Check out the previous post to see my thoughts on the new Ultraman here at the loft. Now that it’s been here a week, I feel even more strongly about how good of a game it is. To have this kind of shot variety requires that the game have some advanced engineering – and it does. Every time I get under or into the game to check something out I’m more and more impressed at what the Spooky team has accomplished.
Today I added some transparent rubber from Titan and thought I post a short commentary. The game comes standard with black rubber and to be honest, that looks just fine on this game. I thought about other colors like purple or red, but at the end chose transparent to allow a little more light onto the playfield as this is a darker game
I started up in the “Headquarters” area and right away discovered that the “kit” someone had built for Ultraman at Titan was not correct. They chose standard size post sleeves and Ultraman comes with the thinner and tapered ones. It’s a big deal. Up in the Headquarters area the ball paths are tight and you’ll need that extra millimeter of space created when the correct (thinner) post sleeves are in place. I chose to wait and order the correct ones and do that part later
Thin tapered left, standard post sleeve right (standard is incorrect for this game)
While I was up there, I pulled the cover off the “bridge” at the top of the playfield to replace the single large rubber under the cover. You’ll need to remove the player facing opto as part of getting that cover off. You will also need to loosen the small metal ramp that connects to it as it is so tightly set against the bridge, you can’t squeeze the rubber in. Simply loosen the tiny ramp screws that hold the ramp base to the playfield and remove the single post nut in the rear right and that will be enough to move it out of the way. Take the opto screws out AFTER you have the post nuts off the clear bridge cap. This will give you some wiggle room to carefully hold onto the spacers that sit below the cover and between the opto. They are non magnetic so your magnet tool won’t work. I used some need nose pliers
While I was up there I pulled the metal cover off the headquarters and used my dremel to round the corner of that smoked piece of plastic. The pointed corner is VERY close to the edge of the playfield and can catch and damage the side art. The day prior I took the metal cover to my shop and ground that back as well
Next I moved to the right sling area. On this game you’ll need to remove the top (3D) plastics by using your fingernail to push in the single tab on each of the orange standoffs, then the plastic piece pops right off. Next remove the 6 nylock nuts with your nut driver. At this point, it’s pretty straightforward to remove the old rubber and replace it with the new. Make sure your switches are BEHIND the rubber after putting on the new one
Next I tackled the ball lock area to the right of the scoop. There are 5 nylock nuts and the entire plastic assembly comes off, including the orange plastic protector installed underneath. The only unusual part in this area is the install of the 1/2″ Data East/Stern post sleeves. These are short post sleeves used in various places on this game and are typically placed on a post and go UNDER the rubber ring that sits above them. There are 2 of them in this area – right at the edge of the right orbit.
I then moved on to the left sling area. All of the steps used in the right sling apply, but this spot is a tad more challenging. You have to deal with one ramp post due to the habitrail connection. Also, there is a rubber ring right under the habitrail that needs to be accessed. You don’t need to remove anything more than 2 nylock nuts from the plastic below the habitrail. Once the habitrail is loose from the sling, it will easily lift 1-2 inches and also move left and right to give you room to access those 2 nuts. Remove the nuts and the plastics can be lifted enough to easily access that rubber ring for replacement. Replace the sling rubber, then put it all back together and admire your work!
The last thing I tackled was to change out the flipper rubber. I ordered both purple and blue to try them out. Titan stocks the mini flipper rubber for those upper playfields and I ordered those as well. It’s hard to beat “black”. It just works. In the end I ruled out blue entirely and went into my parts cabinet to grab some Titan reds. I liked the red. I liked the purple. I liked both of them so they both stayed. The red matches the colors and the Kaiju on the left and the purple does the same for the right. That’s my plan and I’m sticking to it! While the game was open, I put a fresh coat of wax on it and took a few minutes to straighten the apron decal that had been installed crooked at the factory. I put away the tools, cleaned up the glass and dove back into the game – Shuwatch!
A few more pics follow
Ultraman ’66
Wow does this story start a while ago! 1966 to be exact. While the Batman craze was in full swing here, Japan was going wild about something else – Ultraman. The Ultraman franchise began with a few trial episodes under the title “Ultra Q” then quickly shifted to the Ultraman franchise of today. According to Wikipedia the Ultraman brand generated $7.4 billion in merchandising revenue from 1966 to 1987, equivalent to more than $18 billion adjusted for inflation. The Wiki entry goes on to say “Ultraman was the world’s third top-selling licensed character in the 1980s, largely due to his popularity in Asia. References to Ultraman are abundant in Japanese pop culture, much like references to Superman in U.S. culture.” Bottom line is that Ultraman is likely one of the biggest superhero franchises in history that you’ve never heard of. I was intrigued when in mid 2021 Spooky announced the game (alongside Halloween), but like many others was unaware of the scale and magnitude of Ultraman worldwide. Reader, you know by now that my “unaware” was about to change. Time to go deep.
I started my recent Ultraman journey where most of the kids did when it came out in the late 60’s. I watched the shows. I purchased a total of 7 Ultraman boxed sets in bluray. They can be found on Amazon and they are on the affordable side. The “first series” ran from 1966 to 1967, but the franchise continues to this day with fresh movie releases every few years. I watched all of the episodes from the first year and a few from the later series as well. It’s an interesting show in many ways. For someone in their 50’s, those ways almost never line up with “great entertainment”. It is, however “interesting” entertainment. The creative thought that went into the Kaiju (monsters) and the beautiful costume/rubber suit designs is marvelous. The “over-the-top” acting by the stars of the show and the beautiful land/cityscapes of pre-70’s Japan are something to both chuckle at and appreciate (and sometimes in the same scene). Yes, once in a while I do find myself lost in the story of a good old fashioned monster movie, but the Kaiju battles between Ultraman and the bad guys (monsters) are meant to satisfy a 7 year old and to enjoy them, you’ll need to put your adult brain in a box for a few minutes. Appreciate them for what they are and don’t expect the camp and abundant adult humor that BM66 brings.
The game is designed and built by Spooky Pinball out of Benton Wisconsin and if you don’t know the Spooky Pinball story, it’s worth discovering for yourself. The newspaper headline might read “Family starts a small business manufacturing and selling the most complex entertainment device on earth and WINS!”
Game Animations: David Fawzma, David Van Es, And Matt Frank Game Code: David Fawzma Licensing: Charlie Emery Artwork: Matt Frank Rules: Bug Emery and David Fawzma Engineering: Spooky Luke Wiring/Nasty Nuts and Bolts: AJ Custom Music: Matt “Count D” Montgomery Sculpts: Matt Reister
The wait for my Ultraman was long but not painfully so. Spooky does a good job communicating the general timeline and setting expectations so if impatience gets the best of you, it’s your fault not theirs. The wait gave me time to sell a few other games in preparation (Roller Games, Volcano and Space Mission). I was the very first order into Joe at Pinball Star when the game went live for sale. I almost had no choice but to order the game as the “live for sale” date was my birthday. The way Spooky handles orders does not align exactly with how “fast” you placed your order, so I was a bit down the line in production. The Ultraman edition was limited to 500 units total alongside the (released at the same time) Halloween title with the same game design but differing artwork. I received my notice of game assignment (#191 Collectors Edition, hold the butter thank you) on July 24th 2021 and picked up my game at the Dayton freight terminal in Knoxville April 30th 2022. Total time elapsed around 250 days. Not bad for a boutique Pinball company in the middle of a pandemic and short of parts.
As I waited for my game to be built, I became more and more concerned about what I would receive. The skinny on Pinside from folks that had early games delivered was not good. The negative feedback was broad. First the code. It was almost non-existent. Not the first time I had seen this. I was one of the lucky few to get a BM66 SLE and it came with bare bones code on delivery too. No worries, as code can be added. There was also a pretty wide range of quality issues. Parts not fully screwed down, mechs not working, ball hang-ups in multiple locations, topper problems and more. Many of these issues proved to be minor and Spooky either sorted them for the owners or the owners fixed it themselves. The most nagging of all the feedback was the gameplay. There was talk of it being clunky or without flow. Some went so far as to say it just wasn’t that enjoyable. To be fair, when the code is not fully developed, the gameplay will suffer. I worried most about this type feedback but I also remembered how other games suffered this same negativity, only to emerge later as highly regarded (think Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Gaurdians of the Galaxy and more). I made the decision to be patient, wait for my game to be delivered and make up my own mind about game play. I’m so glad I did.
When Joe from Pinball Star gave me the Pro number for the game delivery, I tracked it right away. I was surprised to see it had already been picked up in Benton WI and was on it’s way! It also showed a delivery in just 2 days. I called the moment it arrived at the terminal and asked to come pick it up. The team at Dayton was super helpful and in 15 minutes I had signed for it and loaded it onto the back of the pickup. There was NO chance of rain that day but (in typical game day pickup fashion) of course, on the way home I experienced 10-12 drops on my windshield. The remainder of the trip proved dry and once home, my daughter helped me tip the game off the truck in the garage. Later that evening we had some very dear friends over (Sonny and Carolyn) and he was kind enough to lend me a hand in hauling the game into the Loft and setting it up. Sonny is 87 years young and always ready to learn something new! We used my Escalara to walk it up the steps followed by my homemade pinball setup tool (rocker, RV jack and drill) to get it up in the air and install the legs.
The setup went quickly as I’ve done this a few times 🙂 Once up and plugged in, I asked Sonny to do the honors of powering on the machine. He reached under and rolled the rocker switch and the game came slowly to life. These new machines take a minute … like grab a sandwich minute. Eventually the game fully booted and it was magnificent. Just beautiful. Even in attract mode, the light show was awesome. I hit play. Nothing happened. Well, I take that back. A ball appeared in the shooter lane but the machine was completely silent. No music, no callouts. Time for some troubleshooting. My first stop was behind the backglass but I found only a small circuit board that couldn’t possibly be the sound board. Time to pull the playfield. The PF is very tight in my machine so I used my side blade protectors to ensure I did not scratch the beautiful art blades that came installed from Spooky. Once the playfield was lifted it was easy to find the sound source. Spooky was using a well known Lepai amp to drive the speakers. These are inexpensive but effective class D Chinese amps that pack a lot of output power into a romance novel sized package. I checked all the wiring into and out of the amp – all good. The control knobs were relatively close to the edge of the cabinet so I had to use a small mirror to read them and see what levels they had been set at. I got to the power switch and found the issue. The amp was switched off. With a flick of the finger the largest issue with the game out of the box was fixed. Now to play some pinball!
Gameplay. If you’re reading this while the game is still in production, then this is what you came for. If you’ve found this content sometime after that, then I’m hoping it’s confirmation of what you may already know. If you are considering buying an Ultraman on the used market, read on for at least one persons thoughts on the gameplay. Note that as I write this the code is still young/incomplete and the gameplay is likely to both change and improve over time.
Let’s start with the bullet point summary:
It’s different, and I mean that in the most complimentary way
It’s a nice combo of both easy and hard things to accomplish
It’s beautiful – in every single way
The light show is excellent and fits the theme well
The theme integration to gameplay is very good
The left ramp rattles a good bit but rarely rejects, so it “looks” clunky but does not play that way
The center ramp will reject with a weaker shot and that fact only makes the clean shot feel even more satisfying
The center ramp can be made with both the right and left flippers
The right side single drop target/ball lock is a great mech, but needs more supporting code
The variety of skill shots is something refreshing and a nice selection of risk/reward
The ability to restart multiball with scoop shot is very “Ballyish” and a welcome bit of code (think Snack Bar in CFTBL)
The lifters are unlike anything else in pinball and during normal gameplay force a change in your style (not a negative IMO)
The lifters during multiball are a significant challenge as you don’t have the moving ball on the habitrail/ramp as a visual reference
The upper playfields are the best I have ever seen and the topmost (Headquarters) is just killer fun
The outlanes are VERY forgiving and allow you to focus on the center drain and ball control
The shot variety is excellent and balanced from both the right and left flippers
The drop targets create nice gameplay variety and future code may enhance further
The sound quality is there in spades (bass is killer) but needs some leveling and more callouts
There is plenty of “flow” potential in the game, your skill will determine flow and combos
The toy sculpts are excellent and close to the best I’ve seen in any game
On top of all that the CE “comes with” many extras:
Laser cut side rails, powder coated and with colored inserts
Motorized custom topper with RGB lighting
Pre-installed orange plastic protectors
Customer blue powder coating INCLUDING backbox and coindoor
Custom shooter rod
RGB speaker lights
Shaker motor and knocker
Art blades pre-installed
A signature plaque from Bin Furuya is a very nice touch for all us Kaiju geeks.
Bin was the actor in the Ultraman suit (uncredited) for the 1966 debut of Ultraman
From here, I’ll just give you some stream-of-consiousness commentary of how it feels to play Ultraman. This is not going to be an extensive “review”. After all, I’ve played less than 50 games to date. Like I said earlier, it’s different. So what does “different” mean?? That’s really the $64,000 question. What are the differences and what are we comparing it to? In my mind standard pinball starts with the “fan layout”. A fan layout has ramps that return the ball to an inlane/flipper. What makes Ultraman play different is that those returns to the flippers via ramp or habitrail are missing. They don’t exist. The entire experience of watching a ball roll down that ramp, drop into the inlane and then mentally prepare for the shot are missing. Well EXCEPT for that very last part and BTW, you don’t get a ton of time or line of sight. The “mentally prepare for the shot” time exists for sure, but it is shortened both in time and visbility. Time is cut because the location of the lifter and is just inches from the flipper and visibility is reduced because unlike a ramp/habitrail drop, you only get to “see” the ball for maybe 3 inches of travel total. There – I said it. The largest difference in gameplay for Ultraman is the impact that the lifters have on gameplay. For the most part, I like it. I appreciate the challenge. YMMV
The other difference I’ve experienced is related to the above. The ball can spend a bit of time in the subway system and can move in a surpising number of paths. It’s by design. That can translate to a good portion of the time that the ball is simply not visible or in those moments, not available for gameplay. Given that the game is also at times frenetic and blindingly fast. The “break” presented by subway travel is not a negative. I use this time to plan the next shot and take note of where I am in the game. I’m still surprised by how many places the ball can exit the first upper playfield. All of this can translate at times to a feeling of “losing the ball” or at a minimum wondering where it went. Some of this is the newness of the game and over time, I’ll get to know all of the various ball paths. Even so, the variety of shots and ball paths lead me to add this as part of the overall definition of “different” – again though, I’ll add “in a good way”.
In closing, I would say that the quality and variety of the engineering is something I would also credit as additive to gameplay. This is not a simple, single level game. It’s one of the most complex multi-level games manufactured by anyone, let alone a company with new designers at the healm. I think if you took away some of the (unwarranted) complaints of the lifter mechs and view the remainder of the game as a whole, you’d be impressed at what a young Spooky team has accomplished.
The game has two complete and intensely fun to play upper playfields, both with a drop target and one with dual spinners and a connected a teeter totter ramp! All of this innovation and creativity packed into one game that manages to deliver a satisfying theme integration based a foreign licensed property that most Americans have never heard of. A risky endeavor to be “different”, but with a hugely successful outcome. Congratulations Spooky team, well done.
Shuwatch!
Change wishlist:
UI screen needs some changes: visibility of score and ball count is terrible to my aging eyes
The call-outs need to increase in variety and tighten up from a choreography perspective
Minor QC issues on my game when unboxed:
The center sticker on the apron is installed crooked (no just a little either)
The right lifter was occasionally sticking “up” (found a loose cable catching the gear and zip tied it out of the way)
Creature Feature
Creature from the Black Lagoon. The name alone puts your mind in a place of intrigue and mystery. I was made aware of a “Creature” that was local to Knoxville at a time when I was in the process of upgrading the collection while not “expanding the game count”. I planned to fund the Creature purchase by selling 3 other games: Roller Games, Jokerz and Volcano. When those games sold, I had no idea what would be replacing them and the idea of a Creature from the Black Lagoon was not even on my radar.
Creature was a game that was known to me since my first year of collecting. It has an interesting background and building it required the acquisition of a license by Bally from Universal Studios. Bally made 7,841 units of the game and it uses the Williams WPC board set. It’s loosely based on the 1954 movie and because Bally wanted to use the Creature, logo and name – they sought and acquired the licensing rights. They did not get the rights to use the actors voices or likenesses so they had to get creative with those assets. The game was designed by John Trudeau. One of the main characters (Richard Carlson) who is represented on the backglass with the pith helmet is actually an aged image of John Trudeau’s son who was then a teenager. The call outs are fantastic and were all done by Bally employees:
Paul Heitsch [Creature sound & music] – “On with the show!”, “Thank you, enjoy the film!” and “I’m suffocating!”
Allison Quant [uncredited market employee] – All female call-outs
Matt Booty [Bally sound dept manager] – “Oh, come on!”
Rich Karstens [Bally sound programmer] – “Move your car”
The game ends with an image on the DMD of an Illinois license plate from 1959. Given that the movie was a 1954 release, it makes you wonder why? John Trudeau answered that question and it relates to the music in the game and keeping continuity. Some of the songs that are included came out AFTER 1954 so the 1959 license plate is meant to show a “revival” presentation of the Creature movie and thus preserving the timeline.
The music is 100% pure unadulterated nostalgia and there are 5 songs in the game from the 50’s:
“Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and the Comets
“Get a Job” by The Silhouettes
“Summertime Blues” by Eddie Cochran
“Willie and the Hand Jive” by Johnny Otis
“Red River Rock” (Johnny and the Hurricanes version)
The DMD begins the game with a strange term “Dot-Mation” and with no explanation as to what that means. The programmer, Jeff Johnson explained that it was a new marketing term meant to show a competitive advantage to Data East at the time. Dot-Mation was a term that referred to the ability of the DMD to by synchronized to voices in the game – a first at the time.
Some interesting tidbits:
The peeping Tom is a dot-matrix representation of Dwight Sullivan (now at Stern Pinball)
The guy getting strangled at the Snack Bar is Jeff Johnson (now owner of Smashhouse Games)
The song “At the Hop” was originally selected to use in the game but was pulled due to costs
Kevin O’Connor shot 35mm images of a videotape of the movie playing on his TV in order to do some of the backglass art
There are 2 flasher bulbs behind Julia Adams hair on the backglass – they were originally planned to be behind other parts of her body – management found out and made an “adjustment”.
Now on to the rest of “my Creature” story! Over a year ago, a colleague at work shared that he had a Creature from the Black Lagoon pinball game and we chatted briefly about it and about my collection here at the Pinball Loft. A few months ago that same person mentioned that he might want to sell it and get a more modern game. I told him at the time (due to massive price inflation) that I would likely not want to pay what he could get out of it on the open market. I made an offer and in the same message shared that I was certain he could get $1,000+ more for it by posting to Facebook Marketplace or on Pinside. A few weeks passed and he reached back out again sharing that he thought I should buy it and he would be willing to drop his price. he said it was easier for him to sell to me and he would like to see if we could work it out. I told him that I could also come up a bit on my offer and I would love to come see it. We are both insanely busy at work and it took a month just to find an evening that worked for both of us. We finally scheduled it and I drove the short distance from the office to see the game in his basement. When I left my house that morning (well aware that I would be checking out and likely buying a game) I checked the weather and there was NO indication of rain whatsoever. Hint to readers of this blog … that meant that if I DID buy the game the chance of rain would shift to 100%. I did and it did – rain that is, just short of a downpour and I was ill prepared. You can see in the images of the game sitting in the lawn and behind it the clouds look ominous. I’ll get back to the weather in a minute but first I’ll finish out the buy!
One of the big mistakes I keep making (in life and pinball) is assuming that the other person I’m working/communicating/negotiating with is in the same place as I am from a knowledge or preparedness perspective.
I left the house that morning and DID think about bringing a dolly but … no way he wont have a dolly, after all he’s a pinball guy right? I did bring a few tools but just the basics, like a wrench for the leg bolts etc. Probably all I’ll need if I buy the game right? We’ll see how this ends but go ahead now and assume the worst.
When I got down to the basement, the game was set up and working and a quick examination of the boards showed a brand new CPU board so no worries about battery corrosion. The playfield was very good but not perfect (images NEVER show the real condition unless they are purposefully shot close up). There was some insert separation (nothing major) but no insert wear. There was some broken star posts and at least one that was yoked out of it’s hole. The lock down mech was bent badly on the right side and the coin door bezel was in rough shape. None of these things were deal breakers in any way, just things that tended to bring the buyer (me) back down to earth from the pie in the sky thoughts of HUO games with under 500 plays. This was not one of those games. The hologram did not light up either but I know and trust the seller completely and he shared that it previously lit up fine and that the creature hologram was mostly green with some blue hues (later proved to be spot on accurate). I checked to see if the hologram was at least “there” because a replacement is $1,000, IF you can find one (it was installed). When I pulled the playfield to check the underside and cabinet, I noticed it did not pull smoothly and saw the pivot hinge bolts were loose with one installed backwards. The game had no mods on it whatsoever. Odd for a Creature and an indication that it had only recently been off-route and then owned by a non-pinball person. There are a half-dozen must have mods for Creature and this game had none of them. Bottom line was that it was priced right for the condition and I told my colleague I would take it.
When I began the process of folding the head, we hit our first snag and it was a big one … it was missing the locking mech. Ugh. Crap. Ugh again. Pinball reader you know the pain this is going to cause. There is no way to fold the head without the DMD and translight simply falling out of the backbox. That $8 lock holds $500 worth of parts in place while they are folded and mine was MIA. Oh well, there’s a fix but it will take a minute. I chased the wiring from the DMD back to the boards and began to photograph and unplug each in a methodical order. Once that was completed, I set the DMD aside and opened the coin door to pull the glass, remove the balls and clean the cabinet of any parts (including the coin box). When I pulled the coin box, I found the entire lock mechanism and key sitting in the bottom. Assuming that it was originally pulled for a very good reason, I nonetheless took a shot at re-installing the lock. It took a bit of McGivering to get it to work (the lock barrel was just a bit long causing the rotating hasp/latch to extend past the relieved wood area) but I did get it to function. I quickly reinstalled the DMD (didn’t take the time to plug it back in) then popped the translight on top of it, turned the lock and folded the head carefully down to a doubled up piece of cardboard.
A few minutes later we had the machine wrapped in plastic and I asked my buddy where his hand cart was. He said “I don’t have one”. Followed by “I thought we would just carry it up the stairs”. Followed by “I have a bad back” (he really does). I recalled the nearly vertical flight of stairs we came down to get to the game and groaned inwardly. I agreed that given the circumstances, going up the stairs was the best solution and shared with him that we would have no choice but to remove the legs to do so. It was at this moment I was kicking myself for not bringing my Escalara. He grabbed a couple of sawhorses and set them at the base of the stairs so we could easily pop the legs off and get prepared for the “big lift”. As he was setting the sawhorses, I asked him again how difficult he thought it would be if we just took the game out the back door, then around the house. He had previously told me that this was an all grass and fairly steep route with no pathways. He invited me to check it out and I immediately changed our plans. We would go out the back, leave the legs on, carry it as far as we could comfortably and sit it down to rest as needed. I was less worried about me going up the stairs and more worried about doing permanent damage to my buddy’s back over a pinball machine. We got it up the hill and to the driveway in just a few minutes and with no incidents larger than his son taking a few shots to the shin from the front legs (he was backing up the hill).
I took a few quick pictures of the game sitting on the lawn and noticed some ominous clouds over the Smokey Mountains in the background. Wait … it’s not supposed to rain tonight. Wait again … I just bought a pinball machine and now you can bet it will rain. It did. A lot. As we loaded the game I got hit with a few sprinkles. My buddy asked if I had a tarp. I said that I purposefully didn’t bring one because the weather report showed 0% chance of rain. He ran inside and grabbed a Harbor Freight furniture blanket (thank goodness). By the time I had it strapped down, said my good-byes and closed the tailgate, it was raining “hard”. He ran back in the house and before I could leave the driveway, he came to my truck, reached through my rolled down window (in the rain) and handed me a roll of painters plastic while saying “you might need this”. I put the truck in gear, still in denial that it’s raining because it’s not supposed to and drove off. It rained harder. Not biblical levels but “anything you are hauling the bed of a pick-up truck that is not covered is going to get wet” levels. I pressed on because I could see clear spots in the sky. The rain followed me. I made a turn that I believed would get me home but in the rainstorm I must have misjudged and wound up on a road that ended in a cul-d-sac and … it was raining there too. I was trying to keep my speed up because that provided some shielding to the game from rain via the truck cab acting as a blocker but as you know driving on the wrong road in a cul-de-sac is not the best way to maintain speed. I finally recognized where I had gone wrong and was back on a path to get home. It was a 30 minute drive that ended up delivering various amounts of rain for 20 minutes of the total. I was thankful for the furniture blanket and hopeful that it was drying out in between the rain drops and assisted by the wind whistling by at 75mph on the freeway. I finally arrived home as it was getting dark and quickly unloaded the game and removed the wet (but surprisingly not soaked) blanket. The game was dry and in fine shape.
Right away, in the bright LED light of the garage, I could see that I had a bunch of minor work to do. First order of business was to simply wash the cabinet of some of the years of stains and dirt that come from being on a game route. Next I had to trim the cabinet decals where the legs had pressed into them and subsequently ripped and pushed them back. Once the game was safely up in the loft, I quickly crafted some “Stern style” cabinet protectors from black fiberboard and installed them underneath a fresh set or (much larger) leg protectors (the colorful ones) that would hide any of the decal damage. With my fiberboard protectors on, the decals would be forever safe from any further damage. With the game setup and running I turned my attention to the playfield and backbox. Over the next week I tackled the following:
Added a fresh sheet of PDI glass
Printed and installed apron cards
Replaced the backbox lock with period correct one
Wired in Brightcap EVO pop bumper lights (tied to GI)
Leveled the lagoon window to reduce edge wear
Rewired the hologram bulb (wire had been cut)
Waxed the playfield and cleaned old wax from posts
Repaired the coin door service menu button mount
Washed the speaker panel
Vacuumed the cabinet
Replaced a missing nut on the KISS plastic
Replaced 3 broken orange star posts
Fixed the slide ball deflector placement
LED’d the entire backbox (flasher remain incandescent)
Re-attach J133 pin 9 (start button lighting)
Removed backbox diffusor and installed new 3D print
Replaced a dozen burnt or dim LEDs under the playfield
Added a few color matched LEDs under inserts that needed them
Pulled the translight off the backglass to thoroughly wash both
Added an MRS switch in place of mechanical one in bowl
I’m not done yet! I’ve got a brand new lock down bar on order (the one in the game is bent), and an acrylic Creature to install in place of the hologram that is just now beginning to lose it’s bright green luster. By the time I’m done I’ll have added another $1,000+ to the cost of the game. It’s a keeper so that’s OK with me.
As I completed the repairs and upgrades I recalled that a year ago I had went on a month long streak of buying up every 3D movie I could get my hands on. The studios were not making many more movies in 3D as the home projector 3D phase was coming to an end. I have an Epson 3D capable projector and the price of the companion 3D wireless glasses had dropped enough ($75 per pair) that is was now a viable option to buy the glasses, get some movies and experience 3D right in my own home. One of the movies I bought and watched was “Creature from the Black lagoon”. I remembered how tame it was by today’s horror standards but at the same time how tense some of the scenes were and how cool the 3D was during some of the scenes – especially given the age of the movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it. One of the cool things about the Pinball Loft is that for most of the licensed themes in the collection, I have signed memorabilia from the artists, actors or entertainers. For Creature I had nothing. It was time to fix that. I went online and was quickly able to find a drive in speaker and original autographs of Julia Adams and Ricou Browning (Creature in the water). After receiving the items it took a few hours to crack the speaker in half, and I’m now in the process of creating a proper companion piece to go alongside the Creature pinball!
Well a few days and a few dozen games later, I marveled that Creature was finally part of the Pinball Loft collection and although the game count in the room had now dropped below 40, the quality was climbing. At least the perceived quality. To be honest, I had only played Creature once and I barely remembered the gameplay. I’d read every review I could on the game and already knew it was “beloved” by seasoned veterans and newbies alike. Before I brought Creature home, I wondered if I would feel the same? After all, I own Medieval Madness. The number one rated pinball of all time. I bought the remake because it was a bargain when it was introduced by Chicago Gaming and it had legendary status as a classic Pinball from the 90’s that was a “must own”. I’ve played it a bit and it’s still in the collection, but it never connected with me. There are things about the game that I think are cool and amazing but I’m a long way from loving the game play. The exploding castle may be one of the coolest mechs in pinball. The call-outs are among the funniest. The playfield art is stunning. Chicago Coin built it like a tank. Yet, at the end of the day I just don’t play it much. The gameplay does not draw me in. There is no “one more game” feeling after I finish.
Creature has been VERY different. In a good way. Literally from the first games I put on it when I got it home it felt “good”, easy to play, simple to understand and easy shots (for the most part). It’s hard to just pick one or two things that make it special. It’s not just the simplicity that has me playing the game every night (and not turning my Godzilla LE on at all). It’s the whole package that makes it work. The music just makes you feel good and reminds you of life before cell phones and the internet. It’s a nostalgic sounding and looking game. I have many fond memories of going to the drive-in as a child and a a teenager. Drive-ins were (and are) such a unique and special experience. One night, after finishing a game on Creature, I spent a half hour just researching the “Starlight Drive-in” hoping I would discover it was a real place, with a specific history that I could learn more about. I found the name only to discover there were dozens of “Starlight Drive-ins” and several that were well known and had long histories before the modern world gobbled them up. The call outs are “just right” too with modes that match the culture and vibe of the drive-in era. From “Move Your Car”, to “Double Feature” to the “Focus” that gets screamed at you when you drain – all of it aligns perfectly with the drive-in experience.
The story that Creature invites you to join … of going to a drive-in and paying your ticket, kissing your girl, riding the slide and getting some snacks is simple and engaging. Follow that story and with some luck and skill, you’ll start the multiball and become part of a movie in progress to “search” for the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Were it not for the latter part (Creature multiball) the game would likely just be “too easy” for some and downright boring for others. The addition of the Creature multiball creates a very unique juxtaposition of simple and easy (pre-multiball FILM effort) to intense and challenging (Creature multiball) and all in the blink of an eye. It’s the excitement of chasing that multiball and the challenge of playing it well that gives Creature it’s unique last ability. After a dozen plays or so, I remember standing with my hands resting on the lockdown bar with a big smile on my face and thinking to myself “I get it”, I now know why this is considered a classic.
I had the game for about a week when my daughter popped over to the house for dinner. When we were done I asked if she wanted to play some pinball. She’s not a fan but begrudgingly agreed in order to keep her old man happy. Of course we would play Creature as it was the hot title in rotation (read: the only game I had turned on in a week). It was VERY interesting to watch her play. It was not the same as other games I’d seen her engage with. Normally she would just flip around, trying to keep the ball alive like so many other casual players. I spent 30 seconds explaining to her how the basic rules worked. I shared with her that she was going to a drive-in and had 4 things to do at that drive-in before the story shifted to her becoming part of the Creature movie. No surprise she understood the rules – they are simple. The big surprise was watching her attempt to achieve the goals. She was shooting for the items that helped her spell out “Film”. She was targeting them purposefully. She knew where they were and at the end of game one had achieved 3 of the 4 letters. I was impressed! Her very first game and she was able to understand rules, know where the shots were and then execute on them. That’s a lot of real pinball packed into a first game, on a new machine from a very casual (barely interested) player!
We ended our 2 game session with her saying “I really like that one”. Out of nearly 40 games in the room, that’s quite a compliment to Creature. It’s also a testament to why after 30 years have passed, it’s still a much loved game. Creature is special in the way that it brings ALL of the elements of pinball together into one cohesive, nostalgic, campy, fun package. My only regret is that it took me 10 years to get one.
Handsome Harlem
Where do I start with this one? Wow, just …. wow! This restore has been the most (by a mile) detailed and extensive I’ve ever undertaken. I guess it makes sense to start with the Globetrotters themselves. Like most baby-boomers, I knew who they were from a very young age. I grew up with them. I grew up watching them on Saturday cartoons. I got to see them live later as an adult. Their red, white and blue colors are as Americana as it gets. Apple Pie, Hot Dogs, Ice Cream, the 4th of July and yes, throw the Harlem Globetrotters in there too. U-S of A all the way.
When my daughter was younger we took her to see them right here in Knoxville and Meadowlark was with them. We had a great time and I enjoyed it just as much as she did but the special moment came at the end when Meadowlark himself signed a “kid sized” basketball for her. He was exceedingly kind. There have only been 12 pinball machines in history to exceed 15,000 units in sales. Harlem sold 14,550 units total – easily putting it in the top 20 best selling of all time. There’s a reason. It’s fun to play.
So how did a bit of nostalgia get me interested in owning this machine? After all, I already had a room full of them. You can blame it on RD or, as he is know on Pinside as “Rotor Dave”. The Rotor comes from his old racing days (Mazda engines) and he lives in New Zealand with his beautiful family. In fact his daughter Dani is one of the top ranked female player in the world. I got to see her in action when Dave and his family came to visit here in East TN and we played a 4 player on my buddy Darin’s WOZ. I’ll sum it up. She crushed us. Like really bad. RD also just happens to have one of the largest pinball collections in the world. Set up in his home, ready to play – he has in excess of 100 machines! He’s a music fan, an entrepreneur, a competitive pinball player, world traveler and all around renaissance man. Dave Peck was kind enough to share his building plans for his home and gameroom in New Zealand and I used many of his ideas from those plans in building my pinball loft. So what’s Dave got to do with the Globetrotters? Did he used to play with them too? No … but he did buy a beat up Evel Knievel pinball. He did do a fabulous restoration on it. When he posted on Pinside the results I was blown away. It looked like something I could do and wouldn’t you know it – Globetrotters is the same era, the same manufacturer and just about the exact same level of complexity to tackle. I went on Pinside, told Dave his work was fantastic and 30 DAYS LATER I posted again to let him know it had inspired me to do the same but with a Harlem Globetrotter instead of the EK title.
So I started my search for a Harlem Globetrotters and it did not take long to find one. Convenient for me – it was nearby. Not more than 45 minutes away there is a friend that deals in and repairs used pins. He especially talented at taking non-working ones and resurrecting them to working order. In the meantime, I mentioned to my wife that there was a Harlem Globetrotters pinball and because of our love for the team and our little bit of history, that we should keep an eye out for one. She seemed mildly interested which in more interest than she typically shows for pinball so I took that as a “start looking harder” moment. It wasn’t too much later that I saw a FB ad that my “pinball resurrection” friend had placed for a Harlem Globetrotters and I messaged him right away. We arranged a time for me to go look at it and away I went. The game played well and I could see why folks enjoyed this era game. It was deceptively simple and quite challenging to do well on. It also had the Sweet Georgia Brown theme tune built into the very rudimentary sound system that was available to pinball designers in 1979. The playfield was worn but I cared more about the overall “bones” of the game. Cabinet sound? Check. Backbox square, no splits? Check. Topside components all there? Check. Coin door in decent shape? OK, not great but OK. Game plays correctly? Check. I could overlook the cabinet scratches, the missing paint, the worn playfield and the flaking backglass. All of that would be replaced during the restoration process.
I purchased the game and hauled it home, knowing it would be months before I started the restore. In between that time I set it up in the pole barn for some test play and to get a better idea of what parts would be needed. It got played quite a bit at our annual barn party at the ranch and the guests all commented on the game even if they didn’t play it – people universally like the Harlem Globetrotters. After the party, the game was unplugged and moved to an out of the way spot in the pole barn. January passed and in February I began to assess and order the parts I would eventually need for the restore. The cosmetics were rough but the bones were good. Then, out of nowhere, COVID-19 hit.
I got insanely busy at work (busier than at any other time – we are an essential business) and even though I was working from home, I had ZERO minutes to work on the game. The parts were sitting upstairs in the Loft but it didn’t matter. Many nights I was still working at 10 or 11pm and the only thing I wanted to do when done was get some sleep. After several months of high intensity, the number of cases nationally started to level off and states began to “open up”. I was one of a handful of folks who returned to our offices (albeit with masks and a whole slew of new processes) and for the first time in several months – I had some time off. My evenings were back and even some weekends. I got to know my family again and dove head first into getting Harlem done ASAP. Here is what I had ordered:
Bags of new hex head mech and switch screws
New pop spoon switches
New pop bumper mechs
New coil wraps (printed “Bally green”)
New back glass (CPR)
New back glass frame kit
New playfield (CPR)
New side rails (chrome)
New stand up targets
New rubbers
New mini posts
New bulb holders (100% replaced)
New “Reese” rails
New plastic set
New legs (chrome)
New coin door bezel (chromed)
New vent screen (chromed)
New speaker (custom painted)
New flipper bats
New flipper buttons
New flipper button housings
New flipper cabinet switches
New coin door skin
New backbox lock
New service/operator cards (65lb stock)
New ground braid
New bulbs
New switch resistors/diodes
New apron decals
New spinner decals
New Pinball Pimps stencil kit
On a rainy Saturday I walked over the pole barn and pulled the glass from Harlem. In about 2 hours I had the top cleaned off and had taken hundreds of pictures along the way. I pulled all the mechs apart, took off the solenoids and dropped all the metal parts into the tumbler for polishing.
I used my new sonic cleaner to clean all the coils and once out of the Simple Green sonic bath, I pulled the (now gummy and faded) labels off the coils. That was a mistake. How the heck would I know which coil went where? Aha- DMM to the rescue! I measured the resistance of each and compared it to John’s Jukes coil charts BUT … there was a problem. My AN 26-1200 coils (slings, pops out hole) were measuring 10.7 to 10.9 ohms and John’s chart said they should be 12.5. I measured again and again – came up the same for me … averaging about 10.8 ohms. Then I did some deep research on the internet and found that at least one other source was getting the same resistance numbers I was. I shot an email off to John and they quickly got back to me that … yes, the 10.8 ohm number WAS correct and they would be editing their charts to reflect the change. They tested some coils they had on hand to confirm the same measurements that I had taken.
With that settled, I now “knew” which coils went where and could begin the process of re-wrapping them for later installation. Wrapping the coils with fresh wrappers should be easy – right? Not so much. First, even though Planetary Pinball sells wrapper “kits” they don’t have one for Harlem. Secondly, for whatever reason, I tend to fall in love with the most complex solution to a problem. Ken Layton had posted on Pinside that had printed Bally coil wrappers in the most beautiful green I had ever seen. He was even so kind as to share the specific color and brand of the paper he used. It was Neenah Creative Collection, #98710 in Avocado green. Awesome, right? Well it would have been if that paper was still being manufactured, if it was still in stock within a hundred miles of my house, if the folks that DID still have it in stock would ship me some BUT … sadly, none of that was true. I found some a little over a hundred miles from my house and begged the store (that also had a “pack and ship” service IN the same store) to ship it to me – I did not care the cost. They wouldn’t. So I paid my daughter to drive and pick it up. Such is the obsessive nature of this hobby that I had to have that exact green, for coil wrappers that almost NO ONE would ever see.
Next I moved onto finding out how to print the coil wrappers with the Bally logo, coil number and at the right scale to fit each coil. This part was assisted greatly by Pinballrebel.com/pinball/cards. It’s here that you can find and download instruction cards, cabinet body cards, and coil wrapper files. It’s a one stop shop for anyone that wants to restore a game to “better than new” condition. Download the file, print it out in black ink and each sheet will have more than enough wrappers on it to do every “like” coil on the game. Some use double faced tape to attach, but I just used transparent tape and put the seam at the bottom. The game looks 1,000% better with the new wrappers! Time to do all the hammering on the topside first.
Busy, busy now … hammering in pop nails. Clearing away clear coat. Adding pop parts and seating the body. The bodies did not fit and I had to Dremel and file a bit. I even put a tiny scratch in the playfield (under the pop bumper thank goodness) while trying to file off a bit of the pop bumper body to make it fit. The wire leads for pop bulb holder were also a very tight fit. Next I was on to hammering in the ball guides. I used a block of wood for measure and to ensure they were seated to the proper depth. Pre-drill the back side of the guide holes and watch guide as it exits the back – splintering may occur! I added the posts on the top side just to get a feel for what it would take to carefully remove the clear, seal it with premium CA glue (super glue) and then carefully tighten down. I abandoned the glue after the second hole as it made a mess around one of the holes.
All 10 or so mini posts were added without incident and I gained confidence that I could handle re-populating the topside when finished with the bottom. I knew it would be a little more challenging because some of the items on the top would require all the prep work that the mini posts had required AND they would need to be “pre-drilled” as well (think wood screw based posts that support plastics and star posts)
By now I was out of the pole barn and had hauled both the old and new playfields up into the Loft where the temperature and climate was about 100% nicer than the tropical pole barn. I set the old playfield up on my rotisserie and the new one lay on a blanket on my gaming table in the corner of the Loft. The first thing I noticed was it was too dark to work effectively – like way too dark. I went on Amazon and after a few nights of research ordered a new freestanding LED work light. Best decision ever. It’s adjustable for aiming, it’s pretty lightweight, it folds up in a very compact form and it was only around $100 – oh … and it’s bright! My storage closet in the Loft doubles as a place to do minor repairs and now that I was into MAJOR RESTO I noticed that this space was also quite dark. Time for another visit to Amazon. This was simple and cheap purchase. It’s a high output LED light that screws into the bulb fixture of a recessed can light. Cheap, bright, fast and effective … and ugly as sin but I didn’t need beauty, I needed functionality.
Got my new Reese rails in and added those to the playfield. Had to buy some new rail screws because the original rails were stapled in with just a few screws holding them. It’s not like they were going to go anywhere – the staples were a huge struggle to pull out and I had to use a combination of the levering the rail against the playfield and a large screwdriver to essentially “pry” the rails away from the playfield.
Tonight I ran through the entire inventory of bulb holders for inserts. I cataloged each and every wire and color code, then wrote a corresponding number on the old playfield
Today I soldered in the entire 5 volt point to point for all the “below-the-playfield” insert bulbs. Took me 2 hours start to finish. You must have a good quality stripper tool. It saved hours of stripping time. Just locate the wire where you want it stripped and squeeze the handle – boom, bare wire. The wire I used was 18 gauge for both the GI and the Controlled Lamps circuits. If you’ve followed some of HEPs restorations, you know that there are several ways to rewire a Bally controlled lighting matrix. You can use the original method of stapling down a 5 volt “bare wire”. Pretty simple because you use the old playfield to just follow along with the old pattern. The move the old harness to the new playfield and connect the other wire. Simple but also requires specialized wire and a good stapler and some planning. When completed this way, you’ll need to add a solder blob to each spot where the 5 volt braid touches the bulb holder – so in essence, you’re stapling down a wire, then soldering it as well. The other potential downside is removing bulb holders later on to replace a bulb – not so easy. Another way is to use what are called “solder tabs”. These look like a washer that has an extended “leg” for you to solder on. The advantage here is that you can still staple down the bare wire, but now you will be soldering that braided wire to the tab and not the bulb housing – thus giving you the ability to change bulbs very easily later on.
The third way (the method I used) was one I copied from Chris Hutchins at HEP. This simply involves ordering new lamp holders with 2 solder points and “lifting” the normal braided wire off the bottom of the playfield and changing it out for a normal insulated/stranded wire. Solder those wires all to the same bulb holder tab and then solder on the control wires from the wire harness to the other tab. In my case I used blue as my 5 volt wire. The tabs on the bulbs holders have holes in them large enough to accommodate the wire itself when it is stripped and threaded through. In many cases I was able to cut a length of wire long enough to daisy chain 5 or 6 lamps with a contiguous piece of wire. I used the strippers to split and “slide back” the insulation at each bulb holder solder point, then threaded the entire piece of wire from the starting bulb to the end. This was not a fast process but it worked and it saved a bunch of soldering because the wire slipped through the bulb lug required just a single shot of solder and it was complete – no fumbling with cut pieces of wire. This was especially helpful when you are working alone – like most of us do, most of the time.
I was surprised at how quickly the controlled lamps were completed and excited to then move on to tackle the GI wiring. First, I needed to choose a color combo and ended up using black and red coded wires. Gauge was the same as the controlled lamps (18 gauge) and the wire came from the same supplier. Oddly enough, I had more trouble with the GI than the other lamps and there are FAR fewer of them.
Most of the issue was simply me not understanding how the GI worked. The GI has multiple “feed points” from the wiring harness. Some short runs will have a positive feed from one end and just 12 inches away be fed by the negative. I’m guessing that clarity of design was not a real concern but that “wasting wire” was – so I they could just grab a ground nearby rather than run another wire – they did it. Just like I did on the controlled lamps, I was super careful that I was watching what lug I was soldering the ground vs the hot and keeping it very consistent.
That process was working just fine UNTIL I was checking the old playfield for reference and noticed that on one of the lamp holders, the wires were “flipped”. Huh? Yes – the ground appeared to be soldered to the lug that on the prior lamp (and it was the lamp feeding it) was opposite! How could this be? I feverishly began to check all my work vs the old playfield. Sure enough 4 or 5 others were “flipped”. I spent another half hour “correcting” each of them until I came to the conclusion that I did not have a clue what I was doing. Confused, I jumped on Pinside to find out what was what. Got it. The GI is AC not DC, and polarity does not matter. No wonder the Bally guys “appeared” to just slap those wires on the lamp holders seemingly at random – it just doesn’t matter. Ugh. Now I know and the next one gets easier. Another step I took to make the connection of the harness easier was to solder in a short piece of wire when the wire harness was expected to make a connection to a lamp lug. That way I would not disturb the existing solder point on the lamp lug and could simply slip a short piece of shrink tube over that wire and solder my harness to the short wire. Once soldered on, just hit the shrink tube with the heat gun and be done.
I began to add back all of the large solenoid based mechanisms. The new flipper mechs from PBL, the sling mechs, the 2 upper saucer mechs, the lower ball diverter mech and finally, the pops. There were lots of intricacies and things to learn along the way. Changing out the spoons on the pop switches was no easy task. The new spoons had mounting holes (for the switch screw sleeves) that were about a millimeter too small. Getting the bottom “nut plate” back on requires patience.
Note the 2 sets of holes. When you switch to the modern 2 piece assembly, you will drill new ones
Switching the sling arms to the more modern “2 piece” style brought it’s own set of challenges. The mounting hinge has new drill points, the hinge requires a washer/spacer. The fiberboard swivels were just a tad too tight to slip onto the mounting post on the sling arm. Thank goodness for the Dremel. Mounting the pops was actually one of the easiest parts – after all the pop nails are already in place, just drop the mech over the screws and put the 3 nylok nuts on, line up the pop ring with the yoke and add 2 more nyloks and you’re done!
The saucers presented a small challenge of “where to locate them” – not that the large holes in the upper part of the playfield didn’t give away the placement but, exactly where in that hole? There was an 1/8″ of play in every direction and just one narrow slot for the ball popper to move within. I used the existing playfield as reference and hoped upon reassembly that I got it right (note: I did)
If ordering new flipper mechs (the entire assembly) from PBL – note that on the Harlem title (and likely others with 3 lower flippers) the double flipper arrangement on the left side of the playfield has at least one mech that includes a “double switch” that controls current flow to the second. When you order these Bally flipper mechs from PBL, they all come with the same single EOS switch. You’ll need to source the correct switch or use the old/existing one. I ordered my replacement from Ministry over in England because I could not find the exact part here in the states. I’m betting you could construct one from locally sources parts but I wanted something as plug and play. The switch arrived from overseas in about 2 weeks time. EDIT: I posted the link to this blog post on Pinside and Ken Layton commented that this switch can easily be constructed as follows. Way easier to source it here in the US and get it fast too – thx Ken.
For that double stacked flipper end of stroke switch assembly, you make it up with one each of the two following switches:
One of the last solenoids to be remounted to the new playfield was the gate switch on the right side outlanes. When something goes “wrong” with a Harlem machine, lots of times it’s this gate. From what I understand, the solenoid is energized nearly 100% of the time to keep the outlane open and only becomes “not energized” when the ball save function is in play. I carefully inspected all the parts, pulled the entire mech apart and hand polished the metal flats.
The disassembly was needed for 2 reasons – I wanted to ensure it was 100% clean and functional and I needed to wrap that tiny little coil with a brand spanking new coil wrapper (in Neenah Creative Collection, #98710 in Avacodo green). I was able to quickly locate the associated parts because I made a habit of putting important/unique parts into small baggies and labeling them for later. My gate components looked excellent even if the old coil wrapper looked a little “cooked” it was not burned and when I first bought the game, was fully functional. I finished cleaning the mech, wrapped the coil and pretty quickly had it mounted back to the playfield.
Wow … everytime I think Ive hit a milestone and really accomplished something on the restoration, I’ll start some new part of the project and realize just how little I have done so far AND how much is yet in front of me. Thus the big delay between getting the coil mechs mounted and me taking the next step. The game sat untouched for 3 weeks up in the game room. What was I waiting for? Simple, encouragement, bravery, counsel … you name it. This was the scary part of the restore. I needed to unsolder the old wire harness and move it to the new playfield, then solder it back in. That sounds easy. Holy cow … as you’ll see, not really.
I was stalling for sure. Stalling because I just did not know what the VERY FIRST step should be. Finally I decided to do the most obvious – label everything. So I used my sharpie to write a code number next to each bulb and switch. There were a total of 56 bulbs between the controlled lamps and the GI and more than a dozen switches and mechs to document. Once I finished labeling the playfield, I then captured all the data on my tablet (and emailed a copy to myself so I did not lose it!). I felt better after completing this task. I had finally taken the first step to removing the harness from the PF. So now what? Well to be honest, I was stuck for another week. I finally came back to the original idea that got me moving in the first place – labeling. I asked Tami if she had any garage sale style price stickers. She searched for a bit and found me a pack of white ones – about 5/8″ diameter. I ran up to the Loft and began to write the same code that was written on the playfield onto each of the stickers, then sticking them to each corresponding wire. When I was done, it looked like a mess BUT a mess created by somebody with a plan. I didn’t know if at the time but this last step proved critical later in the process to drive both speed and accuracy.
Now that I had the playfield notated, the wire color data captured in my tablet AND the wires tagged with stickers, I had the confidence to start disconnecting the harness. That part went fast. Get you iron nice and hot, hit each solder joint and a gentle tug and it’s free. Repeat that around 200 times and you’ve got a harness that is ready to be removed. The only thing left to do is to unscrew the harness retention screws and stand-offs. Once that is completed, the harness is completely free from the old PF. When de-soldering the harness, you will need to make some decisions about “how far” you’ll go. For instance, I left the entire drop target mech “wired in”. The gains for de-soldering it (easier ability to clean/polish, etc.) were offset by the significant amount of work required.
My drop target assembly was clean and the switches were in great shape. So in my opinion, it did not warrant removal. The only minor work (replace the coil sleeve, clean plunger) that needed to be done, could be done once transferred to the new PF. Same story for all the roll over switches – they are under the PF, were in good condition so I left them soldered on. I ALSO left all of the red stand up targets and the sling switches soldered on – although I planned to replace them later, it is WAY easier to just leave them soldered in, carry them to the new PF and then replace them one at a time to ensure correct “wire to blade” placement. This is particularly important when you consider you will be buying new switches – at least in my case the exact/direct replacement was not available. You order a “Bally replacement slingshot scoring switch” and on the surface it looks the same but on closer inspection you’ll find the solder points on the blades may not have the correct sequence or even orientation. This is easily corrected but having the original orientation of the switches still available sure made this easier.
I had pre-ordered about a dozen new switches in anticipation of replacing the sling switches and the other 2 or 3 top side switches that appeared dirty/damaged. I started the process of replacing these at the slings. If you know how the slings are wired on a 70’s era Bally, you’ll know that there is a scoring sling switch and a slave switch. You might have known that BUT I did not. I soldered in the slave switch. What a pain in the but! The slave is connected to the scoring switch by two pieces of braided (bare) wire. I’m thinking, why not keep these wires? They were put there by the engineers on purpose. These switches take a ton of abuse so with all the vibrations and ball strikes, this type of wire probably has the least chance of failure. Not sure that was the right move because de-soldering and reusing braided wire that has solder already embedded in it – is flippin’ painful! As soon as you heat is up it get nice and flexible, but once it cools … well lets just say it gets pretty rigid.
I finally fought it off the old switches (no easy feat) and got it transferred to the new slave switch. I thought I was on my way to get this part done when I took a look at the switch connected to the slave – oh boy … it had another lug/blade/soldering point. Time for a quick order to Pinball Life for the correct switches. I had them in just 3 days and I was eager to get them soldered in. I gathered all my tools and picked up the first switch only to see that although it had the correct lug count, the lugs were not in the correct orientation. I was a bit worried I had ordered the wrong switches when I noticed that the stack could easily be taken apart and re-assembled in the new (correct) order and orientation. That took a few minutes per switch but after that, I was on my way.
Well – the underside is done. The only thing yet to do is mount the switches that connect through the playfield to register the spinners. I purposefully left them unmounted to ensure that the topside components aligned properly. Now that the underside of the playfield was completed, I needed to turn my attention to the PF topside. One problem though. The PF could not be flipped on the table I was using as a work bench. The mechs and solder/wiring would have been damaged. That fact alone delayed my progress by another week as I contemplated how I would move forward. I settled on moving the PF to my home built rotisserie in order to have the flexibility to rotate the PF between the underside and topside. The only negative to using the rotisserie is that you really need to mount the PF to the rotisserie using some screws and washers. Too much of a risk by just using finger clamps. Once I made the decision, I grabbed the PF, moved it to the rotisserie and marked out on the PF underside where the screws would go. On some PFs you get lucky and there is already a mounting screw presented in the exact right spots – not so here. I drilled out 4 small holes and used 3/8″ mounting screws and acrylic fender washers to mount the PF to the rotisserie in a secure manner
Immediately after flipping the rotisserie mounted PF over to the empty topside, I was struck by how empty it was vs the busy underside I had just completed. I took it all in. That brand new, beautifully clear coated, nearly empty playfield and in the same moment glanced over to the parts containers sitting just a few feet away. Then it hit me. There are not many parts there. Did I lose some? Misplace them? The answer was no. Then the pleasant reality of working the top side of a classic 70’s Bally became apparent – there isn’t much “there”! I was going to (hopefully) get the top of the game repopulated pretty quickly.
I paused long enough to think through the logical way a game is shopped. My steel mini posts were already installed because I had to hammer in the T-nuts very early on in the process. Now it was time to install all the rest of the posts. Star posts and slim posts. Following that the rubbers and finishing with the plastics set. I started with the lower left sling and worked my way around the playfield, ending with the right sling on the opposite side. I learned a few things along the way. Posts are big- compared to a tiny drilled hole, they are enormous. Big enough in fact that you really never have to worry about the hole you drilled or reamed to remove clear around the edges – remove a generous amount because you will never see it under that huge star post. The learning here was to make sure you remove enough of the clear around each drilled hole to ensure that the clear does not lift when screwing in the posts – even when you think you’ve removed enough clear, check again. I used a hand reamer that allows you to easily control how much, how big and how deep. The best advice I can give is to try this on a post near the top of the PF. Drill the pre-drilled hole to the correct depth and bit size (5/64″ for the HGTOT posts), ream out the clear around the hole, screw in the post fully THEN REMOVE THE POST.
Look at the hole closely, use a magnifying glass if it helps. Look for how the clear coat is behaving near the edge of your drilled hole. Does it start to “turn up” as it nears the hole? Are there obvious signs of lifting/separating? If issues are found, you will need to remove more clear around the hole. A few things to note that might save you some time as you complete this – Note that there is one smaller metal riser vs all the other sizes. Find that one and set it aside, it will be installed on the right side of the playfield just to the right of the drop targets. It’s the 3rd riser down from the top. You can see why Bally designed the riser this way – it’s too close to the ball path and had to be made smaller so it did not interfere with the ball travel. Once I was satisfied that it all looked good – I proceeded to install the remaining posts. I was able to get the posts done in about 4-5 hours.
From there I moved to install a bit of the miscellaneous hardware. First piece of hardware I added was the horseshoe shaped ball guide that goes completely around the top of the playfield. Here I discovered something that would have helped from a planning perspective. I should have put a small bit of painters tape around one end to identify the correct orientation before attempting install. As it was, I had removed it, polished it and now stood before the game not knowing where each end went. When you remove that piece, you normally wouldn’t think about that sort of thing – after all, it’s shaped the same way in each direction right? Each half is a mirror of the other right? Well – no. It’s not. If you look closely one end is a bit more “flattened” a the very end vs the other. Of course, when I guessed by just trying it out, I guessed wrong. It just did not fit right into the slots that are milled into the rails. Unfortunately for me, I had purchased brand new Reese rails and once I got the piece seated into those milled slots, it was difficult to get them to release again. I was very worried that I would chip/pull some of the paint from the edges of the milled slots as this steel rod “popped” out. It’s a testament to the paint quality from Reese that even though a put tremendous strain on those milled slots – no paint was removed. After install the large horseshoe ball guide, I went about putting in the one way ball gates at the top of the playfield Rubbers & Plastics
Cabinet Work. Oh boy. So it’s been 6+ months since I finished the topside of the playfield. I figured it was about time that I got busy on the cabinet. Before I started, I had a few decisions to make and tools/parts to gather. What paint would I use? What colors? How would I clearcoat? The most challenging question was … would I chrome it or not? I already had all the new parts ordered that I would need (in brushed stainless) so ordering chrome would add (significantly) to the expense. I decided to go for it. I was this deep, I was going to make it the best it could be. I fired off an email to Chris at Hot Rod Arcade and plating over in Nashville. I needed chrome side rails, shooter rod, lock down bar, grill, coin door bezel, shooter housing, legs, bolts and a few more things. I got a quick email back that he had all my parts and these were the LAST early Bally SS chrome parts he would have for a while (post COVID) parts shortages. I quickly made an appointment to bring my exchange parts to him in person and pick up my new chrome parts as well. Sunday June 13th I fired up the Porsche 911 and headed to Nashville.
Gosh I almost forgot how much fun this car is to drive. Passing someone at 80 and then watching the RPM max (just under 7K) as you pop the gears is about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on. The car goes from 80 to triple digits in seconds and handles like a slot car (in Super Sport mode) along the way. Takes your breath away. Hoping this Harlem does the same when done! I met Chris at Hot Rod on a Sunday after Church (he is a pastor) and had a great visit. I got to see some beautiful personal machines of his and got a tour of his new Pinball building which was stunning to say the least – brand new and over a hundred feet long with a mezzanine and showroom – wow! Chris was both kind and gracious and when I asked if he had a plated lock down mech, he not only took the time to find one (he did have one) but he gave it to me as a gift. That part will save we several hours of work alone (and it looks fantastic too!)
Back home with the parts, it was time to tackle the challenging process of stripping and preparing the cabinet and head for a repaint. I tackled the cabinet first. I had already picked up the needed supplied and had on hand 80/120/220 grit sandpaper, Bondo and a full face mask respirator. I had everything out of the cabinet except the flipper buttons, yellow ground strapping, cabinet speaker, side rails, knocker, ground braid, tilt mech, varistor, prop rod, power wires/switch and front glass channel. It took a few hours to pull all of that … mostly due to a rusted nut that spun on the threads for one of the front end side rail carriage bolts – I finally cut it off with a Dremel. Ugh.
With the cabinet stripped of hardware it was time to go to town. This part is simply messy. The work is straightforward though. Sand with 80 grit to remove the paint. Mark all the small knicks, depressions, gouges with a pencil, mix and add Bondo to those marked areas, let it set up (I did overnight) and sand again with 80 grit. Once the Bondo work is done, move to 120 grit to remove the 80 grit swirl marks, then finish with 120 grit to a super smooth finish for priming. I use a large compressor from Harbor Freight and a cheap orbital air sander. Works like a charm but performs best in the 80-100 PSI range and even my large compressor is running constantly when I’m sanding. When the PSI dropped below 70 or so, I just took a break to let it catch up. If you put pressure on the tool (especially with 80 grit) when the PSI is low and the tool is not orbiting fast, you’ll leave more swirl marks. Sanding the back panel of the cabinet and head were the most challenging because those are press board and the paint really soaked in when they were originally sprayed.
When I finished sanding the 80 grit I noticed the bottom mason board of the cabinet was a little “loose” in the center of the cab. It was loose but not in danger of coming out or dropping out the bottom. The slot that it rides in was secure both top and bottom but over time the wood had shrunk by a few millimeters and the glue had let go as well. I spent a few days wondering how to best repair it and settled on the simplest approach. I used a plastic pry bar to open the joint and turned the cabinet on it’s side, then shot some Titebond III glue into the joint. I did the same on the other side as well. Once finished, I put the cabinet on the HF lift, added some poplar shims right under my repair to “push up” on the mason board bottom and watched as the glue joint tightened and squeezed the extra glue out. I used a wet cloth to clean the extra glue off the joint and let it dry overnight. The next day the joint was tight and looked factory fresh again.
Added glue to both of these joints and then clamped overnight
As I was cleaning up a hummingbird flew into the pole barn. Bummer, as they usually don’t find their way out. This one finally exhausted himself and fell to the floor in a corner and got tangled up in spiderwebs. I went over there, picked him up and carefully cleaned off the mess. I took him back outside and he sat on my finger for 3 or 4 minutes catching his breath. Finally he lifted off my hand and landed in a branch a few feet above my head. Rescue complete.
Before I finished the cabinet prep, I needed to make a plan for painting it. I settled in Molotow paints (rattle cans). Ordering the paint online has the advantage if saving a few pennies (doesn’t matter a ton here because you’ll be hard pressed to find Molotow locally) but the big disadvantage is that you can “really” know of the colors are correct. Lot’s of folks have specified the colors for Harlem – but they are always the paint you can buy in Home Depot (think Rustoleum). When the Molotow arrived, I needed to run some paint tests to be sure. so I grabbed a scrap of plywood, painted it with the Kilz original (oil based) primer that I had already bought and sprayed the entire piece with Molotow “Signal White”. I let that dry overnight before then laying down a section of Molotow blue (xx) and Molotow red (xx). To be honest, the colors looked great! Not too bright (primary) and they pop enough on the white to really call attention to the combo. I was pleased. From there I needed to make a call on if/how I would seal or clear coat the final paint job. The easy answer was Varathane – the paint it on with a brush style, water based Varathane. Easy enough to try it so I grabbed a quart of the gloss finish at HD and put two coats on top of the test color board. Importantly, it did not react with the paint – critical test #1 passed. It looked good too. More of a satin finish though. If I land on this as my final decision, it will look great and be very easy to finish. (I switched all cabinet paint to Rustoleum after trialing the Molotow. It was a flat paint and was too easily marked and became dirty quickly. I was also worried about the final finish. I wanted a fairly high shine and I was not convinced that the Molotow would give me that with the Varathane cover coat. As you’ll see in a bit – the Rustoleum did.
That same evening I headed back to the house (midnight) to shower and decided that before I called it a night, I should pull my Pinball Pimp stencils out of the shipping tube and get them flattened out for use. 10 minutes later, I had them stretched out on the floor in the loft with heavy books on each end. Glad I remembered that BEFORE I needed them
A few days later, I was back in the pole barn ready to move to the 120 grit paper. It was a hot as heck Saturday and I was taking a break and talking to my buddy when I heard a “pop” and a release of air from my compressor. Thinking it was the high pressure release valve (and not hearing anything else) I ignored it. When I came back to resume sanding, I had no air pressure. The “pop” I heard was the 29 cent regulator that HF puts on these compressors. It blew the top right off it, ripped the adjuster right off the threads. Looks like it’s super cheap white metal. A quick trip to Home Depot and I found at least 3 regulators in the tool section that could be used to replace mine. I grabbed the adjustable one, headed home and was back sanding in minutes.
I finished the 120 rit and was happy with the results. It was time to “fix” something that was nagging at me for a while. A hole in the cabinet bottom. Somebody had literally gouged a hole in the mason board bottom of the cabinet. I’m guessing they moved the machine, put the head back on and forgot the thread the power cord into the slot provided in the head. Rather than removed the 4 bolts they just put in, they grabbed a screwdriver and shoved it through the bottom of the cabinet. I wondered how I might fix it or, at a minimum, make it look better. I settled on “look better” and grabbed a scrap of poplar, put it under the gouged out hole and used a hole saw that was just slightly larger than the hole to create a new, nicely round hole of about 2″ in diameter. I’ll probably just leave it at that. It looks so much better.
With the 120 grit done, it was time for the final 220 grit sanding and prep before priming. I did the outside of the cabinet first and then moved the inside. The inside slowed me down because I wanted to keep the bottom panel “original”. This meant quite a bit of “clean up” and hand sanding in the base area. As you might expect, 40 years of stains and dirt are not kind the bottom of a pinball cabinet. I used the palm sander to get most of the panel cleaned up, then on to a hand block sander to get the edges. I took a few minutes to cut off all the old/exposed glue from the corner blocking that squeezed out when the cabinet was originally constructed. When I was done the panel looked great, but the area where the coin box sits did not. There would be no way to clean that up so I made the decision to paint that section white. The remainder of the bottom panel would be taped off and left “natural”.
It was time to tackle that back box. Oh boy. Lots going on in there. I debated leaving the boards in there but decided that I had come this far and should take the extra steps to finish the inside of the backbox as well. I photographed, then unplugged the light/display panel. I removed the screws holding the light panel piano hinge and removed the entire panel. The face of it would get a paint job, but the rear will not. That’s an added step I want to avoid (and can be done later if I so choose). Next the board were removed, then the transformer. Finally, each of the instruction and safety cards that are stapled to the back box were carefully removed as well. The “careful” part was all about being mindful of the metal ground plane material and careful not to damage it. I was not worried about the cards as I was able to get new ones and print them myself from Ichnochko site. Pulling those staples is a big pain and I used a hooked beak Milwaukee electricians knife to great effect. The staples in into the back panel were the most challenging because they are stapled into pressboard not real wood. After that the only part left to remove what the short piece if ground braid that connects the left and right side of the metal plates in the head and provides a connection to the ground braid into the cabinet. A few staples later and that was out as well.
Sanding the head was quick and the only challenges were the back (takes longer) and the narrow edges (being careful to keep sander level). I finished sanding and added the Bondo in the same session.
I took a night off to go buy a new Jeep. My 2017 Ford F150 King Ranch had 75,000 miles on it and (so I heard) it was now worth the “most it would ever be” vs what I had paid for it. I looked online at KBB and sure enough, its blue book value in trade was $41K. I only paid $55K or so when I bought it 4 years prior. So I drove over to Harper where I’ve bought (too many) cars in the past. They have the best service in the nation, are very fair on pricing, treat their customers like kings and … offer a lifetime powertrain warranty. I still needed a truck for hauling things around the ranch so, it did not make sense to go back into a $70K full sized pickup. The Jeep Gladiator fit the bill perfectly. Harper had 2 Gladiators on the lot – a “Sarge Green” and “Snazzberry Pearlcoat” and both in the Mojave feature sets. I got the Snazzberry one. Added some Predator Pro step bars, some floor mats, sill protectors, fire extinguisher and a Diamondback HD bed cover to finish it off. It’s a nice truck.
Back to the Globetrotters back box. I spent a few minutes pulling the circuit board rails off the back box and using every single cleaner in my cabinet to remove the “nicotine brown” stains that were all over the metal plates behind them – to no avail. I posted to Pinside looking for some help and Bryan Kelly shared that he used “Purple Power” to get it off. I didnt have time that evening to stop at the store to get a bottle BUT I remembered that I had used a similar spary to clean the cabinet on my Twin Win not too long ago. When I got home I found the bottle. It was called “Super Clean” degreaser. I grabbed it, sprayed a bit on a towel to test it and almost immediately saw the white towel turn brown. I quickly sprayed the entire metal sheet with the degreaser and watched excitedly as the brown stain just melted away and dripped down the toward the bottom of the head. 2 minutes later the entire backbox was done and looked great! I spent the next 45 minutes taping off the metal ground plates and the associated hardware that would not be removed before painting.
I popped back into the Pole barn a day later, keen on getting the backbox ready to be primed. I notice the light panel sitting there all smoke stained from the incandescent bulbs. I couldnt walk by it. I picked it up and surveyed the amount of work it would be to “get it taken care of”. The answer was not much IF I ignored the back. So I ignored the back. Took about 10 minutes to pull the displays and about 20 minutes to tape the panel off (cover the display cut outs) and pop some old buls in there so as to not spray the innards of the bulb fixtures. I got all that done and dragged it outside to the gravel pile (right outside the pole barn) and layed down a coat of Kilz. An hour later I added the coat of Molotow Signal White and with that was done with the light panel.
The next night was focused on the back box and in just a few minutes, I had all the bondo sanded down level and had run a sheet of 220 grit to make it all smooth. That all went so quickly that I had time left over to focus on prepping the main cabinet for primer. First I would need to tape off the bottom board as the plan fwas to leave that as natural wood. Before I could lay down my tape, I needed to sand the inside corners to remove a tiny bit of glue residue from my recent work in gluing up the bottom board. Sanding off glue “haze” is a bit harder that it would seem. What felt like a month later – I was finally done. I cut a few sheets of masking paper and test fit them in the cabinet before I finally had to call it a day and head back to the house.
The weekend was here and I had high hopes of getting a lot done on the game. Not so much as it turned out. I spent much of my time doing various bits of ranch work that was either needed or part of a plan to prepare for the 2 events coming up – the Porsche Club social event (expecting up to 100 people) or my daughter’s wedding. I ended up putting in a 3 car gravel parking lot, replacing the faucet and drain in the pole barn guest bath and hanging new pictures in the Pole Barn office. That was just at one building. On the front of the property I spray stained a new gazebo that miss Tami bought for future parties/weddings and events (she is starting a new business). We washed a few cars, cleaned the garage and finally built a new beverage storage rack for the garage area. By the time Sunday came, not much had happened on Harlem so I mosied on over to the barn and decided to fire up the new polisher I had bought. It was a good time to test it out on the many pieces of hardware that needed cleaning and polishing on Harlem. I learned a bunch about the polishing process. Flat pieces without holes work better. Larger pieces are better. Using various grades (courser to finer) ends in a better result, etc. etc. In the end I finished with a real nice high polish finish on one side of the lock down bar. It was nearly “chrome like” and I was both surprised and pleased with the result. I’ll just need to choose the pieces I decide to polish with the machine carefully vs ones I will hand polish.
I got back into the barn for a few hours to tackle the base of the cabinet. It was all sanded and ready to be protected from the deluge of paint that was headed it’s way. I taped the edges using blue painters tape, then added pieces of masking paper to fit the larger areas. When completed, the cross bracing and corner bracing was (purposefully) left exposed and the bare masonite board was protected in order to remain brown/bare when the entire cab was completed. I found later that the tape did a great job at the edges (stuck to the bare masonite) but did not “stay stuck” where it was asked to stick to itself. Knowing this now, I would have run a few strips of duct tape from the first row of my blue (against the edge) and connecting that to the masking paper. I took a peek under the paper and saw very little overspray so in the end all is well but why not fix it and not have to worry.
Holy cow! Lot’s of work completed over the past few days. It seems like the more I get done at this point, the more the list of “things to do” grows in defiance. I now understand the phrase “prime, sand, prime, sand” much better than I did before. At this point, the cabinet is down to bare wood. I’ve sanded it using the 80/120/220 paper and my trusty air powered orbital palm sander. There is still one side of the exterior of the cabinet that has a bunch of wood grain but no amount of sanding will remove it – it just keeps exposing more. To fix that, I’ll need to add primer, sand it back to the surface of the wood and repeat until those wood grain “depressions” are filled in. I did just that and although not 100%, I’ve got it good enough (4 steps of prime/sand) for a final prime. I layed down that last coat of Kilz primer and lightly sanded using the 220 grit paper. I let that dry for a full day before attempting to add the first basecoat. That gave me time to think – maybe too much time. Was Molotow the right paint? Were the colors I chose even the right colors? I asked that of myself because the Molotow is a flat paint and in testing, it was difficult to even see where I had placed the basecoat over the Kilz primer. What if I decide not to clear coat the cabinet? Flat paint is easily marred and damaged. I turned my attention to the 2 colors I had chosen for the red and blue HGT logo. The blue looked to purple and the red looked too blue. Was I seeing things? I remembered that a year ago, someone on Pinside had posted the “right colors” to use (Rustoleum 2x) for HGT. I checked my notes and sure enough, I had copied and saved those colors. Gloss white, brilliant blue and apple red. I ran to the local Home Depot and picked up a fe wcans of each. When I got back, I sprayed test colors of both the red and blue next to the Molotow colors. I was right. These colors were much closer to the original HGT colors and, as a bonus they were high gloss and even a bit cheaper (not to mention readily available). I moved quickly to prep the cabinet for it’s first basecoat of “glossy white”.
Wait a minute … that metal security plate on the bottom of all Bally cabinets was looking pretty nasty – better address that first. I flipped the cabinet and started polishing. Waste of time. The plate had too much corrosion to be made presentable by polishing. So I sanded it with 220, then taped it off and painted it glossy white. It came out great. Now back to the cabinet topside. Wait a minute … I can’t really paint that bright white until I get the neck area painted black. I took about an hour to tape off the neck area and lay down a coat of Krylon gloss black (that pretty quickly got “speckled” by all subsequent white paint work!) Finally, I was able to put my first basecoat on. Painting white in the bright sun is not something I reccomend. I tried. It’s hard. When I moved to a shady area, the process got easier. I could clearly see how the paint was going down and adjust accordingly. Be prepared for “failures” of any kind. You are using rattle cans and you will likely encounter some troubles. I had two. The first was a spray can failure – about halfway through a can of gloosy white, it started “spitting” little balls of paint. Those balls were coming out nearly dry and as a result “sat” on the surface of the cabinet. Ugh. The last thing I wanted was “texture” in my gloss paint! I carefully flattened as many as I could when they were wet and grabbed a fresh can of paint and continued. Paint on the other side of the cabinet went on smoothly, however I noticed when I was done there were blotchy areas that were “not white” but had a grey tinge to them. I’lll chalk that up to poor mixing on my part and would be much more careful in the future to make sure that each can was adequately mixed before use.
I was dirty, I was covered in paint and although tired I still had the head to address. I could not remember what the current state was when I last left it. A quick look (and feel) demonstrated that it had the final primer coat on and simply needed a final 220 sanding and it would be ready for the first base coat. It took just a few minutes to sand the backbox and only a few more to add the first basecoat.
The waiting game. When you get into the basecoat, expect to wait. Make SURE you wait! These paints need time to dry. Plan to have some work available to do during this time. For me, it was the apron, the speaker, the power cord and the internal metal corning braces (x2). I had an idea (taken from Pinside) to paint the cabinet speaker red, white and blue. OK, now I needed to find out how. For the speaker, I decided to paint the magnet housing red, and I masked off the center pole (to paint it white later). Once dry, I pulled the center pole masking and created a mask around the fresh red paint and shot a tiny amount of white into the 1″ circle in the middle. A few hours later, I cut some paper masks and loosely inserted them into the speaker basket to cover/protect the cone from overspray. I then masked off the remainder of the speaker – leaving only the basket exposed. I grabbed a can of “brilliant blue” and got the basket painted. When you consider the time invested in a restore like this, not many people would understand the full hour you invested in “just painting the speaker”. The interior corner braces were much easier. Like the baseplate under the cabinet, I considered polishing them. No go. So painting it was. I left one side bare metal because the ground strap makes important contact with the brace for grounding purposes. I sprayed a coat of apple red and they look sharp.
The next day was 4th of July and we decided to take a short break and jump in the Jeep for a spin through the mountains and on the US129 dragon. It was odd to drive nearly the speed limit and not tear it up like I normally do in the 911 but it was a beautiful day and we had a blast. There are photographers there during busy season and we bought a few pics online after our trip.
When we got back and in between the cookout and fireworks, I was able to focus on the apron. Mine did not look terrible. Very little corrosion, no big scratches, etc. But the paint was faded as were the logos (they are painted as well). Unfortunately, the red color on the apron is NOT best represented by “apple red”. Apple red is too bright – too much yellow in the mix. Another run to Home Depot had me coming back home with 2 more test colors: Regal Red, and Sunrise Red. A test spray showed that Sunrise was a close match.
Prepping the apron takes a bit of time. I worked carefully on it for at least an hour before painting it. The trick is to sand off the original painted logos WITHOUT sanding to the bare metal. You won’t find a better primer that the original paint on the apron (assuming that the original paint is still solid – no flaking/rust).
When sanding correctly with 220 grit, you’ll be left with a plain red apron, no artwork and very little bare metal. Once I had that done, It didn’t take long to get the red basecoat painted. It’s probably a good time to share with you my method for painting using the Rustoleum Painter’s Touch 2x spray paint. Lay down a heavy mist coat first. Wait for at least 60 seconds. Add your heavier coat next. I think this helps to keep the heavier coat from running. The first “mist” coat dries quite a bit in that first minute, the next heavier coat then combines with the initial one. It probably also helps with crinkling – where you are applying another coat on top of your original base coat.
While waiting for the cabinet paint to dry, I tackled another issue. The old power cord. It looked like it had been replaced at some point with an old lamp cord. To credit the guy that did the work – it did have a gorund plug and it was wired properly. The cord was old and out of character for the game so I ordered a replacement from Marco and soldered it on. It looks great and the black color IMHO is more appropriate to the game.
My birthday just happened to coincide with the release of Spooky Pinballs new title – Halloween. I did not care one bit. I have zero interest in horror. The game did, however look amazing and when they announced a sister title in Ultraman – I was excited and in for sure. I quickly joined the “Fang Club”, received my swag and “impatiently” waited for the day of the sale. I was in my office and had a window of 5 minutes set aside on the day it was released. At 1:00PM CDT the order banks opened and within 2 minutes I had secured Ultraman Kaiju Rumble #191 from my buddy Joe at Pinball Star. I know I won’t see if for a while but I’ll be busy with Harlem for a bit anyway.
A day later, I checked to see if the primer on the head was dry and the first coat of 2x gloss white was cured as well. I had shot one coat of gloss white on the face edges of the head a few days earlier. All seemed good and ready to go. I grabbed the head, dragged it outside and sprayed a heavy coat of 2x gloss white on the head. I added another coat to the face edges that I had already painted a few days before. Big mistake. I noticed the paint started to move. It was crinkling and lifting/bunching. Not everywhere, but in about 4 places. Right in the spots where I had painted it days earlier. It was prevalent where I had added a heavier coat. Man was I angry. Too late to go back. I stopped spraying immediately and moved the head back to the pole barn to dry. By the time I had it back there, I noticed that 3 of the 4 areas had already laid back down flat. I was pleasantly surprised by that. There remained one small area on the corner that would need to be addressed later via sanding and touch up.
I popped back over to the house and spent a few minutes researching why the paint had reacted that way. The bottom line is that all spray paint has a high amount of solvents and if you don’t let each coat fully cure (takes days or sometimes a week+) then those solvents will eat into the older (uncured) coat and begin to dissolve/lift it. So my plans changed to making certain I left a full week between coats AND I painted only light coats and multiple coats 10 minutes or so apart. I waited a few more days to go back and address the cabinet base coat. The left side looked great, but the right side had some parts of the white that appeared more gray than white. If I had to guess, the paint was not as well shaken/mixed as it should have been when I sprayed it. This was the same side where I had a brand new can start “sputtering” about 15 seconds into it. This happened on the back of the head as well. Chalk it up to poor quality in manufacturing but it really makes a mess of your paint job. Far from “glossy” like it should be, the surface is dull and quite rough, with balls and flecks of paint almost sitting on the surface. I had to let it dry for 24 hours, then I used a 220 grit sanding block to knock down all the bumps that the specks of paint had formed. Tonight was the night to repair all that. Understanding ahead of time that “too much” paint, too soon would leave me with an even worse (crinkly) mess. I grabbed a fresh can of Gloss White and shot a medium coat and crossed my fingers. All went well. It dried glossy, looked great and did not wrinkly up. So far so good. While I was out there, I lightly sanded the crinkle area of the head (just a small spot remained) and shot a medium coat to cover the sanded area. That repair also came out looking great. One night – 2 wins!
A few days prior, I had sanded and sprayed the apron in prep for adding decals. It was Friday and Tami was out running an errand when I remembered the apron was probably cured and ready for decals. I grabbed it and the decals I had ordered a year prior from Ministry of Pinball. I trimmed out each decal to first work out the rough placement on the apron. Once sure of where they needed to land, I used a soapy water solution to lightly mist the apron, then place the decals. The water only allows you to remove, then reposition the decals if you get one side down and it looks incorrect. Once fully placed, there is no “sliding them around” so proceed carefully. All went well and I used a soft T-shirt to wipe the face of the decals and push any water remaining out from under them. Once completed, I took a few mins to add some mylar along the front edges of the apron where the ball connects “metal on metal” – this should reduce paint wear over time
That same weekend, I decided I was not going to wait any longer. I was going to get some color down using my Pinball Pimp stencils. I decided to start with the head. It has a smaller surface area and is easiest to fix if I messed up. The Pinball Pimp decals have extensive instructions for the cabinet decals but the head stencils were more mysterious. I finally figured out they needed to be trimmed for Harlem at the “white stripe” locations. I trimmed them there and at the top and bottom. It was helpful to review an online picture of the original art before trimming. No biggie. I trimmed and then followed the instructions online at Pinball Pimp on how to install. Getting the stencil located, smoothed and then the masking removed was a breeze. Go slow and it will go well. I then carefully masked the remaining area I did not want to paint (or get overspray on) and grabbed a can of “Brilliant Blue”.
My process was: Light coat (still see 25% white showing through) … wait 3 mins. Medium coat (very little if any white showing through, could “live with it” as painted) … wait 5 mins. Light finish coat (just hit the thinner areas – use strong light to find spots with lower gloss) wait 2 mins and immediately start to pull masking materials. I pulled the outside masking first, then started on the stencil masking. It’s important to get your big pieces out of the way before you start the fairly finessed job of removing the stencil masking material. Like the video says, take your time and pull the material slowly and don’t allow it to break suddenly and drop into your fresh paint or touch an unpainted area. In the course of painting both sides of the head I had only minimal areas where the 2x paint was “sticky” or “stretchy” and would try to stay attached to the stencil mask and then “string out” slightly as pulled and leave paint stringers into the white (unpainted) area. These were always area that I had painted too heavily. None were so bad that if I just left them, they would not be acceptable BUT could have been avoided by laying down LESS paint. In every case, you’ll be better off with a little less paint!
Before the weekend was over, I masked off the neck area where the head mounts to give it one more fresh coat of Krylon black gloss. That poor area had seen quite a bit of overspray from the cabinet painting process and needed a touch up. It didnt take long to mask off the area and give it a shot of jet black Krylon.
Timing is everything now as I head into the home stretch and attempt to finish the cabinet art. The main cabinet is fully cured and I needed to get the blue laid down ASAP. The quicker I get that done, the quicker I can do the next color (red) and each color requires that I wait at least a week for full curing. I don’t want crinkling and I don’t need to be lifting the prior stencil color when I pull the stencil mask. With that in mind, I went out to the pole barn to get the blue stencil color on the front of the cab. Pinball Pimp tells you to start at the front when you have a “wrap around” design and it’s good advice. Makes it easier to match and place the side art when you have a defined registration point on the front. I cut the long stencil in half (both colors are on one sheet) and got it on the cab and sprayed successfully. When I was removing the mask, I noticed an entire area I had only lightly sprayed. i quickly taped it up and shot a final coat of blue – no harm done. Lesson learned there is to take a minute to visually inspect just before you spray to absolutely “know” where you are laying down paint vs the masking area – it’s not as obvious as it looks … especially when you are painting on a white base cabinet (the masking material is white too!).
While I was waiting for someone to help me position the cabinet (read – lift it), I tackled the light panel hinge. It needed to be hand cleaned and them polished as it was covered in old sticker residue and years of grime. A few minutes with some Purple Power degreaser got rid of the grime, then a shot of Goo Gone removed the sticker residue. I followed that up with some metal polish. I also took the time to run each screw over the high speed buffer to really make them shine. Just takes a few secs but what a difference in looks. In short order the hinge was back on the head. It was a beautiful weekend so we all jumped into the Jeep to drive over to Hot Rods Diner in Maryville. 100 different kinds of burgers including on of my favorites – the Glazed Donut Burger (complete with grape jelly). Tami took a minute to pose for a picture outside.
Well enough time had elapsed (a week) that I could now tackle the last color of my stencil set – the red. The red color was the easiest as it had less area and less detail than the blue (which included all the outlines of the basketball shoes, hands, globetrotter text, etc.). The red was a simple stripe and a slightly more complex basketball. Pinball pimp recommends starting with the front to ensure all wrap around stripes can be aligned. Before starting the red, I spent about an hour cleaning up some of the edges of the blue stencil on the right side where the paint had become stringy and then stretched out into the white basecoat. with the paint completely dry, I was able to use the point of a razor blade to gently scrape off the blue, leaving just the basecoat. It did a great job cleaning it up taking it from “acceptable” to very good and appealing to the eyes. Once complete with that, I did the front red stencil first and was careful to start my stencil at the bottom of the cabinet as I did with the blue. I let that dry overnight and then tackled the left side of the red. I dropped a piece of the stencil into the basketball when removing it (it’s easy to do even if you are careful) but the small mark it made was insignificant. I added a dot of red from the spray can and moved on. 2 days later, I flipped the cabinet and did the other side. That one went off without a hitch.
With the final colors/stencils completed, I had to wait a while to do the clear-coating. While waiting I decided to work on the backbox and a few other cabinet components. First step was to polish up the circuit board mounts. When that didn’t pan out, I painted them – primer white (and only on the face). The backside was left bare metal to provide a positive ground with the stapled in aluminum pan in the head, then each bolt corner (where I painted them) was cleanly sanded to allow for positive contact with the circuit board bolt and bare metal. The boards are mostly held on by the plastic standoffs, but the bolts on the corners provide grounding – no paint allowed. One of the front facing transformer brackets had broken (there are 4 total), so I “borrowed” one from the backside to replace it. Three brackets are more than enough to hold it. I mounted all the circuit board metal mounts into the backbox, then gently added all the circuit boards onto the brand new plastic standoffs that I bought from Pinball Life. Now I had to get the lightboard latches mounted so the door would stop swinging out wildly and scaring the pants off me!
With the backbox sorted (for now). I moved on to the cabinet to get the new leg bolts mounts (interior) screwed into position. To get them “right” requires having a leg, the stern leg protector and the new mount in place all at once. Hold the new mount inside the cab while you gently tighten the leg bolts. When all is in the correct orientation and tight, you can then screw the interior placed bolt receiver into place (3 screws), then I loosened the leg bolts, marked where the Stern leg protector should be, and removed the entire leg, protector. Next up was to use those marks to mount the leg protector by drilling pilot holes and adding two screws. When all done, I removed all the leg protectors so they could be clear coated underneath
In between all of this restoration work, life was happening. We were preparing the ranch for 2 major events to be held at our ranch. The first being a PCA (Porsche Club of America) regional drive out and social and the second being my daughters October wedding. Central to each event was having the ranch in tip top shape beforehand. Sounds easy enough but in typical fashion we just had to complicate it. We decided to build a huge new pole barn/event center while getting ready. Over 30 feet wide and just over 50 feet long with a 15 foot tall ceiling deck. We were starting a new event business anyway, so the building would be used in the future for birthday parties, weddings, family re-unions, etc. The building would be the hub for all those activities and it would have a nice to have it “ready” for the PCA Social. Our family chain sawed down the large pines and a few small dogwoods in the area where the building would go – did that on a Sunday, in a lightning storm.
The following weekend we had over 20 truckloads of fill dirt hauled in and my daughter ran the steamroller to compact each load as it arrived. I helped a bit running the excavator and by Monday we had the space ready for concrete. 5 days and 40 yards of concrete later, it was poured and ready for a building. I paid to have a contractor build the structure BUT all of the interior work was mine … so, while getting the ranch ready for the July Porsche event, I had to wire the entire building (as in run the supply line and add a breaker box and then wire the building), install a full set of kitchen cupboards, hang a movie screen and projector and finish all the exterior landscaping. I had just about 4 weeks total to do it all in.
I rented an excavator to run the 1.0 gauge aluminum supply wire, mounted and wired up a new breaker box, added around 10 total circuits and ran 2 completely discrete lighting systems for the ceiling/open beams area – one with super bright LED warehouse lights (for working in there) and another separately wired set of galvanized “farm style” incandescent lights for weddings and social events. I even bought a used scissor lift to do all the work (godsend). The lift was so heavy (3,800 lbs) that it was bowing the steel supports on the bottom of my trailer. I spent 4 hours just building a ramp set to unload it. We finally got it safely on the pavement and into the new barn. Later, I bought a complete set of kitchen cupboards at Home Depot and in 2 days had all of them (with the countertop) installed.
Tami found a nice used refrigerator to complete the install. The following evening Taylor and I installed the tongue and groove pine above it and the kitchen was done. I later added a motorized movie screen and an inexpensive 1080P projector and now our guests could have images playing during the wedding or family get together. Just ahead of the first event (PCA) I ordered 4 tall cocktail/umbrella tables to be used outside the new building. The event was a huge success. We had over $8 million dollars worth of Porsches parked on my NE facing hayfield, we had a band and tons of BBQ as well. Our members had fun as did we. Now back to that Harlem Globetrotters!
The club event slowed me down a bit, but literally the day after it ended I was able to move forward with the “last” and important part of the cabinet restore – the clear coat. I first installed the score displays that I had removed from the light board panel, the installed the light board. After that I taped up head (light board/face) to isolate it from exterior overspray. It seemed like it was also time to pull the tape and paper from base of cabinet and once that was done, I taped up cab interior to isolate it from exterior clear coat overspray. I was all prepared to use an electric sprayer that I had laying around. I have painted fences and our large gazebo with it in the past and it promised the convenience of electric power supply without the issue of potential water contamination that my compressor driven HVLP guns might have. No joy, however. I filled it up and attempted to prime it but it simply would not work. I had used it just 3 weeks prior and cleaned it before storing but something had clearly gone wrong. I left the Varathane in the gun and quickly grabbed and prepped one of my Harbor Freight HVLP guns (I used a new one so I needed to clean it from packing oils and add a water filter). I dialed in my compressor for 70 psi, donned my respirator mask and started to spray. I sprayed one medium coat, waited 2 hours and then sprayed another medium + coat. All went well … even better than I had expected.
The only issues I had were all “my fault”. On one side of the cabinet, I sprayed a bit too heavy and it (ever so slightly) started to run. I decided on the spot NOT to panic, and over the course of the next few hours watched those heavy areas start to flatten out to become almost invisible. You’d be hard pressed to find them now, just 48 hours later. The other area to watch for was finger prints, I had moved the head to a be clear coated and when I did, my fingers were dirty. I left 2 fingerprints on the back and then clear coated them into the finish. Oh well, got some DNA in there now. It’s not that bad, it’s on the back and I could touch it up but I won’t. Also, watch for any tiny overspray in your colors from your stencil job. I took about an hour to go over the cabinet with fine tooth comb looking for and fixing overspray spots. You can remove them carefully with an exacto knife. Remember, if you don’t remove them now they will get “locked in” by the clear coating.
Today I moved the cabinet and head back to the garage below the Loft. No need to keep these freshly painted parts in the pole barn anymore. The work that follows will be assembly and I won’t be painting or sanding anymore. The 2 pieces sat in the garage for a day before I decided to haul them up to the Loft where it was cooler to do the final phases of the work.
I would have expected that the work ahead of me would be short and easy. I was wrong. The speed certainly picked up but the level of complexity and the number of “things to do” seemed to increase exponentially. In my mind, all I had left was: Get the cabinet wiring harness and ground braid in, get the coin door cleaned and in, solder on some new flipper switches and tweak some things on the playfield that I had not had a chance to finish. Yea – that’s about it, until you break down all that work and discover the coin door alone would be almost 10 hours of work! I got the cabinet and head moved upstairs and mounted the leg protectors and new chrome legs. I put some of those Harbor Freight tiny 3 wheeled dollies under each leg to facilitate moving the entire cabinet around as needed. That night I was able to knock out a few things. I mounted the speaker and the now highly polished playfield prop bar.
This week has been crazy with work and I’ve been getting home later and later so the work windows have been just a few hours a night. I’ve tried to set simple and small chunks of work that I know can be done in that amount of time. Early in the week, I printed out and organized all instruction cards for head. I printed these on bright white 65lb stock and they came out great. On Tuesday, I mounted the new polished chrome side rails using stainless screws. This sounds easy – right? Well not so fast. The holes DID line up, but each was off left or right by a 1/32″ or so. If you were NOT dealing with installing chrome – no biggie. My problem is that I was dealing with chrome.
When you seat a nail or screw into the face of chrome material (especially relatively thin material) if the fastener is not perfectly perpendicular to the chrome surface, the edge of the fastener will hit the face of the chrome at an angle and put too much pressure in too small of a spot – causing a dent and visible distortion in the highly reflective surface. I used an awl to poke a new pilot hole, along with a fresh 1/16″ bit to make certain each screw was perpendicular. 75% of them needed this treatment. 2 hours later I was done with both side rails.
The following night I was planning on installing the ground braid that runs along the left side of the cabinet AND inside the head along the base. In fact, over the weekend, I had bought a Dewalt pancake compressor to do just that. I really did not want to haul my HUGE pole barn compressor over to the Loft. I already owned a pneumatic crown stapler and just needed a way of powering it. The Dewalt and the Meite MT-7116 stapler worked like a champ. Set them to 70lbs PSI and it worked perfect for both the ground braid and later for the operator/service cards.
One trick I did to ensure that adding the ground braid would be easier later was to SAVE THE OLD ONES. I saved the length I pulled from the cabinet and heads and was able to create the right length from my new spool of braid AND was able to check it’s placement and routing according to my pictures as well. I ran the braid where I thought my pictures were telling me and (again according to the pictures) where it was supposed to end. When it showed that I was at the end according to the images AND I was physically holding the end of the braid, told me my routing was correct as well. It was a nice reassurance to place something that does not have a clearly specific mount hole/location like 99% of all other parts do. While I was at it, I added a quick disconnect to the cabinet braid where it traverses the neck into the head so in the future, it did not need to be cut (like it was when I purchased it).
With the braid in, I could now mount the cabinet wire harness, varistor and power cord. These parts have mounting points directly on top of the braid to ensure solid grounding. Many if not most of the mounting points were still visible as the harness was mounted originally using retaining clips and wood screws. It was easy to re-install using these as a guide. The knocker and it’s associated plate is part of this and I re-mounted the pair at this time as well. The end of the wire harness nearest the players includes the main power switch accessible from under the cabinet. I had not cleaned the mounting plate or the switch area yet and I had to do that before passing the switch through the base of the cabinet and screwing it down.
Finally, the old, beat-up and nearly worn out cabinet flipper switches needed to be replaced. I grabbed my soldering station and made quick work of getting them soldered onto the wire harness. I added fresh tubing to each of the positive legs to ensure voltage was kept “where it should be”. When the wire had cooled I tried to finish the job by mounting the new clear flipper button housings and the new blue flipper buttons but that part was a fail. Housings were perfect but the blue flipper buttons I ordered were for a more modern game so for now the button housings sit empty. I placed a quick order that evening for the correct replacements
That effort went quickly and I had time to at least attempt to get my new backglass out of the box and the frame materials added. I dreaded the effort because I was unsure if the parts I had bought would fit my CPR reproduction BG. Well they did, and they fit perfectly. Something I had stressed over for days, was done in 2 minutes. In fact it took much longer to unpack the (well packaged) CPR glass than it did to get the frame parts installed! I was celebrating a bit when I walked the new BG over to the machine to install it.
Once I got there I realized the head was in the locked position, followed by the “where the heck is the key” moment. That was followed by 2 hours of searching and trying to find and substitute “match” from the pile of keys I have here in the loft. No luck, I ordered a new one and removed the old one to have a safe haven for the BG until it arrived. How do you keep track of literally hundreds of unique parts for a machine for over a year – but then lose the key to the backbox??
I had a few things to do to “finish up” the topside of the playfield. I set aside one night to do just that. Flipper, switches and spinners to be exact. I needed to mount the spinners because they are one of the playfield items that takes a topside and underside “look” to complete. I had purposefully left the switches that connect to the spinners “unmounted” knowing that the exact mounting position is determined by where exactly the spinning parts are located topside. Before I started I needed to locate the spinners, the frames and the connecting armatures. I found the first 2 right where they should have been (in my segmented parts trays I purchased specifically for this restore). I then spent over an hours searching for the “sure to be lost” armatures. As I was having a “here we go again” moment, I decided to look in the parts trays ONE more time (after looking 3x) and they were there all along – I had just missed them. These are not easily purchased either so I was glad I had them in hand. I carefully aligned each of the 3 spinner mechs before selecting, drilling and then mounting the associated below PF switches. After completion, they all spun freely and fast! One of the last but most critical things to do before dropping the playfield back into the game was to adjust all the switches. I added all 3 flipper bats first, then worked my way from those switches to the spinners I had just installed and finally, to each of the pop bumpers. It is nearly 100% easier to adjust leaf switches on a rotisserie than it is when the playfield is in the game!
I got home late the following night and had just enough time to grab the old operator/service cards that I had pulled from the inside of the cabinet and head, compare them to the files I had found in the internet and then print them out on 65lb card stock paper. I printed the file, then carefully compared it to the original for both sizing and accuracy purposes. It’s easy to confuse them and although I thought this could be done a a couple of minutes, by the time I had them all printed, sorted, reviewed and trimmed, another 2 hours had slipped by. Getting them stapled in was a straightforward effort. I used my original pics and my new crown stapler to pop them back in the way I found them. This time though they were bright white and not “nicotine yellow”. The ones I added to the left and right side of the backbox were the easiest because you could still clearly see the original staple holes in the metal ground panel. The originals on the top panel of the backbox were not sized the same, but when I trimmed out my new printouts, I cut them the same height for a more uniform look. The only reproduction I could not find was the game patent certificate. It’s a tiny sign stapled on the cross bar behind the coin box and is unique to each game (has that game “name” on it) so I’m sure that’s why repros are not made. I scanned my slightly damaged original, fixed it up in Photoshop and printed a fresh one.
Next up was the most frustrating part of the restoration project. It ended well but man was it a challenge! The lock-down bar mechanism. Of all things to cause trouble. I noticed when I took it apart that it had a million small parts (washers, sleeves, screws, bolts, special inserts and more!) I took a few photos (not enough) then proceeded to mix all the parts up as I was going to Nashville to exchange some of them for fully chromed examples. Now I had all the chrome parts, and all the other (million) parts but no idea how it all “fit”. Holy cow … 30 mins of searching on the internet did not help much. No exploded technical drawings of a late 70’s Bally lock down bar assembly mech could be found. Look … for a Fine Arts major, I have an amazing sense of Engineering and Architecting skills. If I can see all the parts, I’m pretty sure that in a short time I can “figure it out”. Not today. This thing was baffling me. Finally I had the thought that some of my other games might have some similarities and I started poking my head in some late 70’s early 80’s coin doors. I struck pay dirt with the Bally/Williams “Truckstop” in my collection. A couple of hard to see cell phone pics later, I was off to the races in getting this assembly installed in the game (if more than 2 hours is racing …). If you’re wondering why on earth I would care about chrome in a spot virtually no one would see … easy, the original parts were rusted/corroded beyond belief (most are) and I simply did not want to spend the time trying to clean and then polish the mess. Chrome was like starting fresh and when I pull the glass in the future, the first thing you will notice is something that is rare as hens teeth – a perfectly clean lock down mech!
It’s the end of the week and I won’t be doing much work tonight. I got a message from Steve at Rock ‘n roll Pinball that he would be passing the ranch tonight and wondering if he and his son Braden might stop for a visit and some pinball. I was eager to take a break, meet some new folks and play so the answer was an easy “yes”. We had a great time, ordered a pile of pizza, talked more that we played and watched as Braden did an amazing job blowing up games like Aerosmith and X-Men. Braden was an Alabama State Champ and has placed in the top 3 on several occasions. Steve brought fresh cookies (secret recipe) that his wife made for me – that were to die for. They were headed toward Knoxville (Suttrees) to play in one of the first sanctioned tournaments since the COVID shutdown. We had a great night just enjoying the company, comparing notes no “who each of us knew in the industry/area” (answer is lots of the same folks!). We ended our visit just before midnight and had to run back upstairs for a photo op before they drove off.
Decision time. I could have this game operational this weekend. I could call it done. I could move out the games I’m selling and pop this pristine Harlem Globetrotters on Tour in it’s proper place. Just ONE thing is standing in the way. The coin door. I need to decide. Many others have been at this crossroads too. If I chase “done”, I hang the coin door as it is and call it a day. If I chase perfection, I pull the entire coin door apart, bit by thousands of bits. I chose the later. Between Saturday and Sunday I disassembled the entire coin door down to the exterior skin. Every piece was removed to it’s most elemental component taking in excess of 6 hours. I learned a few things and you may benefit. I used tiny plastic zip lock bags to put each set of screws/hardware in – then labeled it with a sharpie. I also took 20+ pictures at varying angles to ensure I could rebuild it. Not everything got cleaned or polished the same. The coin door components condition varied widely. From “perfect – as new” to holy cow is there any metal under all that rust and corrosion.
I used a high speed bench mounted buffer for the pieces that were the most corroded – after sanding off the corrosion by hand using 220 grit sandpaper. Lightly rusted (few spots) items got a touch up from the Dremel using a nylon buffing pad followed by red jewelers rouge and the cotton buffer head. Quite a few items went directly into the vibratory tumbler, then light polishing once out. The heavy backing plate (most of the mechs mount to it) that sits behind the skin had marks and scrapes AND did not look like it would polish well so I painted it using satin silver metallic primer/paint. The pieces near the top seemed to get more soda/beer/drinks damage than other parts and it showed in the bayonet bulb holders that light the coin windows. These were nasty so I soldered on a fresh set. When I was done with all the polishing, it was clear that the door skin was acceptable in appearance, but only acceptable. It might improve if I spent time re-graining the stainless but in the end it made more sense to spend the $100 on a new stainless skin from Marco. I placed the order that evening. Done would have to wait a few more days
I still had a few more fairly complex items to work out before the coin door skin arrived. I had 9 or 10 yellow sleeved ground straps to attach, the coin door frame to install AND the shooter rod assembly. Sunday morning it was raining and it made for a good excuse to get it done. The coin door frame and the yellow ground straps are (unfortunately) a group proposition. Many of the yellow straps connect to the bolts that hold the frame pieces in place. So you end up doing all of it “at once”. This is another area I wish I had even more pics. Again, for the same reason as the ground braid … there is no “prompt” or drilled hole or obvious position where to place them. Without pics you’ll be guessing or searching the internet. I had most of the images but did need to search out images on the internet to confirm several others. The coin door frame was installed (drilled 11/32 holes to clean out) using the stove bolt kit (old bolts were not salvageable) I bought from Marco. I hand polished each of them (30 minutes) using my Dremel. They look fine as is, but are easily brought to a high luster using the Dremel and a cotton polishing pad.
Drilling out the holes with an 11/32 bit makes the install a whole lot easier as it lets the bolt seat it’s square head into the frame easily so you can then carefully tighten but not over-tighten. The appropriate ground straps were added to the inside of the bolts before adding and tightening the supplied nuts. I then mounted the shooter rod/housing/spring assembly and tightened the two #10 nylock nuts but did NOT set the two wood screws. I wanted to get the playfield installed before making the final placement. The housing allows for large amount of vertical movement and I thought I would first pop the playfield in, and then check alignment before putting holes in the cabinet that might need to be moved. Being a Sunday, Tami asked if I would like a break to drive downtown for an early food truck dinner. I did. We did and we also popped into Cruze Farms for an ice cream treat. Vanilla waffle cone with sprinkles – killer. Taylor thought the spot I parked the new Jeep would make a great picture so she asked me to pose.
Getting close now – I can feel it! My first Marco order arrived tonight and I took a few minutes to install the correct flipper buttons (15 mins) and the rubber bumpers that fit under the top end of the glass channel. I had torn the retaining nibs off them when I tried to remove them to polish the cross bar they mount to. Finally, I had to install the new 1 1/8″ lock I ordered to replace the perfectly good lock that was already in the backbox (remember, I lost the key). I was worried when I opened the package for 2 reasons. The lock is very high quality and comes ready to configured in multiple ways – meaning it’s probably the best you will find out there. Secondly, the end (or tip) of the lock that fits into the cross bar that physically rotates was not nearly as long as the original. The original has about a 1/4″ square block of metal that fits into the square hole in the cross bar, that 1/4″ is long enough that it protrudes THROUGH the cross bar and is held on by a nut on the other side … the new lock had the same size square block BUT it was only maybe 1/6″ deep. I was concerned it was not long enough to properly engage the corresponding hole in the cross bar. I popped it in there, used the provided screw to firmly tighten it and voila – it worked. No slippage, nothing loose – it turned and functioned perfectly. Disaster averted.
Tonight I prepared for the arrival of the new door skin. One of the items on the list was to get the playfield back in the cabinet. I added the 2 hangers (dimples were off by 1/8″). I added the apron “L” brackets and with some help from Chris, carefully lifted and set the playfield. It took less than 5 minutes to route the wire harness and get it plugged into the appropriate boards in the head. With that done, I flipped the power switch and watched as the machine sprung to life! At least the lights came on, the score displays lit up and nothing smelled like it was burning. It looked beautiful! I could not, of course, start a game as I was missing the entire coin door, but at least it was powered up and the lighting circuits I had hand soldered were correct. I had 2 bulbs out. One was a bad bulb and the other I had inadvertently left empty. I corrected that and moved on to putting together as much of the coin door as I could without the skin in hand.
The coin door lay in a million pieces in the work room up in the loft. I was sure I only had maybe an hours worth of work to do. I was wrong. 3 hours later, I had taken the coin door as far as possible without the exterior skin. I mounted the bottom coin return chute, the perpendicular mech frames above it and the coin reject bar. Then it was on the cleaning up the remaining parts I had not addresses yet. I polished and cleaned: the small coni door coil and mount, the slam tilt switch, the start switch and all of the coin insert pieces (metal backer, plastic insert and stainless frame). The plastic coin inserts that denote game pricing required a heavy dose of Novus 2 to polish out the years of scratches. I finished by cleaning up the coin sensing switches that sit at the bottom of each coin slot/mech. There are 3 and all were taken apart to have their respective “box frame” cleaned and polished. When I was about to call it quits for the night, I noticed the 2 buttons that are part of the coin door front bezel. The coin reject button and the credit/start button. I wondered how exactly they connected and moved once installed. It was clear I was missing a few “C” clips (I grabbed them from my supply closet) and that at least the credit button was missing a sleeve that would be installed on the back side of the skin between the skin and the start switch. Not sure where it went or if there ever was one on this game, but I have a tray of plastic spacers of varying sizes and one that was close to the correct diameter (internal) to allow the button shaft to pass through. I Dremeled out the interior a bit and when done, had a brand new spacer that looked a lot like the drawing I found online.
The last piece of the “put it all back together” puzzle arrived today – the coin door skin. It came from Marco safely protected in 3 layers of bubble wrap. I carefully, unwrapped it, then used the bubble wrap to lay it face down for the reassembly process. I’ll skip all the steps it takes to rebuild a Bally coin door, but you can find a great tutorial on Pinside (LINK HERE). My only struggles were getting my newly chromed coin bezel back on the smaller hinge that traverses the face of the door skin. I finally figured out that the hinge flap goes inside the bezel and that all the internal parts at each coin slot are captured (along with the hinge itself) by the black screws. Next, I learned that only ONE of the coin mech frames has tapped holes for the coin door coil, I had to move it to the farthest left-hand position but that took just a few minutes. Once I got that figured out, I had the door completely rebuilt in a little over an hour total.
Hanging it was not as straightforward as I thought. The receiving holes (4) that are predrilled into the skin do not appear to be completely tapped. It took tremendous force to screw in each of the 4 screws that hold the door. They all went in, they seated and tightened well but wow – that was hard! I closed the coin door, wiped it down and admired the “newness” of it. It was beautiful. Time to light up the game and see what all these months of work have come to. I ran out to the pole barn to grab a fresh sheet of glass first as the game hadn’t had one installed in over a year. I slid the new glass in, moved the lever on the lock down bar, closed the coin door and flipped the power switch. It was quiet for a full 2 seconds but before I could “worry about it” … the game sprung to life! I got displays, GI and sound. This was good. I then re-opened the coin door and flicked one of the coin switches to add credits – that worked too. I’m on a roll. I pushed the start button and the ball popped nicely into the shooter lane … still all good. I plunged the ball with a huge smile on my face and started a game. The ball raced toward the right flipper – I flipped it right through the left spinner. As it made it’s way toward the left flipper, I punched the button and the game went dead. Ugh.
Harlem – Conclusion To be honest, I was not really that disappointed. I know how these things go. I was expecting bigger problems and even earlier in the boot up sequence. The good news was I was fairly certain where the issue was. I flipped and it quit – so I needed to start the search there. I popped open the backbox and quickly found the F6 fuse blown. I replaced it, then lifted the PF to check out the left flipper wiring. What had I done wrong? I was so very careful in my notes and pics to solder back the wiring in the same order. I pulled out my phone and reviewed the images of the original wiring and compared it to what was in front of me. Sure enough, I had moved one wire on the lower left flipper (the one with the complex dual action switch) to the wrong lug. I unsoldered and moved it, powered the machine back up and it worked like a charm again. Problem solved. The other gremlins that presented themselves were small in nature but it took a few evenings to get them all ironed out. I won’t write about them but rather list them below:
The spinners had no sound (might have been related to below)
The slam/tilt switch on the coin door was touching the coin door
2 insert bulbs were out on initial power up (one bad bulb, one missing entirely)
None of the pop bumpers had lights (there were no bulbs in them – I remembered worrying about how little room there was to fit a bulb in there so I never added them)
The right sling was machine gunning (pulled the switches and re-gapped them)
The top of PF left switch behind the rubber was forced closed by that rubber and not registering (pulled switch and re-gapped)
The left outlane ball gate had a loudly buzzing (coil was not tight enough contact to the mech armature)
I needed to add 2 wood screws to the plunger rod now that I knew it was correctly located and functioning well
I had to raise the inline drop targets about a millimeter or so, they were a bit too low and occassionaly causing a stuck ball in the PF openings
As I was closing out the last minor issues with the game, I remembered that I had a few Globetrotter memorabilia items I had stored away for this moment. I purchased an original (unused) HGT ticket from a 1979 show in Oregon and I also got my hands on the original Bally mechanical drawing of the basketball spinner used in the game. It’s done in hand drawn pencil on typical blueprint parchment and dated from 1979. What an amazing piece of history. The ticket and the blueprint will be framed together and hung in the loft near the game as a reminder of the Globetrotter team the game represents and the great folks at Bally that created it. Speaking of the creators, it’s probably a good point to share those details:
Harlem Globetrotters on Tour
Bally Manufacturing – Manufacturer
14,550 games produced
September 1979 release
Greg Kmiec – Game Design (Paragon, Xenon, Bobby Orr)
Greg Frerres – Game Artwork (Kiss, Scared Stiff, Medieval Madness)
Cool game facts and trivia:
A white splotch of paint in the artwork on the backglass was added by Greg Frerres to represent the terrible Chicago winter of 1979
There are 3 world landmarks in the art: Big Ben, the Eiffle Tower and the Stature of Liberty
Greg Kmiec adds a single, unique “red post” to all of his games – find it at the left spinner on this one
Sweet Georgia Brown is the HGT theme song and it plays at the beginning of each game
The game as it sits now is breathtaking to me. The impact of all that chrome, the whiteness of the new cabinet paint, the vividness of the freshly painted red in the stencils gives me sensory overload. Everything is crisp, fresh and square. I guess it’s easy to dismiss all of the little dings and grievances that happen to a routed game – I’ve got plenty of them in my collection but I seem to “overlook” the warts. The restored Harlem screams – “look at me, I’m perfect” and when I do, the view is proof that it’s true. I want to look at it more than I want to play it (and I love the game).
There are areas or parts of the game that are the even more remarkable to me than others. No, it’s not the chrome. First it’s the area under the lock down bar – the wood edge of the cabinet and the lock down mech itself. They are pristine. Having pulled the glass and lifted playfields on other games hundreds of times, that “clean view” is jarring. This is always one of the nastiest spots on a game. Coke, beer, rust and other dirt and grime seem to gather here all gently guided to this landing spot by the glass acting as a runway. The same can be said for the coin door. I turn the key, swing it open and just stare at it in disbelief at a 40 year old game with a coin door free of rust and drink stains. It’s a little unreal but beautiful to behold.
Final Comments I feel like I’ve climbed my “Mt. Everest”. I looked at the first photo I took of the game the day I bought it. That date was May 19th 2019. I looked again at the very first photo I took the day I prepared to tear it down for restoration – oddly enough it was May 19th 2020. One year to the exact day after I bought it. Fast forward to today, August 5th 2021 and it’s finally complete. This was the most extensive restoration I have ever done. I’ve never taken a game and literally rebuilt it to “better than new”. It worked. It’s done. I can also say it’s done the way I envisioned it to be. No shortcuts. I remember staring at the dirty/rusty/corroded coin door thinking how easy if would be (it was the last item needed to complete the game) to just “bolt it on” and call it done. Instead, I gave it the same level of effort I gave the other parts of the machine and 12 hours later it was “really done”.
The restore took Intense and intentional effort that resulted in a cabinet sanded to bare wood, new parts added where needed and existing parts brought to function “as new”. The outcome is something I’m proud of. I never doubted if I “could” do this, but I had plenty of days where I wondered if I “would” see it through. Restoring a Pinball machine is a real test of anyone’s ability to focus over time. To start something that you won’t get done in a week or so. To begin work that will require ongoing effort, stamina and problem solving. If that is a challenge for you (isn’t it for all of us?) then “doing it” – and making it to the end feels amazing. From the beginning to end a total of over 2 years have passed.
The work came in a series of intense sections of weeks around the summer of 2020 and then again this spring/summer of 2021. Along the way, I took one of the 14,550 original Harlem Globetrotters on Tour Pinball machines and made it as special as the day it came off the factory line. My hope is that as others get a chance to play it, they remember with fondness the Meadowlark Lemon days of the Globetrotters. I hope they recall how much fun it was to see the team live during that time. We laughed at their silliness and were awed by the demonstrations of basketball skill. That’s not nostalgia talking, it’s just the way it was. Pure – simple – fun, with no agenda. Just fun. We all need a bit more of that in our lives
About the Globetrotters: The Harlem Globetrotters embody a similar theme as I wrote above in closing this blog. The ideas of: sticking to it … the long haul …ongoing effort and focusing over time. They started the team way back in 1926 as the “Savoy Big 5” and were formed to act as entertainment before scheduled dances at the Savoy Ballroom. Many famous basketball players have played for the Globetrotters since then. Greats such as “Wee” Willie Gardner, Connie “The Hawk” Hawkins, Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain, and Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton later joined the NBA. The Globetrotters signed their first female player, Olympic gold medalist Lynette Woodard, in 1985. Baseball Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Bob Gibson, and Ferguson Jenkins also played for the team at one time or another. 95 years have passed since the teams founding by Abe Saperstein and since then they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 countries. The team is still touring and still sharing their style of fun at over 450 live events worldwide each year.
Epilogue: I ordered and installed a new sound board (NVRAM/Weebly). The existing one functioned but was noisy and was picking up the sound of the lamps pulsing and a bit of transformer hum. The new one is dead quiet and the sounds coming from it are significantly better/clearer. I also ordered a playfield protector from my friends in Germany. No need to put ball marks on my CPR silver.
Useful Notes:
Harlem Paint
Rustoleum 2x gloss white
Rustoleum 2x gloss brilliant blue
Rustoleum 2x gloss Apple red (cabinet)
Rustoleum 2x gloss Sunrise Red (playfield apron)
Harlem Spend
Machine $2,000
Pinball Life $474 (playfield parts)
Pinball Life $175 (rails, pop parts)
Pinball Life $75 (legs and posts)
CPR $650 (new playfield)
CPR $100 (new plastics)
CPR $300 (new back glass)
Marco $100 (ball shooter rod, Star posts)
Marco $70 (springs, cab switches, shooter bushing)
Marco $100 (door skin)
Ministry of Pinball $50 (apron decals)
Pinball Pimp $150
Titan Pinball $50
Jameco Wiring $50
Lee Valley (drill bits) $75
PPS $48 Bally BG lift channel
Staples $100 (special green paper for coils)
Molotow Paint $75
Pinball Restore $50 ground braid
Hot Rod Plating $1,000 for chrome parts
Home Depot $150 Sandpaper, bondo, paint, primer, respirator filters, masking paper, etc.
NVRAM/Weebly replacement sound board $100
Playfield Protector $150
ALL IN COST = $6,000 (not including my time)
Above costs do not include critical tools needed to complete the work: Compressor, pneumatic stapler, drills, HVLP gun, Dremel, bar clamps, cutoff grinder, and many other various hand tools
Harlem Wire Codes & Notes
Last 8 harness retainers are mounted flat to PF (no stand offs) All the rest have 7/16” gray stand offs
Drop targets: T1 front blade (away from frame body), then closest T1 white and green 2x T1 white and red 2x T2 white and brown T2 jumpers from T1 (white and red) T3 white and orange 2x T3 jumpers from T2 (white and red) T4 white and black 2x Coil diode side yellow 2x Coil other side red and black
Insert bulbs: 1 orange and black dash 2 red and green 3 green and green 4 tan and gray 5 red and blue 6 gray and white 7 brown and orange 8 white and green 9 darkened light blue 10 dark blue and orange 11 dark green and white 12 white and brown 13 dark green and white 2x wires (same color as #11) 14 dark blue and orange 2x wires (Same color as #10) 15 darkened light blue 2x wires (same color as #9) 16 white and green 2x wires (same color as #8) 17 white and yellow 18 red and yellow 19 blue and yellow 20 gray and black 21 black or purple and burgundy 22 white 23 green and black 24 yellow 25 gray and red 26 gray 27 red and blue 28 dark blue and yellow 29 dark blue or black 30 brown 31 gray/brown and burgundy 32 white and red 33 green and yellow 34 white and brown 35 light green and white 36 red and white 37 pale blue and white (has darkened to a green) 38 purple or black and green 39 orange and purple 40 light brown and red 41 white and yellow 42 gray and brown 43 yellow and white 44 black and white 45 gray and red 46 purple or black and yellow 47 yellow and brown 48 red 49 green and burgundy 50 white and brown 51 yellow and brown 52 white and blue 53 yellow and green 54 white and orange 55 purple and red 56 brown
Red target bank: bottom up Third leg closest to bracket is connected to white/yellow On the very first target (2x wires), then daisy chained to others First target (closest to flippers) has 2x white/brown wires connected to blade farthest away from target bracket 2nd target is 2x white/orange 3rd 2x white black 4th 2x light brown 5th 2x darker brown with hard to see yellow stripe — Top blade switch near saucer hole closest to bracket Is 2x yellow purple Farthest from bracket 2x white brown Single right side red target closest bracket white orange and farthest 2x yellow purple Right side same area blade switch closest is yellow purple and farthest is white brown (or faded purple) Right sling blades are 2x yellow purple closest and white black farthest Left sling blades are 2x yellow purple closest and light brown farthest — Left sling banded side yellow single wire and opposite is orange with red dashes Right sling banded side Yellow single wire and opposite is black with white dashes Ball drain gate on right side of PF is yellow double wire on banded side and single black wire with red dashes opposite — Globe saucer switch is white blue and orange Globe saucer coil is double yellow banded side and single black other 5x saucer is double yellow banded side and black with yellow dashes other 5x saucer switch is xxxx — Left pop double yellow banded side and orange white dash opposite Center pop double yellow banded side and orange black dash opposite Right pop double yellow banded side and orange green dash opposite
Pro tips Harlem Mark large half moon ball guide so you know left and right Check CPR large right plastic, second hole from top was off
Killer Klipsch
By now you know I’m in love with JJPs GnR Pinball machine. It’s really like nothing else and an amazing achievement in so many ways. Even the stock sound package is good. I wanted it to be better. The solution that follows is updated from a post I placed in Pinside. This version of the install places all the components within the JJP backbox AND dramatically reduces noise/hum I was getting at high output levels.
I started with adding a new SVS subwoofer. Externally connected and sitting under the machine like the other machines in the Loft. The SVS is not cheap and, in fact, costs 10x what a single Polks does … but, I thought with everything about this game already over-the-top … why not!
Seriously though I have 7 or 8 Polks hooked up in the Loft already in service and love them – they are affordable but not cheap and sound good too. I have most of the Polks “shared” between 2 games using Pinnovators mixers – the mixers work awesome for this application.
For GnR I wanted a better answer than the Polks – thus the SVS-SB3000, it’s the entry level version of the SVS subs that has a mobile phone app to control and set the sub. Has a parametric EQ, Variable low pass filter crossover, output control, naming and saving of settings, etc. I was able to very nicely blend the subs massive output to transition smoothing from the sub to cabinet speakers. I’m running it using the low pass filter set at 65Hz. When I first connected it without the low pass filter set, it sounded boomy as I’m sure that cabinet speaker is reproducing quite a bit of mid-bass and my sub did not need to do the same. Once I turned on the low pass filter and moved the crossover point a bit – it sounded perfect. Kick drums have “gut punch”. Bass lines in the songs are clear and tactile. I’m loving it and play it loud. Only issue for me is that the sub was now outpacing the ability of the game to keep up …
Note the home receivers stacked to left and Polk speakers under game
A few days after installing the SVS subwoofer and in a quest to have the game sound keep up with the SVS, I started testing an external sound system. First I hooked up a home stereo receiver and a couple of old Polk monitors I had laying around. The addition to the overall sound was significant – both in sound pressure and clarity. The only negatives were the output level of the line level feed from the game was very low. I had to turn the receiver to max volume to get satisfactory levels of sound. The receiver also did not have tone controls and i knew I would want to be able to dial up or down the bass/treble.
After my test I ordered some Klipsch R41M speakers because I already have the R51Ms and love them – but the downside was that they would need to be stand or wall mounted. They sounded fantastic but in the end I settled on trying to find a way to replace the topper speaker bar, rather than have wall or stand mounted speakers.
Newly energized at how much better I could make the sound, my first missing was to find an amp with tone controls and importantly, a preamp that could lift the anemic line level coming off the game.
I already owned a Fosi class D amp that I use to drive some outdoor speakers here at the ranch – it’s 100 watts per channel, it’s about the size of 2 packs of cigs and it works really well – so I bought another one
I found a line level preamp on Amazon and ordered that.
The last part was to find speakers.
I considered ordering a nice center channel for the topper but gave up when I realized that the center channels usually have just one connection and one crossover. I was trying to create a stereo sound and utilize both channels of my Fosi amp
I then started looking for center channels that were small enough so I could mount TWO of them on the soundbar frame AND they needed to be efficient to make good use of the 100 watts that the Fosi would provide
Find these as individual speakers on Ebay
I found a great option in the Klipsch Reference Theater Center Channel – it comes as part of an entire Home Theater combo set and you can find them both used and a few new as well. I ordered 2 from Ebay and although they came with none of the original packaging, they were perfect AND a perfect fit
It was a challenge to get all 4 things to come together: High efficiency (90db 1w/1m), nice appearance (nothing ugly or out of place vs stuff around it), good clean sound and a physical “fit” in the original area I had to work with. The Klipsch was the only one that ticked all the boxes!
The old soundbar can easily be separated from the lower frame by unscrewing a few screws. Once it’s off, you’ll find a nice flat mounting surface
To mount the new speakers, I added 2 silicone rubber bumpers to add some downward tilt in order to fire the sound at the player. Then I created some custom mounts from a few scraps of metal. I needed to drill just 4 small holes in the frame so my modification/addition of the speakers is 100% reversible (see the end of this post for details)
The amp and preamp CAN sit behind the subwoofer, outside the game on the floor and CAN BE fed from the original 3.5mm line cord that originally fed the stock soundbar. I tested my setup this way, and ultimately moved all the components inside – to the backbox to remove hum from the sound and to have a cleaner look.
Here is the wiring and install process – mostly shared in images as it’s easier to follow along
You’ll probably notice the amp is not mounted to the side of the backbox like the pre-amp is. I tried it. Don’t waste you time. It won’t fit. Mount it via the long narrow edge and the screen wont hit it. It will hold just fine with some quality velcro (it’s light).
Overall, I’m really pleased with both the appearance and the sound. If you want to adjust the output, change the treble or bass settings, it’s not that difficult. Pull the backglass and all the settings are right at your fingertips.
The SPL is now probably 3-5db higher than before, much louder than the stock soundbar, it’s cleaner at that level and I can now dial in the right amount of treble (these speakers are not capable of delivering significant bass)
Someone on Pinside asked if I thought all of this was “worth it”. I do, but not everyone would. Getting older now and need a little boost in the treble area. Even without the ability to dial in the tone controls, the ability to “mix” the sound to get more from the backbox (ok topper) than the cabinet speaker is a big win on it’s own. With the stock setup, when you wanted more power in the callouts or high end, you had to turn the whole system up or go into the menu and hope the settings for increasing songs vs callouts etc was satisfactory. Now I can independently do that (using the preamp gain)
Remember that I also popped a $1,200 SVS sub under there too and you might be hard pressed to justify both of these spends but I look at it this way … this pin is unbelievable – it really is a concert-like experience, these mods to the sound system take it about as close as you can get without adding external monitors (other than the sub) that then must be moved/relocated when you move the machine. I think it’s worth it and in the past 30 years I’ve spent stupid money on other audio equipment that did less to make me happy than this pin and these add-ons have!
Adding some info here on SPL levels. With the little amp at 3/4 (3 o clock), the preamp at 6.5 and the machine at 30 there is no reason to play it any louder. If you move the preamp up or turn the machine volume up it will begin to add distortion and degrade the sound – terrible no but distortion nonetheless and I despise it.
For me, these are the max settings that still sound clean – and to be honest (I’ve been to lots of rock concerts) you really wouldn’t want it to play louder
I’m getting about 105db sustained and 110db peaks (C weighted 32-20khz) during a song as measured at player ear level with my trusty Radio Shack meter. The yellow line I drew onto the scale shows where the needle spent most of its time during “Out ta Get Me” – it peaked higher at times. I wish I would have measured the game before the addition of the sub and the custom topper – because I know the game was already capable of very high output as stock from the factory. I’m guessing I’m getting around 6db or so more output than stock (BTW, that is a lot louder as every 3db requires around a doubling of amplifier power to deliver it)
Anyhow, just a bit more info to share on this mod and, of course the normal warning to be careful with anything that can play this loud. 110db for 2 sustained minutes can begin to cause damage to your ears.
This machine is a real rock concert in a box – amazing
Scroll below the “Game Over” to see detailed supply and install instructions
Installation Notes and Supplies List
You’ll need 2 Klipsch Theater Reference Standard speakers
Just the center channel in the Amazon link
You’ll need a SVS SB3000 subwoofer
You’ll need a Pinnovator subwoofer blue tap
Tap into the existing cabinet speaker to run a 3.5mm cable out to the SVSSB3000
You’ll need to make 4 brackets, I used some aluminum stock from the hardware store
Easy to bend and easy to drill but rigid enough to hold the speakers once bent
The bar stock is 1/8” thick (comes in 4’ length) and ¾” wide (got mine at Ace)
Cut the 4 pieces at 3 15/16” length each
SEE IMAGE to follow along with instructions below:
Use a vise to add opposing bends into the 3 15/16” long pieces
Bend #1 should be made at 15/16” from one end of the short edge of the piece
Bend #2 should be made at 5/8” from the other end of the piece
Drill the larger of 2 holes (3/8”) just ABOVE the 15/16” bend
Drill the smaller of 2 holes (3/16”) just BELOW the 5/8” bend
You’ll need some bolts and nuts to attach the speakers
You’ll use 1/4 x 20 x ¾” long bolts (4 total) to attach at the speaker (these go thru the 3/8” hole in brackets and use some blue threadlocker when putting them in)
You’ll use 6 x 32 x ½” long bolts (4 total) to attach the bottom of the bracket to the JJP topper base
You’ll need to drill 4 holes to accommodate these bolts (drill 3/16” holes)> Note that these are the only holes you’ll need to drill in your original JJP topper frame, but they are small, they are in the back and would never be noticed should you decide to later reverse your install.
You’ll need 4 of the cone shaped silicone rubber bumpers. Use the 18.3mm x 14.2mm size only. Place these 2” back from front edge of speaker (see image). Place these 1.5” in from the outside (left and right) ends of the speaker
You’ll need to put a pad under the center of speaker before bolting it down to make sure it does not vibrate against the JJP bracket. You can use almost any thin pad but these fan balancing pads will work. Place them in the center of each speaker and right at the front edge
If you can’t find the fan pads then these will work too
You’ll need a FOSI 100 watt x 2 amp
You’ll need a Preamp
You’ll need some speaker wire too
You’ll need banana plugs
You’ll need a 3.5MM to RCA male adapter (from Y-splitter going into pre-amp)
You’ll need a 3.5MM male to 3.5MM male adapter (to connect Y-splitter to RCA adapter going into pre-amp). Check your preamp box because I think it may come with one of these!
Settings to start with
SVS Subwoofer
Set the sub volume at MINUS 16db
Set the Low Pass Filter to “on” and at 65hz (VERY important setting)
Set your parametric EQ the way it sounds best or use a meter to dial it in (or worst case leave them off)
FOSI Amp
Volume set to 3 o clock
Bass at 12 o clock
Treble at 1 or 2 o clock
iBoost Preamp
Set the gain at 6.5
Game
Set the “music” setting in the JJP game menu (game settings) to 77 (I think default is 80)
Max volume for game will be around 30, game will sound very clean at 28
Extra Photos Follow
UK Lava
Why one earth would I chase down the largest commercially made Lava Lamp in the world? Easy – ’cause I didn’t have one. Now I do.
Pinside is a dangerous place. Dangerous to your pocketbook for sure. I was clicking around looking at forum posts when I saw the one called “Lava Lamps”. Sounds innocent enough. Reading through the posts was like going back in time. Remembering what those lamps were like when I first saw them in the mid-70’s and finally acquired one in the late 70’s. Pretty sure I got mine from Spencer’s – the old mall retailer of “things you certainly don’t need but really, really want”. It was in this Pinside thread that I came across the grand daddy of all Lava Lamp companies … Mathmos.
It was clear that from the invention of the Lava Lamp to even today, Mathmos owns the market on quality lamps. I’m sure there are Chinese makers that far exceed the Mathmos production but if you want a great quality lamp, get it from Mathmos
OK, now I was interested. I’m always curious and eager to add the next unique item/gadget to the Pinball Loft. After spending a few minutes on the Mathmos site, I stumbled on the “Giant IO”. This was it! A lava lamp to beat all lava lamps. At 2 1/2 feet tall it was HUGE. I was ready to order … but … the price, oh my gosh, the price. Mathmos was in the UK and when I did the conversion from pounds to dollars it came out at $515.00 just for the lamp without shipping included. OK, just how bad did I really want that lamp? Turns out, pretty bad. I was about to click “order” and wanted to review shipping policies and costs. It was then that I noticed the other (bigger) problem. Mathmos does not ship to the US.
The original Mathmos Astro Lamp
Ugh. Now what? Well, I went back to Pinside and saw that other folks were using a forwarding company based in the UK. You sign up for a “free” account. They give you a UK address. You order something and have it shipped to your new UK address (which is one of their warehouses). Then they in turn freight it out to you in the US (or anywhere in the world). They make their money on an upcharge on the freight.
Behold … the Mathmos Giant IO at 2.5 feet tall
Seemed like a lot of work. I did nothing for almost 2 weeks. I put the idea on hold. Then I decided I was going to “do it”. I went to “Forward2Me” and signed up for an account and got my UK address. With that done, I was both excited and committed to ordering my new Lava Lamp. The Mathmos Giant IO. I raced over to the Mathmos website and … out. of. stock. Crap. My delay had cost me. I quickly emailed them. I pleaded my case – don’t you have just ONE MORE left? I got a quick answer – no. So I signed up for the email blast that would tell me when they would make more of my dream lava lamp.
My Giant IO is #47
Almost 3 months passed. I got an email. They were back! I quickly did the math on the price (it got a little more pricey) and put in my order, using my new UK address. I was “lucky” and the black Giant IO that I ordered was one of the signature models – one of the “First 100” to be produced. I was very excited! The lamp was now $531.00 and the shipping was a whopping $191.66 – holy cow, this was getting out of hand. Too late as I was now committed and it was headed my way and at an all in price of close to $725.00. Ouch!
I had another concern about my new purchase. It was wired to work in the UK at the nominal 230 volts AC that everything in England runs on. I would need to “convert it” when it arrived here so it worked properly. I’ll spare you the hours of work I did to understand the electrical amps/volts/current that I was dealing with. I considered a converter box that is readily available but they are expensive and not small so ditched that direction. Following that you are left with pulling the existing bulb (after all, it’s made to run on 230 volts not 110) and replacing it with a US based 110 volt halogen bulb of a comparable wattage (actually, it’s the “heat” output that matters here), then cutting the EU plug off the wire and wiring up a new US plug. That’s what I did.
The matt black finish is easy on the eyes
To make it simple for you. I tried both a 75 and 100 watt halogen US bulb and went with the 100 watter. The 75 just did not have the heat to make the lamp perform. I was terribly worried that the 100 might overheat the lamp (remember the UK bulb was 80 watts) but it works fine. I also added an inexpensive dimmer that allows me to dial up the 100 watt bulb to full intensity or dial it down if the lamp overheats. So far, I’ve not had to reduce the power.
T3 J-Type RSC Base Halogen Bulb, 100W, 130V, 2700K , Dimmable, 78 MM
I got an email from Forward2Me almost immediately after Mathmos told me the lamp had shipped. I was floored by how fast they moved. A day after I chose my shipping rate/method I got another email confirming shipping and that within 48 hours, I would have my lamp! The big box showed up just 4 days after leaving the Mathmos facility – from England to Tennessee in under 100 hours. Amazing.
I was, of course excited to get it all working. I had purchased the new US based bulbs and a new plug end for the lamp cord in prep for its arrival. I eagerly popped on the outer box and began to photograph the unboxing and separate the parts.
When I pulled the bottle out, I noticed the cardboard was wet. Ugh. You’re kidding me right? All the way from the UK just to have it leak in the box? I carefully unwrapped the bottle to find it was not broken and the amount of liquid that leaked was very small – in fact the cardboard was more “damp” than soaked.
I closely examined the cap and saw that it was probably bumped in shipping and loosened. I made the call on the spot to remove it and see if I could re-seal it. After unscrewing the cap, I could see that it was glued on in addition to screwing it on physically. The glue acting as a watertight (or so we hoped) seal. I cleaned it all up, added a bead of E6000 and screwed it back on tight. I then sat the bottle into the lamp to see if the missing liquid had lowered the level enough to be visibly missing when viewing the bottle installed in the lamp structure – it was not an issue. Not even close. My repair was a success, I plugged it in and a few hours later I was basking in it’s full lava blob glory!
4
The quality of the Mathmos Giant IO varies from good to great. It is NOT a finely machined piece that you may be led to believe through forum hyperbole or marketing language. It is, however, not cheaply made either. It’s finish is very good. The appearance as a result is very nice.
It’s not perfect, but it’s beautiful!
Look super close and you’ll see some unevenness in the finish and a few places where joints are not “perfect”. You would need to be a perfectionist and a jerk to complain. I’m the former but not the latter so I’m just fine with the product.
So what’s it like owning a Giant IO? It’s cool! Or should I say “hot”? It’s a great conversation piece no matter your age. Baby boomers (like me) remember when they were in vogue and can reminisce about those times. Younger folks will simply marvel at what it is and what it does. Sometimes baffled by the “why do you need it” part but mesmerized nonetheless.
Like the vinyl records that were popular when Lava Lamps came out, living with a lava lamp takes patience and presence. Let’s start with the vinyl record analogy. You need to be present. You start a record manually, if you want to hear it you sit in front of that turntable/speakers and soak it in. You need to be “OK” with and planful of your time. You WILL be sitting in front of that turntable for 20-30 mins (per side). You also have to wait. Want to hear your favorite cut on the album? Well, unless you want to get up and lift/move the needle, you’ll just have to wait – there are 2 songs ahead of it.
Lava Lamps are the same. Want to enjoy your lamp? Turn the power switch on about an hour and a half before you want to see it in motion. And to really enjoy it? You need to be there. Sitting there. In front of it or near it. It does no good to have it on if your not around – it’s all about seeing that motion and experiencing the calming effect it can have on you in those moments.
If that all sounds like your disposition – in other words, you’re patient and can sit still for a while, then buy one. Mathmos makes a wide variety of lamps starting at around $100. They are well crafted and a joy to look at. In today’s insanely paced world, they are a nice reminder for us to pause, reflect and relax once in a while.
More unboxing pics after the “game over”
Unboxing the Mathmos Giant IO
Guns ‘n Roses CE
My wife is a huge GnR fan. When I told her that JJP was re-making the game that Data East had done years ago, she said “get one”, followed by “the best one they have”. Little did I know that the CE version I was chasing would sell out (500 units) in an hour. JJP sold over $6MM worth of CE games in 60 minutes. A hundred thousand a minute isn’t bad.
The ultimate GnR collectible – The JJP GnR CE
I emailed my favorite distributor and told him what I wanted. He told me how all of this would go down. I let him know I understood the program and joined the ranks of hopefuls as the clock ticked toward release day.
On that day, I was between meetings (thankfully) when at 1pm EST the floodgates opened. I was lucky. Not because I got a CE, but because my wife told me to get one. I did NOT have to wait to see gameplay. I simply had to buy it. So I did. about 40 seconds after it went on sale.
Fast forward a few months later and my distro said our game would be shipping in the first batch of CE’s. I received my tracking number from JJP soon afterward and then a notice that it had arrived at the shippers.
First image posted to Pinside of a CE game received
I checked Pinside. Nope, no one had received theirs yet and no one had opened one yet. Several folks had received shipping and tracking info but no game in hand. It was time to spring into action. I called the shipper (Estes) and arranged a pickup at their terminal. It’s not far away. I got there early, waited 20 mins for them to get it off a trailer and (in the sleet and rain) loaded it into my pickup to get it home. My game was the first in the nation to be posted as “received” on Pinside – mission accomplished. GnR CE #065 and serial #087530013.
Miss Tami with her pride and joy
Observations:
It’s hard to review a game that has no peer in pinball today. From the second you plunge the first ball, you are aware that this game in unique and special. When a song starts, you lose all sense of the game of “pinball” you knew and are transported directly to a Guns ‘n Roses concert.
Eric’s comment is priceless!
The first time I had the chance to play the song “Live and Let Die”, I cried … yup, got goosebumps and teary eyed right there in middle of the game. Concert goers and music lovers know what I’m talking about. I’m reminded of the Rush concert in Rio de Jeneiro when (at the very beginning of the DVD) the band hits the opening power cords, Neil Peart’s drums explode with sound and they begin to tear into “Tom Sawyer” … the camera pans to the 40,000+ fans and you’ll see guys in the front row shedding tears of joy – THAT’S what I’m talking about. As I type this the memory of that moment is fresh and I “feel” it again. Let me tell you something unequivocally. I’ve never reviewed another pinball game and then so desperately felt that I needed to tell you how it made me feel. No other pinball machine has brought me to tears. I doubt that another every will.
Proud CE owner
What’s one thing I really enjoy about the game? Well, I play the game to get to hear a song. But get this, I want to hear a song from a band that for most of my life, I had no compelling interest in. Don’t get me wrong I ENJOY the music from GnR, but to put it in perspective, I owned 7,000 plus records (vinyl) and not ONE of them was GnR. I missed most of the 80’s and 90’s music because I was busy raising a young family. I could appreciate GnR, but never sought them out. This game makes all that instantly different. Why? Because these songs are absolutely perfect for a pinball game. These songs are “pure rock-n-roll”. The driving tempo, the bass line and the drums all create an atmosphere around the gameplay that makes me want to “play them”, turn it up as loud as the game can handle and finally play that song well enough to take it to the end. You know what else? I’m liking what I hear. I’m enjoying the songs for what they are – unbelievably good rock music from and unimaginably successful band.
Playfield as seen from back
The shots:
In many ways the game is not a “precision” shooter. That makes it a bit easier than others in my collection … and due to the fact that I’m chasing songs – more pleasurable to play. It feels more like if you get the ball in the general area, you’ll qualify the shot (Qualifying band members for example: Dizzy or Frank) BUT … it sometimes shows itself to be otherwise. For example, if you hit the left ramp shot hard but not in the right spot, you’ll likely make the ramp, but you might just barely make it to the small upper playfield flipper to finish the shot to Duff on the bass rails. On the other hand if you hit it exactly right and almost so soft you wonder if the darn thing will move at all … I’ve seen it go all the way to the guitar head lock as fast and smooth as butter. Both orbits behave the same way. Some of my best orbit shots were half flips that entered the orbits just right and made quick and smooth travel around the top of the game. Hit the sweet-spots on these shots and very little “oomph” is needed.
Love her and the game too!
I’m not saying the “game” is easy … the answer to that question will come over time as I better understand the rules and how they tie to each shot. I can tell you that you can’t just flail away while in a song. You’ll need to follow the call outs and make the lit shots as needed in order to not be “booed off the stage”. Some of those shot are harder than others and doing well in a song (while you are mentally jamming out!) is not easy at all. Time will tell where this game lands in the spectrum of “difficulty” – my early take is that the shots needed to have a boatload of fun are makeable and are not super hard. YMMV.
Added the SVS SB3000 with 800 Watts RMS and 2,500 watts peak on tap
The left ramp is straightforward and scale of 1-10 is a 3 in ease of making it. The right ramp would be the same. The center scoop probably ranks at the same level and (thankfully) presents almost zero rejects. The spinner shot up the center maybe a notch tighter at a 4. Aiming for the post on the record spinner (Slash) is the same. From there the shots get more challenging with the left orbit and upper loop (upper right flipper) being the most difficult for me (probably both are a 9). The right orbit is a tad easier.
The upper playfield simply takes timing on your part. Flip naturally and you’ll be late every time. Almost feels like a slight delay between when you flip physically and when the flipper moves – probably all in my head but that’s what it feels like.
The ramp to the upper playfield can be backhanded rather easily. It also happens to the the side of the game that is easiest to trap up on in game play. That allows you run loops around that ramp by backhanding, trapping and repeating for as long as you are accurate.
The upper right flipper is a nice alternative way of popping the ball into the scoop when you need to start a song or collect a jackpot. Of course, the lower main flippers are more accurate, but I find I can hit the scoop 1 out of 5 tries from the upper flipper – success really depends on ball speed (with slower being better obviously).
Guitar head stock
Multi-balls are sometimes a little “thick” feeling … I’m not saying that there are too many of them, just that when you’re in some of the MB modes, there are a “lot of balls served at once”. Not too many games give me the feeling that I want to drain a ball so I can hit the remaining with more precision – but there are moments in GnR when that is the case. Overall, I’m pleased with the multi-balls because they add to the emotions and experience of the game and help you achieve objectives you might not otherwise accomplish.
Gameplay
When you get a new Pinball game, most people will ask “how does it play”? It’s an interesting question for GnR because gameplay is only a portion of the answer. For instance, gameplay for the new Stern Avengers is nearly 100% of the answer to that question (and it’s an awesome game). For GnR though you need to consider that the overall “experience” – no other way to say it … the concert experience is clearly a massive part. For me it’s all about the songs. I understand that this is also the honeymoon phase for me, but even when I learn more about the rules and develop my own “attack” strategy, I still think the strength in this game is the live concert experience created when you get to choose and play a song.
Slash’s hat
I love the addition of the tilt warnings to the playfield and the ability to see the number of tilt warnings you have as each song begins. Helpful stuff and important as your pushing this thing around to keep the ball alive
If you are going to trap up during multi-ball – do so on the left flipper. It’s pretty easy to understand why. All of the balls are served on the right and typically land on the right flipper during autoplunge. You can play for quite a long time just using the right flipper and trapping 2 balls on the left. You can watch my YouTube video below and fast forward to around the 50 second mark where I deployed this exact strategy
Autographed drum sticks
Theme Integration
There is probably nothing I can add to what countless others have said about GnR and the game’s ability to re-create a real rock concert. JJP and Slash nailed it. It doesnt matter what song is playing, because when it is, you feel like you’re there. Right at the concert and unbelievably right in the front row. Moving spotlights, RGB hexagon stage lights and the ability to control all 600 LEDs all help cement the feeling that you’re at a concert. The playfield also does a superb job with the lofty challenge of “concert under glass”. There is a stage screen, beautiful sculpts, the drums pops that have a moving cymbol, a real pair of drumsticks, wireforms that look like a bass guitar and the headstock to Slash’s guitar all work together to constantly remind you that you ARE at a concert. These visual cues are critically important to the entire experience and when married with the lights and sound – you’re there. You’re at the show. GnR has got you in their hands mentally, physically and emotionally.
Plexi header
Light Show
Best. Lightshow. Ever.
How do I know? During some of the songs, the RGBW lights are moving/strobing so wildly I lose track of the ball and … I don’t care. I want more. The “show” is way more important than the game. If you enjoy how the game makes you “feel” (and this entire review is about that fact) then you MUST congratulate the following group of fine folks. They coded all those LED’s, they made the game work, they took Slash’s and Eric’s vision and choreographed it into the game that gives you goosebumps. What a job they did. Thanks to the software team of Bill Grupp, Duncan Brown, Joe Katz, JT Harkey, Keith Johnson and Ted Estes. We need to add the Animation team of Jean-Paul de Win and Mark Moliter because it only works as a whole.
RGBW LED color strobing and light patterns coded into the game are stunning to see in person. Literally a concert light show in a box. Understand though, that at times those patterns are created at the expense of white light (especially when red and blue are used during songs)
Those specific colors and patterns can make it challenging to see the ball – especially if you play in dim light as I do. There are also moments when the game gets dark for dramatic effect – not long moments. 5 seconds maybe? Trust me, you’ll hardly notice. You’ll be too busy enjoying the “light show”.
Yea – but what about the sound? Read on because it’s the icing that makes this cake soooooo good.
Dayne’s amazing art
Sound
What can I say here. It’s phenomenal and I’m understating that by 10 fold. What Vikas Deo and team did on this game to bring the concert experience to life is nothing short of miraculous. It DOES sound like you’re at the concert. It’s plenty loud enough and clean sounding enough to leave me with my ears ringing after a longer game – nuff said
The call outs are great period. How can they not be, the band did them! And they WANTED to do them! Understanding that the code is not yet complete makes them even more amazing. The adult mode is a must (if you wish to hear it) but be prepared for what you will hear. This is not “gently adult” like some other pinball games. This is “in-your-face” non-stop assault of adult language with plenty of MF’s and “F” words salted through every call out. Listen, most of the time when I hear those words used in discourse I think a little less of the person using them. I try (and fail miserably) to not use those words. So what about my game? In my home? I’ve got it turned ON. To be honest, it somehow fits the game, the theme, the concert emotion. I’m not only glad they coded it with this option, I’m using it and enjoying it. You’ve been warned!
Some of the simple things that the team has coded into the game are just cool every time you hear them. One of those is the “mic drop” off the upper playfield. Took me a minute to understand what it was but … very cool.
Artwork
Dayne Henry is an amazingly talented artist. And a brave man. My college education was as an artist – fine arts to be specific. I’m not sure I would have wanted to tackle artwork for a brand and property as iconic as GnR. Dayne stepped up and simply killed it. There is a LOT of art on the playfield, but at no time does it appear busy or cluttered. It all fits together nicely and in a cohesive way. There is plenty of room made available for inserts and game information and they all fit comfortably into Dayne’s design. Take a moment to look closely at any hand sized section the the CE playfield and you’ll likely see art so finely detailed that it could stand alone as a poster or design element. It’s that good. The middle of the PF shows continents of the world suggestive of the world tour and, of course the worldwide impact that GnR has had on music. Dayne wisely chose to simplify the outlane plastics and apron area (purple and green shapes only) to allow that beautiful playfield art to shine
More of Dayne’s work
Arian Buhler re-imagined the Appetite for Destruction album artwork for the CE cabinet art and hit the same home run that Dayne did. It’s amazing in person. The rad-cal shine on top of the brilliant reds and oranges laid out on purple are a feast for the eyes. The standout impact of the rad-cals is the silver foil that peaks through the artwork and makes it come alive. JJP added laser cut armor to for rails and it really compliments the art package well.
Arian Buhler artwork on the CE cabinet
Conclusion
It’s draining me. I’m playing it a lot. It’s crazy fun. Every game is an emotional experience. After an hour session I feel like I HAVE been to a concert. I need a bottle of water and a chair.
Reference what I shared throughout this review. This game is like no other. You will FEEL emotions playing this game like no other game you’ve played. You will probably play this game in ways you have not played other games. You’ll have more fun than you’ve had on your other games.
You may not enjoy your other games quite as much as you used to …
A new bar has been set
Congrats and thank you to JJP, Eric and Slash
YeeHaa!
Yes, John Schneider (Bo Duke) from the Dukes of Hazzard fame dropped by the Red Heaven Ranch. Yes, it WAS amazing! Read on for the details but you really need to know the back story to appreciate HOW John got to our little 44 acre ranch in East TN.
You see, Tami is an avowed extrovert. I am not. All the interesting people we meet are because of Tami. So naturally this story begins with her …
Tami met Bonnie Burns at one of the many concerts she attends each year. Bonnie shared with Tami that she was soon to be married, that it was a whirlwind romance and that her fiancé just happened to be Keith Burns, a founding member of the band “Trick Pony”. Bonnie said, “you should come to our wedding”. Tami said “YES!”, and we got an invite (I initially said I did not want to go – Tami straightened me out). On Sunday April 8th 2018, we drove to Nashville.
Pre-Wedding Party started right here!
From Betty Lou’s to the Mansion:
First some background on Bonnie’s soon-to-be husband Keith Burns and the Grammy Nominated, platinum selling band – “Trick Pony”. They have had 4 top 20 country hits and in 2002 won the coveted CMAs “Artist of the Year”. Keith is also a prolific songwriter and has penned three Top 10 songs. He’s also written songs for artists like Hootie & The Blowfish, Joe Diffie, Sammy Kershaw, Burns & Poe, Mo Bandy and more. It’s likely you’ve heard his signature hits “Pour Me” and “Just What I Do”. In short, Keith is the real deal! We arrived Sunday afternoon and knew there was a planned “pre-wedding” party that was off-site. We followed Bonnie to the event site thinking it was likely another “fancy hotel” or something like that.
Keith Burns performing the evening before his wedding
We soon realized that it was not another hotel, nor was it the VFW or even an event hall. It was, in fact – Betty Lou’s Lounge. Now this was going to be a waaaay better party than could be had at any fancy hotel! It was open mic night and we watched as Keith joined many of the “walk-ins” to both play guitar and sing. If you could play, the mic was yours. Near the end of the set, “Billy the Singing Mechanic” walked in, signed up and started pickin’. He had black grease all over both hands and under his nails but he played like he was born with a guitar in his hands and we watched in awe as Keith joined in. In Nashville, Keith is “just one of the guys” and if you want to hear real country music, played by real people – Betty Lou’s is a great place to start. For sure this was a lesson in “appearances” can be deceiving. We had a wonderful time.
Miss Tami at the mansion
Bonnie shared that the wedding would be at a mansion in Nashville (near Titan Stadium). We drove over Saturday to see if we could help decorate. Tami was quickly invited to the impromptu “bachelorette” party and I just as quickly exited the area to take in the beauty of the grounds. The Mansion was classic style, almost antebellum. Tall ceilings and wide doors. Immaculate but compact grounds surrounded by tall/thick brick walls. It had an elevated pool with a 4 stall parking garage underneath. There was a river feature and a nice coy pond where I took one of my favorite images of Miss Tami
Keith and Bonnie (and Miss Tami)
A stage with about 30 chairs or so, was set up on the upper grassy area near the pool. Even when everyone was seated, you were so close to Keith and Bonnie (and the entertainers) that you could almost touch them. Presley and Taylor were there and we got to meet them. Songwriter Karen Staley was there and sang several songs for us with just her acoustic guitar. She wrote several top 10 hits like “The Keeper of the Stars” for Tracy Byrd and “Let’s go to Vegas” for Faith Hill.
You may kiss the bride!
As Keith and Bonnie exchanged vows, I was stuck by the thought that (as far I knew) we were the only “non-family”, non-industry folks at the wedding. Everyone else was a lifelong friend, probably industry related or was a blood/marriage relative. How odd that we ended up here (more on that later)
The beautiful wedding ceremony ended, the cake was cut and served and it was time for the “after party”
The Ceremony was beautiful
The After-Party
With the wedding ceremony now behind us it was time to party so everyone headed downtown (10 minutes) to the Honky Tonk Central where the family had set aside the 3rd floor for the wedding party. We walked upstairs using our “WedFest 2018” tickets to get past security and were greeted by a great (youngish) House band. We listened to several songs before Keith and Bonnie arrived. People were enjoying the band when I saw Keith approach the lead singer to talk to him. A few seconds later, the House band jumped off the stage, handed their instruments to Keith and his band mates and leaned against the wall to listen with the rest of us.
Keith and his band using borrowed instruments to tear the roof off!
We were blown way. The House band was blown away. In Nashville the worst talent can be better than the best in any other city, so the House band was no slouch but to see Keith and his guys dial it up was awe inspiring. They proceeded to tear the roof off the place with a half-dozen classic songs before “allowing” the House band to return to the stage. My jaw must have been hanging open because the one of the other wedding guests stopped by and said – “impressive aren’t they?” – I had no other answer other than – yea!
Just before we left the bar that night, Bonnie came over and grabbed Keith and Tami and I and asked that her sister take our picture. Even though it was surreal “sitting in on” a wedding we had no real purpose being at, it was in that moment that I realized that it was also a blessing and a privilege and that Bonnie had also appreciated us just “being there” and taken the time to make sure we felt welcome. We sure did.
Beautiful place for a wedding
Fast forward to 2 years later and Keith and Bonnie have spent several nights at our home. We consider them dear friends and have so enjoyed our time together and … it just so happens that Keith knows John Schneider.
Keith met John in Las Vegas years prior during a Trick Pony video shoot (Gene Simmons is in that video too). Keith and John became fast friends. Musicians that appreciate each others craft and talent. Hang in there, the ending of this story is the beginning of the next chapter in the story of how “Bo Duke” landed at the Red Heaven Ranch.
So now you know the backstory. Keith just happened to ask if it was “OK” if he invited John and his wife to our ranch. He thought they would enjoy the place as much as he and Bonnie had. So, on November 6th 2020, John and his wife Alicia rolled into the Red Heaven Ranch in a beautiful RV.
In Duke’s of Hazzard style, I asked John to “park it right on the front lawn” – so he did.
We met John and Alicia out on the lawn and offered to let them freshen up in the ranch house but they had everything they needed right in the RV. Tami and I immediately thought that was pretty cool.
About 40 minutes later we all met out in the driveway to spend a few minutes getting to know each other. It was nice to stand in the sun and enjoy the beautiful day. Short sleeve shirt weather in November – gosh how I appreciate TN. I thanked John for stopping by and during our brief conversation asked him about his time on Broadway (The Grand Hotel opened in 1989 and John performed 487 shows). I was assuming that it was a grueling process to put on multiple shows per day. He shared that it was easier than expected and that he really enjoyed the entire experience. I kicked myself later for not asking about Cyd Charisse as I’m a big fan.
Riding around Red Heaven Ranch: Keith, Alicia, Bonnie, John, Tami and me
After the introductions, we jumped in Miss Tami’s mail wagon (The Kawasaki Mule) and toured the Ranch property. John has owned and been around horses his whole life, so not much of what he saw was a surprise.
Keith and Bonnie hamming it up with Kobe
The group did enjoy our time out with the Mini’s in their dry lot area. We have a miniature Donkey (Kobe) and a miniature horse (Tubby) that live together in a barn I built out for them. They have it made and they know it! Keith was yukking it up with them and Kobe always loves the attention so both parties benefited greatly!
Checking out the minis
We made a stop at the shooting range next and, as you would expect, John enjoys exercising his 2A rights like the rest of us. We did not have time to shoot but stopped to look at the setup anyway.
Back at the house it was time to pop into the loft. Keith had shared ahead of John’s visit that he enjoyed Pinball. Well we’ve got lots of it here at the RHR.
First reaction to the Pinball Loft!
It was great to see the look on John’s face when he first walked into the the Pinball Loft. To be honest, its the same look from almost anyone – pinball fan or not. Alicia took some pics and I took the opportunity to show John the Harlem Globetrotters playfield that was nearly complete in the work room.
Look at Alicia (John’s wife) in the background!
Alicia saw that I was into the restoration part of the hobby and texted me the contact info of a friend that was the same. He has an extensive collection as well and I did connect with him later. John asked about my favorite Pinballs, the rarest, etc. and I took the time to explain about a few of them. Sharing that the Steve Ritchie Star Trek is one of my favs and that the slings had been signed by Nichelle Nichols and William Shatner. The conversation then shifted to Batman 66. I shared the entire history of the game. The 30th anniversary component, the essay/video needed to simply get in the queue, and finally how Adam West himself had recorded the owners names into the game itself.
Studying Houdini
I spent a few minutes describing to John and Alicia the more modern era of pinball (since I had been collecting). The fact that Stern was the “last man standing” just 10 years ago … all the way up to today with the huge variety and scope of new machines available. We talked about the Jersey Jack Wizard of Oz machine and the struggles to get that to market and the exciting new Guns ‘n Roses Collectors Edition that was headed our way soon. Unfortunately there was not enough time to get a few games in – we had a movie to watch!
Miss Tami and John have similar tastes in socks
We headed back downstairs for a quick lunch. Tami had ordered some Mexican take out and we had quite a spread of food and snacks ready to pop in the oven to warm up. John asked if we could pray, so we grabbed each others hands and organized ourselves in a circle around our kitchen island – John was then kind enough to lead us in a blessing.
Tami’s world famous guitar
Miss Tami (of course) had a few hundred (kidding) things for John to sign. He was gracious to do so. One of those items is her prized guitar with dozens of country superstar autographs. John dutifully signed it – but as musicians are prone to do, couldn’t help but tune and play it a bit! Well Keith Burns is not going to sit idly by and not join in. For a few minutes the kitchen was filled with impromptu song and banter. We grabbed a bit to eat. Everybody got their fill and John particularly enjoyed Tami’s homemade granola. When done, we headed toward our theater.
Listen – thousands of people have met John Schneider. I’m betting 99.9% would say the same thing about him. He’s a regular guy. His wife Alicia is the same. I know it’s cliché, but they really are down to earth. As Keith says “he’s a man of the people”. He acts that way too. Like a regular Joe, no pretension whatsoever. The kind of person that will put you at ease when you are around them. So … when we sat down, in OUR home theater to watch JOHN’S film with John sitting in the front row, I was at ease, but it was also a surreal moment for me. Not in the “star struck” type of way, more in the way that you ask yourself “how do these events even happen”? Like David Byrne from the Talking Heads sings in the song “Once in a Lifetime” – “how did I get here?”. As an aside, John himself is familiar with those same type of moments. For example – John once spent a year living with Johnny and June Cash. When you read about the details of that year, you will know that the Cash’s were not even the most important part of that story. (see notes at end of post to better understand).
Watching John’s new movie, with John – priceless
While getting the theater prepped Tami and John spent a few minutes comparing socks as they had on virtually identical footwear. John commented on the 2 channel vinyl rig that sits in the theater and just before we watched the movie, I fired up the mono amps, set the JA Michelle Gyrodec spinning and treated the gang to “Sweet Georgia Brown” from the album Harry James and His Big Band – titled “The King James Version”. It’s a 1976 Sheffield Labs pressing that is simply superb. if you’ve never heard horns from a high end vinyl system, you are missing a special thrill … the entire gang enjoyed the music as a prelude to a broader multimedia experience that was about to happen.
Vinyl was built for horns
It was now time to get the movie started (we played it from John’s Apple laptop!) “Stand on It!” was written and Directed by John and produced by his beautiful wife Alicia. John hit play on the laptop, tweaked a few technical settings and we quickly settled in to enjoy the film. And enjoy it we did! It’s an homage to the Smokey and the Bandit film that John had an “extra” role in (he snuck onto the set after skipping school and actually landed a part). It’s well written, full of double entendre and funny as heck to boot. It has that fun, edge of your seat, car chase vibe that keeps you wondering what car will wreck next or when all 4 wheels will leave the ground (again).
My buddy Keith is a star (again)
It was too cool to see both Keith and Bonnie with parts in the film as well. It’s clear that John appreciates his friends. We laughed a bunch during the movie because it’s full of one-liners (as it should be) and the performance by Tyrus (Fox news, ex-pro wrestler) as Clarence T. Necessary was killer. Just simply stuffing Tyrus’s massive hulk into a police cruiser is a sight gag that will make you laugh out loud. John is outstanding of course and shines with his extensive acting experience. As the movie came to end, I couldn’t help but think that in 2020, the world needs more movies like it.
We cleaned up the theater and returned to the living area to shoot a few photos. Again, ever gracious, John and Keith were happy to pose and smile for what I’m guessing is the one millionth time in their lives. Not sure that I could be so giving – but they sure are and I know their fans appreciate it.
Saying good-bye
We said our goodbyes and shared some hugs and they were off to prepare for an event a few hours away. They were already late so the time they spent at the ranch will forever be appreciated. A special thanks go out to our friends Keith and Bonnie Burns for putting the visit together. The gate is always open for the Schneider and Burns families here at Red Heaven Ranch
YeeHaa!
See postscipt below for more info
Postscript
It would be a shameful oversight if I didn’t share more of John’s story. He was and is so much more than his role on the Dukes of Hazzard. He was just 19 when that TV show aired and a LOT of professional accomplishment has happened since. Many don’t know that John was a founding member (along with Marie Osmond) of the Childrens Miracle Network charity in 1983. Since inception the charity has raised over $5 billion dollars to fund treatment for children. If you take ALL of his other accomplishments away but the CMN you would be hard pressed not to say “job well done”.
As mentioned earlier he has extensive Broadway acting experience. He is credited in over 165 movies and TV roles. On top of all of this, John is an accomplished recording artist with a dozen top 10 hits and around half of those as Billboard #1 hits. If you’re not already familiar with his music, download one of his albums. If you enjoy the country or gospel genres, I can assure you that you will appreciate his music.
Quick post here for you “new to the home market” BBH owners. As you know from my review of the new BBH Home Reloaded Mini – I love the game. It’s great and I actually am enjoying it more as time passes. It’s been a great addition to my game room!
Great family game
You’ll also know I complained about how loud the cooling fans were – holy cow loud, not just “kinda loud”.
So I went on a mission to search out some suitable replacements. The replacement fans not only had to be quieter BUT they needed to move as much (or nearly as much) air and be very reliable too. Finally they needed to match the electrical specs as well. Much internet searching led me to 2 options and I would suggest that if you choose to do this (I did not because that, of course, would void my warranty) you are on you own. That’s the disclaimer here – don’t try this at home on YOUR BBHMR!
So let me share with you EXACTLY what I didn’t do …
Factory specs for Cooltron cabinet fans
I’ll start with the specs on the fans that are installed per factory spec. The 81 series Cooltron is not the easiest to find specs on but I finally found a sheet. It’s the FD1225B12W7 model shown in the image and highlighted with my hand drawn arrows. This is both a high static pressure (5.1) and high CFM at 123.5. I’m not sure the cabinet creates significant static pressure, as it has 2 huge grilled air intakes right below it, so this fan probably moves even more CFM than stated. It has a 2 pin molex connector so that means no speed control from the PC, it just runs at it max RPM when on.
Upper fan replacement
Based on what I discovered, I ordered a “Be Quiet Wings 3” to test out as the upper fan replacement
There are several “Be Quiet” models in the 120mm size, the quietest one rated at just 16db, but the CFM on that one is only around 50, too low IMO for this cabinet. So the one I purchased was the high speed version 120mm Pretty high CFM at 73CFM, also low vibration mounts, 12 volts like original. 28db noise at full rpm vs the stock fan of 46db. I cut the supply wire and add a simple 2 pin molex connector by cannibalizing the connector from the factory Cooltron fan. You’ll need a special tool to remove the pins without damage.
Order the 120MM “High Speed” version
The fan arrived quickly but before I could begin I needed to get the factory installed fan out of the cabinet for inspection and to help plan the connection/wiring for the new one
To gain access to the upper fan, you simply unscrew the screws that hold that plate on. Then use a 3/8″ box end wrench to grab the nyloc nuts on the inside of the fan, while using your drill to remove the bolts – there are just 4 obviously.
Removing the upper fan
You can peek your head inside the cab and look upward to see the top mounted fan and it’s 2 wire molex connection. The wire is VERY long so no worries about the new one reaching.
View of upper cabinet fan from inside cabinet
The molex connector sits to the right of the fan as you stand behind the BBH cabinet and is unplugged by simply pulling it apart
Power supply wires to upper cabinet fan – lower fan is similar
The molex connector was quickly removed as was the upper fan. Be aware that there are NO washers on the fan bolts at all – no need because there are 2 fan screens that act as both washers and to center the screens on the fan. Note the on the upper fan, the screens are separated to be both inside and outside the cabinet. On the lower fan, the screens are both INSIDE the cabinet.
With the upper cabinet fan removed, it was time to see how to get the new “Be Quiet” fan wired up for install.
What’s in the box
The Be Quiet fan comes with a nice pigtail adapter that we will use to wire it to the BBH cabinet wiring. I used the 2 wire section of the pigtal and discarded the rest.
Pigtail supplied in the Be Quiet kit
I simply cut the 12v section off, plugged it into the existing connector on the Be Quiet fan and stripped/prepared the bare wires on the other end.
Cut off the 12volt section – that’s what you will use
I needed to use the existing molex 2 wire housing from the factory fan, so I removed it from the original using my molex tool. That “male molex” connector was then added to the new Be Quiet fan using new Trifurcon .156 pins for a nice factory install. This also leaves the factory fan intact and able to be re-installed should I want to later.
Nothing beats a molex pin removal tool
The final assembly has the new molex connector, attached to the cut off portion of the Be Quiet supplied pigtail and then that part is simply plugged into the fans factory connector
Upper fan wire prepped for install
Now it was time to reassemble the upper fan back into the cabinet. Pay attention to the fan screens, they have a bend in the 4 arms that is purposeful and pulls the screen away from the blades
Be quiet logo faces you during install
To install the easy way, just get one bolt “right” – Bolt, outside screen , through the cabinet, through the fan housing, then finally through the inside screen – add the nut finger tight. Now repeat for all the remaining bolts. Careful if using a drill to tighten so you don’t overtighten and crack the fan. Lastly, connect the molex connector
Start with just one bolt
I measured the DB levels again after installing the new fan and although lower (about 3db) it was still too loud for me. Why? I spent a few minutes poking around and measuring some more. Here is why:
Lower fan is 100db all by itself
There are several fans on the back of the monitor INSIDE the cabinet and there is really nothing you can (should) do about them. They produce extra noise that most certainly is transfered to the outside of the cabinet through vent openings but … it is what it is
There is at least one fan on the computer INSIDE the cabinet – same as above. No way would I mess with the computer fan inside the cabinet for likely almost no gain
So now what? Well I decided to “do what I could do” and no more. The lower cabinet fan was the very same as the upper and it could be replaced so that is what did (I didn’t really ’cause that voids warranty).
The fan I settled on was a Noctua NF-F12 that can be purchased on Amazon. I bought this model because is has a bit higher CFM that the Be Quiet fan but I thought it important to have the lower fan move as much air as possible as it was close to the computer where much heat is generated.
Noctua lower fan replacement – different than upper to push more air
Removal of the lower factory fan and install was nearly the same as the upper. On the Noctua, you’ll need to just cut off the connector from the actual fan. The yellow wire will not be used. Black is ground, red is 12 volts and this matched the molex wiring of the cabinet. Reminder that when putting the lower fan back in, BOTH screens are installed INSIDE the cabinet – ask me why I’m telling you that TWICE.
Noctua specs
So how does this all end? Was it worth it? Is it quieter?
It ended well, Yes and oh heck yes! Noticeably quieter and now tolerable.
Here are the old vs new measurements and images to back them up:
2 feet from cabinet front – OLD 68db and NEW overall is <60db
Lower fan at 6 inches – OLD was 100db and NEW Noctua is 86db
Ear level at cab rear – OLD was 66db and NEW is 60db
Overall pleased with the result. Was not difficult nor expensive. Now to put it all back to factory condition 🙂
Avengers Assemble!
By now you’ve read the early story of how I found out about and ordered my Stern Avengers Infinity Gauntlet LE. That post tells the story or racing the backroads in the 911 and enjoying some down time in Highlands NC. You can check it out HERE.
#332 is in the house (ok the Loft)
I’m writing this review in memory of Andy. He was my best friend and he passed away from MDS exactly 2 years ago today at just 38 years old. I was to lose my Dad from the same exact disease just a few months later. You can read about both of them here on the blog (Andy has a link at the top).
Awesome Zombie Yeti art
Fast forward to present day and I get the call from my distributor that my AIQ will be shipping soon and they need my cell number so the freight company can call ahead for delivery. Now I’m getting excited. Then, I get another call the same day stating that the Big Buck Hunter HD reloaded video arcade I ordered was getting here the same day!
The bingo area with drops
Just a few minutes after I got the call that AIQ was on the way, I got a message through FB that put a smile on my face. George Gomez decided that I was not as crazy as I appeared to be and took a chance on me. He accepted my friend request 🙂
And, right behind him … the one-of-a-kind artist extraordinaire Jeremy Packer aka Zombie Yeti, the artist on AIQ. Now both of these guys are as humble as they get. I’ve met George at TPF and he was a really down to earth guy. But for us Pinball nerds these guys are celebrities and they were kind enough to accept my request – too cool.
I originally wanted to write about the Avengers Pinball as soon as I got it but with BBH being delivered, let’s just say I was distracted. Well … distracted no more I am (said in best Yoda voice). I’ve got AIQ set up and have played 68 games so far on it and would love to share my early thoughts.
This might take a while.
This pin is “complicated” but in all the right ways.
SHOTS: It’s a flow type shooter. Not really stop and go, until you hit those “moments” – like the Avengers Tower or the Portal. By the time that happens, you’re pretty happy for the break in the action. The shots are mostly open and not difficult at all to hit. The one exception (for me) is the left orbit, but after 20 games or so, even that got easier.
Dr. Strange spinning disc, portal and sanctum shot
By design, the center right ramp can be hit by EVERY flipper – astounding and according to Keith a fortunate accident. The first time I hit that ramp (Gem collect ramp) with a backhand right flipper, I literally flipped out. I stopped the game and texted my buddy to let him know (he’s getting an LE too) – he quickly replied “it was designed by Keith that way”. Oh, OK … still though – too cool! The upper flipper shot to that same ramp, then connecting to the wireform loop that allows you to “rinse and repeat” is soooooo satisfying. It’s not hard to hit, it’s not hard to repeat (10x+ times) BUT just when you think you could do it forever, boom – you’ll be a fraction of a second late/early and miss it.
There are wireforms and ball paths EVERYWHERE
The Captain Marvel ramp is easier to hit than you think BUT not consistent in gameplay – and that’s a good thing. Let me explain. When hit squarely and with the proper flipper force, the shot is literally as smooth as butter – and a joy to watch. Not sure I will ever tire of seeing it in action. Here’s the “but” – if you are not square or don’t have enough zip on your flip, your going to see it rise and then fall but come right back out the entrance. The good news is that 90% of the time this is not a fatal error – the ball rarely goes STDM. So shoot away at one of the most unique ramps in pinball history. It’s so cool to watch that I find myself noticing it during multi-ball action – it’s a bit distracting but puts a smile on my face EVERY time!
That Captain Marvel ramp steep climb seems impossible
The Avengers Tower is more unique, more challenging and more game fitting than I thought it would be. I watched the streams like the rest of us and was thinking – why not have it somehow hold all 3 balls? How disappointing is this! Now that I see it implemented with matching game code, I’m impressed with it. The Hawkeye shot challenge is just that – a challenge. The Super Skill shot on a hard plunge makes wonderful use of the tower too and is such a satisfying shot! Plunge hard, ride the wireform all the way to the right flipper and flip right into the tower.
More killer playfield art from Jeremy Packer
Trapping up seems significantly easier than on other Sterns – maybe it’s me but I find it simple to trap, roll pass, tap pass, etc. on this machine. The shots may be wide open but you will play this game for both score and enjoyment better if you trap and aim vs “spray and pray” (to use an old military term). I think the reason here is there are SO MANY shots! Wow, this is one of the things that makes this game so unique. Left Hulk orbit, then Avengers tower, Sanctum target, Strange disc, Pops lane (right of disc), left center ramp, right center ramp, Hawkeye shot, Captain Marvel ramp, Thor captive ball, right Black Panther orbit, right Pym Labs Mystery VUK – then the entire drop target “bingo” section. The shots seem endless on this machine and that takes me to …
Multi-ball madness. As discussed above there are a LOT of available shots in this game. Kick off a multi-ball and then take your time to make a few of these wireform shots near simultaneously – it’s Pinball magic. If you pull this off, you can literally see as many as 4 (or more) pinballs traveling on wireforms, in common and opposing directions at THE SAME TIME. It’s like being right there in the Infinity Gauntlet fight with Adam Warlock and the Avengers – battling Thanos to save the universe.
Backglass is stunning in person
DRAINS: I first wrote this as remembering that I was having VERY few center drains (other than during multi-ball). This makes it feel like the pin is fair to the player. So why are my scores still under 200MM? Because … I’m an average player and the side drains are functioning just fine thank you. Since penning that thought I ran back up to the Loft to check the audits. Wow, no wonder eyewitness testimony is suspect! Drain counts: 53 Left, 117 Center and 38 Right. So much for a STDM friendly game. Seriously – this game does NOT feel like a drain monster – and especially not so in the center no matter what the numbers say.
Really nice work in how the armor comes together – classy look!
ARTWORK: Zombie Yeti (Jeremy Packer) drilled the art on this machine. It just “feels like” the comics that it derives it’s story from. It’s colorful, beautiful and transports you back to younger less care filled days of reading comics and feeling like you were “right there” with Hulk and the gang- just as worried about the Black Dwarf as they were. If only life was as simple now as then. But that says something about this game – that it can make you forget the troubles of the day and be younger more carefree version of yourself if even for just 15 minutes or so
Just a beautiful LE playfield
VIDEO GRAPHICS: They are fantastic. Totally matches the comics look that this machine pays homage to. The colors are wonderfully saturated in places like the killer rendition of the Dr. Strange logo and more subtle where called on to be that way. They are generally rendered simply with little animation and I think it fits the theme just perfectly. Nice work Chuck Ernst and Joshua Clay.
Austin Powers says “yea baby … give me a star rollover all day long”
LIGHTING: Enough to play. I would not call it dark but I would not give it credit for “Pinstadium” bright either. It’s OK as is but I added rail lighting to mine and prefer it that way. I play with just LED background lights on and appreciate the extra lighting. The ball trough lighting that lights up the flipper area is a nice touch. Pinball players never like to drain. I think I die a little each time it happens but the light show at the end of each ball is pretty cool on AIQ – it’s a great use of the RGB LEDs to flash them all red white and blue – ‘Merica
Signed by the genius designer himself Keith Elwin
TOYS: Not sure there is something in the game to call a “toy”. The Avengers tower is functional, fun and a unique addition to the gameplay via physical locking and code integration. The Portal and integrated spinning disc is a cool way to “go interdimensional” but the subway seems to just slow things down unnecessarily. The subway is also hard to “see into” and given the fact that it has a transparent window, I’m sure the intent was to see the balls. Unfortunately, you can’t see the balls unless you’re 7 feet tall. It’s a small issue but worth sharing.
Evil, just nasty evil – read the Jim Starlin comic if you don’t agree
CALL OUTS: Call outs are pretty good overall. These were Marvel blessed voice actors so I expected a great results. The code is still young so there are spots where callouts are missing or more could be added but according to Keith, those will come soon enough.
SOUND: I really like the sounds – Nice job Jerry Thompson. It’s all very Super Hero like and fits the theme to a “T”. Jerry has done sound for several of the games in my collection – Ghostbusters, Jurassic Park and Batman 66 and I love the sound packages on those machines as well. The sound is “packaged”, tight and focused on the aura of the pin it’s dedicated to. Jerry’s got skills.
The bright blue mirror spots on the backglass – reflect blue lights in gameroom
GAME THOUGHTS: I love it. It’s so unique. I’ve been texting a few friends back and forth and it’s been difficult to describe what it’s like playing it so I’ll just share some stream-of-thought:
Flying. Yes, flying … I read comics as a kid but not many Marvel ones. I bought the Infinity Gauntlet series by Jim Starlin to familiarize myself with the story and read all 6 volumes. After reading that and playing the game, I get the sense that I’m moving when I play. I know that sounds strange but others on Pinside (as crazy as me) have said the same. I’m not sure why. Maybe because the battles in the comics have these guys flying ALL the time. Maybe because in the Pinball a “battle” must (in my mind) include flying. Maybe it’s the insane amount of vertical and horizontal ball travel that happens in the machine. In multi-ball, you literally can see (all at once) 4 + balls flying in various directions on various wireforms – it’s both thrilling and disorienting at the same time – and I’ve never experienced another game like it
Fly baby fly – like Super Hero’s do!
Losing a Gem to Thanos makes me want to cry. It’s a “too serious” moment in a Pinball machine based on comics BUT when you read the comic that Jim Starlin wrote, you will understand why the game has a serious bias and less humor than the “movies” – that is how he wrote it. It was the potential end of the universe and that’s about as serious as it gets!
Acquiring a Gem feels like an accomplishment. Not “I just saved the world” level but pretty close. If you are a top tier player, I suspect you won’t get the same feeling but for us “mortals of pinball” every gem earned is big.
Stern did a really nice job on publishing the rules
And .. just like in Jurassic Park, Raymond Davidson has provided a very cool way to both “practice” for regular gameplay and to have a boatload of fun doing it – the “Battle Royale” mode. You simply hold both flippers in before you push “start” and you’ll be given a menu that allows you to pick the mode. Here you will battle the Black Order using all 6 Avengers and do so in a timed fashion. It’s a fantastic way to hone your shots for standard gameplay – bravo!
This game is an adventure, a true “Quest”
Stern’s Avengers Infinity Quest is a keeper for me. It’s like having the most colorful, living comic book in your house – and as a bonus you can “play it” too! It’s not a “kids story” here though. The original storyline by Jim Starlin was written for adults as most comics are/were and as such biases toward the serious side – just the way I like it. Makes it feel a little risky when you push start and begin to “fly around” the inside of that machine.
Things could get rough in there – Avengers Assemble!
