Playing an Extremely Rare Pinball Machine in Sweden

This is me and my new good pinball friend (all pinball friends are good friends), Joakim.  We  took a moment to memorialize our meeting. Joakim is one of the members of Nacka Flipper and has a great collection of solid state era games in amazing condition. 

Nacka Flipper is 1 subway and 2 busses outside the center of Stockholm. It's a private club, but if you contact them in advance, you can pay 200 SEK (cash) to play for the evening and even play in a tournament if you want. There were many people there just playing on their own. Also bring cash if you want to purchase reasonably priced beers and a cool T-shirt. I only had enough cash to play. Sweden is largely cashless at this point and this was the only occasion I needed it. 

Beer and Pinball go hand in hand. 

It was a quick trip on the subway to a bus that was practically waiting for me. My 2nd bus took about 7 minutes to arrive so I snapped this shot looking back across the bay towards where our hotel is. 

The two busses I took were straight up commuter busses. Everyone had headphones on and were minding their own business so I did the same. I felt like I lived here. It was actually more fun than I thought it would be. 

I arrived and followed the great instructions given to me by the member I was talking to in email. Whenever I contact these private clubs I include my IFPA (International Flipper Pinball Association) profile link so they know I am a regular pinball player and this time they were able to see I had already played twice in Norway and once in Sweden. 

These private clubs are usually pretty well hidden because their business model isn't bringing people in off the street, but in order to run an IFPA sanctioned tournament, it has to be available to the public in some form. It doesn't mean it has to be easily available to the public. 

I walked up to the door and heard distinct pinball sounds so I was pretty sure I was in the right place so I opened the door...

Yep!  I found it!  

This was another shoes off place so I took off my shoes and found someone who was at the computer to get signed up. It all went smoothly and soon I was flipping!

The tournament was a classics tournament so I focused my practice there. There were a few machines I had never played before. 

This is Torch, an unlicensed Olympics Game by Gottlieb. Gottlieb was kind of famous for their slightly off brand games that were just different enough to not require a license. Check out Hollywood Heat for an amazing example of this. Look familiar?  Not to a lawyer!

I also hadn't played Genie before coming to Europe. I may have play it once before on the trip. All of my trip notes are kind of disorganized at this point. It's been two and a half months. 

It's a really fun machine with an early "upper playfield" type element. Not truly an upper playfield, but plays like an upper playfield. 

Check out that "upper playfield" in the top left. It's a really fun element. 

This is Zaccaria's Pinball Champ. Zaccaria was an Italian company making pinball machines from the 70s to the 90s. They are famous for being incredibly beautiful as well as fun. I have played Pinball Champ a few times, but it's always great to see it and play it. 

It does have an upper playfield right in the center. It's hard to see because it's clear plexiglass. While you play you earn "Time". When you have enough "Time" you shoot it to the upper playfield and shoot drop targets for big points. When your "Time" time runs out, the flippers die and the ball returns to the main playfield. It's a really fun game. 

Now, take a close look at the playfield on Pinball Champ and compare it to this next game...

Its nearly the exact same layout, but with much different art. This is Pinball (yes that's the whole name and it causes much confusion)!  Pinball is an incredibly rare game by Bell Games in Italy. Well that isn't completely a true statement, Bell Games made the playfield, back glass, new game code chip, and metal art panels to go on the sides of the machine. The rest of the machine is a Gottlieb Pinball Machine. Bell Games just made conversion kits for Gottlieb machines. When coin drop slowed down because the pinball machine was getting old, you could buy a brand new pinball machine, or you could buy a kit to refresh the machine you already owned for less money. 

This is still its original Gottlieb coin door. 

The art on this machine is wacky!

It's the 2nd machine I know of featuring Laurel and Hardy, the other is Prospector. 

It's also the 2nd machine featuring Popeye!  The other is Popeye Saves the Earth. 

It's the first machine featuring Poppy that I know of. 

And the first machine featuring what appears to be James Cagney. 

It even features Humphrey Bogart!  What a wacky ensemble of iconic figures. 

It's the only pinball machine that I know of that has a boxing kangaroo. Also if you look closely you can see Charlie Chaplain, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and references to 101 Dalmatians and probably The 7 Dwarves on the playfield. I really should have taken more photos. It's an amazing art package. 

If you want to read more about Bell Games, you can read about them here. 

Near the end of my tournament time was when I met Joakim. We talked about pinball and traveling to play and then he asked if I wanted a ride back into town because public transportation is less reliable after 9pm. I excitedly said yes and thanked him. 

Anyway, the tournament didn't go too well. I started off poorly and then had a few proud moments and then was out.

I headed outside for some fresh air and saw the open door for Nacka Flipper. It's a lot more obvious when the door is open. 

Joakim went on to greatness and finished tied for 2nd, so I continued to play pinball while I waited for my ride. It's an easy way to kill time. 

I took this selfie before I knew I would have a photo of me and Joakim for the top image of the post. 

I played a handful of games on Space Jam, a machine I haven't played in years. It's fun!

Then I ground out some Stern Badges on Metallica Remastered. 

The ride back to the hotel was uneventful and awesome at the same time. Stockholm is so pretty at night and Joakim said I should come back when it is a bit warmer to see it really alive. 

Sadly this was going to be our last night in Stockholm, but it was a great way to spend it. Tomorrow we take an overnight train north. 

ABBA THE MUSEUM!

The Silent Disco was really loud because I couldn't find the volume control on the headphones. 

Today we visited The ABBA Museum!  I don't think you should come to Sweden without learning the rich heritage of ABBA. 

I think I waited too long to take the photo. Her genuine smile turned to a grimace I think. 

You enter through a series of rooms with videos playing. It really feels like a preshow because maybe it was at one point, but now you just move on when you want. 

There is a big commercial for ABBA Voyage, which is a show running in London featuring motion captured uncanny versions of ABBA that people in the commercial seemed to love. 

They didn't hold back on the costumes. 

The real part of the museum starts with info about each band member before they were ABBA. You may notice us wearing ear buds. It isn't because we hate ABBA and are listening to Motley Crue, it's because we are listening to the audio tour part of the museum. 

There is a meet and greet part of the tour where you can sit down on a park bench with ABBA and ask very personal questions. You can see Agnetha is very uncomfortable with my question. 

After you learn how they all met and got together (in more ways than just as a band), you are led into a room all about Eurovision! This past week we were able to watch Eurovision live on our hotel TV. We learned that ABBA got their big break by winning it with their pop hit Waterloo. (Fun fact, that means Water Toilet in England). We also learned Volare was a Eurovision song. 

I already spoiled it, they won. 

I got to pose behind the actual guitar they used. 

Hello?  Is this ABBA?  Hello?  I have been trying to contact you about an extended warranty on your Volvo. 

So ABBA goes on to incredible success after Eurovision. The museum then walks you through their processes. 

We both tried to get the mix right via an interactive sound mixer. It was pretty fun. 

We did our best to practice the ancient art of Karaoke. 

They had cool displays talking about their touring and costume making. 

The most impressive part of the museum is all of the interactive elements. 

I got up and shook my moneymaker along with the rest of the uncanny band. I was able to see strangers cheering me on. Donna said they were surprised a man was doing it. What they didn't know is that I was a man that gave no f****!

It was your typical Pepper's Ghost effect as seen in Haunted Mansion and other places. It's a very old but effective illusion. 

We got to ride in the helicopter. I'm not sure what the story is behind this but The pinball machine features a helicopter too. Okay I looked it up. It's featured prominently on an album cover. We only have ABBA Gold. 

Dress Up!

Donna listened to deep cuts on the jukebox. 

Yikes!

At the end of the tour we took advantage of the fancy toilets. 

We danced out but not before exiting through the gift shop. 

There was every opportunity to spend money. 

I wanted to get this smock and wear it playing the pinball machine but an $80 photo gag is a bit too pricey for me. 

Donna got a T-shirt featuring one of the famous cats. 

It was a great museum and a lot of fun. Tons of great photo opportunities. I only wish they had a room that just played a ton of their songs, like a concert experience. That's the only thing that was missing in my opinion.