A bit of nostalgia.

Now I've no intention of getting one of these, but I do like to read about them on one of the USA message boards to which I contribute, that covers all the sorts of equipment that you find in amusement arcades, (they have a small section for jukebox enthusiasts).

Someone has just found this and probably bought it very cheaply, being technically minded with the right sort of experience he'll have it running perfectly with no problems. But he at first just gave it a bit of a clean up.

You can't help but admire the amount of work that went into these machines, metal fabrication, art work, lots of switches, relays and lights and not an electronic "chip" anywhere. These are the ones that use the huge ball-bearings. They also have the "flippers" you can work.

It's a Stern's Elvis Pinball machine.


Before. The dirt is really mostly black rubber picked up by the ball-bearings hitting the bumpers.



After,

(I like the little "hound" dog near the top).

 

Ah yes.. I remember them well. During my youth in Margate and Ramsgate. Used to spend hours on them. Happy days

 

The beauty was that as you got better you got to play longer. I remember epic hours spent playing on them and then handing over to someone else as you grew hungry or thirsty.

 

Or it was "game over" when the dreaded word "TILT" was flashed up on the back panel.