AGE of TPA players

[Mike Reitmeyer]

I wonder if Rob Mann can wrangle up the ages around the office and siblings that play TPA.

35 here.

I'm not sure how accurate the poll is on our users though. There may be a lot of users younger than 17 who play, but don't post on this forum. The decision for E10 is really to be able to sell to as large a market as possible.

That said, I would think the most diehard pinball fans are in thier 30s and 40s, as those would be the ages to have been going to arcades when they were really big. So in a way the poll is probably accurate that most of our users are over 17.

Getting children into pinball isn't a bad thing either.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

I understand the broadening of the market, but how many kids actually make the purchase?

 

[MadScience2006]

As was mentioned by someone else here as well, I played close to zero pinball in the arcades way back. For me it was all about Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr, Ms. Pac Man and all the other video games that sucked up my quarters. Pinball Hall of Fame, The Pinball Arcade and Zen got me playing pinball, at least virtually. When I do come across a real pinball machine, I will play it, no matter what it is. They are rare to find and the arcade I usually play/played at (Balboa Funzone in Balboa/Newport Beach, CA) had at the most, one machine...last one I played was Monopoly. My six-year-old enjoys playing TPA but for him, it's all about Pokemon right now. I truly wish arcades & pins would make a comeback, but hey, at least we have TPA and others.

 

[Jeff Strong]

No problem with hair thinning or grey (my Dad's 68 and hasn't a grey hair yet - or lost any), but hair coming out of places it didn't used to.....
Nostrils, ears, had to shave my shoulders the other day. Eyebrows are fast becoming eyebrow.

I got hair in my ears now. My EARS!

One nice thing about letting my hair grow long is it covers up all the ear hair so I don't have to worry about it.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

Ear dreds!

 

[brakel]

I finally gave up the fight with my hair. It was thinning on top, and I spiked my hair, so there was a LOT of scalp showing! My wife said I had to wait till I was 40 to do something drastic. I gave her an extra 8 months of it, then buzzed it all. Yesterday I went full Mr. Clean on it with a razor. She hates it! Thinks 'bald' equals 'old', but strangely it makes me feel younger. Probably cause now I don't care about my hair (or lack of) and thinking about how it looked and avoiding bending down to expose the top of my head took way more effort.

Good for you! It might take time for your wife to get used to it but your happiness will ultimately win her over. Gotta love the spike though. The spike is the comb-over for the new millennium!

 

[karl]

Shutyertrap: I am actually happy for you. I have been thinking about it for almost 10 years. Every time I look in the mirror it gets worse. At least you do not have to watch it get thinner every month anymore and your wife will come around soon enough. I'll give it a few more months before I follow you (why do I torture myself) and last week for the first time ever my hairdresser went inside my ears. Another aging chock. PS! This thread has turned into a real motivation/looking forward to old age for our younger members ;-)

 

[rehtroboi40]

40, still playing pinball games, what's wrong with me?

From one 40 year old to another, I would say....um....well....how should I put this?.................nothing! Rock that stuff!!!!

 

[shutyertrap]

Alrighty, wanna see a little hair history?

So I used to have a good head of spikes when I was 30, then it got thin, like this at 40, so a little more than a month shy of 41, I took it full bald. Maybe next Halloween I'll paint it silver and make a flipper hat so I can go as my favorite game!

 

[brakel]

Alrighty, wanna see a little hair history?

So I used to have a good head of spikes when I was 30, then it got thin, like this at 40, so a little more than a month shy of 41, I took it full bald. Maybe next Halloween I'll paint it silver and make a flipper hat so I can go as my favorite game!

Nice! I was thinking you were spiking it in front to hide a bald spot on the top. I've seen quite a few guys do that. That's why I was calling it the comb-over for the new millennium. For those that have never noticed it, just watch a re-run of American Chopper from 2012 and take a look at Vinnie's spike. He pulls it off pretty well and since he's been spiking the front for years its a pretty good cover. But he's getting so thin on top I think he should go the route of the clean look. But then he won't be on tv anymore so maybe it doesn't matter!

 

[shutyertrap]

Believe me, watching Vinnie's dome when he didn't have a hat on did a lot to convince me of what needed being done! I also looked at Kevin Smith and how silly it looks to have a solid bunch of hair surrounding nothingness.

I've always known one day the hair might not be there, so I've had fun with it throughout the years. Years ago in college, I had taken a movement class and discovered that a lot of the ways I moved my head what I did with my hands were directly tied to my hair and it's look. As a class challenge, I went a week without doing a think to my hair, which wound up being quite liberating. Ever since then I swore that once my hair started giving me grief, I'd just plain be done with it. Voila!

 

[ksmmspt]

42 here...will be 43 in March. Also have introduced my 2 boys (ages 9 and 11) to TPA and real pinball. I remember my dear grandmother driving me when I was 10 or 11 to a couple of gas stations in town for me to play Bally's Supersonic and Lost World (my Dad bought me a Lost World when I was 12 which I kept until I was 30 something). I also remember riding a bike to the local TG&Y store (smaller version of Wal-mart) to play Gorgar, which scared me. The talking was freaky! Played tons of Pac-man, DK, DK Jr as well but have always loved pinball. I currently own a Bally Star Trek and Williams STTNG machines and have a renewed interest to get them playable again. Took my boys to an arcade in Panama city beach, FL that had several machines including a Ripleys and my 9 year old was unbelievable on it!

Love the Pinball Arcade (TPA)!

 

[neilpinbot]

My 11 year old grandson will often play a few games of MM on the xbox or tablet.

 

[Matt McIrvin]

My 6-year-old daughter has played a little TPA on the XBox (and PHoF on the Wii, and some real-life pinball with me in arcades), though she seems to have moved on to other things at the moment. I suspect she'd be drawn back if TPA ever got The Addams Family, because she loves that table.

 

[Matt McIrvin]

...you know, spiking my hair to conceal baldness never even occurred to me, and humanity should probably be thankful. I always assumed I'd go bald early, based on extensive family history (I got it from both sides, but the particular pattern I've got is definitely Dad's), and fortunately I married a woman who likes the look. My dome needs a shave, come to think of it.

 

[MadScience2006]

Just an observation but the age groups are a little odd & may be skewing the results. They are currently:
0-10
10-20
20-30
30-40
40-50
50-60
60+

If your age is say 40, you fall into two categories: 30-40 & 40-50. Since I am 50, I fall into two categories (40-50 & 50-60) but chose the older category when I could've chosen the younger category just as well.

The categories should probably be
0-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
60+

 

[brakel]

Just an observation but the age groups are a little odd & may be skewing the results. They are currently:
0-10
10-20
20-30
30-40
40-50
50-60
60+

If your age is say 40, you fall into two categories: 30-40 & 40-50. Since I am 50, I fall into two categories (40-50 & 50-60) but chose the older category when I could've chosen the younger category just as well.

The categories should probably be
0-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
60+

Since you can select more than one if I fell on an even 10 I would have just selected both!

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

or
1-9
10-19
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60+
you can only go forward in the age bracket, what are you a chik!?

 

[Bowflex]

Since you can select more than one if I fell on an even 10 I would have just selected both!

Where are all the 0 year olds? ;-)

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Where are all the 0 year olds? ;-)

Making their parents' insides feel like a pinball machine.