John was 24 when he appeared on STARCADE! shows#69 and the Invitational show #48. Show #69 was taped in June 1983, the Invitational show#48 was tapted in July 1983. Invitational shows showcased 4 Contestants who had won on a previous show.

On Show#69 John beat his opponent Matthew Delaney by 3,710 points ... seems like a lot BUT it was all scored on one game - the first one they played Zoo Keeper. Matthew took game 2 Graplop by 400 points and John took game 3 by 400 points ... sooo the whole thing boiled down to the very first game. Interesting ... John had a chance to play for the Grand Prize Pengo but failed to score the points needed to win it.

On Show#48 John lost a playoff with Lori Graham, basically on the game Gyruss.

In 1983 John owned a t-shirt printing company. According to his short bio, he had "appeared in approximately 25 plays in high school, college and dinner theatres on the East coast." He had an "active interest in motorcycles, cats, music, video & pinball games. Highest pinball score is 1,700,000."

In 2006 when John checked in, he said, "Wow does this bring back memories. In fact, I don't even recall how long it has been since I was a contestant ... I recall playing Pengo and beating some younger kid <sheepish grin> ... the day after my show aired on TBS, I went to Yosemite National Park with my family and, of course, wore my STARCADE! blue shirt. I was recognized by one of the other visitors. This young kid came up to me and told me he had seen me on STARCADE! the previous day and asked for my autograph! As per his Mom, I was the very first person he had ever seen on TV then seen in person. Isn't that a laugh?"

In 2006, John also told us, "After leaving the San Francisco Bay area, I was with American Creditors Bureau. They sent me from San Francisco to Sacramento, then Orange County, CA then to San Diego until finally I ended up in Phoenix at the Corporate headquarters. For the past 15 years I've lived in Arizona. (Today) I own my own consulting firm which provides audit services to Collection departments and Collection agencies. The last several years I spent my free time as a Baseball Umpire. I do every level from Little League to High School to NCAA Division II to Olympic Baseball-Juniors."

Consider me ... "a no-longer lost STARCADE! contestant - John Spinelli."

Great to hear from you John.