Silverball Chronicles with David and Ron

Episode 31: Pinball is Dying Part 4 – What Led Gottlieb to the Mylstar Nosedive?

Hosts: Dave Dennis & Ron Hallett Jr

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Topic Starts at 8:00

Episode Summary 

Gottlieb is viewed as the romantic electro-mechanical giant to many. The pinball machine atop the coin-op pedestal for all other manufacturers to reach for… but it was its god-tier status in the 1960s and early 1970s which would ultimately lead to its epic cratering in the 1980s. 

What led Gottlieb into the Mylstar Nosedive? Was it lack of leadership? Corporate chaos? The recession of the early 1980s? Or was it a lack of creative freedom and adventure in the products? 

This month Dave and Ron talk about the massive success of D. Gottlieb and Co., the ownership changes which hobbled the company, Ed Krynski’s biography, generational changes in Gottlieb, Ron not knowing Europe is a continent, and the games of Mylstar!... What could go wrong?  

Sources: 

Shalhoub, Michael (2004). The Pinball compendium: 1982 to Present. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.

YouTube Interviews from the Pacific Pinball Museum 

- Here, Here, Here and Here

TopCast 

• Episode 30 – Wayne Neyens