Episode 9 - Pribs Pinball Repair with Gabe Pribil
In this episode, I am joined by Gabe Pribil of Pribs Pinball Repair. In this interview, we talk about Gabe’s journey into the pinball hobby and how it led to starting his own pinball repair business....
Highlights
- Gabe owns approximately 126 pinball machines, with roughly 100 being pinball-specific, and only about 40 actively working
- Gabe operates pinball machines across 5 different locations in Lincoln and Omaha area
- Gabe spent 6 months unpaid apprenticing under Steve Chalisi to learn EM repair, then worked as primary repair technician for ~1.5 years
- Steve Chalisi has been doing pinball repair for over 40 years
- EM machines are not good earners at locations compared to other machines
- Gabe paid $2,750 for his first pinball machine (Haunted House) at age 18, then spent another $1,000 on repairs
- Humpty Dumpty (1947) and Cinderella have essentially the same game layout with minor rule differences
- There are no EM pinball machines in Nebraska locations except those Gabe operates or at the location where he trained
- Williams Rocket (1959) is a desirable game with only 3 recorded sales on PinSide at prices of $1,200, $3,500, and $2,500
- 1950s-60s EM games are more complex and difficult to repair than 1970s EMs despite their lower cost
Notable quotes
“I'm never going to be a Todd Tucky, but I'd like to be like a, oh hey, that's that one guy in Nebraska who does pinball.”
“I'm still spending all my money on pinball machines and I'm 24 now.”
“Not an EM pinball machine, I'll tell you that much.”
“The light bulb inside the pop bumper still worked... you could see like a little glimmer. It was like so dim, but it was like, yeah, the light's still working inside of there.”
“If people are playing for specials, they're playing the games the way that they were made, and I think it's going to be a lot more fun to do that.”
Entities
- Pribs Pinball Repair· company
- EM Pinball Journeys Podcast· content
- Pinball Expo· event
- Texas Pinball Festival· event
- Apollo· game
- Crystal Castles· game
- Flipper Fair· game
- Haunted House· game
- Humpty Dumpty· game
- Majorettes· game
- Photo Finish· game
- Subway· game
- Swords of Fury· game
- Tic Tac Toe· game
- Whirlwind· game
- Williams Rocket· game
- David Morgan· person
- Gabe Pribil· person
- Steve Chalisi· person
- PinSide· platform
- Alley Cat Vintage· venue
- Godfather's Pizza· venue
- Touchdown· venue
- Vintage Oasis Omaha· venue
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