Ed Pellegrini was given AAMA’s Lifetime Achievement Award this year and was also inducted into its Amusement Industry Hall of Fame. Pellegrini is also CEO of Team Play, which he started in 2001 with other industry long-timers.
The company launched with their Classic Arcade Series, which brought Centipede, Millipede and Missile Command into one cabinet. That was followed by Star Trek: Voyager, based on the hit TV show.
Since then, the outfit has launched several hits like Fishbowl Frenzy, Launch Code and one of their latest Carnival Wheel. Still growing, the company recently moved into a larger facility in their Elk Grove Village, Ill., home.
RePlay publisher Eddie Adlum added: “People who know Eddie Pellegrini think of him as the man in front of or somewhere behind numerous businesses or projects like the Team Play game factory he commands today, not to forget his partnership with Jerry Marcus back at Atlas Distributing or his work with late brother Frank on the cashless playing card concept.
“But, uniquely, Eddie was also a route operator, and not in his home turf in Windy City but out in Southern California with Simi Valley’s Dandy Amusements (it was sold to Cineplex in 2017). He’s kind of that man for all seasons.”