Episode 125 - Reverse Wedgeheads

Collector Tom Rader discusses Williams reverse wedgehead EMs from the 1960s as the best pinball era.

Synopsis

In Episode 125 of the Wedgehead A A Pinball Podcast, host Alan interviews Tom Rader ("Pinball Tom"), a legendary collector who owned 350+ pinball machines over 20 years. The episode focuses on reverse wedgehead Williams EM machines from the early-to-mid 1960s, which Tom considers the best era of pinball. Tom shares his personal pinball history starting in South Dakota, his international career that enabled massive collecting, and discusses specific reverse wedgehead games like Trade Winds and Friendship 7, including purchase prices and design details.

Highlights

• Williams manufactured 16 reverse wedgehead games from June 1962 to December 1965, all single-player machines
• Trade Winds was the first reverse wedgehead, released in June 1962
• Trade Winds prototypes were designed in traditional square rectangular head design before production switched to reverse wedge
• Tom Rader purchased 350+ pinball machines over 20 years at an average cost of $555 per machine including shipping/gas
• Kicker is the only other U.S. manufactured EM-era game besides Williams to feature a wedgehead design
• Early-to-mid 1960s was the best era of pinball across all manufacturers (Williams, Bally, Chicago Coin, Gottlieb, Keeney)
• Pinball was illegal in LA and Oakland during the EM era, and remained illegal city-by-county in California
• Tom met his wife through a Stern Elvira and the Party Monsters game she was selling on eBay for $1,300

Entities

• Bally· company
• Chicago Coin· company
• Gottlieb· company
• Halliburton· company
• Keeney· company
• Williams· company
• Attack from Mars· game
• Dune· game
• Elvira and the Party Monsters· game
• Friendship "7"· game
• Kicker· game
• Laser Cue· game
• Medieval Madness· game
• Scared Stiff· game
• Trade Winds· game
• University of California Irvine· organization
• Wedgehead Pinball Podcast· organization
• Alan· person
• George Molentin· person
• Godzilla· person
• John Glenn· person
• Sam Harvey· person
• Steve Kordek· person
• Tom Rader· person
• Pinball 2000 series· product_line