Play Meter

Issue: 1978 June 15 - Vol 4 Num 11

t hey have to compete under these
circum tance .
John P . Burns
Burns Music Co.
Warsaw, Indiana
Lack of cost
Why are manufacturers con -
tinuol! Iy charging more for solid
LaLe game when they co t half
as much to make? They are
putting people in t he po ition
that on ly t he location b nefits.
The lack of cost is true. I have
friend who work in the account-
ing depart ment for one of the
major.
Bruce Haber
Wizard Amusement
Lawr ence, New York
Fair report
I believp. you r article on the
A.M.O.A .- otre Dame eminar
(PM, Apr., p. 24) wa fair and
acc urate; and, of cour e, we
appreciate your help in preading
t he word. John Malone (a profes-
or of m a rkl~ ting at Notre Dame)
ha inv Led a lot of time in
analyzing t he financial pec uliari-
tie of t hi indu t ry, and I believe
he ha had a s ubstantial impact
on manageme nt practice .
C. Joseph Sequin
Seminar Coordinator
Depart ment of Management
Notre Dame, Indiana
[Ed - With this issue PLA Y
METER is beginning a three-part
series on cash planning in the
industry. This series is based on
Dr. Malone's presentation at the
A .M.O.A.-Notre Dame Semi-
nar. ]
believed is clearly the most
comprehensive, informative, and
interesting text of any pinball
book and to finally make a book
which is, literally, a court case
that pinball i , in fact, a game of
skill. The many encouraging
letter I have received from
person s who have read "All
About Pinball " has made the
work on my second pinball book
go that much easier.
Please note, however, the
price of the book as stated in the
review is incorrect. In addition,
the new postal rates are now in
effect; 0 a of June 1, the price of
t he book is $15.95 (fourth -class,
po tage handling included ) or
$17.95 (first-class, postage han -
dling included) . C.O.D. orders
may be placed for a small
additional charge by calling
1-312-SPECIAL.
Again, many thanks!
Steve Kirk ,
President
Pinball Association
of America , Inc.
30 W. Washington
Suite 1432
Chicago, IL 60602
END
OF THE TOOL BOX.
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Author
I wish to express my sincere
thank to Ralph Lally and David
Pier on for selecting me as
"Coin man of the Month" for the
February 1978 issue of PLAY
METER. Also, on behalf of
Bobbye Claire Natkin and myself,
I wish to thank both of you for t he
posit ive revie w of our new book,
"All About Pinball." We spent
21/2 years writi ng what we
PLAY METER, June , 1978
7
PERRY LONDON
Coinman of the Month
This month's Coinman, Perry London, is a
distributor-operator extraordinnaire. He got his
start in the coin-operated amusement business back
in 1950 by working for his father in the shipping
room of the Milwaukee firm, S.L. London Music
Co., Inc. Today's he's president of the company and
represents See burg, WiUiams, Exidy, Lektro
Vend, Meadow s, vaUey, and Dynamo.
A graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a
degree in economics, he was, we think, the right
man to talk about business management, productiv-
ity, and the thousands of other hobgoblins that keep
operators awake at night.
As we said, he's also a large operator with over a
thousand pieces-mostly music and games. Ciga-
rette machines, he says, are playing less and less a
role in his business because of the growing spread
between the vending price of cigarettes and their
price at the retail discount stores.
A good businessman, he has weathered some of
the dreaded fears of the industry-location seUing,
8
inflation, and even employee unions - with his
business stiU strong and viable. He has maintained
his viability because of a resourceful approach to
solving problems, and many of his solutions deserve
close reading. Here are some examples: as for the
new copyright fee for ASCAP, et. aL, he has
instituted a service charge so that the fee comes out
of the location 's take; as for increasing the
productivity of his employees, he has established
timetable averages for all of his routemen; and as
for sorting out his collections, he has turned to a
data processing service to help him there.
Perry is a man of many interests. Fishing, scuba
diving, golf, and photography (he has his own
darkroom) are among his favorite pastimes. He also
holds honorary positions at athletic clubs and
country clubs and belongs to his industry
associations.
He's a progressive operator with good business
sense and has, we think, some interesting
approaches which other operators may find useful.
PLAY METER , June, 1978

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