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The Classic Pinball Podcast
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#37 High Speed - The Classic Pinball Podcast

PodcastAnalysis updated 2d ago1 hr 10 min listenBy George
From the creator

The guys start off in Dave’s basement playing a High Speed before it goes off to his customer. Dave tells me Eric Stone is calling him today. Dave and Eric talk High Speed and IFPA tournament...

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Highlights

  • High Speed was the first pinball to play a complete song, first Williams pin to use alphanumeric displays, and featured first auto-percentaging, first jackpot available only during multiball, and first solid-state game with operator report.
  • High Speed brought pinball back from the dead during the early 1980s slump caused by video games.
  • High Speed sold over 17,000 units, placing it in the upper tier of game sales for the era, comparable to Bally Eight Ball with Fonzie (~20,000).
  • The restoration Dave performed on this High Speed required 60+ hours of work including playfield teardown, board inspection, ramp repair, flipper rebuilding, and cosmetic restoration.
  • High Speed machines in good condition sell for $3,000–$4,000 on average, with fully restored examples commanding $6,000–$10,000+.
  • The weak upper right flipper is the most common gameplay-affecting maintenance issue on High Speed, often preventing players from consistently making the ramp shot.
  • The ramp is mechanically fragile and prone to cracking due to brittle plaster used in original production; aftermarket clear and translucent red ramps are now available.
  • Eric Stone holds a High Speed world record score of 42 million points achieved in a single 3.5-hour game.
  • Eric Stone dropped from #2 to #4 in WPPR rankings due to point decay from canceled tournaments during the pandemic/hiatus period.
  • High Speed is currently ranked around #100 on Pinside's 100 ranking list, floating alongside games like Paragon (~100), Fathom (#52), Centaur (#60), Quicksilver (#74), and Stargazer (#70).

Notable quotes

“This machine brought pinball back from the dead. It had so much to offer.”
Dave
“When in doubt, hit the ramp. Okay, we're ramping up.”
Dave (instruction to George during gameplay)
“I got the world record on that game. I think it was 42 million. Remember, that was my three and a half hour game.”
Eric Stone
“You didn't know it. I'm watching. Because you light that by... The game is high speed, and the ball does move at a high speed.”
Dave (explaining cherry light mechanic during gameplay)
“If that right flipper is weak or not working, you're kind of screwed. Although I tell you, when I was playtesting this game, I did make the ramp from the lower right flipper once. Some weird shot I got up there, but it's not made to do that.”
Dave
“I've been driving a taxi the last few weeks. I've been up here, I'm going to pick up some people now. Hey, taxi. Yeah, I know, exactly. It's a crazy taxi.”
Eric Stone
“I just humming that tune sometimes I play this game so much I go to a store or whatever and I'm just humming the tune in my head.”
Dave
“There's, you know... I said you know. Uh, that's all right. This game doesn't have a lot of features, but the features it has are a lot of fun.”
Dave
“I dropped from two to four... I was number two in the world for several months and I think the Pintastic tournament and maybe a couple of the Pinberg tournaments fell off of my card.”
Eric Stone
“I don't have any ramps. You need a ramp, George.”
Dave (to George during George's early gameplay struggles)

Entities

  • Bally· company
  • Dr. Dave's Restorations· company
  • Williams· company
  • Flash· game
  • High Speed· game
  • High Speed 2: The Getaway· game
  • Skateball· game
  • IFPA· organization
  • Pinside 100· organization
  • The Classic Pinball Podcast· organization
  • WPPR· organization
  • Bill Parran· person
  • Dave· person
  • Eric Stone· person
  • Eugene Jarvis· person
  • George· person
  • Larry DeMar· person
  • Python Angelo· person
  • Sammy Hagar· person
  • Steve Ritchie· person

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