pix from the pinball hall of fame; las vegas, NV

all these taken with my great new sub-compact. unfortunately blogger doesn't allow me to quickly/easily post larger pix, so i've just compressed the hell out of them. a few notes follow

probably the only 4-level pinball machine ever built (at the cost of over US$1M). only 2 made. never mass produced because the case was wider than the average machine, yet didn't attract more players.

very long (think "about 2 pinball tables in length") pinball machine with a tilting surface. you try to hit the ball through the other person's flippers -- when you do, the surface tilts with you now being on the downhill side.

detail of a machine. pre-dates (predicts? influences?) kraftwerk by 10 years.

actually a craps game that on the playing field looks like a roulette wheel. if you hit 2, 3, or 12 on your first shot, you lose. hit 7 or 11, you win and shoot again. if you hit anything else (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) you keep shooting until you either hit the number again (in which case you win and keep shooting from the starting rules) or hit seven and lose. numbers exactly equal to probability on a dice roll. the score keeper is meaningless. designed to look "legtimate" while actually allowing people the chance to wager on a dice game. may be the only machine of its kind left in existence. found half covered with water in a swimming pool. absolutely spectacular.

detail of a machine.

so good.

detail of a machine.