general cleaning (and I'm sure a load of other peoples will too). I'm going to be starting a new one soon as well where I'll go over general cleaning....remind me in that (once I start it) to post more detail if you need it :thumbs:
 
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