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pictures Randyland Engineering

Well, I guess that I would be Mr. Fascination!

I am the owner and operator of one of the world's finest Fascination Games located at 4104-4106 Boardwalk, between Young Ave. and Roberts Ave, near the Wildwheels Pier, and just north of the new convention center, in Wildwood, New Jersey. As far as I know I am the only person with fascination game tables in both of my homes in Wildwood New Jersey and Orlando Florida, and I also own all of the Fascination games equipment from Hershey Park, Dorney Park, Keansburg Amusement Park, Seaside Heights Boardwalk of New Jersey, and both systems from Kennywood Park.

The first Fascination games parlor was invented in the 1920's. Fascination was soon so well liked it debuted at the 1933 worlds fair as a parlor game, it soon became the Fascination games parlor we know found on the boardwalks world wide. I first owned a Fascination games center on the Keansburg Boardwalk, but this games parlor was destroyed with other business in the winter of 1983 by a fire. After a break to work for Walt Disney World in Florida, I returned to New Jersey to purchase and run a Fascination games parlor in the Seaside Heights Boardwalk.
The Fascination games gaming parlor has all but disappeared today mainly because of high operation costs, ( including hourly wages of attendants, high electric bills, high square footage requirements resulting in high rents, and expensive equipment costs and/or maintenance ), plus the required need for a specialized and talented master of ceremonies.
In this world of varied interests, with mega shopping malls, home entertainment centers, and internet websites, the entire amusement park experience has changed shifting its focus to "entertainment" that requires little time spent by patrons while charging a large fee and offering the promise of a quick win on items to lure the patron; the Fascination Games parlor is not that type of operation.

Today I operate Flipper's Fascination games parlor at a cost to play of only .20 cents per game, which is the same cost that I gladly paid which I was a kid in the early 70's! Add that to countless added features and free games given away and it is clearly the best deal found anywhere in the amusement industry. Fascination is also know in the amusement industry as the hardest game operation by far with the smallest return on investment for the owners.
Amusement parks today look for the most profit for the smallest square footage and effort of operation. Amusement park planners miss the big picture when they do not plan on the guest attendance that is drawn to major entertainment anchors like the Fascination game. The bottom-line profits of the fascination games are seen in the surrounding operations with major increases in guest foot traffic to the area of the park and the ultimate guest purchases of food/drink and gifts items offered.
The problem comes in when the Fascination games owners do not own the surrounding operations and there for do not add to their bottom-line by the generated foot traffic to the area. When the park owners do not give considerations to the foot traffic generated to other area attractions when they look for rent increases it results in the main draw being priced out of business and this was the fate of many fascination games.

I am not only a Fascination game operator, but I am also a custom amusement game creator specializing in group challenge games of which the Fascination game is the finest example of. I have customized Fascination games to include a system that can actually run itself and is controlled by a life size Audio animatronics figure who announces all the happenings as the game's master of ceremonies and actually responds to the current events taking place on the game at the time by creating its own responses based on need of the games!
In addition I have coin/token automated the payment systems on the equipment releasing the operation of the collection attendants burden both in cost factor and dependence. Countless game features have been reengineered into my Fascination game system which now offers automatic floating free players, flashing line board bonus boards, super stop light bonus boards, traveling light bonus systems, and players choice of level for play systems, special feature bonus wins, Add-a-light bonus systems, plus a myriad of others as the list goes on!

Yes, although those beloved Fascination games of our memories have passed on, through my personal passion for the game and my unusual talents as the games engineer, Fascination lives on at Flipper's Fascination Games at Young Ave on the boardwalk in Wildwood New Jersey!
And although some people's memories reflect upon blue haired ladies playing Fascination, that is not true today. In fact, the Fascination game is one of the few places that the entire family can enjoy. The game's appeal is timeless and for all ages... " Fun for all, small and tall, as long as you can roll a ball...So if you get the chance, treat yourself to a goodtime.... " be a big shot for a buck "....come on down and see for yourself and bring your friends!
As for the other great games found in the amusement park arcades from the 50's through the 80's, I currently own one of the world's largest collection of these memories as well, and I am in setting up a "hands on, you can play " museum of all those great games in Wildwood in the historic Woolworth's Building at the corner of Wildwood and Pacific Aves., pending zoning by the Wildwood city zoning board, which will be home to hundreds of collectable amusement games and memories from the past and will be opened sometime in the future.

F lipper's Fascination Games is open on weekends in March, April, and May...Everyday in June, July, August, and half of September, and Weekends in October, and November. Call 609-522-4747 for current hours of operation.
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