Up for sale today is a dvd featuring a really cool place:  The Pinball Clinic.  Join your host, "Dr." Ron Clemins, as he takes you through a tour of an impressive collection of between 20-30 assorted pinball machines ranging from the 70's through the 90's.  For quite some time now, Ron has been doing repair and restoration work throughout, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey.  You can learn more about The Pinball Clinic by visiting pinballclinic.com. Ron also attends pinball shows, including The Allentown Pinball Wizards Convention.

On Sunday, June 25, 2006, Pingeek visited The Pinball Clinic, located in Valley Forge, PA.   Starting with Superman, and ending with Eight Ball Champ, there was quite a variety of pinball machines to check out, in Pingeek's never ending quest to document every pinball machine still in existence.

As mentioned, the first game featured is an Atari Superman pinball machine, coincidentally as the Superman movie was about to be released.  This was a real treat, since I haven't seen one of these pinball machines working since I was a teenager, who played this machine at a local pharmacy.  Next, is Funhouse, one of the most collectible Williams pinball machines ever made.  This was a very nicely restored example, working 100%, including Rudy's eyelids, which sometimes don't move properly.  After that, one of Bally's most collectible titles:  Theatre of Magic, featuring a rotating trunk with a magnet, which grabs the ball and makes it disappear!  I played this on location at an arcade which used to be in Chesterfield, VA and always matched or won a free game with the "special" feature.  Next, Judge Dredd, another collectible Williams title, featuring the phantom switch error and the Dead World spinner.  This game has a really fast multiball mode too.

Gottlieb pins are covered too.  The next game featured is Ron's favorite, Hollywood Heat, an 80's themed pinball machine which clearly has a Miami Vice theme, a crazy playfield layout, and the only pinball machine known to award up to 15x bonus. Next, is a 1984 Williams Space Shuttle pin, which is believed to have helped bring back pinball as videogames provided fierce competition at that time.  The next game featured is another system 9 pin, Comet, featuring the very first million point shot.  The next game featured is Bally's Harlem Globetrotters, featuring a nicely restored playfield that looks almost brand new!  Ron covers a couple tips regarding spinners and playfield posts.  Next, another Bally classic, Space Invaders.  

From early solid state pins to a recent oddity:  Circus Voltaire, featuring a dot matrix display located on the playfield and such oddities as high wire multiball and who can forget the ringmaster, who rises up out of the playfield. It's two odd games in a row, with Data East's Tales From The Crypt, based on the 80's tv show, featuring inverted and cork screw ramps.  The next game is a really hip Bally title, Dr. Dude, featuring the mixmaster spinner at the top of the playfield, the gift of gab, and jumper bumpers, and a backglass hologram. This is a unique test game using the WPC board set, with only 100 produced like this. The next game featured is a 1975 Gottlieb "300", featuring backbox bowling animation. After that, it's an early Gottlieb solid state, Pinball Pool, featuring remote trip drop targets, so if a drop target is hit on the right, the corresponding drop target on the left falls too. The next game is another Gottlieb:  The Incredible Hulk with left and right playfield ball catchers, and a multi mode sound board.

But wait, there's more! It's three in a row from Bally:  Eight Ball, Eight Ball Deluxe (featuring the backglass "deluxe" carry over feature), and Eight Ball Champ.  It was a real treat to see all three of these pool themed pinball machines in one place.  Last, but not least, it's a Steve Ritchie classic, The Getaway: High Speed II, featuring the supercharger ball accelerator.