Super Rare Arcade Game or Pinball Machine?

[@johnny--dollar]

Damn! The guy I would buy arcade machines from, was emptying out his four storage units and selling everything for cheap. He had two of those buried in a back corner. I climbed over some stuff to check them out and thought the monitors were missing in them. I had no Idea as to what they were. I hope someone ended up buying them as he dumpstered everything he had left.

[@WickedGamerCollector]

This is really cool piece of pinball / arcade history that Varkon machine. By the way you have some nice pinball skills ralph 👌

[@dinosaur6756]

I've been getting into the electromechanical non-pinball games of the 60s and early 70s lately. They aren't the most playable games ever made, but it's amazing what they were able to do without video screens and circuit boards. The engineering is insane. Each one is really a piece of art as well. They were making mechanical baseball games back in the 1930s that would blow your mind. Except for one small electric motor with a pulley the entire thing is completely mechanical. It keeps track of men on base, balls, strikes, outs, innings, and scores, and it's actually fun to play.

[@slinger2112]

The first words that came into my mind when you got to Varkon's lower playfield was "In your face!" Looking forward to the premiere.

[@KyleFN]

I have a memory of a pinball machine with a standard orientation, and the scoreboard had a vertical playfield that used this technique.

[@dennyk2294]

Wow, that was super cool. Thanks for sharing!

[@subversive1219]

Love the William's sounds! I'm hearing some Firepower samples in there, too.

[@RetroRalph]

I agree, the sounds of the williams games of that era are the best!! Thanks so much for watching!

[@ThisGuyFrritz]

I have played a pinball game like it in the '70s. It wasn't Sea Hunt, but some other game. The joysticks would be used to shake the game. The flipper buttons were on the joysticks. The ball would appear at the top on its railing before it would be dropped into the play-field. Being a little kid I was at the time, I've found it not easy to shake the game. Whatever it was, I might have seen a KZbin video of that game, but I don't know if it's still there.

[@tophergoeson]

Baby Pac's long lost brother! Nice Machine!!

[@curbydinobot8633]

Don't forget Granny and the gators

[@justifiedsuspicion675]

The time and effort which went into designing, manufacturing, maintaining the retro classics we love is unreal, beats the mind numbing server trash of today. When kids would make their way to the arcade with their pocket money, instead of slouching at the screen without even leaving their home. Happier times...

[@alanharvey9825]

Dude, that's badass, I'd love to have that one, totally different than any traditional pinball machine. Speaking of pinball machine, I need to drag my happy days pinball machine out of storage and finally restore it. It tilted when I was 8 years old and my father had held onto it until about 2 years ago when I spotted it in his garage tucked away covered in dust. I'm 48 now so better get it done while my brain is still sharp as a tack.

[@RalphBarbagallo]

I've played this game and it kind of feels weird--since it looks vertical but the board is actually a traditional horizontal playfield so you anticipate gravity pulling straight down but it's not...so there's this weird disconnect. It's a very cool game, though.

[@pwnedduffy]

I always was fond of the Black Lagoon and has a great hologram affect and the whole cabinet itself glows

[@Nerbil]

Great content. Some of those sound effects in Varkon are the same as Sinister. Keep up the good work Ralph.

[@MrPolycarpe13]

The demon head play area reminds me of ACDC pinball. Surely they got inspired from Varkon.

[@VID-KIDZ]

Q. Have They a Joust PinBall or Joust Cocktail in the Collection ?

[@elmono6299]

This reminds me of The Pinball Circus, an ultra-rare pinball machine that I was lucky to play last summer on my trip to The Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas, Nevada. Like Varkon, this one was also built inside an arcade cabinet as opposed to the traditionally table. However, unlike other tables including Varkon, The Pinball Circus had flipper buttons on the side of the cabinet and a launch button on the table board. What makes the game stand out is that it had different canopies to play on in which you have to aim & hit the ball up the ramps to reach & a magnet on the wall that would land the ball on the top canopy in which you knock out a brain exposed creepy clown's teeth with his fingers as the flippers. Why its so rare is that Bally/Midway feared that the table would be too expensive to produce and as of result, the game's production was cancelled with only 2 ever being built, making it the rarest pinball machine ever made. Thankfully one of the tables was donated to The Pinball Hall of Fame where it is the only playable location and from my experience, it is worth it. Despite its weird appearance, the game is easy to play but hard to master.

[@TheKurtsPlaceChannel]

Very entertaining and fun to watch. Reminds me of The Pinball Circus I played at The Las Vegas Pinball Hall Of Fame. Thanks for posting this.

[@tron3entertainment]

I wonder if VARKON's face inspired the SINISTAR game a year later. Am I hearing Defender sound FX?

[@jeffm5056]

I played Varkon at the Louisville Arcade Expo. It might've been that very machine. It's quite a weird experience.

[@ToJuRacing]

Never seen this before. I do want to visit that arcade. It's close to my fathers place! It's like a cocktail pinball inside a cabinet. That gameplay looks way fun. Gave you a sub, Great video! Thanks for posting. will check more of your videos! Game on!

[@RichFoster-zk3jo]

I remember playing Seahunt. It wasn't very good playwise, you couldn't nudge it really to help the ball play.

[@iownslaves]

I wonder how many Varkons were made and where I could find one.........

[@sturkrazee288]

Yeah i love all the re-hashed sounds in there. I hear Robotron, Joust, Black night etc. Funny to hear those sounds being available in the 70's first on this machine. They must've been trying to break out with this machine with some of the newer system sounds and boards. Very interesting indeed Ralph!

[@chiptoothtech4937]

SUPER COOL PINBALL MACHINE!!!! I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS!!!!! THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO RALPH !!!! ^_^!!

[@natgreystar]

I absolutely loved playing Varkon. I'd like to own one of these but I'm of the opinion that super rare games should absolutely stay public. Everyone should get to experience things like this. Who knows, maybe it will inspire someone to make a new pinball machine just like this. You listed 2 of the known locations, the only other one is Vintage Flipper World in Michigan but I can't confirm that. It was playable at the museum of pinball in California but they shut down. Supposedly 8 people in the US have one of these in their private collection. Wonder what happened to the rest. Probably in someone's storage black hole somewhere.

[@jeffkaczmarek3577]

PAPA world headquarters in Pittsburgh had on up until at least 2019 when they shut down, not sure what happened to it after that.

[@chrislaustin]

WOW, what a cool piece of gaming history that I don't believe I ever saw or even heard of until now. I grew up in Los Angeles back in the 70's & 80's, and we had tons of arcades and no shortage of cool and unique experiences. I have seen a couple of rare and one of a kind games over the years, but this really looks next level. I guess at only 90 made, these were made to order, and what a shame more places didn't give it a go. I'll assume most saw this as just a pinball machine, that looked like an arcade cab, and probably didn't see a huge return on investment(as PB was loosing greatly to video games at the time). I'm sure if I had ever seen this, I would have for sure played for the novelty, but probably wouldn't have played long term. While I love Pinball machines, for there art and design, I'm not a huge player. And when this was released, I rarely saw pinball machines at most arcades, as they were very niche by that time. This game looks to have been at the wrong place at the wrong time, or maybe it was destined to fail no matter what, I guess we'll never truly know.

[@slitherninja781]

Very cool, didn’t know this game existed, thanks for sharing! I’ll see you on the next one ☝️

[@_KarlS]

its more ergonomic for your neck it makes the field darker for lighting effects the sound must be cool too in person

[@markchatt4197]

I have a baby Pac-Man but never seen those 😮. Awesome thank you Ralph!!!

[@arcademaster1]

I’m one of the 90 owners of a Varkon. I bought it new in the box

[@itsthejoeshow]

This is nuts. My family has actually owned a Varkon machine since before I was born, and I recently just had it shipped out to me from Chicago. We have the original documents and keys and everything is perfectly functional. Let me know if you want anything sent over and I would be happy to. Sorry though, family heirloom and can't consider selling.

[@RetroRalph]

@@itsthejoeshow You have arcade / pinball gold my friend, that’s awesome! Only 90 made and who knows how many are actually still in existence. I only know of one at galloping ghost and one in Ohio at pastimes. I believe the Alan 1 guys in Utah have one too. So that’s only 3 I know of for sure. I’m sure there’s a handful on private collections but like I said, who knows how many…. Super cool that you have one man. Is it in good condition?

[@itsthejoeshow]

@@RetroRalph Absolutely perfect condition. It never hit an arcade floor, so it has only existed in my family's climate controlled basement outside of shipping. maybe has 40 or 50 hours of collective play time on it ever. My Dad won it at a VFW auction in 1986. It has the instruction manual, owners manual, and even original wiring diagram documentation. I'll have it in my possession again on the 17th of this month, and because of the data you provided in this video I will be taking a bunch of detailed pictures for sure haha.

[@itsthejoeshow]

@@RetroRalph I will get more details tomorrow from my Dad, but it appears this machine was donated from someone internal at Williams and also military associated. I grew up very close to Williams HQ at my Dad won this at a (what he said was) fancy event, where he bid a substantial price for the time. If there is anyone this information clicks with, I would love to hear it! I'm eager to find the story of how this came to be after 38 years!

[@IndieArcadeWave]

Sweet cabinet! I'll be able to check it out at Galloping Ghosts in July. Got lucky with an Ultimate Frisbee tournament being near Aroura. Can't wait to see what Doc has packed in there.

[@piratestation69]

I love seeing unique games... im so used to the classics lets see what else is out there. Concept games never fly with the main stream... but they are cool to look at...

[@Ryan-pr7vq]

I remember there was a Varkon at Tilt in the Laguna Hills Mall in 1986 when I was 9. I should have asked my dad to buy it for me for Christams when it was like $650😂

[@overtimearcade]

Spooksville is another weird upright pin like that, as seen in my recent tour of the Pacific Pinball Museum: Better than any school field trip! 📌🪩 60-second tour of the Pacific #Pinball Museum in Alameda, CA kzbin.info37Om2Nts2D8?feature=share

[@timstinyarcade170]

Played one at Pinball Expo last year. Great game!

[@Jasons_Arcade_PLUS]

That thing looks sick! Super unique for sure. Great video sir!

[@Evercade_Effect]

Very cool, never heard of this machine which is good because I love learning about stuff like this.

[@TechicallyTNT]

Great Video, Thanks for sharing.

[@AngelusNielson]

Sea hunt is older than I am...

[@Pinballroomcville]

That pin looks dope!

[@Jook51]

So the Avatar Crab battle is essentially the Varkon battle 🤔

[@darktetsuya]

I think I've heard of this one? obviously never seen one in person though. what a wild machine, though! man they really tried some crazy stuff back in the early 80s. definitely *sounds* like a williams game no doubt about it.

[@pwnedduffy]

Going over comments I see people respect baby pac So glad you got that as your first XD Such a great machine

[@Crimefighter]

Galloping Ghost has one.

[@8589brian]

It's a concept also adopted and adapted for Baby Pac man

[@TiltingT]

Varkon is awesome game ..I will seek one out as soon as I hit the lottery! So cool, but even more rare... to have a sea hunt and varkon in my collection would be a dream!.. I play Varkon everytime I'm at Galloping Ghost

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

That thing is awesome!

[@RetroRalph]

It's really cool, I agree!

[@illygotbeats]

What an interesting machine! Since there's only 90 and who knows how many of them are actually working and in original condition. I agree 8k is expensive, and I know retro gaming is on the rise. But imagine how much rarer it will be in another 10 - 20 years. That thing will be worth it. But who really has 8k laying around for an arcade machine. I am curious if you tried negotiating that price down to maybe 5?

[@pixelpalacearcade]

You would be surprised how much collectors will pay for certain titles. Hell, I just paid almost $4k for Spy Hunter.

[@illygotbeats]

@@pixelpalacearcade ooooh spy hunter is a timeless classic though

[@danielaelizabethleon205]

where is that place?! i wanna go

[@doubleHLabs]

Sweet Tshirt!

[@rushmore3927]

LOL, out of reach for most. Cool cab!

[@dragongamer2670]

From what I hear and talking to Pinball people. Just many think Varkon was not fun. So it makes sense why the concept just didn't work. Also I am hearing it didn't do well... people enjoyed more of a bigger playing field on Pinball machines. Varkon needed that.. sadly and with a short playing field. You can find better mini pinball machines which in my opinion are just better designed and more fun to play.

[@randyjack9584]

Neat machine.

[@mikesabin8568]

Galloping ghost has one

[@RetroRalph]

Yes they do, I mentioned that in the video. Thanks so much for watching, it's much appreciated!

[@Arcadehollywood]

Varkon!!!!

[@Konuvis]

It's funny because the gameplay is very pinball but the SFX are very video gamey. My guess is they didn't make many because of the manufacturing costs and multiple point of failure.

[@rushmore3927]

Darn it! Almost 400 miles from me.... Galoping Ghost is 70 less. GG it is then thumb 👍

[@smog-097]

I want this.

[@CubbyTech]

Wanted to see more of the game(s) - was your camera person too shy?

[@dragongamer2670]

Well.... if you are wanting to see Rare Arcade games you know where to find me ;)

[@quantumfx2677]

I believe wacky races arcade has to be the Rarest arcade machine out there.

[@kelseystickney8663]

"Hopefully you enjoyed that little closer look on the inside of the cabinet" . . . you mean that 1/2 second of footage between the 24 cuts? No, I did not enjoy that. Are you the one directing Liam Neeson to jump over a fence too?

[@Paul-yk9uq]

Only 90 were made because it sucked back then, and it still does today. What a horrible game.

[@jeffkaczmarek3577]

I need to get up there, never seen a working Granny and the Gators in public before.

[@vision821k4]

lol your baby pac skills def. translated into this game lmao