latest site updates and other blog news on hanemono, kenrimono and other modern pachinko machines http://www.pachimono.com/news.html en-au Leisure gambling pachinko 2000 candyflip 2012 candyflip candyflip http://www.pachimono.com/news.htmlimages/candyflipsignature.gif http://www.pachimono.com/news.html Thu, 12 Apr 2012 22:05:14 GMT Wish I could say I've been living in Japan and buying hundreds of machines, but that ain't the case. Life just got in the way of my little hobby. Nevermind - back in the saddle and introducing a host of new updates. My Web Builder software has upgraded 2 major versions since I was last here, so who knows what the site will look like this time around? ;) BRAND NEW GALLERIES are now in effect, and utilizing PHP and a MySQL backend means the serving of these photos has never been faster, or more consistent. It's also a breeze now to update the photos regularly... phew! Hundreds more photos added in for ALL categories and many this year have come from pachinko fans like yourself, across the globe - which means pachimono.com continues to be the premium English language reference site for modern pachinko machines on Earth. Thanks for your support. http://www.pachimono.com/news.html/hanemono_galleries.html Thu, 18 Nov 2010 10:40:23 GMT There's always more to do - and more to do, I've done. ;) Added in a few hundred more photos, and updated links on others, this past month. I've also updated the Yahoo Japan price lists - some huge sales have been happening on rarer machines in Japan over the last few months. Check them out HERE Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:08:42 GMT Apologies all - we had a week long outage here at pachimono.com due to my old Domain Host not accepting a transfer to my new Host last year. As a result - no pachimono for a week and all pages junked! Anyway, all fixed now with a new host and continued 24/7 service for the forseeable future. Enjoy. :) http://www.pachimono.com/news.html/gallery.html Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:21:09 GMT I'm in the middle of the largest site update in over a year - hundreds, almost thousands, of new machine images will be appearing in the Gallery on the site over the next few weeks. First up though, it's the Arepachi galleries' turn. Elsewhere, everything from hanemono, to kenris, to rare weird 'others' - for every manufacturer, from the late 1970's right through to 2010, they are all getting new additions. And I've been doing loads of research thru many many Japanese magazines from the 90's on dates of manufacture, and have added those in front of each machine name, where available. I've even found some older (and new) pachinko catalogs and guidebooks and where relevant, these have been added per machine, too. Pachimono.com is going to be the biggest database of easily traceable, named and dated, past and present 'mono' pachinkos outside Japan, if it isn't already. Thanks for your ongoing support and feedback. :) http://www.pachimono.com/news.html/prices.html Wed, 26 May 2010 15:10:01 GMT I've just added 20 more machine prices from the last few months on Yahoo Japan, to the ever growing database of machine prices here at Pachimono.com. Hope you find this useful. And the graphic featured this week? No reason - just some eye candy for ya! ;) http://www.pachimono.com/news.html/history.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:15:25 GMT A quick update as I've got real busy since the birth of my first baby boy! I have managed to find the time to finally do a potted hsitory of the pachinko industry and the major discoveries in the hanemono/kenri/arepachi arena, over the 25 years from 1980 thru 2005. Hope you enjoy it and find it useful. Feel free to suggest any holes you think need filling? http://www.pachimono.com/news.html/prices.html Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:21:58 GMT Another year, another (10) machines! ;) As first order of business for 2010, I've updated the Yahoo Japan auction prices page with some (lots) of new data and photos. Early modern machines continue to sell very well in Japan, despite the continuing Recession. Seems quality, and nostalgia, never go out of style.. Oh, and the Machine Gallery has about a bazillion new entries as well. Yeah - I had lots of free time in December. :) Check the latest prices HERE and the newest Machine Gallery pics HERE http://www.pachitalk.com/forums/modern-pachinko/33234-new-pachinko-blog-pachitalk.html Thu, 24 Dec 2009 09:04:30 GMT We've all had a jolly good laugh at the Japanese from time to time. Japlish, their contraction of English into a form of Japanese they understand (but that we usually don't) is a continuing and modern phenomenon, as anyone currently living in Japan will attest. The latest example of mangled translations I have seen, for a pachinko and promo staff hire management company (and not a small one) is puzzling on a few fronts. First, how did this get past their senior management team, and if it did and they have received any feedback, why do they persist with the name regardless?! Apayours staffing Whatever the reasoning, you can't argue with the sentiment! I also love that the katakana they use (top of their Homepage) is dead-on for making sure any gaijin understands the exact intent of the words: Perhaps they had an Italian on-staff with a keen sense of humour? Or they provide panty vending machines as a sideline? Follow more of the Blogs on Pachitalk Happy Xmas all! ;) http://www.pachimono.com/news.html/prices.html Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:22:21 GMT Just added a new page collating the latest prices for interesting modern pachi machines. You'll find it under Machines / Prices within the site. Monthly, or more often, I'll be posting prices that Japanese Yahoo buyers have been paying for complete, working machines, along with a pic of the machine they were purchasing. What you do with the info is up to you. ;) Let me know what you think, and any suggestions about format/content etc very welcome. As usual, unless its super rare or otherwise unusual, no deji-pachis feature in the list. Enjoy y'all.... http://www.pachimono.com/blog.xml Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:23:05 GMT Pachinko, as most of us know, has been around for nigh-on 80 years. In Japan, it’s a multi-billion yen industry consuming millions of minds, and salaries, everyday. Here in the West though, it barely raises a flicker of an eyeball from news outlets of any kind. We remain, as a whole, clueless to its wonders. But one day, I have the feeling, pachinko will bust over into mainstream Western consciences, BIG TIME. The question is of course: what factor will lead to this sudden public awakening and recognition of what has hitherto been, the littlest known wildly successful mass commercial pinball game in history? All genres that become 'hot' (as defined by your children - ask them!) need to become overweight in a 'coolness' factor, before they reach critical mass appeal. For vampires it was the book and movie 'Twilight', for Obama it was the potential contained within the first black US Presidency, and for Michael Jackson (the 2nd time) it was, unfortunately, Death. I have a number of guesses of how this will happen for Pachinko, some of which are mere hopes/dreams and wishes, and some of which are based somewhat more in fact. My strong belief is that one or more of these could be the catalyst to one day push your previously clueless neighbour to say "hey, ain't that one of them darn pachink-me-thingys?". Here are some of them (you guess which are serious): 1. Twilight : The Japanese Connection - Edward travels alone to Osaka (Bella having been ditched in previous books, as he couldn't stand her whiney face one more Millennia), and finds success in two difficult to manage fields : pachinko parlours and Japanese women. Running the 'Demon Night' parlour chain gives Edward the yen he needs to feed an insatiable desire for vintage pachinko collecting (which we see him do at nights), nubile Cosplay women (weekends), and an unparalleled oriental bloodlust (every waking hour). Only the newest clan of half Korean/half Japanese Osakan Yakuza vampires, the Baka BBQ, stand in his way from dominating the Kanto pachinko Shogunate entirely. 2. A substantially increased Collectors market and an understanding of the true 'value' of machines - Anyone who has ever thought about buying one will know that vintage pachinko machines outside of Japan currently have virtually none, or very little value, in the second-hand market. The same can not be said of these machines at home in Japan - indeed, vintage machines are often the most valuable found, when they can be found. As any culture begins to value it's history after the fact, so too do items from a steadily aging population's childhood begin to look far more attractive as their latter years approach. Most Westerners do not have this childhood around pachinko machines to remember - they will have to make new memories of the fun these machines provide now. But if enough of them make those new memories, and the demand then exceeds supply, we'll have ourselves a rather hot little Collector's market. In the meantime, should that knowledge of extreme values for certain machines in Japan make its way across to the West, the market will get an early kick-start. There is, after all, no way someone will sell their 'junker' vintage for $25 locally, when they know it's worth $1000 back in the country of origin… 3. Pachinko/PachiSlot finds acceptance as a new form of gambling in Vegas - Actually, it doesn't have to be Vegas. Any casino nation that takes the chance on a totally new (for the West) form of gambling like this, AND gets it through the lawmakers, could burst pachinko/pachislo onto the world scene in a heartbeat. It would take dedicated teams of persistent lawyers, commissioners, marketers and gambling activists quite probably years to get this across the line, but should it happen, pachinko could then find its first wide audience outside the Asian continent, and finally enter popular Western culture at mainstream level. Here's hoping that one, or more of the above, force this little known and really fun Japanese gambling form into the public domain sooner, rather than later. http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2008/10/09/pachinko-u-majoring-in-tumbling-steel-balls/ Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:32:40 GMT Nice article from TOKYO REPORTER on a school of Business specifically devoted to educating the future faces of the pachinko industry. When pachinko employees and staff start wearing polo shirts, you know the industry is not far away from respectability! Link to the article is : here http://www.pachitalk.com/forums/modern-pachinko/32644-james-lanthripes-r2d2-pachinko-cab-featured-gameroom-mag.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:55:37 GMT This month's edition (November 2009) of GameRoom Magazine features pachinko and pachi-slo related content! Contents include The Art of the Game: An Interview with James Lanthripe (who owns that wicked R2D2 model pachinko frame on the front cover), Pinballs and Pachinko: A History of Pin Games, Pachinko LED Mods, and the GameRoom of the Month: James Lanthripe again. Not much pachinko material makes it's way out of the chatrooms and into the wider, brighter real world, so grab this issue when you see it! Link to their website here http://rpc.twingly.com/ Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:37:49 GMT A relatively new phenomenon in Japanese pachinko parlours is the 1 Yen Pachinko floors. In response to declining revenue streams & player numbers, and fuelled by Japan's protracted Recession, parlours are steadily moving away from the pure, old model of loaning balls at 4 yen each. Instead, players on a tighter household budget (and that must be a majority of them) are flocking to the cheaper 1 Yen Pachi being offered. How does it work? Low Stakes Gaming (as the industry calls this attractor) essentially offers more balls for less buck. 100 Yen used to get you 25 balls at the old loan rate of 4 yean each. Now, 1 Yen Pachi offers 100 balls for the same money, but with vastly inferior cash in rate at the end. Playtime is increased, at the expense of large potential cash wins. For a seemingly larger proportion of the population, that's just fine - they are looking to kill time, not take away a million dollars. OTR Global estimates that up to 30-40% of parlours in 2008 were offering 1 or 2 yen pachinko, and this has no doubt grown substantially since that report was issued, as the Global Financial Crisis really took hold (www.otrglobal.com, prepared Oct 2008). What will this mean for the type of machines installed in parlours though? It seems that most owners are simply shifting their top new seller machines into the 1 and 2 yen pachi rooms after 3 months or so, thereby ensuring maximum value from their machines in a time when replacements are still costing upwards of US$3000 each. The 4 yen pachi players subsidise the new machines, while the 1 yen pachi players ride out any residual value in them for another 3 months or more. This is great for the struggling parlours and the casual pachi players - but terrible news for the manufacturers of course, who are relying on the constant turnover of machines to increase their bottom lines. The industry is, it seems, is in a new and potentially long term damaging phase. http://rpc.twingly.com/ Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:19:40 GMT A new Japanese based, for-Foreigners auction site has just opened online. GaijinBay fills the gap that eBay Japan left when it closed down a few years ago, and provides a new english interface for those who have been persisting with Yahoo JP in the native language since then. Now there's precious little content on there yet, as they really are BRAND new in town, and none that I can see that's pachinko related. But it might be one to keep an eye on in the coming months, should it catch on. Best of all though, they have a free Wanted section that you can add your own requests to. Perhaps, if you're clever with your freight forwarding, you can find some bored English teachers in Tokyo to post you over a few cells (and use their addresses to register with?) Good luck with that... and worth a look.... HERE http://rpc.twingly.com/ Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:59:10 GMT I have just added in a translated, JP --> English, glossary of common pachinko terms. As the bulk of info available on the internet about pachinko is in Japanese, this should be a valuable tool for anyone attempting to 'kanji-match' the Japanese script to some sensible English translations. It will certainly serve you better than much of what Google is able to do for you (not Google's fault of course - there is only so much an online translator like that is capable of getting correct). You'll find it here: glossary Please feel free to ask for other translations you wish to see, and any corrections you think should be made? I'll keep adding to it over the coming months as more terms and the need for their translations, become obvious to me. http://rpc.twingly.com/ Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:28:17 GMT Have you noticed how the front page image keeps changing each time you visit? No? Well you haven't been pressing 'Refresh' (F5) when you visit then? Each new visit to the front page generates a new image reveal - and I've just added in 10 extra ones to see. There will be a constant flow of brand spankers each month (don't look in the Galleries section for them - they are only found here). Some very nice Heiwa branded, pachi-related anime characters and paraphenalia... enjoy! http://rpc.twingly.com/ Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:43:02 GMT You have perhaps seen these before, as they've been around on the web for awhile - but if not, check this link. A design firm in Japan (Tokyo Odyssey) did these for some clients, and the Japanese photographers they employed (Nacasa & partners) really know their stuff. Gorgeous images - best pachinko parlour shots I've ever seen.... Almost makes you want to go inside doesn't it? http://www.pachimono.com/news.html/hanemono_galleries.html Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:48:24 GMT More and more images are being loaded into the galleries, this time a heap more hanemono's from all makers. I can't for the moment let my source be known, but it's a veritable goldmine of super collectable and very rare machine shots. Stay tuned... and keep looking in the Gallery section for more over the coming weeks. http://www.pachimono.com/news.html/kenrimono_galleries.html Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:48:28 GMT Check out this image at right from Sanyo bussan, from 1995 for their very first 'GinGira Paradise' kenrimono machine. How are those classic 80's poses? And the bikinis.... And while we're at it, how about those nice child-bearing hips? You think THESE girls would be getting a position with Ralph Lauren this summer?! I don't think so.... I love this old advertising, and I've appropriated a whole lot more of them into the Sanyo Bussan kenrimono and hanemono picture gallery. Follow the link on the image and have a good laugh at them 'olden days folk...... :) http://rpc.twingly.com/ Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:48:37 GMT 'Winning Pachinko' author Eric Sedensky and I have been in touch again lately. Eric and I corresponded when we both lived in Tokyo back in 1992, and now he's living Stateside (and email has been invented !), its a breeze to catch up on old thoughts about all things pachi... I just re-bought his 1991 book (Tuttle Publishing), probably the ONLY english language title every published on pachinko (certainly the only one I know of). Its not easy to track down this discontinued little book (try eBay), but well worth the hunt for the Glossary terms alone. Many of them I have borrowed for my own use here on the site. Eric was the originator in this field, 20 years ago! My copy is inscribed from Eric to 'Neils'. Turns out Neils was a Swedish guy that Eric had a particularly large drinking session with one night in Tokyo, and whom also purchased 2 copies of the book from him. Seems one of those books has now finally made it's way to Australia. Neils - do you still have the other?! ;) http://www.pachimono.com/news.html/gallery.html Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:48:52 GMT loads of images are in now, and there are LOADS more to go.. as soon as I started this little project, I realised just how much more I could do if I had the time.... Now, I *should* go off and do some more... :) The aim is, eventually, to have the entire history of hanes, kenris and arepachis all listed in the Gallery section, from the late 1980's thru to 2000 or so. If I can be bothered doing more after that, I will. Please submit your own entries to this database (use the Contact page, or the links below) so I can assemble the largest pictorial database of these machines on the planet, and all can benefit from it's availability.. http://www.pachimono.com/news.html/gallery.html Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:49:14 GMT it's taken a lot of elbow-grease and thinking about page designs (which hasn't really finished), but I've got the beginnings of the galleries in now for the hanemono machines. I'll add more over the next few weeks for kenri's and arepachi's, and as more people send me machines photos to complete each section, I'll add those in too. Would love some feedback on how they look at your end?.... Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:49:22 GMT added rotating front page images, and sorted the 'machines' section into some semblance of order. Basic site content now forming up. Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:50:37 GMT rebuilt the entire site in WWB 6 after realising the templated version would not allow appropriate growth. Looks better too. Uploaded to server. Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:38:50 GMT pachi-mono begins its initial editing and proof reading. Little content is available as yet and changes are occurring constantly throughout the site pages. If you're reading this and hate what you see so far, be a little patient. ;)