Play Meter

Issue: 1976 December - Vol 2 Num 15

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PlAt' lti£T£R
December, 1976
Vol 2 No. 15
Columbia Pictures Buys Gottlieb
Alan J . Hirschfield, president of
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.,
has announced that it has entered
into an agreement to acquire all of
the outstanding stock of privately-
held D. Gottlieb & Co. Gottlieb
pioneered the development of the
non-gambling coin-operated pinball
machine fifty years ago and today is
the world's largest manufacturer of
such amusement machines, accord-
ing to Hirschfield.
Hirschfield noted that this acqui-
sition presents an opportunity to
explore entry into the rapidly-ex-
panding home entertainment mar-
ket in addition to Columbia's mov-
ing into a growing worldwide a-
musement market that comple -
ments its film, television, record and
commercial activities.
Hirschfield also stated, "This
acquisition comes as a logical
consequence of the overall plan
carried out at Columbia over the last
three years. After accomplishing an
initial turnaround , we succeeded in
substantially reducing our bank
debt, in divesting the company of
certain operations and in achieving
significant improvements in our
management efficiency and in the
level of our operating profits . We
felt that process was completed
early this fall and we began a
thorough search for the kind of
acquisition we are now announcing.
Gottlieb is a major company in a
growing industry that we feel will
add to our earnings base and wm
introduce stability into our overall
results ." Hirschfield went on to say
that " with more than 1600 employ-
ees, two manufacturing plants in
Illinois and one in Fargo, N.D.,
Gottlieb meets Columbia's estab-
lished acquisition criteria of a strong
financial position, an outstanding
record of growth and experienced
management."
Terms of the acquisition call for
Columbia to purchase Gottlieb's
common stock for $47 million of
which $6 million will be paid on
closing , $24 million on January 3,
1977 and the balance in installments
during the calendar years 1977
through 1982, subject to deferral in
certain events. In addition, the
common stockholders of Gottlieb
will receive options to purchase an
aggregate of 400,000 shares of
Columbia common stock at $10 per
share, subject to reduction of the
option price based on a formula
should the market price of Columbia
common stock exceed $10. As Play
Meter went to press, Columbia
stock' s Big Board exchange value
was $7.25 per share .
Columbia has also agreed to
purchase all outstandin!l Gottlieb
preferred stock for $3.3 million on a
deferred payment basis effective no
earlier than 1980.
The transaction , which has been
approved by Columbia's Board of
Directors, is subject to, among
other conditions, consent of Colum-
bia 's lending institutions from whom
the firm will re-borrow approximate-
ly $22 million with regard to this
transaction . This represents ap -
proximately the amount received by
Columbia from the sale of its music
publishing business. After closing.
D. Gottlieb & Co. will operate as a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Colum-
bia under its present management
who will serve with long -term
employment contracts.
Hirschfield estimated that for the
twelve months ending December
31 , 1976, D. Gottlieb & Co . will
report consolidated net income
before taxes of more than $11.5
million and that at closing the
consolidated net worth of Gottlieb
should approximate $24 million and
$17 million, respectively.
OtiCoin Sold at Auction
The assets of Chicago Dynamics
Industries was offered for sale at
public Auction Dec . 13. COl is
parent company to Chicag·o Coin .
The property offered for sale, in
bulk only, included all the goods of
the company located at both Chica -
go addresses . This included all
furnishings , fixtures , machinery,
tools and equipment. A lso for sale
was the entire inventory of the
company, including all coin-opera-
ted machines, amusement devices
and games, all raw materials, parts,
supplies, goods-in -process and fin -
ished goods. "General intangibles"
(not including registered patents
and trademarks) in which Chicago
Dynamics had an interest were also
included in the sale .
The sale was offered by Central
National Bank in Chicago and Main
lconunued overpagel
(continued from previous page)
ill J::'l, 'C ~ '1?'-.:
PUI'-IER

MEMBER
Volume 2/ No. 15
December, 1976
staff
Publisher and Editor:
Ralph C. Lally II
Managing Editor:
Richard S. Dietrich
International Editor:
David Snook
Editor, Coin Slot
Technical Editor:
Robin Minnear
Head Instructor, Kush N' Stuff
Correspondents:
Roger C. Sharpe
Thomas Borden
Timmothy Jarrell
Dick Welu
Mary Claire Blakeman
Michael B. Klein
Circulation Manager:
Carolyn 0 . Desmond
Production:
Earl Dupre
Hellen Seal
Carol Lally
Typography:
Skybird Typography
Advertising Representative:
Ralph C. Lally II
Published monthly by Skybird Publishing
Company. Publishing offices 4136 Wash-
Ington Avenue, P.O. Box 24170, New
Orleans , La . 70184 . Telephone (504)
827 -0320 . Printing Offices, Franklin Print-
ing Co ., 209 Magazine St., New Orleans,
La . Controlled circulation at New Orleans,
La . Subscription rates: U.S. and Canada--
$20; Europe and Japan -- $35; Elsewhere--
$40 . Multiple subscriptions (ordered at one
time) : 2-9, $17 each; 10-24, $15 each; 25 or
more, $10 each . Advertising rates on
request. Copyright 1976 by Skybird Pub -
lishing Company. No part of this magazine
may be reproduced without express
permission. The trademarks, PLAY
=z: METER and COIN INDUSTRY PLAY
~ METER , are registered . The editors are not
for unsolicited contributions .
~ responsible
Postmaster : Send form 3579 to Play
~ Meter, P.O. Box 24170, New Orleans, La .
~ 70184 .
2
Bank of Chicago as secured parties.
Prior to the sale, Chicago Dyna-
mics President Jerry Marcis told
Play Meter that he expected bids to
be made and the company to be
back in business on a full-time basis
shortly. Currently Chi Coin em-
ployees are on a temporary lay-off
and production is shut down.
Current models are bing shipped,
however, according to Marcis.
The bank made the only bid on
the assets, however, and their bid of
1.8 million was accepted. In a later
conversation with Play Meter, fol-
lowing the sale, Marcis indicated
that that figure was a rather
misleading one in that certain
property of the company, including
its real estate, had been excluded
from the sale.
As Update went to press, the
bank was negotiating with a pro-
spective buyer, which Marcis could
identify only as "a well-known name
in the industry." A sale announce-
ment is expected shortly.
Chicago
Considers
Pinball Law
Chicago's City Council met early
this month for a second hearing
regarding a proposed ammendment
to the decades old ordinance licens-
ing coin-operated equipment in the
city of Chicago. The ammendment,
proposed by Mayor Richard J.
Daley, would change the ordinance
to allow the operation of flipper
games in Chtcago.
The council heard testimony from
Joe Robbins of Empire Distributing
of Chicago. Later Robbins told Play
Meter that his testimony in favor of
the ammendment met with a good
reception from the council although
he did hear many of the usual
negative comments about the coin
industry and he felt that the council
was laboring under some misunder-
standing with regard to the income
earned by the average pinball game .
The ammendment was referred to
the council's finance committee for
further study. While this may delay
matters slightly, Robbins declared
that he thought the ammendment
had a "better than fighting chance"
to pass.
TELHI';'HLflL
l[]P~LE
by fred McCord
I have received requests for credit
and start circuit rundown, so, here
goes .
Figure 1 is a typicat credit and
start circuit.
Figure 2 is a typical electronic
latch circuit.
This circuit is commonly called
the static circuit because of the role
it plays in turning off the game if a
static charge is introduced into the
game.
First, let's go through the logic in
Figure 1.
1 A coin is dropped in coin slot
and coin switch makes and breaks.
7404 prevents normal switch
switch bounce from getting into the
logic as erroneous pulses .
2 . Logic "~" on 86 pin 3 is
inverted and puts a logic "1" on
A7(7474) pins 1 and 13. (Pins 1 and
13 are the direct reset pins of DC flip
flop. A logic "fl" (bubble) prevents
the inputs from affecting a change
at the outputs, and forces Q(pin 5)
to a ",£5" and
(pin 6) to a logic
, 1 , . )
3.
A7(7474) comprises an
anti-cheat circuit which prevents a
credit due to incidental or player-
induced vibrations . Pins 1 and 13
must be high ( 1) for a period of time
equal to or greater than 128 vertical
pulses or about 4 milliseconds.
4. If the coin switch is made for
the required length of time then
both "Q" outputs (pins 5 and 9) will
go high .
5. Pins 1 and 2 of 7408 both going
high at the same time cause a high
output on pin 3.
6 . This high goes to 7404 pin 11
and IS inverted . The resultant low
clears (resets) flip flop 87 .
7. Wh en a 7474 is reset its 0
output goes high and the result is a
logic low at 7402 pin 12 which
ii ll ows c urrent to flow through the
crucllt LED thu s illum1n.1 ting it .
8. M eanwhile th e same logic high
th at en noes to pin 11 of the 7402 (C6) .
Note the configuration of the 7402 is
such that output is low (bubble)
when either input is high (no
bubble) . Since a high on C6 pin 11
n

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