Pinball innovation needed!

[JT.]

Looking at Chris' bargain spidey in the for sale section got me thinking. Why can't pinball manufacturers make a secure coin door, or some other security solution, so operators don't have to drill holes in the cab and install their own security? Surely after 40+ years of sited pinballs it's about time someone sorted out the current inadequate solution.

 

[Sonny_Jim]

[ACCOUNT NUKED]

 

[RGV]

Ok, you make the door more secure, but what happens if you the lose the key? You end up damaging the cabinet trying to get the door open due to the increased security. It's the same with any coin operated device, it's a toss up between making it hard for a thief to break in versus how much damage you'll do breaking into it after the keys go missing. And keys will go missing.

Isn't it going to be the same issue if you lose the key for the lock on a lockdown bar you manually added though?

I think the question is why can't the manufacturer provide the same capability in-house that is already being added by some operators without requiring them to maul the cabinet? Not necessarily on all machines by default perhaps, but at least as an optional extra.

 

[Spandangler]

Contactless payment. Ops would make a killing. The amount of times I've walked away from a machine, purely because I've run out of change!!

 

[JT.]

Ok, you make the door more secure, but what happens if you the lose the key?

They could get round this in the same way that car manufacturers do if you loose your car key.

I think the question is why can't the manufacturer provide the same capability in-house that is already being added by some operators without requiring them to maul the cabinet?

Yup. But I'm not even necessarily suggesting they offer the bar solution direct from manufacturers (although I guess that must be effective, otherwise they wouldn't do it). I just think that if you have the creative capability to come up with a pinball machine, how hard can it be to design something that's an effective security device, but doesn't require the cabinet to be damaged .

 

[ronsplooter]

but doesn't require the cabinet to be damaged

The thing to bear in mind in all of this is that most Ops don't give a sh*t about damaging the cabinet. Pinball machines are commercial equipment and designed to take a kicking in an arcade. The most important thing is to make sure no-one can rob your takings, why care about drilling holes in the cab The game will earn it's money, pay back your investment (in the good old days) and then you lob it in your warehouse when a newer one comes out

 

[Jay Walker]

I once suggested to my boss the purchase of an 'armoured' door for use at a difficult location; these basically consisted of a suitably sized Coin Controls C220 door (as fitted to u.k. late System 11 onwards) with a thick layer of toughened steel added on the outside. This overlapped the frame on three sides, preventing a jemmying tool from being inserted to force the strengthened locking mechanism. It was also available with dual-key access, i.e. two seperate locks had to be operated at the same time to open the door. It was damn heavy, but I think cost ruled it out.

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

The pin manufacturer has done their bit by providing a lockable door. It is then up to the operator to decide if they need extra security. Can't see it changing now.