Marco Specialties | Pinball Parts Info Center

Louisville Arcade Expo is this weekend

Paul — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 02:47:41 +0000

If you are in the Louisville area or looking for a great last-minute pinball trip, check out the Louisville Arcade Expo this weekend, March 8 – 10, 2013.

2012 PAPA North American Tournament Circuit Location
Console, Arcade, and Pinball Tournaments for all ages
Costume Contest
Guest Speaker Roger Sharpe

http://www.arcaderx.com/

Fri 2p-Midnight, Sat 10a-Midnight, Sun 10a-4p
Triple Crown Pavilion @ the Ramada Plaza 1776 Plantside Drive Louisville, KY

20-year anniversary code update for Data East Star Wars

Paul — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 14:18:29 +0000

Owners of the fantastic Data East Star Wars pinball machine were greeted with a great Christmas present this year: a game code update! With dozens of new rules, features, and bug fixes, this update will bring joy to households and arcades across the country this year.

Check out details of the update and how to obtain it here from Chad Hendrickson’s site:

http://www.pinballcode.com/

Southern Pinball Festival begins Nov 16 in Orlando

Paul — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:51:49 +0000

We are excited to see another show get a huge upgrade by moving into the posh Crowne Plaza Hotel in Orlando! The Southern Pinball Festival is taking place Nov 16-18, 2012 featuring over 100 pinball machines, an IFPA-sanctioned tournament, concessions, games for sale, vendors, and more.

This show is the must-see premier show in the south east!

Times (tentative)

Friday 12 pm – 12 midnight
Saturday 10 am – 12 midnight
Sunday 10 am – 5 pm

Location

Crowne Plaza Orlando Universal
7800 Universal Boulevard
Orlando, FL, 32819
407-781-2107
www.cporlando.com

More information on SPF’s website:

http://www.southernpinballfestival.com/

PIN A GO GO begins 5/17/13

marc — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:20:18 +0000

Pin-a-Go-Go, Dixon CA- May 17-19, ton-o-pins, vendors, Fun Tourney, all proceeds go to local youth organizations.

www.pinagogo.org

Two eyes on a steel ball: how well-funded enthusiasts created a way to help keep pinball alive

Paul — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 22:48:57 +0000

Ben Kuchera hits the nail on the head: ”Pinball is a sport in the same way that poker is a sport: It’s only based on luck if you’re terrible at it.”

Making Pinball into a spectator sport is going to be one of the key ingredients that propels the pinball revival well into the next decade. If you organize or are otherwise involved with tournaments and/or leagues, strongly consider investing in a pinball vision system!

More details:

PAPA Pinball tournaments

#44 vs #47 Miniature Pinball Lamps

Paul — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:50:07 +0000

Historically, the most common miniature incandescent lamp/light bulbs used in pinball machines are the venerable #44 and #47 bayonet-style miniature lamps. While many collectors are putting LEDs in their machines, purists still prefer miniature lamps for the classic look, color temperature, and color-rendering of miniature lamps.

The #44 lamp is often the preferred lamp from the manufacturer – the main benefit being that it’s brighter than its #47 cousin. Never forget that a pinball machine’s first and foremost purpose is a commerical piece of equipment designed to attract casual users, so many design decisions are made pursuant to this goal. When a pinball machine enters home service, however, the goals change and the other lamps make more sense.

When a lamp is used in a situation where it is continually on in an closed area like a pop bumper cap, or very close to a playfield plastic, Marco recommends using the cooler #47 lamps. They emit 40% less heat than their #44 cousins and as such are less likely to leave discolorations on your plastics over time. For lamps that are not continually on such as feature lamps (under playfield inserts), the #44s are usually a better choice as they are brighter.

Here are the specs on the miniature lamps/bulbs available from Marco.

Feature	#44 lamp	#47 lamp
Volts	6.3	6.3
Amps	.25	.15
Watts	1.575	0.945
Rated Life	3,000 hours	3,000 hours
Base	Miniature Bayonet	Miniature Bayonet
Bulb	T-3 1/4	T-3 1/4
MSCP*	0.9	0.5
Lumens	11.3	6.3

*MSCP = Mean Spherical Candle Power. Lumens = MSCP * 4 * pi.

“General Illumination” in a pinball machine are the series of lamps that are “always on”. In older games, these come on immediately when you flip the power switch. In games post 1990 or so, these can be digitally controlled. Switching some or all of the general illumination lamps to #47 bulbs will reduce the power used by the game. If you have a large gameroom with multiple games, you can save a lot of power!

Steve Kordek, Pinball Designer Legend, Dead at 100.

Paul — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 19:34:24 +0000

Steve Kordek designed 100 pinball machines during his illustrious career. He passed away this morning at a phenomenal 100 years old. We’ll miss Steve and his enormous contribution to pinball.

You can show your support on Steve Kordek’s Facebook Page.
You can see a list of Steve’s games over at the Internet Pinball Database.
National Public Radio’s tribute to Steve Kordek
Chicago Tribune obituary
Washington Post obituary

Toronto’s war on fun rears its head at the Pinball Cafe

Paul — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:43:04 +0000

Pinball’s somewhat sketchy past is still haunting some present-day operators.

Despite a Toronto Life report that Toronto’s first Pinball Cafe had its business license revoked, owner Jason Hazzard confirms that no such recall ever took place. Not everything, however, is peachy keen at the cafe. While the retro hub remains up and running, Toronto’s war against fun, it would seem, has reared its head.

http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2012/02/torontos_war_on_fun_rears_its_head_at_the_pinball_cafe/

Pinball didn’t die, it relocated to O.C.

Paul — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:48:26 +0000

Nice local piece on Orange County folks Paul Anderson, Ron Burkard, and the Orange County Pinball League.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/pinball-340541-says-belsito.html

Saved Shopping Carts are Back!

Marco — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:20:40 +0000

When we brought up our new system, it was quickly brought to our attention that our new system did not save shopping carts for very long. This was fixed in Monday night’s update. When you are logged in, your cart is now automatically saved to your profile indefinitely until you clear it or place an order. We know many of you like to build up carts over time, so the return of this feature should help you on your projects. We have great ideas on enhancing the saved cart functionality in the future, so stay tuned!