Manufacturer Rundown

JoshuaKadmon · Aug 21, 2012

Zaccaria is Italian, while Sonic, Unidesa/Cirsa/Stargame, and Maguinas are Spanish manufacturers. Were any of the tables produced by these companies, such as Farfalla, Mars Trek, Mephisto, or Mac Jungle respectively, ever released in the American mass market? Were there any other major overseas companies? As far as I can tell, only eighteen noteworthy trade names have ever shown up in the pinball industry:

Williams
Bally [including Midway]
Gottlieb [including Premier and Mylstar]
Stern
Data East
Sega
Capcom
Atari
Game Plan
Jennings
Chicago Coin
Alvin G.
Hankin
Zaccaria
Unidesa/Cirsa/Stargame
Sonic
Maquinas
Jersey Jack [new]
Skit-B [new]
Heighway [new]

Sorry, I guess this is actually a 2-stage question - 1) Am I missing any major manufacturers? 2) Were the tables manufactured overseas also released to the American market or just imported in limited fashion?

As much as people talk about Farfalla and Mephisto, I don't know whether to chalk those up to VP emulation exposure or actual play, since I've personally never run across a real one.

laughing_lunatic · Aug 21, 2012

JoshuaKadmon said:
As much as people talk about Farfalla and Mephisto

They do ?? I've never heard of them, or heard mention of them.

Sean DonCarlos · Aug 21, 2012

There's a Farfalla near me, but it goes mostly neglected by players. You need to be secure in your masculinity to play it; there's a lot of flowers and rainbows in the artwork ("Farfalla" is Italian for "butterfly").

laughing_lunatic · Aug 21, 2012

Serenseven said:
You need to be secure in your masculinity to play it; there's a lot of flowers and rainbows in the artwork ("Farfalla" is Italian for "butterfly").

I'm not scared. I've played Cho aniki.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF-gqOeio2I

gooche77 · Aug 21, 2012

Serenseven said:
There's a Farfalla near me, but it goes mostly neglected by players. You need to be secure in your masculinity to play it; there's a lot of flowers and rainbows in the artwork ("Farfalla" is Italian for "butterfly").

You mean i've been eating butterflies when i order farfalle??

Gross.

SKILL_SHOT · Aug 21, 2012

HEIGHWAY
http://www.pinballnews.com/games/circe/index4.html

Kolchak357 · Aug 21, 2012

laughing_lunatic said:
I'm not scared. I've played Cho aniki.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF-gqOeio2I

That is one of the strangest things I've ever seen. Especially that boss battle. Why did I click the link? I knew it was the wrong thing to do.

laughing_lunatic · Aug 21, 2012

Kolchak357 said:
That is one of the strangest things I've ever seen. Especially that boss battle. Why did I click the link? I knew it was the wrong thing to do.

You see why flowers and rainbows wouldn't phase me ? hahahah

JoshuaKadmon · Aug 21, 2012

These two really couldn't be more different, could they?

Butterfly girl vs. slave girl in shackles...

gooche77 · Aug 21, 2012

I've never even seen a Zaccaria machine before and that pic has 3? I demand to know where it was taken!

laughing_lunatic · Aug 21, 2012

That Mephisto table looks cool...

JoshuaKadmon · Aug 21, 2012

gooche77 said:
I've never even seen a Zaccaria machine before and that pic has 3? I demand to know where it was taken!

I'm pretty certain that's the private collection of a Zaccaria enthusiast named Mike Nogle. Not sure where he lives, so if you were planning to raid his gameroom, I can't help you.

EDIT: Correction, the previous pic is from the PAPA warehouse, as you can see the PAPA stickers on the lower right table glass. Mike Nogle probably has more (see below).

Kolchak357 · Aug 21, 2012

laughing_lunatic said:
That Mephisto table looks cool...

Especially the ramps.

JoshuaKadmon · Aug 21, 2012

Kolchak357 said:
Especially the ramps.

...and the slave girl. That's what most people notice first, anyway.

JoshuaKadmon · Aug 21, 2012

By the way, I just got off a 25-minute phone call with Drew Maniscalco from Jersey Jack Pinball about this Wizard of Oz table. How do y'all feel about their 26-inch color display that's replacing the DMD? It sounds like Stern may even be adding color displays now that they have competition. I don't know that any of us were ASKING for color displays, as the DMD has become a classic feature, but Drew's explanation at least made it clear that the display was nothing like Pinball 2000's stupid playfield extension.

I can say one thing - that playfield looks B.A.

Sean DonCarlos · Aug 21, 2012

JoshuaKadmon said:
By the way, I just got off a 25-minute phone call with Drew Maniscalco from Jersey Jack Pinball about this Wizard of Oz table. How do y'all feel about their 26-inch color display that's replacing the DMD? It sounds like Stern may even be adding color displays now that they have competition. I don't know that any of us were ASKING for color displays, as the DMD has become a classic feature, but Drew's explanation at least made it clear that the display was nothing like Pinball 2000's stupid playfield extension.

I can say one thing - that playfield looks B.A.

Give me another few weeks for CP Pinball's Wizard of Oz to arrive and I'll be able to tell you exactly how I feel about it.

SKILL_SHOT · Aug 21, 2012

Hey JoshuaKadmon did you see the link above about the UK company starting up? Theres more photos in the previous article about them. Does it matter its not 100% complete?

JoshuaKadmon · Aug 21, 2012

SKILL_SHOT said:
Hey JoshuaKadmon did you see the link above about the UK company starting up? Theres more photos in the previous article about them. Does it matter its not 100% complete?

No, not at all. It's not like Jersey Jack or Skit-B are completely off the ground either. I guess I didn't catch what it was about at first, but now I do. So I can add Heighway to the short list of newbies in the industry. At least their table art is starting to look cool. Can't tell much else yet, but as I told Drew at JJ, it's just nice to see new pinball companies creep out of Stern's shadow, ya know? The next thing you know, we'll be watching PAPA tournaments on ESPN and visiting new pinball-specific arcades in nearby cities. Potentially, this could be a VERY cool time to be a pinball fanatic.

SKILL_SHOT · Aug 21, 2012

Heres the first article it shows alot more conceptual pictures.
http://www.pinballnews.com/games/circe/index2.html

JoshuaKadmon · Aug 21, 2012

SKILL_SHOT said:
Heres the first article it shows alot more conceptual pictures.
http://www.pinballnews.com/games/circe/index2.html

Love the art style and the English pub theme. The playfield layout looks promising, too.

Back in the heyday of pinball, first in the early 1980s and later in the 1992-1997 peak, we had a multitude of American manufacturers with a handful of international companies all competing for the market. But since 2000, it's been all Stern except for the classic collections here and there. It would be so nice to see a global pinball market, with televised competitions and some hardcore arcade circuits. Now that the UK may see it's first contender in the pinball industry, maybe we could get Japan's pachinko-crazy populous involved, perhaps the Aussies or a Euro revival. It's too soon to get excited, I suppose, but stranger things have happened. To witness a full-on pinball resurrection in 2012/2013 would be nuts!

For the most part, pinball has always been regarded as uniquely American, but we're just too fickle with our entertainment loyalties. Maybe a global market is the ticket to bringing pinball back for good, to have it stick as a major competitive hobby like poker and table tennis.

Manufacturer Rundown

New member

New member

Moderator

New member

New member

Banned

Senior Pigeon

New member

New member

New member

New member

New member

Senior Pigeon

New member

New member

Moderator

Banned

New member

Banned

New member