Play Meter
Issue: 1977 June - Vol 3 Num 11 - Page 10
I
Eliminates players attempting to get FREE plays by kicking and
bounci ng game; also protects video games on which free plays
can be generated by ra pidly removing and Inserting the AC cord.
Provision is also made to sound alarm when machine door Is
disturbed or forcible entry Is attempted (providing power to ma-
chine has not been cut). When unit Is tripped by kicking , bounc-
ing , etc., kit will disconnect all power (110V) from game and
produce a loud, pulsati ng signal for 20 seconds to qu ickly dis-
courage further attempts to damage or enter forcibly. At the end
of 20 seconds the alarm will reset and restore power to the game.
Instructions provided fo r si mple installation in about 15 minutes.
No. 72-4470 . .. .... ..... . .. . .. ... . Per Kit $42.95. $37.95 L/ 6
Only $32.95 per kit
in lots of 121
If you are tired of unnecessary damage to
your machines, down· time and cosily sarvlce
calls, this new antl·abuse alarm kit Is for you I
HOME OFFICE
6-400 West Gross Point Road
Nil es. illi nois 60648
Phone : (31 2) 647· 7500
SALES & BRANCH OFFICES
5584 East I mperial Hwy.
South Gate, Cali fornia 90280
Phona : (21 3) 923-038 1
10
16 Gloria Lana
Fa i rfiel d. N.J. 07006
Ph one : (201 ) 575-051 5
Suite 410. 4560 Lasto n
Dallas. Te xas 75247
Phona : (2 14) 634· 7790
able to go to three for a dollar in the near future.
And that's going to increase his income- it's got
to.
In order for the operator to pay the rising prices
for equipment, he must make more money. He must
somehow get away from the loans in the urban
areas and in all areas he must som.ehow get away
from the 50-50 operation.
PLAY METER: How would you do that, move
away from 50-50, if you were an operator?
ROBBINS: I'm studying it. In one of our
newsletters, I asked for responses and I've gotten
many ; now I'm correlating all the information,
examining it, studying it. And I hope to come back
with some type of practical solution to attacking the
50-50 problem. I don't know what that might be at
this point. But I do know that the 50-50 operation
has got the operator strangled.
PLAY METER: Are there any ways an operator
can predict what kind of year he's going to have, or
does he pretty much have to fly by the seat of his
pants?
ROBBINS: Sometimes he can, especially if there is
something economically predictable in his area, an
industry perhaps. A lot of operators are in areas
where there might be one or two industries that are
really significant. He can get an economic picture of
those industries, and if those industries are healthy
and growing, his year is probably going to be a good
one. On the other hand, if he's in an area where that
industry might have a bad couple of months, or if
it's on a downward trend, he could have a bad year.
Also, you can look sometimes at where the industry
is going equipment·wise. If something dramatic has
just come out, it may zoom income for some
operators like when the video games came out. You
could see almost right away that the next year was
going to be super unbelievable, and it was. Right
now, if you asked me to forecast on the next six
months, I would expect them to be in the normal
range. I see nothing that's going to be super
sensational, but I see no reason economically why
there should be much of a downtrend either.
PLA Y METER: What about the Chicago market in
particular? What actually started the ball rolling to
get pins legalized in Chicago?
ROBBINS: You're going back now to 1958. There
has been a constant effort since then on the part of
one or more distributors to get pins legalized. It's
always been the distributors who kept the ball
alive, but in the final enactment, it was the power of
the manufacturers- that they are located in the
community and employ local people- and the
sudden kind of zooming popularity of pinball that
served. Pinball was suddenly palatable to the
public. The publicity that was allover the country,
that started with Wizard and the picture Tommy,
fed back to Chicago. And even the members of the
council realized, "Well, if everyone likes pinball,
what's the matter with it? Here's the center of the
industry and we ban the flipper." So all these things
helped. The atmosphere changed and pinball was
legalized.
PLAY METER: What do you think about all these
new investors coming into the business, Warner,
Columbia, etc.? Is that a good sign?
Eliminates players attempting to get FREE plays by kicking and
bounci ng game; also protects video games on which free plays
can be generated by ra pidly removing and Inserting the AC cord.
Provision is also made to sound alarm when machine door Is
disturbed or forcible entry Is attempted (providing power to ma-
chine has not been cut). When unit Is tripped by kicking , bounc-
ing , etc., kit will disconnect all power (110V) from game and
produce a loud, pulsati ng signal for 20 seconds to qu ickly dis-
courage further attempts to damage or enter forcibly. At the end
of 20 seconds the alarm will reset and restore power to the game.
Instructions provided fo r si mple installation in about 15 minutes.
No. 72-4470 . .. .... ..... . .. . .. ... . Per Kit $42.95. $37.95 L/ 6
Only $32.95 per kit
in lots of 121
If you are tired of unnecessary damage to
your machines, down· time and cosily sarvlce
calls, this new antl·abuse alarm kit Is for you I
HOME OFFICE
6-400 West Gross Point Road
Nil es. illi nois 60648
Phone : (31 2) 647· 7500
SALES & BRANCH OFFICES
5584 East I mperial Hwy.
South Gate, Cali fornia 90280
Phona : (21 3) 923-038 1
10
16 Gloria Lana
Fa i rfiel d. N.J. 07006
Ph one : (201 ) 575-051 5
Suite 410. 4560 Lasto n
Dallas. Te xas 75247
Phona : (2 14) 634· 7790
able to go to three for a dollar in the near future.
And that's going to increase his income- it's got
to.
In order for the operator to pay the rising prices
for equipment, he must make more money. He must
somehow get away from the loans in the urban
areas and in all areas he must som.ehow get away
from the 50-50 operation.
PLAY METER: How would you do that, move
away from 50-50, if you were an operator?
ROBBINS: I'm studying it. In one of our
newsletters, I asked for responses and I've gotten
many ; now I'm correlating all the information,
examining it, studying it. And I hope to come back
with some type of practical solution to attacking the
50-50 problem. I don't know what that might be at
this point. But I do know that the 50-50 operation
has got the operator strangled.
PLAY METER: Are there any ways an operator
can predict what kind of year he's going to have, or
does he pretty much have to fly by the seat of his
pants?
ROBBINS: Sometimes he can, especially if there is
something economically predictable in his area, an
industry perhaps. A lot of operators are in areas
where there might be one or two industries that are
really significant. He can get an economic picture of
those industries, and if those industries are healthy
and growing, his year is probably going to be a good
one. On the other hand, if he's in an area where that
industry might have a bad couple of months, or if
it's on a downward trend, he could have a bad year.
Also, you can look sometimes at where the industry
is going equipment·wise. If something dramatic has
just come out, it may zoom income for some
operators like when the video games came out. You
could see almost right away that the next year was
going to be super unbelievable, and it was. Right
now, if you asked me to forecast on the next six
months, I would expect them to be in the normal
range. I see nothing that's going to be super
sensational, but I see no reason economically why
there should be much of a downtrend either.
PLA Y METER: What about the Chicago market in
particular? What actually started the ball rolling to
get pins legalized in Chicago?
ROBBINS: You're going back now to 1958. There
has been a constant effort since then on the part of
one or more distributors to get pins legalized. It's
always been the distributors who kept the ball
alive, but in the final enactment, it was the power of
the manufacturers- that they are located in the
community and employ local people- and the
sudden kind of zooming popularity of pinball that
served. Pinball was suddenly palatable to the
public. The publicity that was allover the country,
that started with Wizard and the picture Tommy,
fed back to Chicago. And even the members of the
council realized, "Well, if everyone likes pinball,
what's the matter with it? Here's the center of the
industry and we ban the flipper." So all these things
helped. The atmosphere changed and pinball was
legalized.
PLAY METER: What do you think about all these
new investors coming into the business, Warner,
Columbia, etc.? Is that a good sign?
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).