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Episode Summary:

David and Ron are here again this month to use an audio medium to talk about visual art… will it work?

Art sells Pinball machines. There was no better team ever in pinball than the Art Team at Bally. From 1975 until Bally was sold to Midway in 1983, an eclectic, creative, and dedicated team of artists made some of the best art pinball had ever seen.

Come listen to Ron and Dave chat about Dave Christensen, his strange art choices, why it was so cold at Bally in the 1970s, Dave consistently mispronouncing more names, the amazing Paul Faris Bally art team, orbit spinners, and Gene Simmons’s package.

Sources:

Pinside at Pinside.com

Wikipedia: Bally Manufacturing. Here, Mata Hari. Here, Evel Knievel. Here, Tommy. Here

 Internet Pinball Database Game Lists: Paul Faris. Here, Margaret Hudson. Here, Kevin O’Conner. Here, Greg Freres. Here, Dave Christensen. Here

Pinball Flyers. Here

Space Invaders “Inspiration”. Swiss artist H.R. Giger. Here

TopCast:

    Dave Christensen. Here

    Margret Hudson. Here

    Paul Faris. Here

    Ward Pemberton. Here

    Tom Nieman. Here

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

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Episode Summary:

Join David and Ron this week as they ride on a dirt bike made of quarters and fueled with pinball players’ tears with Steve Ritchie. Through this awesome time in pinball, the bestselling designer ever, continued to build his legacy and, as you’ll see in this episode, redefined pinball as the industry struggled to survive.

Come listen to Steve’s iconic Williams System 11 and WPC machines. There is high praise for Larry DeMar, the alternate theme for Rollergames, Dave and Ron fanboying about T2 and Star Trek: TNG, and Steve Richie being cooler than Dave.

Sources: 

Pinside at Pinside.com

Wikipedia. Steve Ritchie. Here

Internet Pinball Database: Steve Ritchie Game List. Here

Walsh, Matt – IRC Interview. Here

TopCast Episode 32. Here

Head 2 Head Pinball Podcast. Chris Granner. Ep 71. Here

Williams Promo Videos: No Fear, T2 ,The Getaway, Star Trek: TNG

Steve Ritchie Interviews and Seminars on YouTube. Here

The Pinball News. Expo 2003: An Interview with Larry DeMar. Here

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

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Episode Summary:

Gottlieb was a giant in the pinball industry. Some would say that they created more fun in the Electro-Mechanical era than all the other manufacturers combined. When the sea change of the Solid-State Era appeared on the horizon, Gottlieb, the industry giant, began stepping on rakes and never fully recovered.

Come hang out with a slightly bitter Dave and an always chipper Ron as they chat about Gottlieb’s EM dominance, the industry transition to solid-state, what each company's technology was like, their favourite System 1 machines, vari-targets, and the industry’s worst piece of garbage spinner!

Sources: 

Pinside at Pinside.com

Wikipedia. Gottlieb. Here

Internet Pinball Database: Gottlieb System 1 List. Here, Gottlieb EM List. Here

Kriesel, Dennis. This Week in Pinball. The Dawn of the Solid-State Era. Here

Credit Dot Pinball. Stumbling into Solid-State! Gottlieb System 1. Here

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

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Episode Summary:

Python Anghelo was an eccentric, passionate, charming, classically educated, combative, spiteful, and caring individual. He gave his all for pinball. Python is a guy who added social commentary to his back-glass art, added Easter eggs to his work, drank a lot, fought with leadership over creating unique worlds under glass. Python burned bridges, tossed insults, and pulled no punches along his life’s journey. He was a nut for sure.

Join us this month as we discuss Python’s upbringing, joining the coin-op industry, getting into verbal fights with co-workers, drinking on boats, Steve Kordek, cows, more butchering of names, a poll joke, and Python’s legacy. Sources: 

Python Anghelo Website. Here

Internet Pinball Database. Here

Pinside at pinside.com

Wikipedia: Python Anghelo. Here, Steve Kordek. Here

TOPCast Pinball Show: #10 Python Anghelo. Here

Python’s World Video. Here

Python’s GoFund Me. Here

Seminar video of Python at Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show 2013. Here

David Hevesi. New York Times. Steve Kordek, a Pinball Innovator, Dies at 100. Here

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

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Episode Summary:

e all been from the early solid-state era. The late 70s and early 80s was when the industry went through some of its largest shifts, we call that ‘disruption’ nowadays. The exit of electro-mechanical pinball and the entrance of solid-state was a watershed moment in the hobby.

Some companies excelled in the new market, and some fell almost immediately. Gottlieb, well… they became zombies, just refusing to die and walking on and on and on… hanging in there… Somehow…

This month, we’re going to review the final years of Gottlieb in the System 3 era.

Sources:

Dennis Kriesel’s Street Level Pinball Machines Article from Pinball News. Here

Eclectic Gamers Podcast #47. Here

Internet Pinball Database. Here

Jon Norris IPDB. Here

Pinside at pinside.com

Gottlieb Developments. Here

Wikipedia: Gottlieb. Here 

Interview with Jon Norris. Here. Here.

Jon Norris Article. Here

Pinball News. Smoked Out. Norris Leaves Stern. Here

This Week in Pinball. Around the Playfield with Jon Norris. Here

Norris Pinball Website. Here

TOPCast Pinball Show: #10 John Trudeau. Here, #55 Jon Norris. Here

Encyclopedia of Pinball Volume 2 (1934-1936). Bueschel, Richard M. Silverball Amusements.

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

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Episode Summary 

Before Stern Pinball Inc., which dominates the pinball landscape today, there was Stern Electronics, our second episode’s topic. We cover where Stern Electronics came from, Sam and Gary Stern’s early years, Dave mispronouncing names, the change from electro-mechanical pinball to solid state, the sketchiness around that transition, legendary designer Steve Kirk, Stern’s wild art, and the death of Stern Electronics.

Sources:

Dennis Kriesel’s Atari Article from Pinball News. Here

Stern Internet Pinball Database. Here  

Pinside at pinside.com

Wikipedia:

-          Chicago Coin. Here  

-          Stern Electronics. Here

-          Stern Electronics, Inc. v. Kaufman. Here

Encyclopedia of Pinball Volume 2 (1934-1936). Bueschel, Richard M. Silverball Amusements.

Shalhoub, Michael (2004). The Pinball compendium: 1970 – 1981. Schiffer Publishing, Lt. Here

Stern Pinball. Website. Here

Play Meter Magazine: September 15, 1978. Here

Patterson, Jeff (2008). Around the Playfield with Gary Stern. This Week in Pinball. Here

Ford, Anne (2013). The Chicago Reader. This Week’s Chicagoan: Gary Stern, Founder and CEO, Stern Pinball. Here

Author Unknown. Play Meter Magazine, 1978 and 1985. PDF Here

Flower, Gary. Remembering Steve Kirk. Pingame Journal. December 2006. PDF Here

Cianchetti, Matt. A Friend Remembers Steve Kirk. Pingame Journal. March 2007. PDF Here

Head to Head Pinball Podcas. #50 Here and #68 Here

Gizmonic Stern Collection Tour. Here, Here and Here

Heavy Metal Comic Book Art. Here

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Episode Summary: 

Our topic this week, he's nicknamed the King of Flow, the bestselling pinball designer of all time, my favorite designer, and the reason why you know or will know what Meniere’s Disease is: Steve Ritchie.

This episode reviews the early life of Steve Ritchie until his first break from pinball in 1982 which includes his early life, how he became a designer, his first years in the industry at Atari Pinball, moving to Williams and designing some of the biggest modern sellers and most innovative pinball machine in this history of the hobby.

Sources:

Internet Pinball Database at IPBD.org

Pinside at Pinside.com

Wikipedia – but remember to dive into the cited sources.

Web Archive. Here  

Special When Lit Podcast – Ep. 11

TOPcast Ep. 32