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I hope that this trip down memory lane will spark some great memories for others that happen to stumble across this website. If anyone that EVER spent time in the great Engadine Leisure Centre in Sydney NSW Australia ever stumbles across this site please email me. During my life I have been involved in many hobbies such as Jet Ski-ing, Road Bikes and Go-Karting and playing drums some of those I was into for years and they were all fantastic ( I am stll drumming ) , but I have ALWAYS , always had pinball machines hanging around.....read on and hopefully I can explain why.
Anyone that grew up through this fabulous era will remember it like it was yesterday, there were no DVD players, no Internet facilities and no Sony PS2's or X Boxes , Ug-Boots were a fashionable item, DEVO were a new radical band, KISS were even bigger, if you wore a black beanie or shoved a pack of cigarettes up under your T-Shirt sleeve ( and we all did that ......didn't we?) then you were pretty tough. An afternoon after school generally meant mucking around on a BMX bike, playing with home made copper bombs, playing a new "tape" on your modern shoebox style flat cassette player or more often than not ( like EVERY day ) going to the local shopping centre and hanging out wherever there was an arcade machine like Space Invaders or playing the latest pinball machine, ......looking back to anyone that wasn't there, it must sound so pathetic, but to explain what it was really like is just impossible.......it was simply a fantastic time to be a kid. The first memory that I have of playing this wonderful addictive game called pinball was when I was about 10 years old, we were on holidays in the town of Foster which is a holiday town in the state of NSW on the east coast of Australia. I remember there was a very well known fun parlour in the main street that was called The Colony that our parents would take us to at night, there was a row of bowling alley games right across the back wall of the place and other games around , but I was drawn to the pinball's, the first pinball game that I actually recall playing was Mustang, and unbeknown to me at that time, was the start of my life long passion for the game. The Colony at Foster - EXACTLY as I remember it.
I grew up in Engadine, a middle class southern suburb of Sydney, Australia in the late 70's / early 80's, it was a fantastic time and as I started to approach High School years, I developed a massive passion for pinball. My friends and I would play them everyday if we could, we could always find machine to play in the local milk bars in Engadine, or on the way to Heathcote High School we would drop in to a small storeroom at the back of Lums Tavern on the Highway at Engadine and drop our lunch money into one of the 5 machines that were always there- Supersonic, Charlies Angels, Wild Fyre , Mata Hari and the classic Bally machine -Playboy. Often we would be late for school as Playboy was such an easy machine to 'crack' and we just refused to walk away from any machine that had credits on it.
We would also travel an hour into Sydney City on a Saturday night, simply to play the pinball's in Hoyts Movie Complex in George St or opposite Hoyts was my favourite inner city arcade - Dodgem City, down the road a little was Humphreys multi level Arcade and the famous Crystal Palace. We knew just about every spot in Sydney city that had a Video Game or Pinball in it, from the Ascot Cinema in Pitt St to the sleezy area's around Central station and Kings Cross, we knew them all.
Take a look at the entrance to Dodgem City - opposite Hoyts, you can see the sign above the entry doors. I am grateful to the Old Sydney Cinema's group on Facebook for allowing me to share these images.
The places in the City were the places that offered the greatest choice of machines to play, but we wanted more closer to home..........and then it happened.......in around 1979 a man named Jack Rodios opened the Engadine Leisure Centre. The Leisure Centre was the greatest Arcade that I have ever seen, it had about 8 pool tables and a STACK of pinballs and a juke box chock full of those 70's/80's retro classics that rarely stopped playing Supertramp, Bob Seger,AC/DC, REO Speedwagon, Fleetwood Mac etc. Eventually it would also have a stack of video games like Pacman, Space Invaders , Moon Patrol etc, and a slot racing track that became popular for a short time. This was the place to go, everyone knew everyone, it was about 1 minutes walk from my home and I must have spent every day there for about 5 or more years. Thanks to the vision of Jack, we were able to play most tables from that era that you can think of- Hulk, Black Knight, KISS, Genie, Haunted House, Lucky Seven, Flash, Gorgar, Firepower, Paragon, Hot Hand, Joker Poker etc etc etc, you think of it and it was probably there, the place was massive and I still credit Jack to this very day for getting me totally hooked into this hobby. I worked there for a short period of time, we would clean the place before it opened ( boy those ashtray smells still linger in my nose today ! ) and then, when we were done, Jack would allow us to pick a machine we each liked and he would throw a stack of credits on it for us ( oh.....he paid us too ),he was a tough, great bloke who was involved in the Coin-Op industry most of his life and I believe retired in around 2006.
To anyone that loves pinball's, we grew up in a privileged time that I believe is now also known as the " Second Golden Era of Pinball" and on top of that we had all the latest video games pouring in to the place... as I said, it was a fantastic place to grow up in and I still miss those days right up to present day. These days, Crystal Palace ( as an arcade ) is long gone, Hoyts Movie Complex in Sydney is a place for gangs of kids to hang out and cause trouble, as a matter of fact it has recently become one of the WORST places for crime in Sydney - what a shame. Lums Tavern on the highway at Engadine is now a bloody Subway restaurant and the once great Engadine Leisure Centre is a bloody big Chinese restaurant.
Well I guess now it's up to us home players and restorers to keep the game alive and the interest in it through sites such as these and forums like Aussie Pinball and Aussie Arcade. I get many emails from all around the World and we all help each other with parts, advice and images to keep all of these old machines going , I do not know of any other Internet community that is so helpful with each other. Something that is increasing in popularity here in Australia these days is the hobbyists 'Pinball Meet' - this is where a hobbyist invites other pinheads to his home for a night of pinball - these nights are hugely popular these days and can be anything from a few pinheads on a few games to 40+ people at annual 'Mega Meets' with 20+ games to play, many events include competitions and trophies as well. This is something really positive happening and helping to keep the pinball memories and enjoyment alive. I will certainly continue to try and do my bit to continue to help other hobbyists - always devoting my time for free, like many others do. I maintain & try to constantly update this site to try and offer some tips and show massive clear images to try and inspire others who are considering a go at their first restoration or considering buying their first game and are a bit daunted by it - I know I was. I am blessed to have gotten to know some people all around the planet who share this passion and enjoy the hobby. Email me if you need help or advice or just want to chat pinball.
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