PTT Bankruptcy Article

[VegaNova]

Hey everyone,

Some of you have probably seen this, but it's one of the first PTT articles I've ran across online. Some of what it says sounds hauntingly like today's market.

Pretty crazy stuff... especially the numbers it gives on the stores. Today CEC toots it's horn about having 500 restaurants. Well over twenty years ago they had around 260 - and that was BEFORE the aquisition... I'm not sure how many ShowBiz stores were around at that time but I would imagine they had just as many.

Interestingly it mentions that in 1979 they had only 7 stores operating. That's probably at the begining of the year (it doesn't really say) but it gives us a better idea about why the portrait reels and early history is so scarce.

www.findarticles.com/p/ar...ai_3176339 (http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_v18/ai_3176339)

It also mentions how the store here in Colorado was closed in 1984... which makes sense to me. I didn't attend ShowBiz until that year and I was only 4 so it stands to reason why I never remember PTT at all.

-VegaNova

[captslappy]

Very interesting article. So at best there were probably 300 to 350 stores in the vintage days so that gives us a starting idea on balcony shows and caberet and lounges. I am wondering if the 1979 reference really should have said 1977. That's when they started. Assuming that is so and that is what they meant, that would be only 7 Crusty the cat robots assuming all of them started with him. If it was indeed 1979 and they only had 7 stores that means you are talking more like 2 or 3 Crusty robots. I guess we can write off ever finding one of those but it does go to show how rare PTT era bots are in general. I wish we could find hard numbers on where they were at in 1980 and 1981. That would really paint a better picture of how many places had Sally and Foxy. It's looking like the answer is not many which is why we have never seen any cosmetics surface.

[dheineCECfan]

Regarding 7 stores in 1979: I think in 1977 there was only 1 location (the famous first location on Winchester Blvd. in San Jose, California) followed by 6 more that opened between 1978-1979 (a few more in California, including 2 more still around but now as CEC San Jose, California locations; plus 1 in Odgen, Utah that lasted about 13-14 years even keeping the CECPTT 1977-1980 logo storefront signage in 1991 photos taken by Trey as seen in Trey's Pics Page in Pizzacam's Photo Gallery on VegaNova's site!)

It was circa late 1979-1980 CECPTT expanded to other states besides California (by that 1979-1980 time CECPTT expanded in Calfiornia to the San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and San Diego besides San Jose) and Utah - The states of Texas, Maryland, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Michigan, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Florida, Alabama, and North Carolina to my knowledge opened CECPTT locations circa late 1979-1980 (I think I used to see online the back of a 1980 CECPTT postcard that plugged a grand opening of a new North Carolina location and showed a short list of the states that had CECPTT locations at the time). And at the same time in early 1980 Kansas City, Missouri was to get a CECPTT franchise location owned by the late Bob Brock (who had planned other CECPTT Midwest/South franchises) but instead after Bob Brock met Creative's Aaron Fechter struck a deal with Aaron and CEI to open up in Feb.-March 1980 the first ShowBiz Pizza Place location in Kansas City's Antioch Center (featuring the Rock-afire forerunners the Wolf Pack 5 plus an extra WP5 Wolfman robot in the Sports Room forerunner the Disco Room), the first SPP in Antioch/Kansas City didn't become a CEC until 1991-1992 when ShowBiz was phased out for the Chuck E. Cheese's name.

[captslappy]

If you are correct Darryl then we very well might be talking about only having 1 or 2 Crusty the Cat robots that were ever produced and those are surely long gone now. I'm sure no thought was given to saving them since it was a new concept. They might have even been retooled and built into Munch characters.

[TreyTX]

has Bob Brock passed away? I was not aware of this.

[VegaNova]

Yeah Bob Brock passed away a few years back... in 1998 if I'm not mistaken. I'm not too certain of the exact year even, but I've heard about it from a few people including Aaron Fechter.

Anyone else have any knowledge of this?

-VegaNova

[CEC3066]

The Tully Rd San Jose CEC actually did not come into being until about '85, remember this was the one that was a former toy store.

[captslappy]

I no longer have it, but it was in the paper and mentioned on the radio when he died since the company was based here in DFW.

[TreyTX]

that is sad to hear. I often wonder why Nolan Bushnel or other early SBZ/CEC people don't summit items or music from the concept. I do know that people from CEC corp visit the site and am sure Nolan has visited the site as a 'guest'. And I am sure Aaron from Creative has submitted items either himself or incognito. It would be great if these people would submit all kinds of anything even if they submit anonymously! I really hope that Nolan does not feel like a failure and that HIS concept/character has been taken over by another management team as if he never started this concept CEC or equivalent would most likely not be here today and we would be suck with Discovery Zone!

[captslappy]

I tend to doubt that. Nolan lost just about everything because of PTT. It's not a pleasant memory for him and I am sure it's something he wants to forget about kind of like an ex-wife that took him to the cleaners. He just seems like the type to look to the future and not reflect on the past.

[VegaNova]

Until we hunt him down in 2007 for our next fan gathering.

I've always been tempted to try tracking him down, but it's hard for me to bring myself to do so. Kinda the way I look at becoming a stalkeratizi to the RAE character voices - I'd probably donate a kidney to spend a day with Shalisa but it would be better to not bother these people in their personal lives. Or maybe I just see these people as larger than life and I'm nervous about contacting them (despite having all the necessary info).

But I think Bushnell would be cool about some things if we could ever get him to talk or open up some of what he has. But like Capt said... he's probably not going to bother looking back on his own, as PTT did basically ruin his life for over a decade after he left. Who knows though... we'll find out for sure in the not too distant future. ;)

-VegaNova

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

True...Nolan is someone who looks more to the future. He was famous for starting up a concept, getting it succesful, and then bailing to begin the cycle again once the previous concept was a huge success. He did this many times, PTT Inc. and Atari Corp. being the most well known.

I would'nt say however that he is not fond of his PTT Past. In recent years he has has very warm things to say about his past with his old pal Chuck E. The most recent articles appear on his UWink website. Check out the other thread on here about Nolan's upcoming UWink resturant concept opening in LA this March....read some of his comments and you will see he is not ashamed of his past mistakes. He actually has no reason to be...it was'nt his fault really that PTT went belly up. His interest had been focused on his new venture, his then-new robotics company.

I have a feeling that if he was aware of us, and the enthusiasim some of us have to his past concept, he would be very warmed by this. How can one not be? I mean...some of us here ( i won't name names!) know PTT proabably more intensly then he proabably does at this point. I doubt that Nolan himself has any collectibles or other sought after itmes we would love to see/hear. He lost everything in a ugly lawsuit some years ago...even his home in CA so i highly doubt anything he did have is still in his hands.

I feel confident that Nolan still has a soft spot in his heart for the Ol' Rat. It was Atari that made him famous, but it was Chuck E. that made him rich! :D

[captslappy]

One comment... Im not sure "bailed" is the right way to put it. Many businessman will start a business, build it up and make the business worth something will sell their investment. Successful companies are worth a lot of money. Truly sucessful business people will diversify themselves. They will own a variety of businesses and be very hands on until the business gets going and then turn it over to someone else to run so that it remains a part of their "empire". They still own it or are involved but not as hands on as when it started. I'm sure you didn't mean to imply he abandoned his past ventures but I wanted to clarify this for other readers. When he moved on, this was a calculated plan made with business decisions in mind and it was not simply something he lost interest in or simply abandoned.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Thank you Captain for posting this.....you are right, my comment above could be missinterperated.

What the Captain describes above is more along the lines of what really happened. Nolan began PTT to make major profits from arcade games which he has a great deal of experience in. PTT was created as he felt there was a void when it came to places famillies could go, and particually kids, to play video games in the late 70's. Back then before the big craze, most video games of the day were only found in bars, bowling alleys, and lounges. He wanted everyone to be able to play these games and decided to open his own family-orientated place where anyone could come in at any age and play to their hearts content. It's to me a lot like Walt Disney's story regarding the creation of DisneyLand. He saw a void and decided to fill it...with a amusement park everyone could enjoy, not just the kids.

Once PTT started franchising in the early days, and the arcade lifestyle began to become hip, PTT suddenly became incredibly popular. Nolan made a mint on franchise fees alone...and stores were opening so past the paint did'nt even have time to dry before the doors opened to the public! He made it into a huge cultural cornerstone, and he will always be connected to that regardless of what happened.