C.O.C.A. Times
Issue: 2010-March - Vol 13 Num 1 - Page 37
AN ATOM V OF A CLOWN
by John Peterson
I love murder mysteries. If the author is a success-
ful writer, he has a franchise character, usually a cop
or a private detective who goes from one story to the
next solving crimes. The better the author, the more
complex the plot and the criminals. Regardless who the
author happens to be, if he has written multiple crime
novels, one of his stories will inevitably pit his hero
against the Mother of All Criminals, the serial killer.
I love serial killers. Serial killers are fascinating.
Smarter than the average person and far smarter than
the average criminal, the serial killer has consistent
personality traits. These traits have been studied and
detailed at length by the top law enforcement minds,
namely the FBI and their agents at the Behavioral Sci-
ences Laboratory. What they have distilled down after
studying all the serial killers they could get their hands
on is that these criminals are responding to ever increas-
ing stimuli, both mental and physical, dominating the
present but rooted in their past. As these forces become
more controlling in their lives, they are forced to act out
with ever increasing frequency. An intuitive cop with
a calendar can even accurately predict when the serial
killer will strike again. I'm not making this stuff up,
folks it's all there on your library shelves.
Art imitates life and I'm sure a lot of what shows up
in my books is soundly based in fact. Being a student
of human behavior myself, I am proposing today that
we stop wasting taxpayer money at that Behavioral Sci-
ences Lab and instead focus our attention for free on
the close cousin of the serial killer, the devoted coin-
op collector. I know some of you out there are nod-
ding your heads in affirmation and saying silently to
yourselves, "I could have killed for that Cai lie cast iron
piece at auction last week." As much as I acknowledge
and admire your zeal, this is not the part of serial kill-
ing I had in mind . I'm talking about the unrelenting,
unconscious and totally uncontrollable urges that force
us to pursue this hobby we love.
I have been collecting coin-op for quite a few years
now. How many exactly? Dearly Beloved would put
the number at "way too many" but I would estimate
that I've been accumulating games for around 16 years.
I would like to think that over that time, not only has
my knowledge increased but so has my self-control.
No longer am I a prisoner to the whims of the Coin-
Op Gods, forced to salivate spontaneously at each and
every item I discover on Ebay or in the latest auction
circular. I now have complete rein over my impulses.
I am in control!
Yeah, right. Like the serial killer, I find the need to
feed the monster only increases with time. lfl've gone
several months without a purchase, a mental itch begins
to form inside my brain. Unaware of exactly what is
going on, I find that I'm growing irritable. The coffee
in the morning doesn't taste quite as hot, the toast quite
as delicious. My attention span dimini shes and I'm curt
with friends and family. Why is this happening? What
has happened to my quality of life? I'm just not as hap-
py as I once was and I don't know why or how to fix it.
Then, as if by magic, that coin-operated beauty comes
into view. She shimmers and shines and dances in my
brain. She whispers in my ear. She is the siren call and
I am the sailor drowning at sea. If only I can own her, I
will be complete again. I try to look away but I cannot,
my gaze fixed upon her with longing and desire. I must
have her! I'm sure you get the idea. After you purchase
this "must have" gift to yourself, the urges subside and
you are sane again, but only for a while. Just like the
serial killer in the crime novel , the cycle of tension and
release repeats itself
over and over. Sound
familiar? Of course it
does. My latest acqui-
sition is a good case in
point.
Photo A
37
Photo A is known
generically m the
trade as a "Bajazzo"
or clown catcher. The
play of the game is
somewhat similar to
our
kicker-catcher.
After depositing a
coin, the player lifts a
steel ball to the top of
by John Peterson
I love murder mysteries. If the author is a success-
ful writer, he has a franchise character, usually a cop
or a private detective who goes from one story to the
next solving crimes. The better the author, the more
complex the plot and the criminals. Regardless who the
author happens to be, if he has written multiple crime
novels, one of his stories will inevitably pit his hero
against the Mother of All Criminals, the serial killer.
I love serial killers. Serial killers are fascinating.
Smarter than the average person and far smarter than
the average criminal, the serial killer has consistent
personality traits. These traits have been studied and
detailed at length by the top law enforcement minds,
namely the FBI and their agents at the Behavioral Sci-
ences Laboratory. What they have distilled down after
studying all the serial killers they could get their hands
on is that these criminals are responding to ever increas-
ing stimuli, both mental and physical, dominating the
present but rooted in their past. As these forces become
more controlling in their lives, they are forced to act out
with ever increasing frequency. An intuitive cop with
a calendar can even accurately predict when the serial
killer will strike again. I'm not making this stuff up,
folks it's all there on your library shelves.
Art imitates life and I'm sure a lot of what shows up
in my books is soundly based in fact. Being a student
of human behavior myself, I am proposing today that
we stop wasting taxpayer money at that Behavioral Sci-
ences Lab and instead focus our attention for free on
the close cousin of the serial killer, the devoted coin-
op collector. I know some of you out there are nod-
ding your heads in affirmation and saying silently to
yourselves, "I could have killed for that Cai lie cast iron
piece at auction last week." As much as I acknowledge
and admire your zeal, this is not the part of serial kill-
ing I had in mind . I'm talking about the unrelenting,
unconscious and totally uncontrollable urges that force
us to pursue this hobby we love.
I have been collecting coin-op for quite a few years
now. How many exactly? Dearly Beloved would put
the number at "way too many" but I would estimate
that I've been accumulating games for around 16 years.
I would like to think that over that time, not only has
my knowledge increased but so has my self-control.
No longer am I a prisoner to the whims of the Coin-
Op Gods, forced to salivate spontaneously at each and
every item I discover on Ebay or in the latest auction
circular. I now have complete rein over my impulses.
I am in control!
Yeah, right. Like the serial killer, I find the need to
feed the monster only increases with time. lfl've gone
several months without a purchase, a mental itch begins
to form inside my brain. Unaware of exactly what is
going on, I find that I'm growing irritable. The coffee
in the morning doesn't taste quite as hot, the toast quite
as delicious. My attention span dimini shes and I'm curt
with friends and family. Why is this happening? What
has happened to my quality of life? I'm just not as hap-
py as I once was and I don't know why or how to fix it.
Then, as if by magic, that coin-operated beauty comes
into view. She shimmers and shines and dances in my
brain. She whispers in my ear. She is the siren call and
I am the sailor drowning at sea. If only I can own her, I
will be complete again. I try to look away but I cannot,
my gaze fixed upon her with longing and desire. I must
have her! I'm sure you get the idea. After you purchase
this "must have" gift to yourself, the urges subside and
you are sane again, but only for a while. Just like the
serial killer in the crime novel , the cycle of tension and
release repeats itself
over and over. Sound
familiar? Of course it
does. My latest acqui-
sition is a good case in
point.
Photo A
37
Photo A is known
generically m the
trade as a "Bajazzo"
or clown catcher. The
play of the game is
somewhat similar to
our
kicker-catcher.
After depositing a
coin, the player lifts a
steel ball to the top of
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).