Castles N Coasters

Collectors, leagues keep pinball alive

Stuart Wright calls it “pin dancing,” the crouch of transfixed pinball fanatics playing the silver ball.

Players rock from one foot to the other as they trigger the flippers and nudge the game just enough to keep the ball in play without setting off the dreaded tilt mechanism that halts the blinking lights, sounds and action.

“You’ve got to get your mind into the zone,” said Wright, 46, a Scottsdale pinball-machine collector describing the focus of passionate “pinheads,” as they call themselves.

“Pinball wizard,” immortalized in the Who’s classic song, is a cringe-inducing cliche for these players.

Once a staple of American bowling alleys, bars and arcades, pinball has receded over the past two decades, a victim of the multibillion-dollar video-gaming industry that dominates arcades and home entertainment with its largely young, male audience.

Pinball play is being kept alive primarily by ardent collectors, at museums and in pinball leagues in members’ homes. The International Flipper Pinball Association lists 38 leagues, mostly in the United States, but also in Canada, Germany, Spain and Japan.

Wright is one of the founders, along with Phoenix residents Mark Pearson, 41, and Jim Smith, 47, of the Arizona Pinball Players League, now in its third season.

There is a waiting list for the 32-player league, with monthly tournaments hosted by league members in their elaborate home game rooms. League members range in age from their 20s to 50s, with most being close to 40, young enough to have grown up with early video games. A handful of participants are women.

“We all come together for the love of the silver ball,” said Wright, a graphic designer whose work includes art for pinball restoration.

Wright’s game room includes 47 pinball machines under black lights that accentuate the comic-book-like pinball graphics and special arcade carpeting that shows bright neon patterns.

Wright and Pearson both have a number of collectible pinball machines, including a remake of manufacturer CapCom’s Big Bang Bar. The game sold on a special order for $4,500, but prices now top $10,000, Pearson said.

Chicago-based Stern Pinball is the only current manufacturer. Jersey Jack Pinball of Lakewood, N.J., plans to release a Wizard of Oz game or title within a year. Gottlieb, Bally and Williams are the big names of pinball’s modern games that emerged after 1947, when flippers were added.

Castles N' Coasters ~ World Tourism

Desert Storm is a looping roller coaster that uses a simple lap bar restraint. It is one of the park's main attractions and has two loops. Patriot is a mild roller coaster that is colored red, white and blue as its name suggests. It is centered around a large American flag and does two circuits. Splashdown is a popular log flume.

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