As previously mentioned, a few weeks back I made the trek out to Asbury Park, New Jersey, to enjoy some pinball. Correction: lots of pinball. Well, time for the whole lowdown.
As also noted, along for the ride was my buddy Ron, who can be credited as the mastermind behind what is basically the quintessential cable access show, as well as a visual language that many speak today. I’m speaking of course of Concrete TV, which celebrates its 20 year this year btw!
Ron also shares the kind of schedule that lets one set aside 8 solid hours just for the sole purpose of playing pinball in the middle of a weekday. Sadly, half that time was for traveling alone; the trip to (and fro) is two hours via NJ Transit. Once we got off the train at Asbury Park, we next had to take a somewhat lengthy stroll, but it was all good. Cuz it allowed us to soak in one of the more quirkier parts of NJ.
For those not familiar; Asbury Park was once a seaside wonderland that was everyone’s get away destination, primarily during World War 2. But the 50s ushered in the steady decline; thanks to the post-War economic boom, many other attracts began popping up all across Jersey, like malls and amusement parks. None of which Asbury Park could compete with.
Then came the riots in 70s, in which many business were destroyed, and the rest that were spared simply jumped town, leaving Asbury Park a shell of its former self for many decades. Though in recent years, poor artists have slowly trickled in and have attempted to breath new life into the city. And there were smiling faces everywhere, albeit worn by corrosion and other side effects of time in some cases…
Passed by what appeared to be a music venue, highlighted by this large photo of a mystery woman (though she’s definitely a cutie)…
Also passed by a dock that was filled boats for couples, but the only love in the air was the shirtless dude waxing them down with the utmost of TLC…
Passed by large crates, somewhat in the middle of nowhere, which seemingly contained orchestral instruments. Or were they?
Finally we were on the boardwalk, in which one end used to be a casino…
But it’s this large, open space (that’s Ron in the middle)…
Glimpses into Asbury’s Park’s aforementioned art scene could be found all over the place…
Here we are, looking out towards the boardwalk…
On the opposite end is a convention center, which unlike the casino, is still in use to this very day…
And somewhere in the middle is the Silverball Museum, hallowed grounds for any diehard pinball enthusiast…
Even from afar, outside, Ron couldn’t believe all the classic games from his childhood, ready to to re-experienced…
And because we were there on a weekday, and early in the afternoon, we basically had the entire place to ourselves…
… Like seriously, the place was practically deserted. Which meant we were free to jump from game to game as we pleased! And there was plenty to chew on; Silverball’s collection is simply insane…
The majority of the pinball machines on hand fall under two major categories. First are the ones that followed the advent of flippers in the late 40s; they also rely upon electromechanical relays and scoring reels. Produced during the 50s & 60s, these types are classified as Electro-Mechanical Games.
The second batch is the ones that immediately followed EMs; these machines utilize circuit boards and digital displays. Classified as Solid-State Games, they appeared on the scene in the mid 70s and basically the style that most people are familiar with today.
Ron grew up playing Electro-Mechanical Games, and was especially excited to play his favorite one as a kid, Cow Poke…
… Alas, Ron told me that it didn’t quite live up to the memories. I personally find EMs a bit too slow paced for me, hence why I stuck to the more contemporary offerings. But at least they sound cool, and many also feature vastly superior backglass when compared to their modern day counterparts…
Silverball also has a modest assortment of classic electronic games as well…
Along with one of the very first one to boot…
I really dug this Doctor Who machine, primarily the low-fi attempt at keeping it up to date…
Though the playfield is also chock full of awesome little details…
Also dug the games that reinterpret and boil down real real life locales into the form of pinball…
Yup, playing Cyclone is just like visiting Coney Island proper…
Speaking of Coney Island, Silverball even has an assortment of skee ball games! The classic varieties, which I don’t think you can find in Brooklyn anymore…
One can also find a number of shuffle alley games, which is basically playing a shrunk down version of bowling, with an air hockey-like puck instead of rolling a ball…
Whereas this one shrinks bowling down even further; at least you get to roll a ball, though you’re actually trying to manipulate a little wooden dude who actually does all the work (and it ain’t easy)…
Again, the game of bowling being shrunk down even further…
Though it was funny seeing all kinds of games reworked in pinball form, especially card games…
Also, tic-tac-toe…
Am still trying to figure out the “plots” to these games…
This girl’s handy with the gun! Much to the shock and maybe disbelief to the dude behind her…
My favorite “wtf” find would have to be this head-to-head contraption. Each player takes turns as either offense or defense, which is made possible by the board changing its angle between “rounds”, much like a seesaw. Brilliant idea on paper, but not so much in execution…
According to Silverball, the Playboy game was a huge financial success for its time, which is hardly surprising…
And according to Noah: ”I played this recently; it has actual pornography in it.” Which I can confirm…
In addition to pinball games that featured sexy gals, I also loved any that tapped into outer space…
The one for Close Encounters of The Third Kind I found particularly mesmerizing…
As for my absolute favorite game that day? Believe it or not, the one based upon The Sopranos. Didn’t bother to take a picture of it, since it looks exactly as you’d expect. But I loved how each game sought to retell an episode (on a side note, I found it interesting how some pinball games have stronger narratives that their purely digital cousins). Each tale is kicked off with that sound of a TV turning on that used to precede all original HBO programming, which legit blew my mind when I first heard it!
Played so many games that day, including numerous rounds of Revenge From Mars, one of the two Pinball 2000 games produced, and which I had never encountered in the wild before, plus all my favorites that I usually play at the Sunshine Laundromat, but at great length this time, since everything at Silverball is set to free play. Basically, you pay a very low entrance fee and can basically play as long as you’d like! Which for me was just a little under three hours.
By then, the sound of every pinball machine going off endlessly began to give me a splitting headache. So it was eventually time to head back home. Though not before saying goodbye to Tillie, the official mascot of Asbury Park (and who is not to be confused with Funny Face, his cousin who lives in Coney Island)…
Also, not before Concrete Ron let everyone know that he had been there…
