Chapter 20 17

The three-handed spaceship she kept calling me from somewhere, for days and days in a row. I digested the mountain of work with astonishing speed, skipped lunch, played with the Abyssinian cat, and stopped talking to anyone.The girl in the office occasionally came to see me, then shook her head desperately and went back.Finished the day's work by two o'clock, threw the manuscript on the girl's desk and ran out of the office, then went to amusement parks all over Tokyo, looking for the three-handed spaceship, but it was useless.No one has seen or heard of the machine. Can't the four-armed underground exploration machine work?Oh, the model that just came in.Said one playground owner.

No, I'm so sorry. He looked a little disappointed. There are three-handed left-handed hitters, and there will be free throws when hitting in circles. I'm so sorry, I'm not interested in anything other than spaceships. Still, he kindly gave me the name and phone number of a pinball fan he knew. This person probably knows the model you are looking for to some extent. He is a so-called model fanatic. He knows the model best, but he is a bit weird. Thanks.I thank him. You're welcome, it's best if you can find it. I walked into a quiet tea shop and dialed the phone number. After ringing five times, I heard a man's voice. It was a quiet voice. I could hear the news report of NHK at seven o'clock and the baby's voice behind me.

I would like to ask about a certain model of marble toys.After I gave my name, I said it directly. For a short time, everything was silent on the other end of the phone. What kind of model?the man said.The sound of the TV was also lowered. A model called a three-handed spacecraft. The man read as if lost in thought. Dial with drawings of planets and spaceships I get it.He interrupted me and cleared his throat.It's almost like the tone of a lecturer at a research institute: The model produced by Gilbert and Sons in Chicago in 1968 is a model that is not well-known because of bad luck.

Bad luck? Is it convenient for you?He said.Shall we meet and talk? We decided to meet up the next evening. ◇ We exchanged business cards and ordered coffee from the waitress.I was very surprised that he was really a university lecturer.I am in my early thirties, and my hair has begun to thin out, but my body looks strong and tanned. I teach Spanish at university.He said.Works like watering a desert. I nodded in admiration. Does your translation center not translate Spanish? I translated English and the other translated French, because it was already too busy. That's a pity.He kept his hands crossed and said, but he didn't seem to be so regretful, and he squeezed the tie knot.

have you been to spainhe asks. No, sorry.I said. The coffee was brought, and the talk of Spain was over, and we drank it in silence. Gilbart & Sons was a so-called up-and-comer manufacturer of pinball toy machines.He suddenly started talking.From the Second World War to the Korean War, we mainly worked on bomb-dropping devices, but with the end of the Korean War as an opportunity, we started to turn to a new direction.Pinball toys, bingo toys, slot machines, music selection machines, and popcorn machines are the so-called peaceful industries.The first pinball machine was completed in 1952.The condition is not bad, quite sturdy, and cheap, but because it is not interesting, it is called a pinball toy machine like the bras issued by the female soldiers of the Soviet Russian Army to borrow the comment of "Ranking" magazine.It was a success in terms of sales, and exports started from Mexico to countries in Central and South America, where there were very few specialized technicians, and therefore, rather than complicated machines, something strong with few failures was preferred.

He was silent for a moment as he drank the water.It seems to be a pity that there is no screen and long stick for the slideshow. But as you know, there are only four companies in the pinball toy industry in the United States, that is, the world, forming an oligopoly.Godlip, Bally, Chicago Mint, Williams, the so-called four major enterprises.And Gilbert broke into it, and started a fierce battle for five consecutive years.Then, in 1957, Gilbart quit marble toys. Let go? Nodding, he drank the rest of the coffee feeling bad, and wiped his mouth several times with a handkerchief. Well, the defeat came.In fact, the company made money because it exported to Central and South America, but in order not to make the wound bigger, it quickly quit.In the end, the manufacture of marble toys still requires extremely complicated Know How.You need a lot of skilled specialists, you need planners who can lead them, and you need a distribution network all over the country. Countless repair workers rushed to repair it within hours.In short, it is very regrettable that the rising Gilbert company does not have such power.So they swallowed their tears and quit the lineup, and for about seven years from that, they continued to make vending machines, Chrysler windshield wipers, etc.They haven't given up on pinball machines entirely, though.

At this point, he kept silent.He took out a cigarette from his coat pocket, tapped the butt on the table, and lit it with a lighter. Don't give up!They are still full of self-respect, continue to research in the secret factory, quietly poach corners from the retired employees of the Big Four to form a project team, invest a huge amount of research funds, and give me an order to create a model that is not inferior to any of the Big Four. machine, and it must be completed within five years.This happened in 1959.The company also made effective use of the five years. They used other products from Vancouver to Waikiki, Hawaii, and laid out a complete distribution network to complete all preparations.

Machine No. 1 of the restart was completed on schedule in 1964.The so-called Big Wave is the name of this model. He took the scrapbook out of his purse, opened it, and handed it to me.The full-body photos of Da Lang, face plate diagrams, clapboard designs, and instruction cards cut out from magazines are all posted. This is really a very special one.And add a lot of various work that didn't exist in the past, for example, adopt a continuous device.This big wave chose a model that can match its own technology, and this one is very popular. Of course, many of Gilbart's ideas have become commonplace by now, but they were extremely new at the time.And this machine is very conscientiously made. The first point is that it is sturdy. The durability of the four major companies is about three years, while theirs can be used for five years.The second point is very light on speculation and technology-based.Since then, Gilbart has produced several famous models along this route.Such as the Orient Express, Space Pilot, and Crossing the Americas, each type has been highly praised by fans.The spaceship is the last model they produced.

The spaceship is completely different from the four I just mentioned.The four front ones have gathered all kinds of novelty, but the spaceship is very traditional and simple.No changes were made to techniques other than those already used by the Big Four.Therefore, it can also be said that it is a truly challenging machine. I am really confident! He spoke slowly and in detail.I nodded my head several times while drinking coffee, drinking water after coffee, and smoking after drinking water. A spaceship is an impossibly strange machine.At first glance, it seems that there is nothing desirable, but when you fight, you feel that there is something different.The same swing, the same target, but it is different from other models.Then what is like an anesthetic that tightly attracts people's hearts.I don't know why?I call spaceships the unlucky type for two reasons.First, the advantages of the machine are not fully understood by everyone.By the time they finally started to understand, it was too late.Second, the company went bankrupt.Because it was too conscientious, Gilbert was bought by a multinational consortium, and the head office didn't think there was any need for the pinball toy department.So stop here.A total of fifteen hundred or so spacecraft were produced.But because of these reasons, it has now become a dreamy machine name.The market price among American spaceship fans is two thousand dollars, but it has never been sold.

why? No one is willing to let go, no one can let go, it is really a wonderful pearl platform. After he finished speaking, he habitually looked at his watch and took a puff of cigarette.I ordered a second cup of coffee. How many units are imported from Japan? I checked, three. So little. He nodded.Because Gilbart's products have no distributors in Japan.In 1969, an import agency bought those three units experimentally. When they wanted to add more, Gilbert & Sons no longer existed. Do you know the whereabouts of those three sets? He stirred the sugar in the coffee cup several times, and scratched his earlobe again.

One flowed to a small playground in Shinjuku, which was drained the winter before last.The whereabouts of the machine are unknown. I know that one. Another one flowed to the amusement park in Shibuya, where a fire broke out last spring, and the machine was burned. In fact, no one lost because of the fire insurance.It's just that one of the spaceships disappeared from this world.But from this point of view, there is nothing to say other than bad luck. Like the Eagle of Malta.I said. He nodded.But I don't know the whereabouts of the last one. I gave him the address and phone number of Jay's Bar.But it is gone now, it was disposed of last summer. He cherished it and copied it into a notepad. The one I'm interested in is the one that used to be in Shinjuku.I said.Whereabouts unknown? There are several possibilities, the most common is to treat it as scrap iron.The turnaround of the machine is very fast. Generally, the depreciation of the machine will be over in three years. It is more cost-effective to pay for repairs than to buy a new one. Of course, fashion is also a problem, so it should be reimbursed as scrap iron?The second possibility is that it is sold as a second-hand product.Older but usable machines are often bought by certain restaurants, where they ruin their lives on drunks or amateurs.Third, although this is a very rare situation, it may also be collected by machine fans.But 80% of them are treated as scrap iron. I held the unlit cigarette between my fingers, thinking darkly. Regarding the last possibility, can you investigate it? It doesn't matter if you try it.But it's hard!There is almost no so-called horizontal connection between computer fans in this world. There is neither a directory nor any journal.But anyway, just give it a try.I'm also a little interested in spaceships myself. Thank you so much. He sank back into the deep chair, puffing smoke. By the way, what's the highest score for your spaceship? 165,000 I said. That's really incredible. His expression didn't change and he said: It's really incredible.So he scratched his ears again.