Meet the man keeping hope, and 70-year-old pinball machines, alive

Steve Young's passion built a business that keeps historic tables running.

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[Callias]

What a wonderful story to wake up to today. Sounds like the kind of guy you’d love to sit down with over a cup of coffee and listen to his stories.

Always loved playing pinball; was never any good at it, but every play is a lot of fun and makes me smile after.

 

[balthazarr]

It was banned or restricted in many municipalities. New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia's goons dragged hundreds of games out of businesses and smashed them in the streets in the 1940s, creating a sea of broken glass and shattered wood not seen since the prohibition's frothier demolitions a decade earlier.

What is it about the US and moral panics? It's amazing to me that anything ever manages to get done amid the seemingly endless parade of moral panics and overreactions on behalf of (usually) God.

 

[Shiunbird]

Mandatory watch for all classic pinball machine lovers:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue-1JoJQaEg

 

[Hopefully Smarter]

What is it about the US and moral panics? It's amazing to me that anything ever manages to get done amid the seemingly endless parade of moral panics and overreactions on behalf of (usually) God.

Politics as performance art.

 

[Hopefully Smarter]

if you've been looking for Ben Heck, he's been working on pinball machines.

OTOH- that deaf, dumb and blind kid did alright.

 

[Mad Klingon]

What is it about the US and moral panics? It's amazing to me that anything ever manages to get done amid the seemingly endless parade of moral panics and overreactions on behalf of (usually) God.

Old political adage: Never let a crisis go to waste.
Corollary: If you don't have a ready crisis, create one.

 

[Jakelshark]

As a pinball nerd, Steve is a legend. Always make sure you call with your part ID numbers and preferably after lunch, not right before (he gets hangry). Cheapest prices on several items and still has the original factory tooling for some of it.

The only down side is Steve/Gottlieb rights-holders are awful about letting people share things like game and parts manuals, schematics, ROM files, and similar. It's not impossible to get some of it, but they sure try their best to make it hard.

 

[Solidliquid]

Wonderful story - well written and thorough. Steve Young is a really interesting person and I love how he’s running his business in his own unique way.

 

[Cthel]

What is it about the US and moral panics? It's amazing to me that anything ever manages to get done amid the seemingly endless parade of moral panics and overreactions on behalf of (usually) God.

If there's one thing that Puritans were big on (besides religious intolerance*) it was a good Moral Panic.

*which is really just a subtype of moral panic, when you think about it

 

[FabiusCunctator]

What is it about the US and moral panics? It's amazing to me that anything ever manages to get done amid the seemingly endless parade of moral panics and overreactions on behalf of (usually) God.

While there was a good bit of that to be sure, the bigger concern was about "gambling + organized crime". Think of it as a (very mild) mid 20th century version of crypto + organized crime.

The breakthrough to "respectability" came with the demonstration that pinball was a game of skill, not "chance" (ala slot machines).

 

[Ploroxide]

What is it about the US and moral panics?

The thread that causes them runs back to the founding of the country and maybe even across the sea they sailed to the country the first settlers came from.

 

[instant classic]

I found a guy on Twitch a couple years back that did restorations on stream (had to unfollow as I was watching a bit TOO much). I had an idea of the inside of one previously but it's not until you're watching somebody over many, several hours long streams that you really get a sense of how complex these are under the playfield. Really damn interesting.

 

[NinjaNerd56]

Bally Evel Knievel machine from 1977.

Student lounge at my college got one in September of that year. We had a long relationship.

I grew up in a bowling alley from 60-68, so I shot pool…on a chair…and played pinball for hours nearly every day.

Won 99 games (as far as the counter went) on a machine on a boat dock in Missouri and sold them to some older guys in the crowd watching my “Tommy” impression in 66 for $2. I paid a dime to play, so my 10 y/o dirt poor self thought I was rich.

Had a layover at the LA Bus terminal in 73, traveling on military orders. The machines were rigged with magnets. I threw a fit, and everyone thought I had shell shock or something.

 

[qazwart]

Mandatory watch for all classic pinball machine lovers:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue-1JoJQaEg

I was just asking myself where can you find a video that spends almost an hour explaining in excruciating detail how a fifty year old pinball machine works. Of course Alec!

Now if there was just a 20 minute video that explains exactly how a 75 year old toaster works, my life would be complete.

I love Technology Connections.

 

[Whiner42]

But it still was a game lingering under a shadow of dubious legality. It wasn't until 1976, when pinball guru Roger Sharpe famously called a shot on a machine set up in a New York state courtroom, that pinball was officially designated a game of skill, not chance. This led to most of the restrictions across the country falling.

Check out the movie based on Sharpe's story - Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game.

It's a surprisingly warm and quirky dramedy written and directed by the Bragg brothers. You won't be disappointed.

 

[Iphtashu Fitz]

A few years ago my wife and I stumbled across a pinball museum in Manchester, VT. It was mostly just a bunch of machines set to free play. But one thing I really got a kick out of was a 1960s-era (?) machine that had been completely rebuilt in clear plexiglass, except for the playing field. So as people were playing the game you could watch the mechanics of the game underneath, the rotating score counter, etc. As both a pinball geek and a techie nerd in general I really loved watching that.

 

[kurama101]

I went into a pinball arcade in Osaka on a whim last year, and sure the latest ones with high def screens and complicated mechanisms were more fun, but also I kept finding myself drawn back to the slow clunky 10 yen per play 1950s wooden cabinets they had out the front.

 

[Shurikt]

As a pinball nerd, Steve is a legend.

Can confirm. I've ordered parts from him for years and it's always both a pleasure and an adventure.

 

[Bob Dobilina]

In the late 90’s I was invited to a Christmas party at a friends dad’s “shop.” It was a run down warehouse in a part of the town that you avoided. Inside was a huge room full of old pinball machines and a few old jukeboxes and video games. He had extension cords running all over the place with several dozen machines ready to play. I guess this was his side hustle. He would buy them, refurbish and sell. He had a few very old ones with several disassembled. The maze of wires was a sight to behold.

We played for hours and only left when our fingers were numb from being in the unheated space for so long.

The dad would be ~80 years old now. I wonder if they are still sitting there.

 

[Jakelshark]

While there was a good bit of that to be sure, the bigger concern was about "gambling + organized crime". Think of it as a (very mild) mid 20th century version of crypto + organized crime.

The breakthrough to "respectability" came with the demonstration that pinball was a game of skill, not "chance" (ala slot machines).

The gambling aspect is totally true. There were a lot of payout machines designed for players to win actual coin drop back, or a bunch of replay credits that they could then sell/redeem. (Winning a few replays is normal part of pinball, I'm talking about a replay counter counting in the hundreds to low thousands). And that's without getting into the ubiquity of casual wagering on the games.

There was also the organized crime element which was real. Bally Manufacturing was a major manufacturing of coin op games, including pinball with real earnings/replays, bingo machines, slot machines, etc. They also owned many casinos. Bally was allegedly owned or at least affiliated with the Chicago mob at one point. Coin-op machines are an easy means to launder money. "Why yes Mr Tax Man, this machine did have $10,000 worth of coins go through it before being thrown away from heavy wear. Here is your cut and I'll be on my way" (and vice versa, I know operators who, on paper, are worth basically nothing in their all coin/cash business)

 

[jonah]

Utterly fascinating article. Well done!

 

[Brad Oliver]

The only down side is Steve/Gottlieb rights-holders are awful about letting people share things like game and parts manuals, schematics, ROM files, and similar. It's not impossible to get some of it, but they sure try their best to make it hard.

Yeah, reading through the article, when he mentioned that a filing cabinet had all those schematics, I thought, "I hope there's never a fire!"

On the one hand, I get the pride in it. On the other hand, positioning yourself as the sole gatekeeper feels very fraught for the future.

 

[smallscreensw]

Great article! I have a friend who works as a maintenance technician for a major pinball and gaming arcade (complete with food and booze, it's really a place for adults); I sent this article to him. He's very knowledgeable about the mechanics of pinball machines and I've personally watched him work, it's all truly remarkable.

I happen to still be a fan of older, all-EM machines. Scoring wheels are fantastic compared to the electronic ones ubiquitous in modern systems. And I love watching the machine tally a bonus after a ball leaves the playfield.. especially if it's a 3x or 5x multiple.

Great article!!

 

[OldExTechie]

I spent too much time playing pinball when I was in college in the late 60's and early 70's. Like many things, it's really an art to do well. I became fairly proficient at playing as long as I wanted for a dime on a machine I was familiar with. On ones I hadn't played before, it usually took me a few games to learn the machine, stuff like the power of the plunger spring, the action on the flippers, the bounciness of the bumpers, and quite importantly, the sensitivity of the tilt mechanism (usually a pendulum in those days.) Then came determining best scoring targets and the angles to exploit them, among other nuances. I wasn't a wizard, but I often ran up 25 or 30 free games that I left for those who had gathered watching. The big name machines were Bally, Williams, and my personal favorite, Gottlieb, which suited my style of play better than the others. The loud, pop-crack sound when a Gottlieb racked up a replay was satisfyingly unique. It worth mentioning that my grades greatly improved once I cut back my time playing pinball.

 

[ShortOrder]

The gambling aspect is totally true. There were a lot of payout machines designed for players to win actual coin drop back, or a bunch of replay credits that they could then sell/redeem. (Winning a few replays is normal part of pinball, I'm talking about a replay counter counting in the hundreds to low thousands). And that's without getting into the ubiquity of casual wagering on the games.

There was also the organized crime element which was real. Bally Manufacturing was a major manufacturing of coin op games, including pinball with real earnings/replays, bingo machines, slot machines, etc. They also owned many casinos. Bally was allegedly owned or at least affiliated with the Chicago mob at one point. Coin-op machines are an easy means to launder money. "Why yes Mr Tax Man, this machine did have $10,000 worth of coins go through it before being thrown away from heavy wear. Here is your cut and I'll be on my way" (and vice versa, I know operators who, on paper, are worth basically nothing in their all coin/cash business)

It would be interesting to see a study on how the cashless economy has affected tax avoidance and money laundering.

 

[thewooly]

I work for a small IT services company that started as a video game/pinball board distributor (and the founders also had games out around town on "routes"). As the video game industry shifted into being a computer with arcade controls attached, they transitioned into the computer aspect more and now that the arcade business is all but gone, here we are. Some arcade games literally have a PC motherboard inside with custom IO board and 3dfx or Nvidia card. We still run an entertainment center with about 15 pinball games and they do take quite a bit of maintenance - I can attest to how loud they are with the glass off. The owner likes to keep the playfields in good shape and the games working well, as its almost more of a hobby than a business venture now.

The scary thing is the knowledge that Steve and my boss have about these things can go away quickly as they're both getting up in years and its hard to pass on the depth of information gathered over 50 years, or for someone to just "figure out" how these quirky electromechanical systems work. It's not like reading C++ or something like that, and each game is different. Even 'video game' boards can have quirks that may not be documented anymore as these things were most popular before the internet was really a thing, its just inside his head, ingrained as part of his 'common sense' about these machines.

I will say the appeal of pinball does seem to still be strong. Last I was in Traverse City MI there were 2 pin-bars we visited that were busy and the games were well maintained, so there must be money in it. As a fan I hope someone can pick up the torch to keep the needed parts and information available as time goes on.

 

[RickRoyLeonPrisZhoraRacha]

As a child, I recall my father got an arcade machine from a bar that wanted it out for remodeling. It was a shooting gallery with paper-metal targets on solenoids. When the rifle was aimed, the mechanism inside would touch contacts. Other solenoids would be hear that mimicked the rifle firing, a bell would ding on a hit, and the target would fall back. When the timer was up, it would shut down. It took dimes and nickels and I had more fun watching how that door opened and you watched a coin trigger, and a magnet catch slugs. I was small enough to climb inside the large machine, and help reset some pesky targets. However I was stepping on the sky because the optics were all mirror and the targets were facing up from the inside floor.

Pinball is fascination. It takes your money (games you) to give you some eye-hand coordination, and tactics on geometry and physics. I've played over an hour on one quarter once...and its aerobic too! Just don't tilt.

PS. I miss a fellow, Peter Hirschberg’s Luna City Arcade. that used to buy old arcade games, and rebuild. He used to be an AOL engineer and suffered a tragic divorce...losing all the coin-ops he rebuilt. I am honored to be one of the few that visited his generous opening of his "garage" to the public. I wish I could post all my picts I took that day... and always glad I and some friends got to experience it.

 

[Aurich]

Here in SoCal there's an anonymous warehouse you might drive by without a second thought. Inside is what might be the world's premiere collection of EMs (for those in the know I'm talking about Randy Peck).

He recently acquired the last couple games to have a complete run of every single Gottlieb woodrail.

I tried to find some photos but couldn't seem to dig them up, but it's really something to see all of them lined up.

I'm particularly fond of the ones that have animated backglasses, there are some really clever little mechs to make things move.

 

[PeepsMeuxette]

I have patronized Steve and PBR since the mid 1980s, not long after he set up shop. I've been in and out of the pinball world over the years, but Steve has always been there, ready to sell me the best parts I can get for my Gottlieb and other EMs. Steve and his team are the best, no question about it. Thanks, Steve!

 

[RammyBodger]

I still remember the first time I bought parts from Steve. I sent an email, got a reply with a question, answered the question, then got a box of parts in the mail with an invoice. It was such a weird way to do business, even in 2005. Nowadays I don't even look elsewhere if the Pinball Resource has the parts.

 

[Jakelshark]

Yeah, reading through the article, when he mentioned that a filing cabinet had all those schematics, I thought, "I hope there's never a fire!"

On the one hand, I get the pride in it. On the other hand, positioning yourself as the sole gatekeeper feels very fraught for the future.

Oh it's mostly already been digitized. It used to be easily accessible on several websites, like IPDB (Internet Pinball Data Base). Then the copyright takedown orders came...

I get it to a degree. Steve paid a lot for those rights and he is going to make his money back. The fees he charges aren't too outlandish... A lot of the parts he sells are reasonable considering the industry and other vendors. It is what it is.

It's just super frustrating when you are, for random example, visiting your family the other week during Christmas and don't have a schematic to trouble shoot the game start process. A schematic I own, but didn't have on hand... I need to mail it to my MIL so it stays with the game, but it was in the stack of my other manuals/schematics at my home a thousand miles away. (I did fix it. Curse you Ax/Bx relays)

 

[LexVAPin]

I have been working on pinball machines for almost 50 years, always as a hobby. I now volunteer to keep almost 100 running at a 'pinball museum' in Roanoke, VA and own over 20 of my own.

Steve Young is as close to a god as one can get to us pinball people. Not only are his supplies not obtainable anywhere else, especially for EM (electro mechanical pre-1979) parts, but his knowledge is unsurpassed in that area. He is always so helpful when I call.

Every time I need a part, I thank our lucky stars that we have him as a Pinball Resource.

 

[clackerd]

My dad was in the arcade business in the 80s, and we kept a couple arcade cabs and two older tables, Flash and Flight 2000. They're just so delicate nowadays. I am glad these folks are still out there helping keep these pieces of history going.

 

[lesserimportance]

Can confirm. I've ordered parts from him for years and it's always both a pleasure and an adventure.

I can also confirm, and he can even help with other electromechanical games with solenoids, motors, etc.

I liked how the article touched on the payment options as that initially threw me, also. But I suppose it makes sense that such a throwback industry would have a throwback business practice. There is certainly an element of trust in this niche community that a hobbyist like me appreciates.

 

[Jakelshark]

My dad was in the arcade business in the 80s, and we kept a couple arcade cabs and two older tables, Flash and Flight 2000. They're just so delicate nowadays. I am glad these folks are still out there helping keep these pieces of history going.

honestly, they might be better built than some manufacturers of today (the manufacturer of the Flight 2000 game is still around, in a round about way after some bankruptcies and buy outs)

They're meant for drunks to smack around in bars. The cabinets alone are far superior in construction

 

[Free Thought]

Great story to read, thanks!

For those interested in getting into Pinball, yes they will multiply per Young's warning, but I also suggest you join the community at pinside.com. A robust, fun and helpful online forum.

 

[clackerd]

honestly, they might be better built than some manufacturers of today (the manufacturer of the Flight 2000 game is still around, in a round about way after some bankruptcies and buy outs)

They're meant for drunks to smack around in bars. The cabinets alone are far superior in construction

I hear that, but just moving the thing breaks something nowadays it seems. Flight2000 must have been particularly abused in its heyday. But the Game Doc folks out in Southern California have been great about patching her up when that happens.

 

[DNA_Doc]

I'm sure I must've mentioned this before on Ars, but stories like this make me nostalgic.

I love pinball and spent a great deal of my childhood and adolescence playing at the huge arcade that was part of my local bowling alley. I would always spend the time to understand the rule sets for the machines I was playing and became quite good. I would head to the arcade with some change from my mother, rack up a bunch of free games, sell them for lunch money, and still manage to come home with more in my pocket than I left with. Good times, and great memories...

I still don't own my own machine, though I think about buying one every year. My problem is that I waited too long and my favorite machines are apparently everyone else's favorites also; their prices have skyrocketed I just don't don't want to pay that much. For now I make do with virtual pinball recreations of about 120 machines from my childhood. I fully realize it's not the same as physical pinball, but it's not bad, either.

I love that pinball has made something of a comeback in recent years, with new manufacturers, renewed interest from younger people, etc. And I'm glad there are still people like Steve Young around to keep the old classics alive.

 

[hambone]

Great read, thanks Ars. Hope Steve is turning his mind to digitizing all the manuals and schematics and planning to take on an apprentice / inheritor!

The pinball market in Canada is minuscule compared to the US. But we have something of our own "Steve Young" up in Ottawa: a fella named Mike Loftus who runs Pinball Medics. There's a neat documentary about his work on YouTube for those interested.

And since Canada is such a small pinball market, I wanna alert any Ars and pinball enthusiasts about the incredible new Antisocial Pinball arcade that just opened November 2024 in downtown Toronto (at Bloor / Bathurst).

It's easily Canada's largest pinball arcade with 70 mostly new-era machines from Stern, Jersey Jack, American, Chicago, and Spooky, almost all of which are Limited Editions with all the toppers, improved lighting, and loads of mods.

The collection also includes some beautifully maintained and restored classics like Indiana Jones, Whitewater, Space Shuttle, Ripleys, the NBA Fast Break head to head double-machine, and the Vault Edition Iron Man.

Oh, also like 35 arcade games.

$20 at the door all machines on free play.

My kids know where to find me...