Bad Cats Pinball

Bad Cats Pinball

I bought a pinball machine a couple years ago. Buying a pinball machine is kind of random and pointless, but, as with most stupid things I do, there is usually some reason that seems logical and rational...at least in my own head.

When I was in college back at Midwestern State University, my buddy Andrew and I had to take a PE elective. We both played on the soccer team, but you could only use soccer once and two PE classes were required for graduation. We decided we'd sign up for bowling. A semester of bowling meant going to class once a week, on Wednesdays, at Village Bowl. The class was fine - bowling was fun - got our credits - yay. Where this ties in is that the bowling alley had a Bad Cats pinball machine and for some reason Andrew and I found it fascinating! We would stay after class every week and play it for like 30 minutes or more. It stuck in my head and I've searched for one from time to time over the years.

What really got me searching seriously over the last 10 years was probably Andrews involvement with one of his clients. Andrew is a Patent Attorney and he had as a client Williams Gaming - the makers of Bad Cats and other Pinball classics. He would mention them from time to time over dinner and it would put the bug back in my head. 

I searched for years! I used to contact people that owned one (there's a global pinball registry believe it or not) and ask if they were willing to part with theirs. Finally, I found one for sale in a small town in Northern California. The guy was a real pinball collector and knew his stuff so I took a chance and bought it sight unseen. Shipping a pinball machine is extremely expensive - they're very heavy and quite fragile. I got mine delivered and the shippers did a great job. It was wrapped up tight and padded. I was planning on putting it in my FOB, but it wasn't ready yet so into the dining room in the main house it went for a while.

The machine turned out to be in great shape - better than new really. It has been converted to LED lighting and has all new rubber. All the sounds and mechanicals work perfectly as well. I enjoy it, but I've been surprised by how much everyone else seems to like it as well. My wife, my daughter of course, and even my mother play it quite often.

Samantha has gotten big enough to reach both flippers - key to pinball success!

When the guest house was finally finished I called my buddy Barry to help me move it up into the FOB. Moving a pinball machine is tough anywhere, but moving one up a flight of stairs is really challenging. We got it done with only minor injuries (to Barry) and now it resides for the foreseeable future in my lair. 

We were in Vegas recently and we went to the Pinball Hall of Fame and Museum and sure enough, they had a Bad Cats machine. We played it a few times, as well as lots of others. 

My FOB is supposed to be the "No Lady Lounge" but I have a hard time keeping Branelle and Sam out of there. Nel went up to get some Christmas decorations out of storage the other day and never came back so I went to check on her - BUSTED!

2001 Mercedes Benz SL500 Sport

2001 Mercedes Benz SL500 Sport

OK - this one's going to hurt a little bit. Sometimes I keep cars for years. Sometimes I move on from a car in less than a year. I like to say that if I never ran out of space and/or money I'd probably own 300 cars. That said, there are cars that I plan on keeping "forever". This one probably should have been one of those cars, but.....well, here's the story:

I was at the Mecum Houston auction in 2015. I had bought a car on Thursday (Day 1) but came back on Friday to keep shopping. I was sitting up at the back of the stands early in the morning when the auction was just getting underway kind of just hanging out when this SL500 came across the block. I had looked at it briefly the day before, but hadn't really given it much thought. The bidding seemed crazy-low to me though so I stuck my hand in the air and to my surprise I got the car for what I considered a steal! 

This happens from time to time and the first thing that runs through your mind is "what did everybody else know that I didn't?" After about 30 minutes I decided to go take a look at my new purchase. On the way there (they park all the sold cars in a separate place) this guy came up to me and asked me if I had just bought the silver SL500. I told him I had and he said he really wanted the car but hadn't registered for the auction. He had his whole family with him - nice guy, but you could tell this was his first time at a car auction. 

They walked with me to the car and when we got there the guy asked me if I'd sell it to him. I was reluctant, but he offered me about 30% more than I had just paid so I thought "fine, I'll just buy something else". I wasn't looking for an SL in particular, just a new toy. 

We agreed on the sale, but I'm not a car dealer so I told him I would have to take the car home, wait for the title, get the car inspected and then title and register it in my name, wait for the title again, and THEN I could sell it to him. He was fine with that. 

Everyone was happy...until I took the car home and started driving it. It was perfect! PERFECT! It only had about 30K miles and had been in a private collection in San Diego. It had all the records and was just fabulous. Even the soft top under the hardtop was like new. I drove it a lot for the month or so that I had it and probably would have kept it forever. These SLs are getting more expensive and they're great to drive! Branelle even liked this one and drove it from time to time. I tried to see if the guy had any interest in backing out of the deal, but he was way too excited about it and I wasn't going to go back on my word so when I got the title I called him up and sold him the car. 

I've thought about looking for another one of these, but I know it will suffer in comparison to this one so I haven't added one yet. They're great cars though. My buddy Barry bought one a little bit later - same color even. I did actually buy a third car later that day - my '49 Hudson - so I guess it worked out for everyone. Still, if I hadn't been such a nice guy, I would undoubtedly still own this silver Merc. 

This is my "slightly annoyed I agreed to sell this car" face.