Skywheelrider
Monday, June 7, 2004 10:49:35 AM
Here is one....last week I was looking through my game joint photos, and came across a couple of older photos of a "cover the spot" and "wacky wire" and wondered, are these joints out there anymore? I was thinking that it has been a few years since I have seen either joint. And then lo and behold, I see a "cover the spot" with Star Valley Amusements last Saturday in Newport, Michigan. But I still have not seen a "wacky wire" in quite a few years up here. Do they still operate anywhere else? Just curious if anyone knows!
"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first." -- Mark Twain
orphaned
Monday, June 7, 2004 11:08:35 AM
The company that makes them has had them on display and taking orders every year down at Gibtown for the last three or four years. They are inside the main building. Stopped by again this year and tried it...I've never made it to the bottom...LOL...I dunno when the last time I saw one on a show was....perhaps Tampa (Chris, John, Matt, Ryan? anyone?)
BSA Mike
Monday, June 7, 2004 11:44:15 AM
wow, funny you mentioned them chris..

two weeks ago we had a cover the spot (memorial day weekend)
and last week at the strawberry festival we had some guy with a wacky wire...

we also had a guy who had two tv's set up and had the old nintendo game "duck hunt" set up, not sure what the objective was, but he was dying a slow death, while every other game was getting a few dollars

pretty weird stuff

ridesafe
Monday, June 7, 2004 1:05:07 PM
Crabtree has a cover the spot. Same agent for a decade too. Never seen a wacky wire though. What is it?
"Sometimes the world seems like a big hole. You spend all your life shouting down it and all you hear are echoes of some idiot shouting nonsense down a hole." -Adam Duritz
JW
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Monday, June 7, 2004 1:09:58 PM
I rarely see the "cover the spot" and "wacky wire" in my geographic area (DE, PA, NJ, MD).

The wacky wires are on display every year at IAAPA and IISF.
The wacky wire is manufactured by DOBCO (Dobson) of Canada (I believe they also book games with Conklin, and possibly others).
Dobco also makes updated, themed versions of the wacky wire- Wizard and cobra.
www.dobco.com 

Come to think of it, I don't see many cat racks anymore (on carnival midways anyway).
On the other hand, I don't have far to go to see "start and stop" wheels (aka "stop and go", "color" etc...)- There must be more start and stop wheels along the New Jersey shore than anywhere else on planet earth (at least the "Jersey" wheels)- there must be more than a hundred of them along the boardwalks and piers in Jersey.
Of course, a lot of that has to do with the fact that most of them were manufactured by Park Sales of Seaside Park, NJ (not to be confused with the "Pennsylvania" wheels manufactured by Jack's Games of PA). [:D]

One unique game I remember seeing that I don't recall ever seeing, was last year on Reithoffer at the PA Fair in Bensalem- it was a game in a line-up trailer that had several large old wooden "pinball" machines that were flashed with a variety of merchandise from slum to higher-end merchandise. The slot your ball went into was the prize you won. I thought that was a kinda interesting game- rarely seen. (Unfortunately, when I tried to photograph it the guy working the joint abruptly stopped me and said "Yo, Buddy- If I let you take a picture of this, I'd get in big trouble. My boss would probably fire me." (apparently secrative game)[:(]


"Don't forget to be half fair and give a little credit to the small concessionaire"
Disney Fan
  •  rhino
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Monday, June 7, 2004 1:22:09 PM
tim jacobs had a cover-the-spot on star vally a couple years ago.....was the one you saw his joint?
Carnevil
Monday, June 7, 2004 3:02:13 PM
Quote:

quote:


Originally posted by JW

I rarely see the "cover the spot" and "wacky wire" in my geographic area (DE, PA, NJ, MD).

The wacky wires are on display every year at IAAPA and IISF.
The wacky wire is manufactured by DOBCO (Dobson) of Canada (I believe they also book games with Conklin, and possibly others).
Dobco also makes updated, themed versions of the wacky wire- Wizard and cobra.
www.dobco.com 

Come to think of it, I don't see many cat racks anymore (on carnival midways anyway).
On the other hand, I don't have far to go to see "start and stop" wheels (aka "stop and go", "color" etc...)- There must be more start and stop wheels along the New Jersey shore than anywhere else on planet earth (at least the "Jersey" wheels)- there must be literally hundreds of them along the boardwalks and piers in Jersey.
Of course, a lot of that has to do with the fact that most of them were manufactured by Park Sales of Seaside Park, NJ (not to be confused with the "Pennsylvania" wheels manufactured by Jack's Games of PA). [:D]

One unique game I remember seeing that I don't recall ever seeing, was last year on Reithoffer at the PA Fair in Bensalem- it was a game in a line-up trailer that had several large old wooden "pinball" machines that were flashed with a variety of merchandise from slum to higher-end merchandise. The slot your ball went into was the prize you won. I thought that was a kinda interesting game- rarely seen. (Unfortunately, when I tried to photograph it the guy working the joint abruptly stopped me and said "Yo, Buddy- If I let you take a picture of this, I'd get in big trouble. My boss would probably fire me." (apparently secrative game)[:(]





I think your talking about the roll down add em up
Its not impossible it just costs more.
jfrisoska
Monday, June 7, 2004 3:16:57 PM
i worked a wacky wire about 12 yrs ago
wades had a cover the spot a few yrs ago not sure
if the still put one up or not,
they call it the circle of science[8]
jaybyrd
orphaned
Monday, June 7, 2004 3:45:19 PM
I know the pinball game you speak of. Sixcat probably know the owner of the joint in question.

I thought it was an interesting game, myself being biased towards pinball of course. Lots of Zippos, keychains, typical dozer field stuff.
BSA Mike
Monday, June 7, 2004 4:06:36 PM
Quote:

quote:


Originally posted by JW
The wacky wires are on display every year at IAAPA and IISF.
The wacky wire is manufactured by DOBCO (Dobson) of Canada (I believe they also book games with Conklin, and possibly others).
Dobco also makes updated, themed versions of the wacky wire- Wizard and cobra.
www.dobco.com 



The wizzard ones were the ones that were booked in with us last week..
JW
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Monday, June 7, 2004 5:11:08 PM
Quote:

quote:


Originally posted by ThePatch

I know the pinball game you speak of. Sixcat probably know the owner of the joint in question.

I thought it was an interesting game, myself being biased towards pinball of course. Lots of Zippos, keychains, typical dozer field stuff.


Yeah Patch, that definitely sounds like the one. Different and easy to understand and play.
"Don't forget to be half fair and give a little credit to the small concessionaire"
Bill P
  •  Bill P
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Monday, June 7, 2004 5:43:06 PM
There was a Wacky Wire with Strates last year in NY.
Da Bair
  •  Da Bair
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Monday, June 7, 2004 5:43:37 PM
In the good ol days, PKI had:

Three wacky wire joints
X Three shifts of personel during the day

= A full cube van of stock to start off the fair season.

Took the kid to Chuck E Cheese and they had one. Alas it was setup for redemption. Interesting though, you can choose between three speeds with more tickets disbursed the higher the speed.

UserPostedImage

Sixcat
  •  Sixcat
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Monday, June 7, 2004 8:08:13 PM
The "spot game" was a great game until some greedy people burnt it. Now, you and I know there are no bad joints, just bad operators. A bad operator got the joint banned from this show. No names guys so don't ask. He also got the bushel basket shut down for good. Two good games that can't be booked here anymore. I think the spot game because of what you can and can't do with it is banned on many shows. That's why you don't see it much. As for the "skin the wire." It's a blank. Just because They can sell them at the trade show doesn't mean it's a good joint.
Again, this is just my opinion, I could be wrong. Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Sixcats have nine lives
Skywheelrider
Tuesday, June 8, 2004 3:47:21 AM
Quote:

quote:


Originally posted by rhino

tim jacobs had a cover-the-spot on star vally a couple years ago.....was the one you saw his joint?

Quite possibly was his. Is he still on the road? I know he had some equipment he was booking with Star Valley a couple of years ago, most notably a Scrambler that A.J. Carl Shows now has (they said they bought it from him). He also had a fun house that he got repainted a couple of years ago (never did get a chance to see it, was originally themed "Power Rangers") and he had a dark ride that had the cages you stand up in, called the "Lost Dutch Mine," I have not seen it since 2002.



Thanks for all the responses guys and gal! Much appreciated.

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first." -- Mark Twain
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