She was the theme of 3 different pinball machines produced over the years and all of them are sought after by collectors. They are really fun games with great art and theme integration. Scared Stiff is probably my favorite of the 3 (the other 2 being Elvira and the Party Monsters and Elvira’s House of Horrors)
Pinball aside, as another commenter in the thread stated: she kinda influenced my taste in women, as well 😅
Actually very well-designed games, imo! I love Scared Stiff because it has distinctive modes/challenges and particularly for the “wizard mode” where you try to run the “Stiff-o-Meter” to it’s limit. It’s got frogs (“Leapers”) that jump when you hit certain targets, it has a spinning spider in the backbox that you occasionally get to spin like a prize wheel to collect various bonuses, and the whole playfield gets used in creative ways to set up the various objectives. The sense of humor is spot-on too. I would add one to my collection if i had the money and space for it…
I don’t think they would be quite as sought-after by collectors if they weren’t genuinely good games. If I’m not mistaken, all 3 titles were designed by Dennis Nordman – a well-known and beloved designer who made some of the classics from the late 80’s into the early 90’s.
Collection? I’m intrigued, what’s the range that these machines go for? How much would these sought out ones go for on average?
Are they easy to fix and maintain, I guess something a hobbyist and collectors would learn to do?
I’m intrigued, what’s the range that these machines go for?
Really varies, but generally prices have gone up with time. I would say a non-sought-after older title might be available in the $500-1000 range, but it would likely need some amount of fixing/freshening/overhaul. We used to joke some games would be worth “$10k by xmas” but games today have made that figure sound cheap, lol.
Realistically though, you could get a beater that’s working for around $1000-2000 +/- but it really depends what era you’re interested in…Newer games can run closer to $4-6k+ used, and $7-15k new. Believe it or not there are several companies making games nowadays, though there was a time where there was only 1 left (Stem Pinball)…!
Are they easy to fix and maintain, I guess something a hobbyist and collectors would learn to do?
Not easy per se, but if you understand electronics it’s nothing too crazy. You need to be able to solder. There’s tons of helpful people online at places like Pinside that take pleasure helping others fix their games (I’ve been among the helpers for a long time, after having received so much help when i got started–i try to give back 🙂)
There are many aftermarket replacement cpu boards which solves one of the biggest challenges back when i started…repairing circuit boards is substantially harder and takes a lot more know-how than fixing up the mechanisms on the top and bottom of the playfield. With many solid choices on the market, you can replace all the old circuit boards, leaving you to focus on the playfield where the action is.
Parts are available at a number of distributors, my favorite being The Pinball Resource in Poughkeepsie, NY. Steve Young has single-handedly kept pinball alive for the world, his operation provides so many parts and still do to this day. They don’t accept card payment either–strictly check or money order! Old school as fuck, i love it. Newbies come along and start bitching about his ancient website and how he needs to get with the times etc etc. He’s pushing upper 70s early 80s from what i gather–and he’s still moving forward every day producing rare or impossible-to-find parts in addition to droves of standard replacement parts as well. Nothing but respect, and when he’s gone he’ll leave a hole that can’t be filled again. Feel free to reach out if you’d like further info or assistance getting into the addiction hobby 😅
Ahhh i wish! I’ve heard about Expo every year since i really dove into the hobby, but I’ve never made it there. We do the annual Allentown Pinfest to get our fix, but Expo sounds like a much larger event. Someday, hopefully!
Fortunately i live in the Greater Chicagoland area, so im able to go most years. I hope someday you’re able to go as well. It’s really grown over the last couple of decades.
Her show, Movie Macabre, was fun. It’s a format you don’t get on TV anymore; anthology series like that. It’s practically impossible to do on Youtube and it doesn’t really work in a streaming format and linear television is full of nothing but the 24 hour bullshit cycle and advertisements for the shit my dad keeps asking me if he should buy.
She was the theme of 3 different pinball machines produced over the years and all of them are sought after by collectors. They are really fun games with great art and theme integration. Scared Stiff is probably my favorite of the 3 (the other 2 being Elvira and the Party Monsters and Elvira’s House of Horrors)
Pinball aside, as another commenter in the thread stated: she kinda influenced my taste in women, as well 😅
The innuendo in Scared Stiff is amazing. It’s one of my favorite games.
Are they actually fun to play or popular because nerds + boobs.
Actually very well-designed games, imo! I love Scared Stiff because it has distinctive modes/challenges and particularly for the “wizard mode” where you try to run the “Stiff-o-Meter” to it’s limit. It’s got frogs (“Leapers”) that jump when you hit certain targets, it has a spinning spider in the backbox that you occasionally get to spin like a prize wheel to collect various bonuses, and the whole playfield gets used in creative ways to set up the various objectives. The sense of humor is spot-on too. I would add one to my collection if i had the money and space for it…
I don’t think they would be quite as sought-after by collectors if they weren’t genuinely good games. If I’m not mistaken, all 3 titles were designed by Dennis Nordman – a well-known and beloved designer who made some of the classics from the late 80’s into the early 90’s.
Collection? I’m intrigued, what’s the range that these machines go for? How much would these sought out ones go for on average? Are they easy to fix and maintain, I guess something a hobbyist and collectors would learn to do?
Anyways, cool!
Really varies, but generally prices have gone up with time. I would say a non-sought-after older title might be available in the $500-1000 range, but it would likely need some amount of fixing/freshening/overhaul. We used to joke some games would be worth “$10k by xmas” but games today have made that figure sound cheap, lol.
Realistically though, you could get a beater that’s working for around $1000-2000 +/- but it really depends what era you’re interested in…Newer games can run closer to $4-6k+ used, and $7-15k new. Believe it or not there are several companies making games nowadays, though there was a time where there was only 1 left (Stem Pinball)…!
Not easy per se, but if you understand electronics it’s nothing too crazy. You need to be able to solder. There’s tons of helpful people online at places like Pinside that take pleasure helping others fix their games (I’ve been among the helpers for a long time, after having received so much help when i got started–i try to give back 🙂)
There are many aftermarket replacement cpu boards which solves one of the biggest challenges back when i started…repairing circuit boards is substantially harder and takes a lot more know-how than fixing up the mechanisms on the top and bottom of the playfield. With many solid choices on the market, you can replace all the old circuit boards, leaving you to focus on the playfield where the action is.
Parts are available at a number of distributors, my favorite being The Pinball Resource in Poughkeepsie, NY. Steve Young has single-handedly kept pinball alive for the world, his operation provides so many parts and still do to this day. They don’t accept card payment either–strictly check or money order! Old school as fuck, i love it. Newbies come along and start bitching about his ancient website and how he needs to get with the times etc etc. He’s pushing upper 70s early 80s from what i gather–and he’s still moving forward every day producing rare or impossible-to-find parts in addition to droves of standard replacement parts as well. Nothing but respect, and when he’s gone he’ll leave a hole that can’t be filled again. Feel free to reach out if you’d like further info or assistance getting into the
addictionhobby 😅Hey! A fellow pinhead. You going to expo this year? Looking at the website, it looks like its going to be a pretty packed dealer area this year.
Ahhh i wish! I’ve heard about Expo every year since i really dove into the hobby, but I’ve never made it there. We do the annual Allentown Pinfest to get our fix, but Expo sounds like a much larger event. Someday, hopefully!
Fortunately i live in the Greater Chicagoland area, so im able to go most years. I hope someday you’re able to go as well. It’s really grown over the last couple of decades.
interesting! Thanks for that insight
They’re really well designed surprisingly!
Remember when things could be good AND have pretty tits on them? Pinball machines, P-51Ds, coeds…
The Elvira Amiga games where pretty good as well
Her show, Movie Macabre, was fun. It’s a format you don’t get on TV anymore; anthology series like that. It’s practically impossible to do on Youtube and it doesn’t really work in a streaming format and linear television is full of nothing but the 24 hour bullshit cycle and advertisements for the shit my dad keeps asking me if he should buy.