OurLittleCorner
July 30, 2024 – Andy is in OurLitteCorner today
The Pinball Machine, the Pirate, and Brain Surgery
THE PINBALL MACHINE
You may recall my post from few years ago entitled “More Debauchery – The Addams Family in our Basement.” For those unfortunate enough to have missed that post, it dealt with the Addams Family pinball machine that resides in our basement. In that blog I mention that Ann and I decided to get that pinball machine about 20 years ago even though neither of us knew anything about pinball. We assumed it could be something our grandkids would someday enjoy. Our son, Travis, who lived in New York at the time (and still does) urged us to find an “Addams Family” machine (I explain why in my “More Debauchery” post mentioned above).
The Addams Family pinball machine, which made its debut with industry-changing technology in 1992 , was an immediate hit in the pinball world and is now considered a classic. A 2022 Wired.com article entitled “The Wild History of the Beloved Addams Family Pinball Machine” describes some of its features:
magnets under the surface that can cause balls to roll as if haunted, voiceovers from Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia [from the 1991 Addams Family film], a mechanical hand … that could reach out from a box and scoop up a player’s ball, and flippers that moved on their own.
When we began looking for one we discovered that vintage machines in good working order were hard to come by. Ann, who is a wizard at finding hard-to-find things on the Internet, managed to locate one for sale in Colorado by a dealer who had refurbished a machine imported from a bar in Germany. We had it shipped to us and it’s been in our basement ever since.
THE PIRATE
Until recently, our pinball machine meant not much more to me than being an expensive toy with lots of fun effects. You might say that my appreciation for the machine was only skin deep. That changed dramatically when the machine began reverting to German (recall that this was a machine that spent its early life in a German bar). This made it impossible for non-German-speaking folks like me to use it.
An on-line search for “pinball repair” yielded very few options nearby. However, there was one listing, Pinball Pirate, located about an hour’s drive away, claiming to service machines in the Bay Area. Despite the distance (and the name), I sent off an email describing my issue and pleading for help. I got an instant reply from Chris, who turned out to be the “Pinball Pirate”:
“Yes, we can absolutely fix that. Your batteries have died and/or corroded their socket. We will install ferromagnetic ram so that the game no longer needs batteries. Also, I will configure the jumpers so that if memory is lost for some reason in the future, it will revert to English instead.“
Whoa! He knew all of that even before seeing the machine. Who would have thought that a pinball machine would need batteries? Or “ferromagnetic ram?” Or its jumper configured? It appeared that we had more than a frivolous toy in our basement. So I made an appointment for him to come out.
BRAIN SURGERY
When Chris arrived he went straight to the pinball machine’s front display, pulled off the decorative panels, and swung open a small door that revealed a labyrinth of hundreds of little transistor-like gismos and other components that are beyond my vocabulary. It was amazing. I got the feeling that I was gazing at the brains of the machine. And there nestled in the midst of the complex network of gismos sat the batteries that Chris had predicted would be corroded. Sure enough, they were corroded.
Watching Chris in action, I couldn’t help but be impressed with his skill and intimate knowledge of pinball-machine innards. While he deftly tightened, replaced, soldered, and checked out the gazillion bits of minutia in the machine, he kept up a monologue about the condition and purpose of each little part. I felt like a med student watching in awe as an experienced neurosurgeon navigates through a patient’s cerebrum (or is it cerebellum?).
Next, he turned to the guts which lay hidden under the machine’s playing field. I was blown away by the massive tangle of wires, coils, relays, and whatnots. it made the brain area look neat and tidy by comparison. I’m sure that rather than the haphazard tangle of wires that I saw, Chris was seeing a beautifully organized nervous system that guides electronic impulses from the brain to the flippers, bumpers, flashing lights, and all of the other cool stuff we enjoy when that silver ball ricochets around the playing field.
The whole procedure took about two hours, and when it was over I was spent (and I’m not referring to his fee). I felt that I had just witnessed something life-changing. Not only was Chris’s skill and enthusiasm for his craft inspirational, he instilled in me a sense of awe for what lies under the skin of our Addams Family pinball machine. I’ll never look at it the same again.
I should add that I’ve learned that I’m not alone in my awe of the Pinball Pirate. I came across a YouTube documentary entitled Pinball Pirate – The Tale of Chris Kuntz, Pinball Repair Wizard, Legend and Pirate. Who knew that the guy holding that big wrench on the Pinball Pirate web page was a legend? In my opinion he fully lived up to his rep.
I can hear Morticia seductively calling Gomez!
Unfortunately, I think they edited out any of the seductive voiceovers.
Wow, illuminating, and enjoyable window into a world we can hardly imagine! Another demonstration of the proliferation of “black boxes” in our lives, including our phones, electric and/or hybrid cars, everything streaming, Google, kitchen devices, etc, etc, and I must admit, hearing aids. Peter
Do you think that there’s an equivalent legendary “hearing aid pirate” out there?
I to am in awe of “The Pinball Pirate”. What an incredible niche and what excellence! How fortunate you found him.
It just makes you wonder how many folks there are out in the world who are “pirates” in other niches.
When my daughter was young, I bought her a pinball machine called the Grand Wizard. It was eerie watching this young girl become “one” with the machine. I could never match her score. We too found a “pirate” to service the machine. It was donated to a childcare center when we moved to CA.
Being “one with the machine” applies to our son also. It’s awesome to witness if not a bit humbling. I appreciate the comment.