Save Spider-man for the Children Part 9

A several people had asked more questions about the parts that can be found on the Spider-man pinball machine, so I decided to record a few more videos describing some additional parts that make up a average pinball machine as the work progressed. These are typical parts or mechanics that make pinball what it is today.

The first video is of the bulbs.

The second video is abput the pinballs themselves.

The third is on the flippers.

We can found also at Project Pinball on Facebook.

Thank you for your interests.

Dan

To be continued...

Save Spider-man for the Children Part 8

The shine is back!

The Spider-man pinball machine is starting to shape up. We cleaned and scrubed all the nuts and bolts, ramps, plastics and the playfield. We put on three coat wax and bluffed between each coat and what a glossy shine we have now. It is a good feeling inside knowing that we can give new life back to this pinball machine.

The next step is to start bolting the parts and assemblies back to the top of the playfield and that is the subject of my video here.


For more information on our Project Pinball and how you can help, you can visit us at Project Pinball on Facebook

Dan

To be continued.....

Save Spider-man for the Children Part 10

The subject: A Stern Spider-man pinball machine born on July 06 2007 with over 21,300 games played.

Location: The Children's Hospital Fourth Floor
On-site damage assessment: Filthy, broken and unplayable. Can not repair at location due to sterile environment.

Final note: No Problem!

We have been working to complete the Spider-man for its triumphed return to the Chrissy Brown Oncology and Hematology Unit at the Children's Hospital. We have set the date for this coming Saturday the 10th of December. I have been burning the midnight oil all week making great progress but having less time to post the videos that I made along the way. So here they are.

First video is about the final results and walkthrough:

Second video talks about the code update and plastic ramps:

Third video is the testing and shows some low playfield game play:

Thank you for watching. We can found also at Project Pinball on Facebook.

Dan

To be continued...

Save Spider-man for the Children Part 7

We have been very busy and it shows by the good progress that is being made on the Spider-man pinball machine.

I have a couple more videos to share with you.

I wanted to show you the shine and the re-graining of the metal guide rails.


Another pinball machine part- the bumpers


Thank you for watching. You can find us at Project Pinball on Facebook.

Dan

Save Spider-man for the Children Part 6

As we continue to de-populate the Spider-man playfield, I have been videoing the process to share here and on YouTube at Save Spider-man for the Children by PinballMole.

The first video shows the playfield farther along the tear-down process.


The next video shows close-up of the damaged targets and metal guide rails then I do a brief description of the next step.


This video is a short video that gives you an idea of dirty the playfield is and how dirty we get from work on it.


If have questions, just post here or on Facebook Project Pinball and I can possibly go into more detail.

Dan

To be Continued...

Save Spider-man for the Children Part 5

I am back from IAAPPA & Southern Pinball Festival.

While I was at the IAAPPA Expo I had a chance to talk to a lot of good people that are very interested in donating parts and other items for our Project Pinball. Which is great and it will help me get this Spider-man back up and running for the kids.

The Southern Pinball Festival was a wonderful success for getting the word out about our facebook, YouTube and blogging pages and our great charity. We had donation buckets located around the event hall that were being filled by the warm and kind pinball people from all over the globe.

I filmed additional footage of the teardown process. The first video is showing the beginning of the playfield being stripped down.



The second video is describing the break down process.



Thank you for watching. You can find us at Project Pinball on Facebook.

Dan

The boy behind the gift

Jimmy Schneeberger, 11, of Naples died on Thursday April 13, 2000.

Jimmy Schneeberger was a member of the Webelos Den 1, Pack 12 of Collier County and was recently awarded with the Arrow of Light Award ­ the highest award cub scouts can earn. He attended Laurel Oak Elementary School where he was on the honor roll. He most recently attended Corkscrew Elementary School where he was a member of the peer mediation group. Jimmy Schneeberger was among the first winners of the Collier County "Do the Right Thing" award.

This is why we do it.

My wife found out there was a broken Spiderman pinball machine in the oncology department of the Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida. It was a memorial gift, donated to the hospital in the name of Jimmy Schneeberger .

We felt it was just wrong to have a great gift and outlet for the kids sit idle because it needed our TLC.

We are working on the Spider-man right now and we are going to fix it in honor of Jimmy and his Family and for all kids that are undergoing treatment in the hospital.

Jimmy and all these brave kids are the real heroes!



If you would like to help the kids please contact us Russelrunt@comcast.net
On Facebook: click here Project Pinball
Or comment at the bottom of this Article.
More information on Chrissy Brown Oncology and Hematology Unit just click.

Thank you,
From all of us.

Southern Pinball Festival Teams up with Project Pinball

Southern Pinball Festival is ready to kick off this coming Friday!

The first annual pinball show in the Central Florida area, November 18, 19, & 20, located in the beautiful Maitland Civic Center just north of downtown Orlando.

"This festival is driven by the passionate enthusiasts and collectors throughout the state of Florida."

SHOW TIMES

Friday 3 pm – 12 midnight

Saturday 10 am – 12 midnight

Sunday 10 am – 5 pm

LOCATION

Maitland Civic Center641 South Maitland AvenueMaitland, FL 32751 http://maitlandciviccenter.com/

The Southern Pinball Festival owners heard about our Florida charity drive to save Jimmy's Spider-man pinball machine for the Children's Hospital and couldn't stand idle without lending us a helping hand.

The Southern Pinball Festival is sharing our passion and it shows from their huge support. Thank you. They featured an article about our cause on their front home page of the SPF. They help with the arrangements for us to publicize the Project Pinball at their three day event.

We are going to have donations buckets on-site so if you spot one, please help us with a warm gift to the kids of the Chrissy Brown Oncology and Hematology Unit. Also I will be there for all three days supporting the efforts of SPFs' wonderful event, come and say "Hello". I would love to talk to you.

Dan

We can be found at Facebook: Project Pinball

Save Spider-man for the Children Part 4

I am back with another two Spider-man pinball videos.

The first video is showing the condition and total breakdown of all three of the Jet Bumpers.


The second video is showing what a pinball playfield looks like underneath and a quick description of the worn and broken left flipper and switches as well as the black dust that was everywhere.



I love questions! So if you have any, just post here or on Facebook Project Pinball and I can possibly go into more detail.



To be Continued...

Save Spider-man for the Children Part 3

A comparison photograph for you labeled- A Clean Spot!

This one will be a short article. I know you just sighed with relief.....but you don't get off that easily. I made some videos to take the place of my writing. And my writing is way better than my camera work! LOL

Have Fun,
Dan

PS Any negative comments on my youtube videos will be subject to laws of the house ruling of a five dollars donation per comment for our charity. So if you want to donate and have fun with that, give until you feel good!

Check and follow us at Facebook Project Pinball also.

Save Spider-man for the Children Part 2

The subject: A Stern Spider-man pinball machine born on July 06 2007 with 59,664 balls played.

Location: The Children's Hospital Fourth Floor- Chrissy Brown Oncology and Hematology Unit

On-site damage assessment: Filthy, broken and unplayable. Can not repair at location due to sterile environment.

Final note: No Problem!

First Step: Remove (steal) the Spider-man pinball machine from Oncology Unit without looking like a super villain! In the cover of darkness (and at dinner time) we rolled out our webslinger to the waiting getaway truck and back to the pin operating room.

After getting the Spidey all set up, I started with the Second Step: Get access to the playfield and backbox. I had to drill out both locks since the keys were no where to be found. Here is a picture of what is under the playfield, almost a mile of wiring, over 3,500 parts, over 100 light bulbs, electrical parts & solenoids.

Third Step: Start with condition and repair assessment. Looking at the playfield I noticed a lot (and I mean a lot) of black grimy dust. Dust stuck to the playfield, metal parts, wires, lamps, plastics, rubbers and under the playfield too, everything that I touch turn me black.

Sticking my head in the bottom of the cabinet I found parts from a flipper assembly. It turned out to be the left flipper had lost some parts. Boo. It happen to be the EOS (End of stroke switch) which is vital for the longevity and health of the flipper coil.

Fourth Step: Get surface black dust out of my way. I rolled Spidey outside and I fired up my air compressor and made a black cloud of debris that had me looking like a chimney sweep. If I chose not to do this every time that I would touch the inside of the machine I would get filthy then have a chance to transfer the grimy dirt to other areas. You can't clean it easily with soap and water because it will just swear or embed into whatever you were trying to clean. Next vacuum lightly to remove remaining black dust and debris.

Fifth Step: Photograph every thing. I whipped out the camera and started recording the condition and position of assemblies and parts for future reference and for me to share here.

Let me get back to the real work, I will write more later.

To be Continued...

You can visit us on Facebook at: Project Pinball

Save the Spider-man for the Children: Part 1

Hello Dan here,

This is an article about the process of saving a Spider-man Pinball Machine so the kids at the Chrissy Brown Oncology Unit in SW Florida can enjoy it again. The pinball machine was donated by the Schneeberger family in memory of their eleven year old son Jimmy.

This will a daily log of process made of taking this Pinball Machine from a non-operational to full healthy & playable game.

So it begins...

Origin:

"My name is Chris, I’m a Bonita Springs real estate agent and also a Leadership Bonita Student. During the healthcare segment of Leadership training one of the establishments we toured was the Children’s Hospital at Health Park in Fort Myers, Florida; more specifically the Chrissy Brown Oncology and Hematology Unit. "

Key Facts about The Chrissy Brown Oncology and Hematology Unit.

• Established: 1994



• Type of Facility: Pediatric Acute Care



• Number of Dedicated Pediatric Beds: 98 (Total)



• Number of Dedicated Neonatal Intensive Care Beds: 48



• Number of Patients Seen Annually in Emergency Services: 22,000+



• Number of Pediatric Providers: 300+



• Number of Pediatric Specialists: 58+



• Number of Pediatric Specialty Areas: 10



• Number of People Helped Through Child Advocacy Programs: 95,000+

For more information about the Chrissy Brown Oncology and Hematology Unit: http://www.leememorial.org/caring/facilities/tch.asp

"In one of the recreation rooms I noticed a Spiderman Pinball machine, by Stern. It was really rough looking with visible broken components and an overall dirty appearance. It almost looked like it was in a fire it was so covered with black dust."

"Immediately I turned to our tour guide and said, “I know local pinball enthusiasts who wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if they knew this machine was broken, if children … sick children with cancer even, couldn’t play it. It would just break their heart.” I then gave them the contact information and hoped for the best.
Lo and behold, “the best” happened a few weeks later when Sarah Evanglista from Healthpark called invited us to come back and take a look at Spidey. The first general assessment happened late on a Thursday evening and a few emails bounced back and forth and in less than twenty four hours, permission to pick the machine up was granted by the administration."

"Spiderman is taking a short trip to Bonita Springs for a tune up, fix up, face lift and a serious bath. Follow along on on http://www.pinballavenue.blogspot.com/ and the Facebook page, Project Pinball. Of course, donations for parts, materials and cleaning supplies are welcomed and encouraged. "

To be Continued....

Return from PAPA Pinball Tournament

I wanted to write my PAPA pinball blog post earlier in the week right after I got back home, fresh* from Pittsburgh (*dead dog tried), but life interrupts. Now I am glad that it got postponed, because I can really reflect how important of an event it was & how it affected my daily life, for the good, of course.

The PAPA organizers did an incredible job setting up the faculties. I was over the top excited to be there in that pinball environment. They had pinball machines that I had only seen in pictures or at Internet Pinball Database site and I would actually have the chance to play them. Super! Not only a large collection of good looking pinball machines but well playing to boot.

The players were fanatic, colorful & fantastic. They would and could help with encouraging words and helpful tips while completing against you at the same time. Their skill levels were diverse as the players themselves. A couple of younger players were making their present felt, (I wish I had their skill at that age.)

I arrived at the PAPA doors shortly after noon time on Thursday, the first day of the tournament. I decided early on that I wanted to jump right into the trenches of competition and learn by doing. I signed in & got handed my PAPA book bag with my PAPA T-shirt, entry slip for the tournament, post cards and advertisement for other pinball event through out the year.

After grabbing my first C division entry and I proceed to the line up of nine pinball machines. For each entry you get to pick five pins that you want to battle on. The choice was easy, chose the ones that are familiar to you. I realize with the first plunge of the ball, that didn’t mean jack because the PAPA style of game play is blood ripping brutal.

The PAPA pinball machine set-up was tweaked to be mean and lighting fast with short ball times. The outlanes post were almost non-exist with a gapping hole for the ball to drain through. The tilts were super tight, warnings for moving the machines were easy to accomplish. I never tilted out but I am sure I was a whisper away on one or two turns. There were very short ball saves if any and no extra ball to be given. The thin black rubber posts were exchanged for the thicker yellow posts making tough shots a lot tougher.

The second day, Friday, I wanted to settle in for some serious play. I wanted to get something flowing. I managed a couple of good entry scores that moved me up to eleventh place, above the final qualifying cutoff point of sixteenth and then I fell quickly back down to the mid-twenties ranking and rose no higher for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday was a blur. My game play was uneven and sporadic, zombie play. I tired to focus and put together a steady entry run, coming close with my Terminator 2 game play which scored fifth highest of the tournament. I did well on my second machine but could not get another good score to go with it. Points, points, zero, zero, zero = bad entry round. Boooo. I was toasted, had nothing left to give.

Sunday was the final rounds. I was very pleased to watch and support the final C division players. They worked very hard to be there. Nothing was given away in those final rounds, they had to continue to fight and claw their way to the top of their game for small point advances that would be add together for their victory or loss. The final four was a very even match-up. First and second places were decided by a single point.

Congratulations to the C Division winners:
1st place-Chuck Jackson ......Points 8
2nd place-Kevin Ryan .....................7
3rd place-Todd Seaver ....................4
4th place-Richard Achterberg ........2

WTG, guys!

In case you are wondering. I finished in a tie three-ways for forty-fifth. I am very happy with the pinball results for my first PAPA tournament, I wasn’t in the top sixteen for the finals, or top twenty but there were one hundred and sixty-one people lower than me. I played hard, they played hard. I am okay with that.

I had fun, lots of fun. I get a smile every time I think about my experience at PAPA which helps with the daily grind. I look forward to returning next year to reunite with the fine people and players that I met this year.

More pictures of PAPA 14 here: Click me.

More about PAPA before my trip started: Heading to Pittsburgh to play Pinball
http://pinballavenue.blogspot.com/2011/08/heading-to-pittsburgh-to-play-pinball.html

Dan

Heading to Pittsburgh to play Pinball

A friend of mine has been to the PAPA pinball tournaments in the past & always bent my ear with an interesting story or two about it. So this year I set it as a self reward or goal to make it to Pittsburgh this year.

PAPA is the Professional & Amateur Pinball Association. They are hosting the PAPA 14 World Pinball Championships August 11th thru 14th.

It will be nice because it will be like a small homecoming as well, I born & raised in a small suburb right outside the city, very close to Scott township where the PAPA tournaments are held.

I am very much looking forward to my first real tournament setting. Sure, I played other small tournaments that were held, but this for real. Pinball Players from all over the world converge to this one building to do battle. There are top prizes & trophies given for succeeding high into the standings. First prize for A Division Players is $10,000 bones. Not too shabbily. Plus trophies & titles.

I will not be playing in the A Division though! I aim to start on the ground floor in C Division. I would have joined the D Division if PAPA had one, because it does not exist.

In the past, my skills were random at best but I have been doing the Rocky Balboa workout, raw eggs for breakfast, running around with logs on my shoulders while an old weathered man yells at me.

No, that’s not true. I did set some of my pinball machines as would be found in a World Class tournament so I could practice. Tilt mechs fine tuned, outlanes posts opened all the way, no ball save & no free extra balls awarded. Pins set up like this has your best score achieved drop by millions of points. I went from scores like 80 million to scant 6 million. Tough love.

I am going to get schooled in the finer arts of pinball tournament play. Hoorah, I can’t wait.

The PAPA Link is here: http://www.papa.org/index.php
They have all the information, directions & more on their site.

They have a cool blog site also called the Tilt Warning:
http://tiltwarning.com/blog/


If you read this & are attending come up & say hello. My name is Dan/ RGP Mole.

As always Have Fun.

New Southern Pinball Expo in Orlando

The Southern Pinball Festival to be open for November 18th 19th & 20 2011 in Orlando, Florida.

A group of pinball collectors in Florida have announced their first Southern Pinball Festival, where they plan on having over 100 pinball machines spanning the history of pinball in America, ranging from an 1933 World’s Fair Jigsaw bagatelle to the brand new modern pinball machines.

Leave your quarters at home because all the pinball machines will be set up as Free Play. After you pay for your admission, you can play any of your favorite pinball machines until your heart’s content.

A professional pinball tournament is being held all three days of the show so you can test your pinball skill against your rival competitors, if you succeed Top cash prizes and SPF trophies will be awarded.

The Southern Pinball Festival will be taking place at the Maitland Civic Center just North of downtown Orlando.

Also, the Amusement industry’s premiere convention, IAAPA, will also be going on in Orlando the week of the show. Link here: http://www.absoluteexhibits.com/IAAPA2011?gclid=CKLxtsedgaoCFYHs7QodKDGAyg

The Southern Pinball Festival strongly encourage attendees to make the most out of the trip to Orlando by also planning to visit the many theme parks and sites in the area such as the Walt Disney theme parks, Universal Studios, Sea World and others. Even LegoLand Florida will be open in nearby Winter Haven by then! (so you have MANY excuses to convince your wife and family or friends to make the trip for the week before/after the ‘pinball show’!)

Little Shop of Games one of their attending sponsors. Curly & Jimmy will be on hand to have pinball parts and will even have several brand new Stern pinball machines on-site, available for sale. If you don’t see what you need, they will be glad to order it in for you. Link here: http://www.littleshopofgames.com/

“We hope many of you will be able to attend and help us make this a success that will grow in the future! SUN! PINS! FUN!”
–Spencer of the Southern Pinball Festival

The Southern Pinball Festival during November 18, 19, 20, 2011 in Orlando, Florida
SHOW your support and post that you are attending via Facebook, they would love to hear from you. http://tinyurl.com/FB-Attend-SPF-Show

CHECK out their website for more detail, information, updates & more: http://www.southernpinballfestival.com/

OR show up on Facebbook & show them how much you “LIKE” this event. http://tinyurl.com/Southern-Pinball-Festival

TWEET your Twitter here:
http://www.twitter.com/spfshow

You can read more about the 1933 World's Fair Jigsaw Bagatelle here:
http://pinballavenue.blogspot.com/2008/03/wow-factor-10.html

Have Fun,

Dan

Rolling Stones Pinball Machine Rocked!

I played Stern’s Rolling Stones pinball machine this weekend at Curly’s Little Shop of Games open house in South Florida & I have to say, it rocked!

This brand new pinball machine features the band, Keith, Ronnie and Charlie, on stage performing, while Mick is out front dancing on the music notes with renowned tongue & lips in the background & album art all over the playfield. It even had dual stack speaker amps plastics.

It was cool playing the pinball machine while the Stones’ “Brown Sugar” song was jamming with Mick doing his rooster strut across the playfield. It was awesome sounding pinball machine and you don’t have to be a baby boomer to enjoy the Stones classic hits which include the legendary “It's Only Rock 'n Roll” & “Start Me Up”. The two ramp shots are pleasing with smooth & fast flow back to the flippers.

The rule set for this pinball machine has you collecting the Rolling Stones albums& guitars to get those special multiball modes. Try to get the VIP pass for the mystery award. There are seven modes to shoot for; World Tour, Fast Scoring, Rock Star, Records, Licks, Combos and Stones multiball, after completing them all will start the wizard Encore mode.

Check it out here at Stern's Pinball Site. http://www.sternpinball.com/Games/th.aspx

If you ever have any questions, information or comments, post them here.

Have fun,

Dan