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100 Yeorsof
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AlleyBowler
A Skee-Ball
Gentennial
kee-Ballis a timeless
gameso it comesas no
surprisethat the classic arcadepieceis celebrating
its I 00thbirthdaythis year.
The ubiquitouspresence
of
alley gameshas,in fact, transformedthe phraseSkee-Ball
into a kind of culturalshorthandfor the entirefamily entertainmentindustry.
To celebratethis landmark anniversary,the factory
will releasea limited,collector's editionofits signature
attraction,a gamethat looks
on the outsideidenticalto
what you might havefound
on locationin the 1930s
while feafuringthe factory's
latest,state-of-the-arttechnologyunderthe hood.
Skee-Ball,which was first
patentedin 1909,is now in
the reliablehandsof former
financialexecJoeSladekand
his family. However,the
companylineageremainsintact,going back in a direct
line to thegame'screatorJ.D.
Esteson throughto Wurlitzer
andthe PhiladelphiaTobogganCompany,which continuesto do businesswithin five
miles of the currentSkee-Ball
plant in Chalfont,Pa.,near
Philadelphia.
"Skee.Ballwasfun 100
yearsago,and it's fun today,
andGodwilling it will be tun
100yearsfiom now," said
CEO Sladekin an exclusive
interviewwith RePlay. ".We
aredoing businessaswe always havq.Skee-Ballthe
gameand Skee-Ballthe company,aswell asthe entireredemptionsideof the gameindustry,hasbuilt a stronglegacy. The economymay be
toughright now, but we are
iust in neutralfor the mo-
ment.We aregoing to go on and
on."
Sladekboughtthe company in 1985from the family
that first startedmaking SkeeBall gunes."Thereis a direct
lineagethat hasbeenbenta
little bit but hasneverbeen
broken,"he explained.
Philadelphia
Toboggan
built carousels
androller
coastersandbeganmaking
Skee-Ballalleysasa way to
diversifl,theirbusiness,
explainedSladek.By thetime he
camelookingfor a businessin
his nativePhiladelphiaarea,
theywerereadyto sellthatdivisionof the company.Until
themid-1980s,
Sladekspent
his careerworking in finance.
includinga long-stintasa veteranwith PriceWaterhouse.
"ln 1985,I wasvicepresidentoffinanceofa publish-
ing companyin New York
City, but my family was from
Philadelphiaand I wantedto
comebackto Philadelphia."
So Sladekbeganlooking
aroundfor opportunitiesin
his nativecity and quickly
learnedthat Skee-Ballwas on
the market.
"I said,'Heck I usedto
play Skee-Ballas a kid down
on theJerseyshore,"'Sladek
recalled."I wasjust looking
to go into a businessthat we
couldbuild, andwhen we got
to a certainsize,we would
haveto makea decisionabout
whetherto sell it off or not.
That neverhappened.It was
too much fun."
Skee-Ball Today
Sladekis joined todayat
Skee-Ballby two of his three
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The Skee-Ballproduction
staff gatheredon the factoryfloor by a recentexampleof their handiwork,a bank of classicSkee-Ba//allevs,
Skee-Ball's
MichaelSladekand CathyLengele
head up purchasing.
The factoryremainscommittedto new productdevelopmentfrom the engineering staff
(leftto right):Matt Evinger,Scott Smithand Mike pantalone.
kids, Eilleen,who handles
marketing,andMichaelin
sales.In management,
the
Sladeksalsowork handin
glove with companypresident
Jeff Hudson,who joined the
firm in the early '90s when
Skee-Ballboughtthe company wherehe was thenemployed,Vari-Tech.
The Michigangamecompany that helped develop
gamesandoperateredempparksalso
tion in amusement
Page lOO.
brought severalother industry
veteransto Skee-Ball,including ReggieMoultrie and Tom
and Mark Kane.
Hudsonhasan amusement
park backgroundsttetching
backto the very beginningof
his careierwhen he started
working at Six Flagsasa collegestudent.Sincethen,he
hasdone consultingwork and
beeninvolvedin sellingthe
redemptionconceptto various themeparks throughout
RePloyMogozineo ilouember 2OO9
Europe
beforeassuming
the duties
aspresidentof
Skee-Ball.
In additionto the iconic alley bowler, Skee-Ballis al.waysbusy developinga wide
rangeof noveltyredemption
games.Earlierthis year,they
launcheda mini versionof
Skee-Ball calledSkee-Daddle.
Moreover,the companycurrently offersa broadcatalog
that includeseverything from
unique skill stop gameslike
Spin-N-ltin ard Tower of
Powerto thenew quickcoin
attractionSuper2I andthe
sportsgameSuperShot.
This month,in additionto
the specialretro collector's
edition.Skee-Ballwill also
launchthe latestupgradeto
its classiccommercialalley
bowler."This new game.really addresses
all the operational andaestheticissues
raisedby operators,"said
Hudson."I think our customerswill be very plegsed.
It's a rebirthofthe classic
Skee-Ballalley;'
As a company,Skee-Ball
oftenfinds itself in competition with its own products,all
ofwhich aredesignedto have
a long-eaminglife, supported
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by nearly unlimited factory
serviceandpartsavailability.
because
"In many instances,
of the quality and becausewe
keep offering parts,many of
thosegamesare out there for
more than 20 years," noted
Hudson.
The producthas also
spawnedmany competitors
that attempt to emulatethe
winning formula, which by
sheerlongevity has also seen
someof its intellectualproperty protection go by the
wayside.However,SkeeBall maintainsa strongportfolio ofpatents and trademarks and often finds itself
fighting illegal copies,especially overseas.
At the executivelevel,
both Sladekand Hudsonare
deeply involved at every level
of the company'soperations.
"We keepour handson just
abouteverythingthat is going
on insidethesedoors.including productdevelopment,
customerservice,sales,financial, shipping,etc.,"elaborated Hudson."Joe andI both
handlesaleswith our major
customersaroundthe world.
We've both learnedto sleep
well on airplanes."
Internationally,Skee-Ball
is represented
in all the major
countriesaroundthe world
with distributorsrepresenting
factory-producedproduct in
Ewope and the Middle East.
In Russiaand the Far East,
Skee-Ballhasdevelopedlicenseagreementswith exclusiveparbrers.Theseagree-
Skee-Ball'soffice staff, from left:Joann Lowrey,EilleenGrahamand
Wende Foss.
in arcadesaroundthe
Skee-Ball hasbecomean iconicoresence
worldbecause
theplayappealof theclassicalleybowleris universal.
Nowonderthegamehassurvived
andthrivedfora century!
mentsallow thosefirms to
make Skee-Ball-branded
product, which turns out to be
more economicalthan tying
to ship machinesinto those
territories.
Accordingto Sladek,'
Skee-Ballis a globalbrand
recognizableby many different cultures."I haveseenpeople play Skee-Bal I in Gorkey
Park and all over South
AmericaandAsia," he explained.*When a kid goesinto an arcadeanywhereand
seesa bank of Skee-Balls,his
eyeslight up. It's really a
privilegeto be part of that
phenomenon."
Justrecently, Skee-Ball
found a new sphereofpopularity for its widely recognized brand,the iPhone.At
presstime, the Skee-Ballapolication on the iPhonehad
only beenavailablefrom
Apple for about a week, and
it had alreadyclimbedto
numberI I in the application
popularity rankings.
"That's really exciting,"
said Sladek."It's our frrst
foot into that particulararea.
Canyou imaginea virtual redemptioncenter?If people
areplaying arcadegameson
their iPhones,they aregoing
to rememberhow much fun it
is to go back to the real thing.
To havethe real experience,
you havegot to have'that
woodenball!"
Looking ahead,Sladek,
concededthat the economy
was takingits toll onjust
about every industry. Yet he
remainsoptimistic about
long-term prospectsfor the
redemptiongameindustry.
"We have beenherebe-
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Classicshoreand midway-stylearrades likethe one picturedherehavelong promotedthe possibilityfor fun
and prizesby bankingSkee-Ba//alleysas a way to createa high-proflleattraction.
fore in the '70s,the '80s,the
'90s," he
assured."Smart
businesspeoplefind waysto
adaptto current businesssituations.We tell our customers
and anybodywe are talking to
that we are going to continue
to maintain our current quality. We are going to retain our
current selling prices, and we
aregoing to containcosts.We
have figured out how to do it.
We are running our business
in a very streamlinedfashion.
We are constantlyevaluating
how we manageour cash.
Meanwhile,believeit or not,
we are investing in R&D to
make our productsbetter and
to createnew products.
"I feel good aboutwhat
the future holds for SkeeBall," Sladekconcluded.
o'Wehave short-termplans
and long-termplans.I am
very bullish about what the
futureholds."
A Gentury of
Skee-Ball
1909: Skee-Ba// invented
andpatentedby J.D. Estesof
Philadelphia.
1914:First,Sfte
e-Ball aIleys sold and distributedto
the outdoor amusementindusfirymarket by Maurice
Piesen.Measwing36' long,
the alleys were quite large. As
a result, the potential playing
market was restrictedsince
the gamerequired some
stength to play.
1928: Sizeofthe alley reducedby more than half to
I 4'. Tremendouspopularity
achievedas the shortenedversionwidenedthe rangeof appeal.Now the gamewas accessibleto women,children
andthe elderly.
1932: First nationalSkeeBalltoumanent held in Atlantic City, New Jerseyarcade.
1935:Wwlitzer Company
acquned Skee-Bal I ights
from Pieseri.
1945:Philadelphia
TobogganCompanyacquired
the copyright, patentsand all
rights for the exclusivemanufacturing of Skee-Ball alleys
fromWwlitzer.
1974: Skee-Ballmoyedto
'btate-of-the-art"
abelectronic
alleys are introducedto the
marlidti'
1977: Philadelphia
TobogganCompany forms
Skee-Ball,Inc. Applying
meticulouscare,Skee-Ball
manufacturesfour differen!
modelswith various options
Page lO2 . RePloyMogozineo ilouember
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from the no-frills alley to the
top-of-the-linedigital, solid
statemachine.
1985: Skee-Ballupdates
alleys.Additionssuchas
soundeffects,musicalselec-
tions and new electroniccomponentsare added,which allow the operatorthe ability to
reprogftrmall gamesettingsat
their location.This increases
profitability of the game.
1990:Gamesindustry
facesa battle to capturemarket shareof the consumers'
discretionaryincome.SkeeBall's two new productinffoductionsand the move to
larger, more efficient facilities
are the stategies designedto
addressthis challenge.
1992: Skee-Ballpwchases
Michigan-based
Vari-Tech,
adding a completeline of custom midway gamefixfures to
Skee-Ball'salreadyexpanding line ofproducts.
1994: Skee-Ballpurchases
NationalSportsGameslocated in Phoenix.Ariz. This
addsan exciting new spin to
their alreadyexpansiveproduct line by combining it with
quality,top-of-linesports-re-
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The Skee-BaII craze has long beenassociatedwith classicAmerlcan
entertainmentas evidencedby this locationthat themed its entireoperation aroundthe Skee-Ballbrandand game.
games.
latedredemption
1998:Fournewversions
ofthe alleysareintroducedto
the market,increasingthe
popularityin Skee-Balland
worldwide interestin the new
varieties.
Inc. cele1999:Skee-Ball,
growth
and
brates90 yearsof
commitmentto manufacturing popularandreliablefamily-orientedredemptionand
games.
coin-operated
2000:With the additionof
many new sportsandnovelty
gamesto Skee-Ball'salready
diverseline of redemption
products,Skee-Balldecides
to take amusementa stepfurther.In doingso,Skee-Ball
createdtheir one-of-a-kind
SportsAttractions.These
SportsAttractionsweredesignedfor thesportsenthusiastwantingto be challenged
in a simulationsportingevent
2001:Skee-Ballannouncesthe adventofa new
businessrelationshipwith
ElautN.V. from Belgium.
The businessrelationshipre-
sultsin the formationof the
new company,SkeeBall/
Elaut AmusementsGames.
Theprimaryproductthatarisis
esfrom thiscollaboration
the OptimtmtCrane.
2002:Skee-Ball/Elaut
Amusement
Gamesintroducesthe Big Onecrane,a
revolutionaryinnovationin
gameinthe merchandising
dustry.Industryrenownedas
a high revenueproducer,this
gamewas awardedfirst place
for theBestNew Productin
gamescatethe coin-operated
gory at the 2003IAAPA
tradeshowin Orlando.
to the
2003:In response
popularityofthe arcadeversion of the Big One crane,
Skee-Ballintroducesa midway version.Thisversionof
the giganticcranefinds itself
in greatdemandby amusement parks all aroundthe
world. The midway Big One
wasawardedfirst placefor
the BestNew Productin the
gamescategoryalthe 2004
IAAPA tradeshowin Orlan--
oo.
2004:Skee-Ballcontinues
to addto its ever-expanding
line of productswith the ,!plnN-Win.This colorfulstop-action gamecombinesbright
lights,motion anda real slot
machinelever for ultimateexcitement.Spin-N-Winis making its way into everymajor
center,
family entertainment
parkandarcade
amusement
aroundthe world.
2005:Skee-Ballcontinues
to thrustitself into customer
serviceandnew productdevelopment.
2007:Skee-Ballreleases
an updatedversionofthe
originalSuperShotBasketball.Thenew versionofthe
gameincludesnew black and
red color scheme,brighter
lighting andthe ability to link
ilorrenber
up to 12units.
2008:Super2.1released
an arcadehit. A
andbecomes
game,Skeecasino-themed
Ball's newSuper2l players
musttime their coin droPto
reach2|lBlackJack.With a
jackpot,theclosprogressive
er playersgetto 2l without
going over,the moretickets
theywin.
2009: Skee-Ballcelewith
bratesits centennial
severalnew versionsofthe
classicalleybowler,including an updatedretro edition
for collectors,aswell asthe
newestversionof the commercialgameanda mini alley bowler calledSkeeDaddle. Timeline courtesyof
www.skeeball.com.
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