"Pachinko I (For Lee)" by Jessica Seamans

Check this amazing pachinko print you can purchase: "Pachinko I (For Lee)" by Jessica Seamans via LandLand

"Pachinko I (For Lee)" by Jessica Seamans

small machines moving in and out...

When the pandemic came to North America I already had a pile of things waiting for me at the mail pickup place in Ogdensburg NY.  Lots of us in Ottawa would send packages to places like MyUSAddress and pop over the border to grab things.

There was a brief window when the Canada / US border was open and didn't require an expensive PCR test, and I took the opportunity to run down and grab 2.5 years worth of packages.

it was a lot

I say "brief window" because with the Omicron variant on the rise I presume that any day now the borders will once again have limitations.  Thankfully I was able to get my entire haul.  

There were 4 big items in the batch:

the 6 most useful tools (I never knew I needed)

I'm not a super hands-on technical person, and mostly have learned how to repair stuff as I go, and perhaps not to the standards of a someone you might describe as "competent".  I don't have a "workshop" space, and tend to just fix stuff on my couch and/or coffee table when needed.

For working on random coin-op, here are the 6 tools I appreciate the most, but which I hadn't realized I'd need when I started:

1) digital micrometer
2) leaf switch adjuster
3) telescoping magnet
4) angled-wedge lifter thing that kind of looks like a screwdriver? Also has a magnetic tip.
5) dental pick

6) wood clamps

Ed Nickels' The History of Bagatelle and its Influence on Pinball

Here is a very short article by Ed Nickels, published by the Association for Games & Puzzles International (AGPI) Quarterly.  It can  still be seen online in the Spring 2008 issue (Vol 10 No. 1) but I am including it here just in case that site goes offline some day.

 

I very much appreciate the breezy tone that loops in Bowls from ancient Egypt and 14th century Paille Maille.  The quick sentence that connects Bowls and nine hole bagatelle!

It hits lot of salient historical notes without dwelling on aristocratic France as some magical womb of pinball.

It is excerpted from his speech at 2007's Pinball Expo.  I am very grateful for Pinball News for sharing the audio from the presentation (mp3).

Ed Nickels at Pinball Expo 2007 - via pinballnews

Ed Nickels had an exhibition in 2016 showcasing his bagatelle collection, but I've yet to find images from it.  

2016-01-16 bagatelle exhibit note in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

exploring the arcade in 黒い賭博師 悪魔の左手 aka Kuroi Tobakushi: Akuma no Hidarite aka Black Gambler: Devil's Left Hand (1966)

I finally found a high quality transfer of this gem!

1966 - 黒い賭博師 悪魔の左手 / Kuroi Tobakushi: Akuma no Hidarite (The Black Gambler - Devil's Left Hand)

This is a sequel to 黒い賭博師 / Kuroi tobakushi (The Black Gambler which I posted about earlier.

(Be sure to check the other arcade explorations, especially if you're as interested in old Japanese games as I am.)

I recommend this blog post Top 5 Nikkatsu Spy Films (feat: Kobayashi Akira) (archive) for a bit more context on the film.

Mini Cascade

After searching for over a year, Mini Cascade is here.  It's pretty great to have 2 British grail machines side by side.  Thank you to my friend in the Netherlands.

some wall games from 1976

 was browsing some 1976 issues of Replay magazine and found these images for all the wall games fans out there.

I absolutely love this image with the PCB:

"production lady" LOL come on man she has a name I'm sure