nEWS
Sam Gensburg dies
as distributors but in 1934 started
manufa cturin g games. Gensburg
retired in 1977, a few yea rs after the
death of Walberg . The company
wa s eve ntuall y bought by Sam Stern
and renamed Stern Electronics .
Sam Gensburg , 92, an indu stry
pioneer , di e d at Northwe stern
Memorial Ho spit al in Chi cago
Dece mb er 4, 1984.
Gensburg ca me to th e United
States from Pol and at the age of
three . On hi s own at 16, he moved to
Chicago where he rem ain ed the re st
of his life.
The Ge n sb urg brothers, Lou ,
Dave, Meyer, and Sam were all
industry ve tera ns with claims to
fame in the co in-operated amuse-
ment industry. In 1930 Lou , Dave
and Meyer found ed Genco Manu-
facturing Corp. Sam , with h i s
broth er-in - law, Sam Walberg foun-
ded Chicago Dynamics (a lso known
J S Chi r ago Coin). Th ey started Ou t
" I thought I co uld make games
better than my brothers," he once
said in an interview with Roger
Sharpe for his book Pinball!. Some
of his early games were Beam-Lite,
Sensa tion, Knickerbocker, and Tit
for Tat. After World War II , Gensburg
introduced Kilroy and Goalie.
Gensburg is survived by a son
Avron , a daughter Joyce Hearst, six
grandchildren, a great grandchild,
and two brothers, David and Louis.•
Sam C n burg
Impending AGMA collapse denied
Despite an internal letter alerting
members of the Amusement Gam e
Manufacturers Association (AGMA )
that the associa tion is in danger of
running out of funds , AGMA Execu-
tive Director Gl en Bra sw ell denied
the association is in jeopardy of
collapsi ng.
Bra swe ll further stat ed that non-
payment of dues by manufa ctur r
members was not behind AGMA 's
recent att empt to include distrib u-
tors and suppliers in the association.
Further co ntradicting the con -
fidential lett er to AGMA members,
the associa tion executive insisted
th e association is not totally reliant
upon a success ful ASI show if it is to
survive .
Bra sw ell tried to downpla y the
internal lette r, say ing it was over-
zea lou sness on the part of AGMA
President joe Robbins, more than
financial uncertainty, that spurred
the letter.
In the August 31 letter, President
Robbin s wrot e m e mber s: " The
Board has agreed that the ASI show
has beco me almost a necess ity if
AGMA is to remain in existe nce . The
previous posi tion of so me of our
members and the failure of man y
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members to pay their dues has cast
dark shadow over poss ible future
activitie s. Without the show, and
assuming non-payment of dues
from unpaid members, we will run
out of funds in eight months. "
The letter concluded ominously:
" Th e loss of AGMA would be a
grievous blow to everyone."
Robbin s disclosed that two-thirds
of AGMA 's members were severely
delinquent in paying their dues.
Due s for AGMA members ranges
from $2,125 for small compa nie s to
$42 ,500 for the larger manufacturing
(continued on page 14)
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Available through your distributor .
Write or call tor color card .
13