The Pinbotz guide to the greatest pinball machines of the 80s and 90s by Kevin Strasser.

pinball book

Author: Kevin Strasser
Pages:61, softcover
ISBN:1-4116-2611-7

This book is published by an internet publishing company and it shows when you open the book.. compared to other nice pinball books this one doesn't have glossy pictures. Layout could also be a bit better (chapters continue and don't start at a new page). However do not let looks mislead you. It's published by pinball collectors who know and love the games they talk about.

The content of the book itself is interesting and different from other books. For each of the reviewed games it gives the authors opinion how the game plays, where to look at when buying this game, and some additional reference, such as who sells spare or reproduction parts. No other pinball book that I know of does this, therefore this book fills a nice gap of the market. Unfortunately some of the internet resources mentioned aren't valid anymore, and sometimes a game review or list of things to look for is incomplete.

This book can be viewed online through books.google.com, if you want to read it a bit before you buy it..

Why should you buy this book ?
1. If you are new to pinball machines and want to buy one of the machines reviewed in the book, then buy the book ! It's a small price compared to the investment of buying a pinball machine. This book will give you a lot of information about what to check on that specific machine, so you will buy a game that's worth its price tag and not an overpriced trashed machine. All information you need, without hours of searching on the internet.

2. Buy this book to support the author. It's always nice when someone wants to create something themselves to add to the pinball hobby, this should be supported.

3. Or you're just like me and just buy every pinball-related book you can find..

The book can be ordered at Lulu.com or from gameroommagazine.com

Update: it seems a kindle version is now also available.

pinball book