The Pinball Compendium: 1982 to Present

Tons of pictures, covering each year of the modem era of pinball in detail.

The book does go into more detail of the problems/downfall of the companies involved in the machines.The graphics are always good.I think that this book could have elaborated more on the foreign manufacturers of European countries.The downturn of the market of the 80's and rebirth of the 90's,then a total shift by 2000 was enhanced with a movement away from the traditional American manufacturers.

This is one of a series of three books covering the history and talent behind the design and creation of pinball. There is no in-depth look into any particular machines, rather it covers the highlights and lists every major known game produced each year with excellent pictures and basic stats and trivia.What it does best is interviews. Most of the time, one designer or artist, etc. produced a number of games, and they tell the stories not commonly known.Yes, I copy pasted that from the review of the previous book in the series. No reason to write the summary twice!The book cover says 1982 to present, but has not been updated for several years. The author should have selected a cut off date as the title is now wildly inaccurate and incredibly misleading. Depending on the version, the book could end in the early 2000’s or in 2014ish.In this volume you learn things like what game single-handedly saved pinball from ending in1984, what game was the first ever to RC refit the entire creative team, and why? What happened to the 37 fired by WMS Inc. in 1996, and what family has been involved in making pinball since 1947. You’ll also get to know designers and artists who made the games and how they dealt with the video game era, the decline and renaissance of pinball. As well as how it all came crashing down in 1999.Even with errors, omissions, and the occasional incorrect information, this series of books is a must have for the pinball fan. Pinball collectors will find little use for these books, except to pretend they know something when they only really care about the cash value.Overall an excellent series of books, which leave you wanting to know more.This volume gets a 8/10 big number thingy. For those who grew up loving pinball in the 1980’s this is a must have book.

A lot of time went into this and you can tell! Can’t wait for the other 2 to arrive!

Great pinball book! Very good pictures and story about pinballs from 1982 to present. If you're a pinball lover, you must have one.

Okay, there is a lot of good information in this book. But I got more pleasure at just looking at all the pictures in the book. The photos are beautiful and the book is of high quality.

The games I used to play were there

Great reading book. Its about Pinball what more do you need. Nice layout and great photos of alot of pins. Thanks