Pinballboy | Interview

In our quest to rule the world, we need the best talent in every country that has a pinball culture. We are very lucky to have attracted the interest of Pinballboy. In Germany where he lives, he is the best YouTuber. His videos are of high quality, and have the merit of being shot in German, which makes his content accessible to all German speakers.

The objective of our partnership is quite clear: to translate the contents of Pinball Mag into German, and to take advantage of his contents to further enrich our library of articles, videos…

But let’s stop talking about work, and get to know our guy.

Hi Pinballboy, we are happy that you joined the team ! Let’s talk about you. What is your first memory about pinball ?

My father bought a pinball machines when I was 8 or 9 years old. It has been the Kiss game by Bally.

Where do you live ?

West Germany in the near of Oberhausen and Cologne, right next to the Dutch border.

On which pinball machine did you start playing ?

After the Kiss machine left us, I started playing at a dutch arcade. My favorite there has been Theatre of Magic. I learned to play pinball with that pin. I understood how to lit the locks, how to start a mission and where to find the super jackpot during Multiball.

Do you own pinball machines ?

I got 18 pinball machines and several Arcade machines like Sega Rally Twin Race. The oldest is a College Queen by Gottlieb (1969) and the youngest is an Avengers Infinity Quest by Stern (2020).

Why did you choose these machines ?

Of course I wanted to have Theatre of Magic and my brother wanted to have an Addams Family pinball machine. The rest came to me, I didn’t searched for them 😉

Do you plan to have more ?

I would have more, but my space is limited.

What is your favorite pinball machine ?

Right now I love to play my Batman 66, but my all time favorite will always be the Theatre of Magic. First pin on which I reached the wizard mode, so many good memories!

When and why did you start making videos ?

I started to create pinball videos in 2018. First I did the Quick Guide Videos in which I explain how the pinball machine works, where I can get the extra ball, how I can start the Multiball and so on. Later I started with my „on the run“ videos in which I interviewed people and shot some short summaries of pinball events. Recently I added Tech Guides and Best Of scenes from my live Streams.

Do you have particular objectives ?

My goal was to do that all in german. Of course, there are a lot of videos and tutorials out, but none of them in my language.

According to you, what are the particularities of the pinball German community ?

Germany has an interesting and big pinball scene. No preferences in age or models. You’ll find guys just loving the old Electromechanical tables and also a lot of guys who are only playing the brand new pinball machines. Sadly we don’t have arcades like in the Netherlands or America. Most pins are in private collections. We also have public pinball clubs, but you can count them with one hand.

You told us that you have connections with the dutch community. Is it by chance or is there a particular reason?

Seriously I can throw a rock to the Dutch border. We have always been there on vacations and I have been to several Dutch pinball events.

Do you participate in competitions ?

Right now you just have a few tournaments because of COVID, I usually just play one or two tournaments a year. Mostly I compete with my friends from the pinball league „Münsterland Liga“. We meet every month.

What are you expecting from your collaboration with Pinball Mag. ?

To make pinball bigger and bigger, and become more international. Pinball Mag. is a great way to get the word around the world.