PHOENIX—Playing pinball was simpler and always fun when Dean Kenyon was growing up. Drop in a quarter, hit the start button, smash the plunger, and watch the steel pinball fly.
Kids back then dreamed of being a “pinball wizard,” like the character immortalized in The Who’s 1969 song—crazy flipper fingers working all the bumpers, always playing clean. Racking up high scores with laser focus.
If they were good enough, they could avoid the dreaded “gobble hole” and earn a replay.
“There’s a lot of skill to pinball, but you can also have fun just beating the ball around,” says Kenyon, 62, who keeps three vintage pinball machines in his dining room….