# Around the Playfield with Jersey Jack Guarnieri
by [Jeff Patterson](/author/jeff-patterson) · January 31, 2018 · [This Week in Pinball](/news/category/this-week-in-pinball)

> Interview with Jack Guarnieri, the founder of Jersey Jack Pinball.

![Around the Playfield with Jersey Jack Gamelabs text display](https://media.kineticist.com/posts/jersey-jack-guarnieri-interview/inline/6839bb67b8445b3762100fd9_657a56211d818c1d24bc8868_Screen-Shot-2018-01-23-at-2.08.29-PM.png)

### **Flyer for Around the Playfield with Jersey Jack Guarnieri**

Jack Guarnieri is the founder of [Jersey Jack Pinball](/pinball-manufacturers/jersey-jack-pinball).

## **Around the Playfield with Jack Guarnieri**

### **The Start Button: How did you first get into pinball?**

*I was a kid about 12 years old and I played a game at the local beach club in Brooklyn. I loved it.*

### **  
The Plunge: What was the first pinball machine you bought?**

*When I was 20 years old the owner of the same beach club I went to when I was 12, asked me if I wanted to put games in the club to revenue share. The old operator was retiring. The first game I bought was as an operator and it was a* [*Bally Wizard*](/pinball-machines/wizard-1975) *for $1,250.*

### **  
The Skill Shot: What is your best pinball achievement or favorite pinball moment?**

*I’d have to say the creation of* [*The Wizard of Oz Pinball Machine*](/pinball-machines/the-wizard-of-oz-2013)*. I was intimately involved in every detail of the game and it’s my absolute all-time favorite game. Seeing people play the game even today brings my personal favorite pinball moment.*

### **  
Good Shots, Bad Bounces: What is your favorite and least favorite pinball machine?**

*I love every pinball machine. Some people say* [*Popeye*](/pinball-machines/popeye-saves-the-earth-1994) *is terrible because you can’t see the playfield but even a “bad” pinball machine is better than no* [*pinball machine*](/games/pinball)*.*

### **  
The Wizard Mode: What is your dream theme you’d like to see made into a pinball machine?**

*I can’t say, we may be working on it now.*

### **  
The Tilt: What is the dumbest mistake you’ve made in pinball (mishap moving a machine, messing up trying to fix a machine, etc.)?**

*I was working on a Taxi Pin at Mott Street Arcade in NYC many years ago. I removed the backglass and it was so greasy it slipped out of my hands and smashed into a billion or more pieces. It was a pain for me to replace it but I did at my own cost.*

### **  
The High Score: Describe the pinball hobby in one word.  
**

[*Ineffable!*](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ineffable)

### **  
Match – Next Game: Where do you see the pinball hobby in 5-10 years?**

*Bigger every year for many many years to come. This is the start. Of course I’d say that, I believe that or else I would have never started a Pinball Manufacturing Company!*

## Related
- Game: [The Wizard of Oz](/games/pinball/the-wizard-of-oz)

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