EM porn – electro-mechanical beauties

They don't make them like they use to

Electro-mechanicals are the MILFs of the pinball world: they may be over forty years old, but some of them are drop-dead gorgeous.

Giacomo Malvermi - king of EM restoration

Giacomo Malvermi – king of EM restoration

And if you’re a fan of the mature machine then there’s no finer place on earth to find EMs in tip-top condition that Pinball Creative, the South London workshop where Giacomo Malvermi works his restoration magic.

Pavlov Pinball paid Malvermi a visit last week to ogle at some classic EMs. Here’s some of the best of what we saw:

First up was a stunning 1967 Williams Magic City, famous for its backglass featuring the famous phallic waterfall:

Williams 1967 Magic City backglass

Williams 1967 Magic City backglass

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Magic City pop bumpers

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Magic City playfield

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Magic City playfield detail

 

Magic City

That’s just magic, that is

Next up is the always-popular Gottlieb Kings & Queens

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That Queen is one slick chick

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Queen Elizabeth would never cheat

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Kings & Queens‘ classic bumper cap

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This reminds us of a top pinball venue in Salisbury for some reason…

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Kings & Queens is a nudger’s delight

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Gone but not forgotten

Pinball Creative has restored a 1975 Gottlieb Spin Out which will be auctioned later in the year at at the Silverstone Classic, an event that sees Bugattis, E-type Jaguars, Ford Mustangs and GT40s and other classic cars of the ’60s coming together to be raced.

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Detail from Spin Out’s backglass

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Spin Out upper playfield

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Spin Out playfield

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If you’re after rich colours, Spin Out is your man

Then it’s on to a fantastic example of a 1965 Gottlieb Cow-Poke. The playfield was  sent to Henrik Maurer at Pinball Dreams in Germany for restoration. the cabinet has been repainted, everything has been re-chromed, every relay and contact has been cleaned or replaced, and all the lamp holders and coils are all new.

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Cow-Poke backglass detail

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Cow-Poke playfield

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Playfield detail

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Cow-Poke has two types of bumper caps

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Someone just got their arse kicked

“Cow-Poke is a great game, so I am going to keep it for a couple of years and play it,” says Malvermi. “Eventually I will put it in an auction at Christie’s and someone will buy it for £9,000 ($14,000, 12,500 Euros) or so.”

Restoration involves cleaning every switch and relay:

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You could eat your dinner off this…

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…or this

Here’s one side of Pinball Creative’s workshop featuring seven beauties:

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Left to right: Magic City, Kings & Queens, Cow-Poke, a 1963 Gottlieb Slick Chick, a very rare 1974 Gottlieb Royal Pair, Spin Out and a 1975 Gottlieb Pin Up

and here’s more of that Pin Up

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Pin-Up is a play on 10 pin bowling, not pin up girls

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The Pin Up playfield had a bowling alley long before The Big Lebowski

 

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Pin Up‘s ten pin drop targets

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You’d hold the ball funny if your trousers were that tight

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Pin Up playfield detail

 

 

 

 

 

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Pin Up right slingshot

… and that very rare Royal Pair, a version of Gottlieb’s Top Card that was only sold in Italy. Very few of these remain.

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One of the few remaining Royal Pairs

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Royal Pair playfield detail

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Big WOW, right?

 

 

 

 

 

Slick Chick features nine bumpers, and is clearly influenced by the Playboy bunnies:

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Cow-Poke and Slick Chick

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Slick Chick’s artwork ranges from the odd…

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…to the downright disturbing…

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and those bunny girls aren’t official Playboy ones.

 Malvermi also has some woodrails, like this 1959 Gottlieb Universe:

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Malvemi also has some woodrails

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Universe playfield detail

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Gottlieb’s Universe: the robots can help

… and a 1953 Gottlieb Arabian Knights (that’s Knights, not Nights, strangely)

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pre-TOTAN, this one

 and plenty more machines waiting to be restored:

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Malvermi’s store room contains treasures waiting to be restored to their former glory

Special Pavlov Pinball thanks to Giacomo Malvermi and Pinball Creative for allowing us unfettered access to the workshop for a day.

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Thanks, mate

All photos (c) Paul Rubens / Pavlov Pinball

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