Pinball machines and other arcade games don’t seem very nefarious now, but they apparently did in the early 1980s — enough so that city police code restricts these types of devices to fewer than 10 per business.

That’s why the Board of Supervisors this week approved a resolution that would exempt two businesses — one a yet-to-be opened bar in the Castro, another a screen printing shop in Cole Valley — from a section of police code limiting what it calls “mechanical amusement devices.”

Supervisors Scott Wiener and London Breed, whose districts include the businesses, proposed the exemption and said they now want to look at whether the code is obsolete and should be repealed. Wiener said the code is one of many affecting bars, restaurants and other businesses that may have made sense at the time but now seem bizarre. For example, two years ago he authored legislation to repeal outdated restaurant codes that, among other things, prevented some cafes from toasting the bagels they sold or serving ice cream in a cone (cups were all right).

“It almost seems like a kitschy thing now, but it’s part a of a broader theme,” Wiener said. “If you look at businesses and restaurants these days, there is so much variation, so much creativity — sometimes the municipal code doesn’t take into account the positive aspects of allowing businesses flexibility to offer products and services.”

The Cole Valley business, Free Gold Watch, offers T-shirt and other printing services as well as a number of pinball machines. The arcade games were flagged by the Entertainment Commission as possibly violating the police code. Neighbors love the arcade, however, and submitted dozens of letters in support, according to Breed’s office.

The soon-to-be opened Castro bar will be located on the northwest corner of Market and Sanchez streets at the location that formerly housed Leticia’s, a Mexican restaurant. Wiener said the owners, who also own the nearby Blackbird Bar, want to make it an arcade-themed watering hole. Since the police code actually restricts the number of arcade games by the businesses square footage, Wiener said they would be limited to three or four without the exemption.

If the supervisors author legislation to repeal the police code, they would probably still require business owners who want to host arcade games to apply for a special permit, he added.

via http://blog.sfgate.com/cityinsider/2014/04/23/like-pinball-supervisors-say-limits-on-arcade-games-are-outdated/

VANCOUVER, WA (KPTV) -One man's determination to get his stolen pinball machine back helped lead to the arrest of two people accused of trafficking stolen property in Vancouver.

James Bray told FOX 12 that someone broke into his Vancouver home and stole his Bally Aladdin's Castle pinball machine.

The machine is just more than fun and games to Bray. It's been in the family for nearly 30 years.

Bray and his brother figured they would never see it again.

"I didn't think anyone would try to sell it around here because it's rare, and if you did, someone would know about it," he said.

Still, Bray filed a police report and kept an eye on Craigslist. Sure enough, last week his rare pinball machine was posted for sale in Vancouver.

"I was like, 'That's it, oh my gosh,'" he said. "I was calling people, I was shaking like crazy because I was excited about it."

Bray called police, which led to a SWAT operation at an apartment complex on Southeast 152nd Avenue. It was part of an ongoing theft investigation by Vancouver police that included warrants being served at several locations.

The pinball machine, along with other stolen property, was recovered, and two people were arrested.

Kristine Nelson, 25, and Shawn Justin, 36, both appeared in court on Monday and are facing charges of trafficking in stolen property.

Investigators were also interested in more than just the stolen machine for one of the suspects.


Nelson is also accused of forging checks at multiple businesses in Portland and Vancouver. They are both scheduled for formal arraignments on May 2.

For Bray and his family, they're just happy to hear the sounds of their pinball machine again.

"It's wonderful to have it back," he said. "I remember the day my dad brought it home when I was 3. He put it in the living room. My mom wasn't happy about it, but you can imagine as kids something like this was fun."

Copyright 2014 KPTV-KPDX Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. 


Video here http://www.kptv.com/story/25314531/determination-to-find-stolen-pinball-machine-leads-to-arrests-in-vancouver

WASHINGTON -- If you love pinball, you'll flip for this.

The man who founded D.C.'s now-closed National Pinball Museum is selling his collection of hundreds of machines, andthe second in a series of auctions is set for 9 a.m. Sunday, April 27.

David Silverman, of Silver Spring, Md., first opened the National Pinball Museum in Georgetown in late 2010, then moved it to Baltimore before closing it for good last year.

Silverman says he then moved hundreds of his machines to a storage area at a former mall in Sykesville, Md., where he was told he would have one year's notice before he would have to move them.

He considered opening the museum a third time when he got word that he would have to move his items out in just 30 days. That's when he called Morphy Auctions, in Pennsylvania. Although the auction will be held in the Lancaster, Pa.-area, D.C.-area bidders can participate online or by phone.

See what is in the auction catalog here.

Silverman says he doesn't plan on going to any of the auctions.

"It's partially painful, and partially, I'm trying to get beyond it."

Among the items for sale in Sunday's auction is a 1936 machine called Daily Races, which was banned in many places because players could win money from it. That makes it a rare machine because it would often be confiscated, Silverman says.

"The interesting part about that game is that, the one that I found, it was confiscated to the basement of a policeman's home.

"I don't know how many of this game exist, but it was one of the highest-priced games that I ever bought."

Another game, called Safe Cracker, is a game within a game within a game. Scoring in the pinball game help move you forward on a second Parcheesi-style game board on the backglass, the upper part of the pinball machine. If you win this second part of the game, something amazing happens.

"You get a token that rolls right out of the game, onto the playfield glass, into your hands. That token then you can use to put into a different coin slot, and that coin slot plays a different game."

Other interesting machines in Sunday's auction include an "Indiana Jones" machine, another based on "The Creature From the Black Lagoon" and a very hard-to-find rolldown machine, which was made for states where shooting a ball with a plunger was considered gambling.

Silverman says it's a good time to buy and a bad time to sell. He says the economy has really affected the value of older pinball machines.

"The first auction has kind of taught me a lesson ... I don't even expect to come close to getting what I paid for these games."

Silverman collected about 700 games over almost 35 years, but he's not selling all of them.

"I'm keeping about 12 or 15 games, and they're for all the wrong reasons that people would think of. They're not necessarily the rarest, and not necessarily the most beautiful. They just have a lot of historical importance to me -- not only from their own historical perspective, but they had importance to me based on my collecting, where I was in my life during it.

"Like the first game I ever bought was a game called Fireball. I've always kept that game -- we kept it in this house. At one point we kept it as a night light because it had the most beautiful backglass -- these reds, oranges and yellows."

He also has a brand-new "Wizard of Oz" pinball machine at his home that he intended on showing off at the museum. Sadly, it was delivered after the museum closed.

Silverman has gone through a range of emotions since the museum was shuttered, but now he can look back and smile.

"I'm sad that it didn't survive, but it came as close to my mind's eye of what I wanted as it could have ever been. And so I'm satisfied with having that happen, and that's taken a lot for me to actually say that."

Follow @WTOP and WTOP Entertainment on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook.

© 2014 WTOP. All Rights Reserved.

via www.wtop.com

With today's celebration of Ford Mustang Day, Stern releases never before seen images of the Mustang Limited Edition pinball machine. Check out the pictures and news release after the break.

Local television station KUSA reports on the RMPS with an in-studio pinball demonstration.
Video on their site here http://www.9news.com/story/life/events/2014/04/11/pinball-convention-bounces/7589339/

KUSA - If you're on the ball, the Rocky Mountain pinball expo is finally here.

This event is perfect for all pinball wizards, arcade gamers and video game aficionados but it's also great for people who just want to have some pinball fun.

The three-day event features a selection of over 125 free pinball and arcade games to play. Don't worry, you won't need any quarters.

While you're there you can also check out various tournaments and seminars, plus they'll be tons of buying and selling exhibits. In all, for a meager ticket price of $25 you can't go wrong.

The event takes place in Greenwood Village. Find out more information onhttp://bit.ly/1kLNn4r.

(KUSA-TV © 2014 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)

On the heels of the recent Jersey Jack Pinball update, comes another in rapid-fire succession. First off is an update on Jack's visit to the Michigan Pinball Expo as well as new statistics on WOZ earnings on location. Jack and the team have been hard at work in developing The Hobbit pinball and have some videos to show us.

New Wizard of Oz machines are being delivered and check out the uber-cool new jukebox functionality from Pinnovators as well.

Read the update below and let us know what you think about it in the comments section.

This news may come late to some and apologies are expressed for not having reported this as it happened. Python was an incredible man whom touched the lives of everyone that he met including myself. Pyhton was a selfless man who treated strangers as friends and friends as family. 

With an incredible career most notably as a pinball artist Python left his indelible mark that the industry and fans will never forget. Python was responsible for classic coin-op artwork such as Comet, Cyclone, Fish Tales, Pinbot and more

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of such a great man. We will miss you Sir, we will remember you, always..........

More news on Python's passing can be found all over the net including the following

http://www.pinballnews.com/news/python.html
http://www.examiner.com/article/legendary-pinball-video-game-artist-python-anghelo-passes-away
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/python-anghelo-has-passed-away

If you find yourself in or near Rochester Michigan this weekend you may want to take a trip over the the MPE 2014 and spend some time with the silver ball. With over 100 pinball machines, vendors and pinball tournament and guest speakers it is guaranteed to be a great time. Attendees will also have the chance to check out the latest and greatest pinball machines from Jersey Jack Pinball, Stern Pinball as well as custom pinball machines including Skit B Pinball based on the movie "Predator" as well as a custom home-brew game based off of the movie "The Matrix".

From the show organizer:

"This event is designed to be “FAMILY FRIENDLY” and we encourage everyone to come out and have a wonderful experience playing over 125+ machines at the Michigan Pinball Expo. All the pinball machines in the Expo room will be set on FREE PLAY. Those pinball machines will be available to the public to play for FREE* from the start of the Expo until the close of the Expo!!! 57 TOTAL HOURS!!!

Tournament machines will be located on the back wall where you can really test your pinball skills by paying low entry fees for a chance to win BIG MONEY and TROPHIES. We offer tournaments for every skill level. So whether you are a “Pinball Wizard” going for the title of “Michigan Pinball Champion” or a “Wizard in Training” competing at the kids level, we offer many divisions so you can compete among your peers.

It’s all about having FUN! We will also have many vendors along 3 walls of the Michigan Pinball Expo. Full size arcade pinball machines will be for sale from local collectors and businesses such as Prestige Pinball. We will also be announcing new additions to the show daily, so please check back often! With over 15,000 sq. ft. of pinball goodness going on, there is something for everyone at the Michigan Pinball Expo.

If you want to be appraised of the latest happenings, sign up for our Google Group mailing list, and join us on Facebook. Lots of great news is coming daily!

Thank you for your time and we hope to see you, your family, and all your friends at the Michigan Pinball Expo!!!"

–John Kosmal (Show Organizer)

Jack and team have been busy working on the new Hobbit pinball machine as well as completing orders for WOZ in order to get ready for the next release. Read the update after the break.