Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Ft Myers Zoomers Grand Opening
Zoomers was a go-cart, miniature golf, arcade family fun center that was suppose to open several years but failed to be completed so close to being finished. The original owner pour in over 15million to begin this endeavour only to have come to a halt during 2007.
The building and 16 acres has been sitting for all those years until it was bought at auction last year. The current owner bought with the goal to finish the amusement park and they did just that. The grand opening is June 15th.
I have yet to find out if they will have any pinball machines on site, but I did ask the question on their facebook site. You can join me here to help them understand, if they don't already, that pinball machine is as important to an arcade and family fun as much as a video machine. There facebook site is: http://www.facebook.com/#!/ZoomersAmusementPark
Zoomers web site: http://www.zoomersamusementpark.com/
Have Fun,
Dan
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Gearing up for Pinburgh!

I can’t wait to get back to Pittsburgh's PAPA and play some pinball. I can’t wait hang out with all the pinhead and friends there.
I heard that Jason, Donny, Brian are heading up, so that will be great to have a chance to talk and watch them play, especial Donny since he seems to get stuck on the other side of these FL pinball tournaments. I am looking forward to playing in the tournament also, the set-up at Pinburgh seems relaxed….. before getting into the trenches of the final rounds. I just hope I have the energy to maintain a good level of play through the rounds. Three days of solid pinball playing. Lol How do you practice for that? Watching and playing, thinking and strategizing, talking and writing, laughing and hopefully not crying about pinball. It is going to be awesome time.
The fantastic fact about the PAPA place is that they have a great collection of pinball machines that are in really nice shape and well maintained that can be played away from the tournaments (as time allows before, after or in-between competition playing). They have such a diverse line-up of pins from EM, SS to the latest Sterns and so many that you can’t play them all.
Last time I was there, I had to come up with a plan for my game choosing. I was trying to find games to put my token that caught my attention because they were:
1) Pinball machines I never played before
2) Pins that were rare to find
3) Dirty or broken pins, that I found in the past and might have had a dis-like for, to try to get a new opinion
4) Pins that I enjoyed to play like AFM (I just can’t walk pass those?!)
5) Lastly, Pins that was in the tournament line-up that I felt I needed to learn and practice on.
So I will possibly stick to that plan, it worked well in the past.
Here is a link to posts about a pior trip to PAPA. Heading to PAPA to play pinball & Return from PAPA Pinball Tournaments
You can find the PAPA site here. Pinburgh 2012 Match-Play Championship
And their blog site here. PAPA Blog Which is a very good blog site with all their pinball video tutorials.
Have Fun,
Dan
Saturday, December 3, 2011
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.
Thank you for your interests.
Dan
To be continued...
Saturday, November 26, 2011
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
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
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...
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
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.
Monday, November 14, 2011
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...
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Save Spider-man for the Children Part 3

Dan
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.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.Saturday, November 12, 2011
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....
Monday, August 22, 2011
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
Friday, August 5, 2011
Heading to Pittsburgh to play Pinball
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 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.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
New Southern Pinball Expo in Orlando

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/–Spencer of the Southern Pinball Festival
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
http://www.twitter.com/spfshow
http://pinballavenue.blogspot.com/2008/03/wow-factor-10.html
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Florida Arcade and Pinball Expo is coming!
The 2010 Florida Arcade and Pinball Expo
is being held January 28th through 31st at the Dania Jai-Alai
located at 301 E. Dania Beach Blvd, Broward County, FL
For $12 admission price (children under 6 get in free), you get to play all your favorite classic Arcade & Pinball machines until your fingers are content. All games are set on FREE PLAY! No Quarters needed!
The games are being setup now as I write this blog. Here is a snapshot taken by a Village Member
showing the progress. The Ape is expecting to have over 300 pinball machines alone. They have collectors bring games from their private collections, games that have been masterfully restore to glorious playability of yesteryear.
The photographs are showing wonderful classics from Gottlieb, Williams, Bally being brought in the auditorium to be readied for action. I spotted classics like Firepower, Haunted House, Funhouse & morejust from the photographs.
I am going to finally get to measure up my past nemesis, Gottlieb’s Black Hole because as a young child that game used to torture me without mercy. It would mock my skills & eat my quarters, again & again & again! BUT I shall have my sweet revenge with my years of dedication to becoming Pin-fit. Perseverance shall triumph! Ah…that’s my private Idaho though.
A very long list of arcade games like Pac-man & Ms. Pac-man, Space Invaders will be there for all your playing pleasure.
You can win a Machine if you can put your high score & have it last & unbroken all weekend! Check out the designated tournament area that will house the 20 games for players to battle for domination. At the conclusion of the Expo, the player with the High Score on a particular machine shall receive that machine, then it will be delivered to the winner's home. (The delivery men just hope that you do not live in two story home with your game room on the second floor in Spokane Washington.)
Other attractions will be there also. A classic car show will be on Saturday night January 30th with prizes & raffle drawings. Current, former and future NFL players will attend along with former Pac Man champion players. Plus newer Arcades games will be on site as well, like Stern's new pinball machines.
This a four day event so pace yourselves. Let's make this the biggest Florida Arcades & Pinball Expo yet!
- Daily Pass is $12.00
- Weekend pass (4 Daily passes) is $40.00
- Children (under 6 years of age) enter FREE.
Show Hours:
Thursday, 01/28/10: 12:00pm - 12:00am
Friday, 01/29/10: 12:00pm - 1:00am
Saturday, 01/30/10: 12:00pm - 1:00am
Sunday, 01/31/10: 12:00pm - 5:00pm
Location:
301 E. Dania Beach Blvd, Broward County, FL
You can contact Florida Arcade and Pinball Expo direct at:
Site: Floridaape.org
Email: Jaialou@betdania.com.
Phone: 954-920-1511
A link to more photographs taken by Klassic of the APE setup can be seen here.
If you ever have any questions, information or comments, post them here.
Have Fun,
Dan
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Are The Game Vendors Killing Pinball?
By guest Blogger: Lizzy Try to find a pinball game to play in Southwest Florida. Dare, double dog dare ya! A pinball machine is like the four leaf clover of games. They’re harder than heck to find, fleeting and like a prize when you do find one. Why are they so hard to locate? Seriously, as a pin enthusiast I’ve dashed in and out of game rooms and smoke filled gin joints just trying to find one to little avail. The last one I found was playable until you reached a chute that was blocked. That ended my quarter parade. For all I know it’s still not operational it was evident that nobody was caring for this machine in any capacity. My quest for pin has led me the occasional pinball machine and I’ve always called the vendor number on the sticker to get a list of where he/she may have more. No dice. At what point does a person contact a business owner, offer to pump quarters into their machine and get met with no response? Zero, Zip, Nada. Well, one person tried to sell me a pinball machine at an inflated price. After engaging in several back and forth emails I still wasn’t able to pry the information about other machines from this vendor. I’m torn between whether the vendors won’t disclose machine locations: Are the pinball machines not properly licensed or if the vendors are just too dense to realize I just want to find their machines and pump my money into them.
If I can't find them and the few I find are not playable then how is the rest of the public going to fall in love with pinball and keep it alive? So I ask you if your part of the country is much like my little corner of Southwest Florida.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Journey to the other Coast
Saturday, June 9, 2007
World Poker Tour Shanghai!
The Stern-World Poker Tour pinball machine has been put to sea and replaced by the Stern-Pirates of the Caribbean at Stevie Tomato’s Sportspage Ft Myers location. The pitch is set high on this machine causing fast balls and short games especially if you go after the center pirate targets, so good luck with putting your initials up on the leader board. Stern- Pirates of the Caribbean: Clean, bright, playable but pitch high with fast play, Stevie Tomato’s Sportspage- 11491 Cleveland Ave, Ft Myers 33907- Bar & Restaurant Have fun. Dan
Monday, June 4, 2007
Spiderman Found in SW Florida!
Friday, May 25, 2007
Update: New pinball locations found.
