My Vision
When I thought of this idea, my vision was to build a small scale bowling alley for people to have in their homes, much like billiards, foosball tables and ping pong. I felt the expense could be kept to a minimum with simple but durable construction. I was also hearing what many people were telling me - that without an automatic pinsetter, it wouldn't get any interest. But I felt that like most home rec room type games, it would get most use with friends or family, and so it would be easy and not too inconvenient for one person to bowl say, 2 or 3 frames while the other person acted as "pin boy!"
But I also knew how much more marketable the game would be if it did have and automatic pinsetter. So I embarked on the automatic pinsetter project. I never did get a completely workable pinsetter running but I did get a crude but functioning gear box with a crank mechanism and a pin deck that I could raise and lower. It was an all consuming project. I digress, more on that elsewhere.
The other area where I thought the game might catch on is as a training tool, say for schools. To learn proper technique, to study the physics of the game. I somehow felt that the game would be realistic enough to have value on that level. The 1/3 game was pretty realistic, but my 1/2 scale game really is amazing. A little furniture polish on the lane, set the pins up and the ball does hook - behavior and pin action that would make you think you are at a bowling alley.
When I would tell people about the game in the early days 25 years ago, many would suggest that I figure out how to mount a coin box on it so I could put it in game rooms. And I always maintained that I did not want my bowling alley to be a game room item. I wanted it to be a quality game for people to use in their homes or for schools. I wanted its value to be in its realism.
