Play Meter

NEWS BULLETIN
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The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has denied Red
Barons' motion for a rehearing in the case against Taito,
upholding its decision to overturn a district court ruling
in favor of Bill Beckham's company. It appears, therefore,
that Red Baron's legal options have been exhausted,
unless Beckham opts to petition the Supreme Court for
a review of the case. Even then, the odds are not good
that the Court would agree to hear the case, as only a
fraction of cases are selected from a vast pool of petitions.
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Oct. 1 is the kickoff date for the "Coors Light World
Series of Bar Games," a $2 million nationwide
competition sponsored by Coors and four coin-op
manufacturers: Arachnid, Grayhound Electronics, Valley
Recreation Products, and Capcom USA. Sports
Tournaments of America, located in Dallas, is promoting
15,000 local tournaments and coordinating 12 regionals,
with more than $2 million in cash and prizes up for grabs.
The regional tournaments will be held in major cities
across the country, using 50 Coors Light English Mark
Darts games manufactured by Arachnid for the dart
competition . But electronic darts isn't the only sport
involved; there's also pool, electronic basketball, and
video bowling (on machines by Valley, Grayhound, and
Capcom, respectively). The grand finale will be held at
the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas on July 5-10, 1990. A
guaranteed $150,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded
there. For more information on this massive "Superstars'!
type competition, call Sports Tournaments of America at
(800) 327-5566.
•
On July 14, Kramer Manufacturing Co., the
Lakewood, N.J.-based manufacturer of cranes, rotaries,
video card games, and coin-op basketball games, filed
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for
the purposes of reorganization. According to company
president Craig Helfricht, the action was taken to protect
Kramer's assets for the benefit of all creditors. "Kramer
continues to fully function and service our customers
during this period of reorganization," he said.
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Best Mfg., a new merchandise supplier located
in Waukesha, Wis., is offering quite an incentive to its
customers. The company's James Possi says that any
customer placing an order by Dec. 31, 1989, will
automatically be entered in a contest and eligible to win
$1,000 in Best's plush pre-paks. A Play Meter staff
member will draw the winning name on Jan. 2, 1990. For
more details, or to place an order, call Possi at (414)
547-5051 ; the FAX is (414) 547-0905.
•
Jeff Walker, formerly the vice president of
international sales for Data East USA, has left to begin
his own manufacturer's representative company,
Geotfco. He will be representing various manufacturers
for the worldwide marketplace. The new address is 20465
Saratoga/Los Gatos Road, SuiteD, Saratoga, CA 95070.
The phone number is (408) 867-4622; the FAX is (408)
867-4684.
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Betson Enterprises' Big Choice cranes (one-, two-,
three-player and Jumbo Top Choice models) and Action
Claw cranes have been approved for sale and use in
Michigan, according to John Margold , Betson's director
of redemption sales. "Michigan has been an important
state for Betson's crane sales during the past few years,"
he said. "With the approval by the Michigan State Lottery
Division, Betson is confident that Michigan will continue
to play an important role in our business." On the heels
of this development, Betson's Bill Siebert gave a
troubleshooting seminar to operators at the annual
meeting of the Michigan Coin Machine Operators
Association (MCMOA), held Sept. 21-23. For more
information about Betson's "Michigan-legal" cranes,
contact the redemption sales department at (800)
524-2343. Michigan operators can also call either of
Betson's two Michigan distributors: Atlas in Wyoming,
Mich., or Cleveland Coin in Livonia, Mich.
•
Congratulations to Theresa and Brian Petaccio of
Grayhound Electronics on the birth of their daughter,
Andrea Marie. She weighed in at a healthy seven pounds,
six ounces.
•
Rl Holdings Inc. has purchased Rowe
International Inc. and its Triangle Finance Division,
effective Aug. 31, according to a Rowe spokesman. Rl
Holdings Inc. is a corporation organized by an investor
group led by Merrill Lynch Capital Partners Inc. An earlier
announcement of the purchase described a transaction
structure involving additional parties. However, the
transaction consummated on Aug . 31 dealt only with
Rowe International. Bruce K. Cowles will assume the
additional responsibility of chairman of the board of Rl
Holdings and Rowe International, in addition to those he
currently holds as president and CEO of the latter
company. Other officers and management will continue
with their current responsibilities. "We at Rowe are
extremely pleased with this transaction and its structure,"
Cowles said. "The opportunity to further build on Rowe's
leadership position is certainly present and one on which
we intend to capitalize."
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The fourth and final AMOA Regional Seminar for
1989 will be held at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown,
N.Y., on Oct. 28-29. Operators Frank Seninsky, Jim
Stansfield, Charles Ross, and Mike Ralston conduct the
information-filled seminars, which have garnered a
tremendous response from those operators who've
attended. If you register and pay in full by Oct. 6, you
receive a $20 discount off the per-person registration fee.
For information on prices, housing, etc., call the AMOA
office at (312) 565-4602.
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The Dynamo-sponsored National Air Hockey
Championship will be held on Nov. 4-5 at Fame City, a
family amusement complex in Houston, Texas.