Springsteen Fans Storming the Site!

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IMG_2194Very cool that my custom “10th Avenue Freeze Out” machine has been picked up by numerous Springsteen sites, including backstreets.com, an official online Springsteen fan magazine.
Lots of fans from Italy and the U.K. as well seem to be drooling over the design. It is still my favorite of my creations, mostly because of the cool turntable/roulette wheel feature and sound clip sound track.

The play field artwork took months to get right- I wanted to tell the story of the song from the top on down to the bottom- with the top highlighting the NYC skyline in the rain (teardrops in the city)- the middle showing a street scene of gathering youth, a tenement building, a radio playing- and the lower section highlighting piano keys, music, the 45 record, and silhouettes of the “little pretties” raising their hands.

As a fan creating this work for my own pleasure, it became an homage to the Boss and the Band circa 1975. Up until recently, I hadn’t really shared the images of the work to sites where other fans might enjoy it. Previously, it was displayed at a local RI Maker Faire and on a few pinball sites, but the response was nothing like it has been recently ever since “Backstreets” made my playfield their Facebook wallpaper.

So thanks to the best fans in the world- fans of Bruce- for getting me some exposure. It makes the 6 months of work it took to build it worthwhile!

So many of you have made statements like “I want one!”, “Where can I get one?”, “Is this real?”, “Is it for sale?”, etc. This is all very flattering. So there is good news and bad news related to these questions- first, the bad news- this unit is my prototype, and it is not for sale.

However- the very good news is that I have a very similar donor machine (with the same roulette wheel feature) that I can customize for someone using the same artwork (slightly altered to fit this machine). The price can run anywhere from a few thousand dollars to much more than that depending on how much additional customization you may want… If you are serious about wanting one, we can make that happen- and it will be a lot less expensive than any other custom machines since I’d be reusing artwork I already have!

So write to me at:
davegaskill@pinventions.com

I also have an active Facebook account for Pinventions as well- currently under my name (David Gaskill). If you want to keep up with my Pinventions work, send a friend request and like the site. Or call me at 401-212-7500.

So to my new Springsteen fan friends- thanks for the supportive, encouraging comments! and feel free to write, comment or call. I will reply in person to anyone taking the time to contact me.

Dave

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Validation

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The wording and image above are not mine. This is a screenshot from a Make Magazine article covering the 2013 Maker Faire in Providence, RI. In this article, the “pleasant bing-bing sounds” of my machine were used to set the ambience of the piece, as the author described some truly amazing displays and creations put on by my fellow “makers” at the show last Saturday. There were scores of very cool 3D printers, electronics gizmos, and gadgets galore. Fellow weirdos, as promised, and a feast for the eyes and brains at every turn.

The article went on to describe many of the displays, and included many pictures, including one where a face-painted teen takes on my Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out pinball game. After that photo, that included me creepily in the background, came the wording as reproduced above-the author’s favorite “stumble upon” at the Faire- followed by the only video in the entire article- of a simple LED effect under the faux turntable in my creation.

With all the cutting edge technology in play here, with all the robotics, 3D scans, prints, and Arduino infested creations- the author was most affected by essentially a parlor trick that would have been possible decades ago. Such is “art” when combined with science. Such is the old- if treated correctly- that can be made to seem new again.

The author’s name is Nick Normal, and the link is here: Reporting Back from the RI Maker Faire

Thank you to Nick for the kind words. My web traffic has increased exponentially since this article. However, 1 to the second power is still 1.

While that was my favorite validation of the past week, I had three others that were noteworthy:

1. First, “Erika and Bear”- coauthors of the I (heart) Rhody magazine/blog- interviewed me about my custom pinball/art business after visiting my booth at the Faire. This interview focused on the artistic merit of my creations, and I was happy to oblige.

2. Secondly, after submitting photos and descriptions of my work to the www.pinballowners.com website- the premiere site for pinball enthusiasts world-wide, I was accepted as a “manufacturer” and my works are now included in the database, galleries and descriptions.

3. Finally, I have submitted my idea for a controlled-fog back glass unit to the Roger Williams University Engineering school for consideration as a Senior Design Project. Dr. Riley and the other staff there were very supportive of the idea, and it has been approved. I will now have the benefit of having a team of student engineers mulling over the technical challenges of creating a closed fog control system- all simply to be able to create a cool foggy cemetery scene for my “Night of the Living Dead” machine design.

Along with this additional validation, I now have several expressions of interest, and a few tentative orders. I would urge those of you on the fence about this to consider the advantage of being “first”- in terms of getting your machine before everyone else, and paying the minimal amount for the early models.

As a reminder, pricing can be seen here, and available donor machines are listed and described here.

Thinks are looking up- so I need to get back to designing and building.

Toodles,

Dave

Foo Fest: Success!

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So my first experience “manning a booth” is over- it was exciting, rewarding, and exhausting. I came home from Providence’s Foo Fest/Makers Faire late on Saturday night, and Sunday was a day of foggy memories, sore muscles, and slow, zombie-like movements. Standing all day, talking to potential clients continuously, and lifting and moving my machine and all my display materials had taken a toll on my mind, body, and soul.

Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by to see my work and to reminisce about the old arcades and the early days of the E-street Band. I could have sold several “Bruce” machines if I had them or was willing to sell my prototype. Several guys lingered and studied my price sheets to see how they could afford to have me make them a new/old machine. If any of you are reading this- please give me a call- we can make that a reality! Several small groups of guys and gals huddled near the booth just to hear the endless string of songs from the machine in its “jukebox” mode.

If nothing else, I proved to myself that there is an audience for my work- and the positive feedback and words of encouragement and praise made it all worthwhile.

I had no expectations of getting any strong leads from my booth at this festival- after all, the demographics for Foo Fest tend towards the younger, “fringier” crowd. I considered this a practice show- I am really aiming to show more at arts festivals where I am more likely to find more clients from my era that would appreciate my work- but I was very pleased with the feedback here- the younger attendees especially were very complimentary- and interested in what these old machines were like- many having never seen or played anything but video games.

For example- I got sincere compliments from a 20-something DJ, who appreciated the art work and attention to the artist in the design. I heard words of appreciation from a young local female radio personality. I was asked if I would be interested in displaying a machine in the Providence Museum of Art and Science (if the curator’s dream ever becomes a reality). Finally, a writer for a prominent Rhode Island monthly publication indicated that she wanted to write a story about my work.

Even if nothing comes from any of this, I believe these are signs that I may be onto something. Thank you to anyone and everyone who offered kind and encouraging words.

Chapter 1 is complete.