The story behind the game is that I was new to the Pinball world back in 2012 but like most who are bitten by the collecting bug, I began in earnest. Williams “Fire” was my 8^th machine that year alone! Fire was the second game I purchased from the same seller on Ebay. Buying games on Ebay is not for the faint of heart. The process is inherently risky but I didn’t know any better and there were (at least) a ton of pics in the listing – so I bought it.

The game arrived and was a pleasant surprise. No broken buildings, bell worked, no playfield wear. The cabinet was not perfect but very good. Displays were nice and bright. I was told that this was an HUO example taken from a dealer’s basement. Hard to argue with that because it looked great. All in all a great purchase for $1,500.

I played it and enjoyed the gameplay but LOVED the WUG factor (World Under Glass) more than anything. It was not until 2 years later that I began to appreciate the gameplay as well. Fast forward to that time and I was beginning to take an interest in brand new games and needed the funds to make that happen … so Fire went up for sale on Craigslist. After sifting through all the tire kickers, low ballers and scam artists, I got a call from a couple in North Carolina and we closed the deal. They had played a Fire and fell in love with it and wanted to own one. I spent the evening prior to the arranged pick-up date by prepping the machine, pulling it from the line-up and readying it for inspection by the potential new owners. Once it was out of the gameroom, I realized I had not played it in many, many months – maybe even a year? So I hit start and played a game. Wow! What a difference a year makes. I literally noticed it immediately. I was a SIGNIFICANTLY better player than the year I purchased this machine during my freshmen year of Pinball collecting. Somehow, the ability to play better really enhanced the overall game experience. I was hitting ramps better, locking balls better, getting to multiball faster and generally racking up my best scores in the first few games! Ugh … I love it even MORE now and the folks I just struck a deal with are now on their way to see it, pay for it and take it home. I was now keenly aware of “seller’s remorse” and it sucked. Oh well. You listed it, you agreed to a deal – no backing out now.

Once I met them, I was pleased to see it was going to a great home where it would be appreciated. They ran their own dog grooming business and were really nice folks. They played a few games to make certain it worked as advertised and then paid me the amount we agreed upon. I began to prep the game to wheel it out of the basement and into their waiting pickup truck. Only one problem … the backbox lock didn’t work right. Never had worked right. Was one of those “little things” that was not right when I bought it. I just never corrected it. Not a big deal if the game is setup and working. Did you ever try to ship/transport a game where the backbox won’t lock? Disaster. The translight/backglass will fall out, the light backboard can swing open. Loose PCB boards might be dumped out. You really can’t even fold down the head to wrap the machine until the “lock is right”. An hour later I had it pieced together so those poor folks could at least get home. Lesson learned. When I pick up a game nowadays I always bring a spare lock, blue tape, duct tape and tools to replace the lock should I need to.

I missed it right away. The game just looks beautiful. It’s fun, fast and furious. It’s no wonder the buildings on these are always broken because that orbit shot is insanely fast and with ball speed comes the risk of airballs and breaking something. No Pinball game since Fire has had this level of detail. The molded houses, the complex curved plastics and a real working brass fire bell make Fire one of the best (WOZ is better IMO) world-under-glass games ever made. Oh well. She was gone now. Time to move on. Over the next 5 years (and 20 more games) I thought I had put Fire out of my mind.

Late in 2017, I was spending my normal amount (too much) of Pinside time reviewing posts when I happened across the Texas Pinball Festival thread. I asked Tami if she wanted to go – and, she surprised with a “yes”. So plane tickets were secured, we paid for our hotel and I started the process of discovering what exactly happens at TPF (story on that in a later blog post). One of the things I did to prep for the TPF show was to review the Pinball celebrities that would be there and make a list of the ones I wanted to meet and what I might ask them to autograph. So I grabbed my spare slingshot plastics, bought some if I did not have extras and did the same for my translights. Remember, at the time I did NOT own a Fire. So I did not have a translight to sign. And Barry Oursler was going to be there. And I love the game he built called “Fire”. So I bought the translight and I did not even own the game. Barry DID sign my Fire translight on March 17^th – thank you Barry … and on March 29^th, I bought my second “Fire”!

After returning from TPF, I saw a fellow Pinsider liquidating his large collection. He lived in the Nashville area only 2.5 hours from my place. He was listing games below the going rate and they were literally selling in an hour – or less. By the time I could share with my wife the available games, they are all gone EXCEPT the Williams Fire. I told her I would call him (with her blessing) and make an offer even though I was out of space for any games at the time. So I called and shared my love of Fire, explained that I was close and could get him the cash quickly and made my offer. He was kind enough to accept it and suddenly I was again a proud owner of a Williams Fire with a brand newly installed CPR Silver Grade play field! I was stoked

I had to delay the pickup due to rain
forecasted for the next 2 days but we both agreed to meet on Sunday
where the weather was less threatening. I left the house early
because evening weather reports looked like rain. What a glorious
ride to Nashville from our home in Knoxville. Chris volunteered to go
with me and help load, etc. It was a sunny, breezy – not too hot
drive over the Cumberland plateau to the outskirts of Nashville –
until … we were ten minutes from the sellers house. From I40 and
using google maps, Chris and I could see approximately where the
seller lived. North of 40, about 2 miles from the interstate. The sad
part was over that EXACT area was a group of black clouds that should
we be under them, we would have considered how we might spend our
last moments on earth ‘cause it looked like this was the end. It
was 10 commandments, biblical kinda black clouds. We came to our exit
and it was hard to see the interstate it was raining so hard. We
pressed on.

We made a few turns after the
interstate and each turn brought more rain, harder rain, thicker
rain. We arrived at the seller’s home (under that now pitch black
cloud) and it was raining harder. We waited a second and it started
raining even harder. Pinball guys are not cowed by a rainstorm so out
the door we went and ran for the entrance to the garage where the
game sat. We were soaked. Not all the way through soaked because the
run was just 15 feet or so, but very wet.

The experience INSIDE the gameroom/garage was dryer and better! I soon found out the seller had a complete extra brass bell and mechanism, a complete extra set of (very HTF) buildings and several other parts that he added to the package at a very fair price. We play tested the game. I was super excited because the playfield was stunning and looked brand new. The overall game appeared and played that way. Yay, another Fire coming home!

We talked pinball for a bit and then began to pack the game for transport. I somehow sensed the weather might be a surprise and came prepared with a fresh roll of shrink wrap, 2 tarps, straps and scrap wood to elevate the machine in the truck bed. Did I share that my truck bed is open? No cap, no box, no cover. Wide open. We folded the game and then completely shrink wrapped every inch of it. Then opened the doors to see if the truck was still there and above water. It was raining even harder – I’m not kidding. So rather than wait we grabbed the machine and moved quickly to the truck bed. It’s hard to describe what happened next. Nobody got hurt but it was intense to say the least. Got the game in the truck bed just fine, slid it along on the scrap lumber I brought along. Then it was time to tarp and strap it. I had trouble even seeing where spread and place the tarp. The rain soaked my shirt to my skin within 15 seconds. It was cold. I was taking deep breaths like diving into a cold pool or lake. I couldn’t hold the tarp because it was new and wet and too big. I finally got it over the machine in a semi-organized way.

Next I had to circle the base of the machine with a ratchet strap to keep the tarp on at 70MPH. Sounds easy but the tarp was big enough to cover the entire truck and the extra around the base of the machine was heaped a foot high. Easy fix right, stomp it down then wrap it up. So the first place I put my foot was not on top of a pile of loose tarp but into a “valley” created in the tarps folds. It had about 8” of water in already. Oops – that foot is wet. I repeated the process for the other foot and after 10 full minutes standing under what felt like a waterfall, I had the game secured. I ran back to the garage, grabbed my tools, said my thanks and goodbyes, pulled my drenched shirt off and jumped back in the Ark – uhh truck for the trip home. Despite the great flood, we got home both safely and dry! At least the machine did.

Fire is a cool game based on a real event. Released January 8^th 1987 it numbered around 7,700 total units produced. There were 2 cabinet styles the regular edition (mine) and the Champagne edition. Not too many games can claim 5 “ramps” but Fire has left and right orbit/ramps, left and right target style ramps and a real steep ramp in the middle in the form of a “ladder” simulating your role as a firefighter “saving my baby” as you play the game. It has a built in fireplug between the flippers for the sole purpose of stopping an immediate drain after an orbit shot. The fireplug gives you fighting chance but is also a game feature that must be “mastered” not just noticed. Ignore its nuances or rely on it at the wrong time and your ball will drain anyway. It’s the only game ever made with a working brass bell on top. It’s also the only one that recreates the appearance of actual flames on the playfield. A spinning color wheel below the playfield does an honest job of representing flames when viewed from above. Frequently slammed for having no drop targets, no pop bumpers and no spinners, it yet remains in the top 200 games of all time on the Pinside ranking list. The object of the game is to “put out fires” as they appear around the playfield. These “fires” are in the form of printed flames and lit inserts scattered about the playfield but strategically placed in front of the molded buildings. It’s a simple but clever theme integration. Check out Jason Putnam’s detailed rulesheet at the PAPA website http://pinball.org/rules/fire.html

Fire is based on the great Chicago fire of October 8^th 1871. Urban legend (since proved unsubstantiated) has it that Catherine O’Leary’s cow knocked over a lantern that in turn started the fire. This has been repeated for so long that most believe it to be true and it is forever bound to the story. So much so that when you press start on this pinball machine, the first sound you hear is a cow. Fire has also made at least one movie appearance. You can see Leonardo DiCaprio play it in the 1993 movie “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”.

Barry Oursler was the game designer, Chris Granner did the music, Brian Schmidt and Rich Karstens did the sound and Mark Sprenger was responsible for the fantastic artwork that perfectly evokes that period. The is also an upgraded version of Fire called the “Champagne” edition. Less than 300 were made and they featured real wood veneer, brass plating and additional “flame” wheels in the back box. Gameplay is identical on both. If you’re looking to pick up this game watch for broken or cracked buildings. They are almost always damaged in some way. The center building can still be found as of this writing but the others are like Bigfoot – I heard about them but have only seen them in grainy YouTube videos. Seriously, they are extremely hard to find and crazy expensive when available. Complete plastic sets are available as are replacement playfields.

Are you looking for one of the most beautiful games ever made? Are you a Firefighter that loves pinball? Does theme integration and “world-under-glass” presentation mean a lot to you? If so, then Williams Fire is the ticket. It’s a beautiful game built in a way that we are not likely to see again.

Nice work Barry O.

The story behind the game begins as I was searching for a new Pinball machine to add to my growing collection and really liked the look of the newly remade (Chicago Gaming) “Attack From Mars” – especially the LE version and it’s magnificent topper. So, I shared that sentiment with my better half and she quickly shot it down and said it was “ugly” and “nasty” looking. I took another shot by sharing the images of Houdini where she responded “that one looks nice”. I gave her the lowdown on the new company that was building it and explained that we would get to meet all of them AND play the game while at TPF in March. I emailed Larry at Flippin’ Out Pinball and sent in my deposit to hold a spot for a machine. For Christmas, I received a fantastic Houdini autobiography that I read from cover to cover in just a few days. He was a driven and fascinating individual. Here are a few tidbits about his life that you may not have known.

Harry Houdini:

• Was born Erik Weisz
• Debunked many séance practitioners as charlatans
• Was a movie star in silent films
• Was the first person EVER to make a powered airplane flight in Australia (when flying was a deadly sport)
• Was first close friends with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes fame) – only to have a falling out due to differing beliefs in the supernatural

Fast forward to TPF and you can see
that we fell in love with the machine. Met and hung around with Joe
Balcer the designer, Barry on service and even the ownership of the
company. I walked right over to Larry’s booth and wrote the check
for the remainder due. I was struck by how down to earth the entire
American Pinball team is and how focused they are on the customer.
Tami and I shared some of our “Houdini excitement” with Joe by
gifting him a 50^th anniversary collectable stamp from the
International Brotherhood of Magicians. It’s the stamp that
celebrates Houdini and I had it framed in a tiny black frame and
inscribed to Joe on the back – he loved it.

Got home and it was not too long
afterward that I got the call from Larry that my machine would be
shipping soon. I didn’t wait for home delivery. I drove straight to
the trucking terminal when it arrived to pick it up. My Dad was
staying with us for a few days and they live 13 hours away so it was
a special treat to have him come with me to pick it up. We got it
home safely and unloaded it on a beautiful spring day.

I quickly began the ceremony we call
“unboxing” (cut, strip cardboard, take a picture, rinse and
repeat). Got it all set up, move to it’s space and asked Dad to
play the first game. It was nice to see him smile and enjoy Houdini.
He has a relatively rare blood disease (MDS) and was struggling with
having enough energy to stand for any period of time. This disease is
a type of blood cancer and it attacks your bone marrow and inhibits
the body’s ability to create hemoglobin – tough to move oxygen
around without it.

So what’s it been like “living with
Houdini”? Seriously one of the most unique machines, gameplay and
Pinball experiences I’ve had. I love it too much. Let me explain …
Let’s start with game play. It’s a very challenging game. Not for
casual players unless you want short ball times. It’s built for
“playing with a plan”. Trapping, aiming your shots and, of
course, making them is critical to success. You accomplish very
little “by accident”. This is a player’s machine. You don’t
need to be an expert player but being good or better helps.

It’s not perfect either. The Milk Can shot rejects often (fix with a 5 cent felt dot). The Lower catapult orbit shot is wickedly tight (enlarge the switch hole by 2mm and move the “C” switch/target left to open the catapult access lane). The catapult can get into stretches where it misses the trunk (get the upgraded power supply from API and make certain your armature is straight in the slot). The factory installed side blades are fragile (use side blade protectors when lifting the play field). The Séance scoop area can chip the clear coat over time (order Cliffy’s for that area or affix a small piece of mylar)

All of these issues are small potatoes EXCEPT the catapult shot. This is a one of those things where “loving it too much” causes mental anguish! If the catapult is missing the chest, the game just isn’t the same. Gameplay suffers. The excitement of watching a ball fly over 20” through the air is lost. The brief break you get as the music and lights spin up before the launch becomes an exercise in anxiety as you wait for the ball to “launch and miss”. All is not lost because if the ball misses the trunk, the logic in the game still “credits” you …. but the ball is now (usually) loose on the playfield and headed to a spot it was not intended to be. Take the time to get your catapult right

I’ll close out this post with some
tips for game play. I’ve spent a lot of time play testing this
machine instead of “playing for score” – huge difference and
I’ll write about that in the future. Here are a few of the things I
learned:

Hit the catapult lane: Let the ball roll down the RIGHT flipper inlane, then OVER to the right flipper. Allow it to settle down near the last ¼” or so of the LEFT flipper and you’ll be in the right area to make that shot

Post passing: Super easy to do on this game. Just cradle both flippers, then lightly activate the flipper button on the ball side. The ball will hit the post above it and smoothly make its way across the center drain to the other flipper.

Right orbit control: Hit the right
orbit and (if your lane guide on the left is set up right) the ball
will “shatz” up the RIGHT flipper inlane when you quickly flip
with the left flipper. From there you can take a shot with the right
flipper or roll pass it to the left flipper for a shot from there.

I love Houdini too much. There’s a
lot to love about this game:

• Beautiful backglass and PF art
• Challenging
  (“one-more-game”) game play
• Unique playfield toy (catapult)
• Very unique shots (milk can,
  stage)
• Stunning overall appearance

Bottom line is that the shots are
tighter than other machines BUT in return MUCH more satisfying. The
downside is that sometimes – I miss the shot. But I love the
machine. But it kicks my ass. But I love the challenge – so I hit
start again

What’s going on lately with all the negative comments about Pinside? I’ve recently heard a few (podcasters) folks say Pinside is toxic and full of haters. I don’t think so. I spend a ton of time on the site and I find it to be a helpful, friendly place! Sure, a few folks act up from time to time but I still think Pinside is one of the finest hobby forums I’ve ever been a part of. I’m also a member of other top forum sites for Watches, Cars, Firearms and more but I gotta tell ya – no one does it better than Robin and the Pinside team. The amount of custom code that went into making Pinside boggles the mind. Just compare any other basic forum with its painfully dated “table-style” format and you have to agree – Pinside is a blessing to Pinball lovers worldwide. So when I saw Robin at TPF this past year, I made it a point to tell him the same and thank him for it.

So what happens on Pinside that creates this perceived negativity? Well, it’s simple – it’s people. Not everyone, not a majority, not even a minority – just a few. Some folks just don’t understand that there are polite ways to engage with their fellow man. Maybe their parents never showed them the way. Perhaps a past experience is driving them to respond in an unpleasant way. Maybe they’re just mean, angry human beings. Truth is we can’t know how they came to that frame of mind but the posts they leave stand out from others as an example of how not to interact on a forum. The good news is that they are few in number. The bad news is that bad news is memorable. What can we do?

Be even nicer.

There’s a valuable reason for being even nicer and for encouraging others to do the same. It’s called Pinball. Or should I say the future of Pinball. The newly interested players, collectors and competitors are most certainly going to visit Pinside. Some will make it a daily visit and others even more frequently. My point is that our written words are what they see, feel and sense. WE set the table for what future Pinheads will experience. Give them negativity, smartass, ridicule and they may not stay around. Worse … if they do stay in the hobby, they become what they get from us. In a few years we’ll get a generation of Pinheads with a not so nice attitude toward others in the world of Pinball. Although I think the negative crowd is a smallish one, I think we all own the opportunity to overwhelmingly tip the scales in a positive way. For this reason alone, I thought I’d share my thoughts on how it could be better.

DISCLAIMER: The vast majority of Pinside members already act in a thoughtful, helpful and nice way. This blog post is to encourage us to take it up a notch and make this hobby the best it can be.

Be more helpful.

If a new neighbor moved in next door
and you discovered he was a Pinhead, how would you respond to his
request for help with a machine problem? You’d be there in a minute
and probably relish the idea of being able to have a neighbor with
similar interests. You’d appreciate the ability to help each other
out, bounce ideas off each other and play each other’s games.
Pretend Pinside folks are your Pinball buds and instead of being the
“tough guy” try instead to be the “helpful guy”. Here are
some examples:

EXAMPLE 1

• OP: “Hey what size hex key fits this flipper pawl?”
• SAY “Did you even try searching the forums?”
  • INSTEAD: Run a search and post the results FOR the poster

EXAMPLE 2

• OP: “I don’t have a multi-meter”
• SAY “Why did you buy a Pinball then, didn’t you know they break?”
  • INSTEAD: Offer up an Amazon link to an inexpensive  DMM

That’s ridiculous you say … why
would I do all that work for them?

ANSWER: Did you EVER come to Pinside looking for help? Did someone help you? Of course they did … now be nice and return the favor!

Price Police is not a real job

Pricing a Pinball game is personal. Recommending a lower price while making a snarky or smart ass remark will not change anything. Think about it … if the price is too high, the result will end the same way as your recommendation. Either the seller will eventually lower the price or remove it from the marketplace. And – it just might sell too. If that’s the case why are you choosing sides? How can you speak for the buyer who has determined that the (higher than you thought was reasonable) price is acceptable to him? Why did you pick the “buyers side” in this equation? Are you never a seller of Pinball machines? Why don’t we see Pinside members pushing sellers to RAISE asking prices? When it comes time to trade do you want to get less for your machine? How about a simple GLWTS? How about some advice on how to better market a machine (more pics, different angles, etc.)? How about saying nothing?

Politics are bad for Pinball

Listen, I’m a political junky. I have very clear political opinions about almost everything in my life and in the world. I very rarely share those opinions with strangers let alone a community of hobbyists on a forum. Why? One reason. It’s immediately ruins the common bond we have in Pinball. It changes a common interest into a competing one. Why would I ruin a shared interest? Most Pinside threads do keep politics out of the conversation (Moderator enforced), and we end up enjoying each other’s conversation and generally get lost in the Pinball subject at hand while oblivious to the fact that we probably are on opposing political sides! Then someone takes a political side and boom – the person you were in civil discussion with a minute ago is now a moron for not thinking like you do. Leave politics for: the voting booth, your like-minded friends or healthy debate with those so inclined.

Clubs are for celebration

So what about those “New Game”
release threads or “Game Club” threads we find all over Pinside?
Some of the most fun you’ll see on Pinside is had in these threads.
Why? All the people in them own or will own the same Pinball game.
And they are excited about it! And the intent of the thread is to
celebrate the game, discuss the nuances of game play. Talk about mods
and fixes. Share scoring strategies and generally share each others
love and appreciation for the game they all own.

Except there is one problem. Someone
else is in the thread too. They don’t own this game. They don’t
plan to buy one either … but they feel like it’s appropriate and
important that they share all the reasons why they (one person) don’t
like the game and they justify that dislike by offering crushing
criticism. All of this shared in a thread where EVERYONE else loves
the game. That kind of commentary in this kind of thread is toxic.
It’s hurtful. And – it’s not necessary.

To those that feel entitled to crap all
over something that a group of people are celebrating I have a
suggestion. Start your own thread. Call it “Why newgame stinks”
and allow others to join you in that sentiment (if that sentiment
truly exists). After all, your feelings about the game are legitimate
but they are yours and yours alone. They may even be more realistic
than the ones held by the club thread folks. Your own thread will
highlight that as fact or show you otherwise.

Look to the star

So where can we look in Pinside for example of how to improve our performance on the “be nicer” scale? Look no further than the shining star of positivism than the “What Machine did you bring home today …” thread. It’s the baseline for all things good in the Pinball world. Started by Pinsider “MiamiRedSkin” over 4 years ago, it now has over 10,000 posts. As long as there are Pinball players and collectors, it isn’t slowing down any time soon. Here are just a few paraphrased comments from the thread:

“Congrats! Getting kids into the
hobby early is great!”

“Congrats, you don’t see that game
every day!”

“My favorite looking machine, love
that artwork!”

“Fun to play and looks so cool,
Congrats!”

“A+ games gentlemen, Congrats!”

“You are a credit to this hobby!”

This thread probably takes the record for the most exclamation points used in a thread. What a great reason to use them and how cool does it feel when someone says “Nice game man!” We really need to do more of that. It will brighten your day and the days of others when you do it. I attended a conference a few years back where the speaker (Mark Sharenbroich) wrote a book about this very same subject. Quick read if you’re so inclined. It’s called “Nice Bike!” and it explains the psychology behind it.

By now you’ve probably gotten wise to the theme of all the images I used in this blog post. Everyone is having a great time. Pinball is a unifying thing. Let’s keep it that way. Let’s be nice to one another. Let’s help each other like we were helped by others. Let’s share our opinions without personally attacking each other.

Let’s make each other smile about what we love – Pinball

Welcome to “The Loft”. This is my blog to discuss and share all things Pinball. I’ll do game reviews, share repair tips, talk about Pinball shows, Pinball parts, Pinball mods and Pinball philosophy. I’ll share my thoughts on the hobby and if it’s interesting to you – go ahead and click “subscribe”.

There will also be a few static pages as a home to some standard info that comes in handy. Pinball suppliers, specs (sizes of machines, etc.) and basic tool sets – along with a few other handy tidbits.

In the coming months, I’ll have pictures of the gameroom build posted here as construction gets underway. The new space will be over 1,500 square feet and will hold as many as 50 games. I’m calling it the “Loft” because it’s above our garage. Not ideal from the perspective of getting games in and out but it will give me lots of space to collect, repair, trade and sell. Stay tuned!