It’s a whole New World!

A dazzling place I never knew, but when…..oop, sorry. Living in my alternate universe again where Robin Williams has a pointy chin and is still funny. Back to the story.

The gentlemen who picked up my Playmatic pinball last weekend did not previously own any other pinball machines. Both he and his wife were delightful and they commented on how excited the grandkids would be that grandpa had his own pinball machine. He was the perfect buyer because the condition of the pinball machine was less important than having a little memory factory in the basement.

I was ecstatic he was the buyer, and I hooked him up will all the part numbers from Marco Specialties he’d need to fix the game – including a new plunger link and possibly a new solenoid. I also hooked him up with Rich in Oregon in case he wanted to have a backup set of plastics for the playfield.

Plus, its always a great feeling to free that space back up in the garage, especially as our kiddie toys seem to multiply and command more and more room. Not to mention I applied the profit from this sale to my Sinistar I purchased – out of Rockford coincidentally, last fall – and got that down to a more manageable price.

Alas, the open space never lasts – I already picked up another arcade game yesterday. Something I’ve been monitoring for four years….

You're reading A newly minted pinball collector is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

Playmatic pinball machines – Unique playfields

When I picked up this used pinball machine here in Indianapolis earlier this week, I was flabbergasted by the condition. The playfield had very little wear, which is uncommon for an EM machine from 1976. Come to find out, Playmatic coated the playfields with a plastic; its rare you’ll ever find one of these with significant wear, but still…

The rest of the New World is in great condition too, no spider veining on the backglass, no gouges in the cabinet – none of the common wear you see. The game powers up just fine, but the plunger is sloppy and the right plastic flipper is missing. If anyone has a good source for buying parts beyond rubbers and light bulbs for this machine, or know of other pinball machine parts that are swappable, drop a comment below.

Cheap used pinball, soon to be for sale

The only ‘pinball’ machine I have in my collection here in Indianapolis is a Hyperball, which is just a phenomenal game for parties. For an EM machine, the artwork on this game is quite appealing. I think that is the patriotic spirit in me speaking.

Realistically, I don’t intend to keep this game long term so if you are looking to pick up a used pinball machine for your game room in Indiana, drop me a line. I am up for interesting trades, it will need very little work, otherwise this pinball will be up on the for sale page soon enough. If you have a pinball machine sitting around taking up space in your Indiana garage, also send me a message and we can work something out.

Update – 5.22.10 I sold this Playmatic pinball machine to a fellow in Rockford Illinois, so it is no longer for sale.

You're reading Picked up a new pinball from Spain. is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

Arnon Milchan, King Kong pinballs, & many more

My knowledge of rare pinball machines and their history is not quite as rich as I would like, so seeing photos organized into a concise album like this is quite fun for me.

Most of these photos are on IPDB.org, but the reason this album caught my eye is because the Arnon Milchan pinball is not. I had looked for some photos of this machine when we were interviewing John Carpenter. Maybe some of those photos were submitted to IPDB by Herb, I really don’t know.

If you are on Facebook, you might ‘friend’ Herb Silvers, and then check out his photo albums.

If you know more about Herb and his circumstances / involvement in the pinball hobby, in a fairly inclusive and concise cliff notes version, that would be swell. Preferably, from another collector’s point of view, not his biography.

You're reading Have you met my friend Ted?…err, Herb is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

Loch Ness – Perfect pinball subject matter

What a great idea for a theme! One of the most iconic urban legends ever, with a matching jaw drapping effigy of Loch Ness on the backglass. But, I think Tim Ferrante better described this game for Gameroom Magazine. The excerpt of interest to me;

Below the playfield resides a moving three-dimensional model of Nessie viewable through a blue window. The monster roars and flashing lights illuminate the swimming creature as players try to escape silverball doom. It was unquestionably the finest game they (Gameplan) ever built.

No video yet exists on YouTube of the Loch Ness gameplay. We all wish it did, I think most of us would like to see the Loch Ness under the playfield in action. Up to this point, only a few photos existed on IPDB.org, but the current owner Mike has supplied a plethora of photos

Apparently this pinball made it to the Chicago pinball expo at one time or another, that must have been late 90′s early 2000.

Know more about this pinball machine, or want to add to this post? Leave a comment.

You're reading Loch Ness sighted briefly, then gone is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

Aaron Spelling, Star Wars Empire Strikes Back and Caddy Shack

The show was a bit of a feeding ground for sickness. Right at the beginning of all of this pandemic with swine flu, I was already sick when we headed up. Not getting to bed until 3am that night surely didn’t help….but I don’t think that is why I felt this show wasn’t as good. I don’t have a good reason why either. But here are a couple of photos I took while there. If you want, check out this more comprehensive set of photos of Pinball Expo 2009v, posted in a more timely manner on Oct. 14.

Q*Bert’s Quest

I did some reading in the weeks before the show about Q*Bert’s Quest. Consensus seemed to be that this pinball is worth several hundred dollars (price guide aside), and really is only interesting to a select set of collectors, probably some crossovers. The gameplay was apparently boring and easy.

After playing it, I can’t say I disagree. I was bored awfully quick. But it is a cool looking machine as a fan of Q*Bert. The backglass on this one was in good condition, the playfield had some wear.

Aaron Spelling

When we did a live chat with Data East’s John Carpenter a few months ago, I had done research on his pinball credits. The Aaron Spelling pin was one where there wasn’t a photo on IPDB. Apparently, since then photos were approved. There are two total Aaron Spelling pinballs confirmed according to IPDB. I don’t follow RGP on a regular basis, I am sure the pin heads know who owns this one…maybe Mike Pacak. I dont’ know whether the one Aaron Spelling had made it back into collecting circulation now that he has passed. If another knows the story, leave a comment.

Empire Strikes Back

First learned about this pin in Gameroom Magazine in May 2009, in the re-occuring column ‘The Many Incarnations of’. That was just a blip on the radar, but when I saw it at the show I knew this was probably it. SWESB only saw 350 units total by Australian company Hankin.

Poking around now, turns out whoever flippinpins is in Chicago was looking to sell. Empire seems to bring the coin, can be several thousand dollars, but I know when I played it I thought this was also a boring game. The playfield is truly amazing, and the cabinet in general is just breathtaking…the backglass is the pefect design, just Darth Vader’s head. Nothing busy. Same with the cabinet side, which I totally missed at the show, only checking it out today.

Here is an auction where Star Wars didn’t sell back just before the show (Click image for larger version). Economic times make it hard to drop over $3,000 on a pinball just because its collectible.

Caddy Shack

I didn’t get to play this, a custom mod of No Good Gophers, always cool to see these one of a kind machines. Another item I didn’t research online, if you have any links to the construction thread of this pin, leave a comment and link me.

Games I liked

Games that I played at Expo that stuck out in my mind, really only two – Junk Yard and Black Knight 2000. I liked both, Black Knight grew on me, not at all what I expected. I found Junk Yard to be very challenging, a lot going on, seemed like a complex rule set.

I also got to play F-14 later at Bill’s, and I enjoyed that one too. Lots of common pins that I have not played, I’m truly a pin newb.

Your thoughts on Pinball Expo 2009

If you left, even if you left with swine flu, what were your impressions of Expo 2009? Maybe you can articulate why it was good or bad. I made arrangements to meet a some new collectors, only one really panned out. Got to meet Tim M., and I also met Kevin Steele of Gameroom Magazine. That coupled with seeing friends and trying some rare pins made the trip from Indy worthwhile, but next year is still up in the air.

You're reading Pinball Expo 2009 – Enjoyed seeing a couple of unique machines is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

Ready, Fire, AIM – Allied Leisure Cocktail

When dealing with Craigslist we all know that the focus is speed. If you are available, you can figure out the details later when it comes to a seemingly great deal.

My head was spinning about what this game could be. Here is the Craigslist ad;

OLD TABLE GAME NON WORKING , LIGHTS UP BUT I DO NOT KNOW SQUAT ABOUT IT. IT IS GOING OUT THE DOOR!!!

I thought, it would be at least a cocktail arcade game, hopefully a Midway Pac-man, maybe even as crazy as a Joust pinball. If the ‘I do not know squat about it’ line wasn’t a tip off, then the fact that the seller in Anderson, IN didn’t list his area code. I figured that would work to my advantage, as I looked it up, hoping that others would call the number and have little luck.

I’ve never been to Anderson, IN

Anderson, IN is about 50 minutes from my place, north of Indianapolis on 69. It’s a haul for sure, to just go and look at something, and not a place someone from Indy would have just ‘been’. If I was a Chicago collector, this probably would be considered a short trip.

As I spoke to the seller, I started to get an idea of the identity of the cocktail ‘arcade’ game. He said it was a card game (ok, conversion cocktail), with fake wood sides, didn’t know which game but his son left it after college. It also has the plunger like a pinball…

So, it’s a cocktail pinball machine. Still, very cool, I thought. But the key was that ‘it is going out the door’.

When I got there right after 9am, the game was sitting in the driveway, covered in a rubber tarp, then cloth, then plastic. Pretty thorough all in all, but we had some rain last night and as soon as I got the game uncovered I could tell this was going to be a wash.

Allied Leisure Hearts and Spades Cocktail Pinball

This is what I found under the tarp. An Allied Leisure Hearts and Spades cocktail pinball machine.

(Click photo to enter photo album)

I didn’t know much about it, but I thought that cocktail pinballs were pretty rare. In this case, I didn’t figure rare meant really valuable necessarily. But the playfield was adorned with this Art Noveau inspired illustration that I rather liked.

But the bottom of the cabinet was trash. It had soaked up a ton of water, and was severely buckled and falling apart.

I spent the good part of an hour up there, calling people, trying to figure out a lot of stuff, including how to get the thing into two pieces if necessary. In my haste, I only had my sedan, praying that this pinball would fit.

In the end, I left it. The water damage was too great, and when I called the seller back he told me “I’d rather throw it away, than give it away”. Yeeee haw! Darn tootin’. Damn green hippies. You know what they say about something you are looking to sell that is made of particle board – only the smart people set it in a puddle.

In the end, I left it. One heck of a ride to leave empty handed, but I wasn’t feeling like I needed another project game to mess with / part out with no real idea of how much it would bring. Plus, the fact that I never did find the hinge to swing open the top didn’t help.

Hearts and Spades still available to the Indianapolis crowd

As far as I know, the guy hasn’t sold the game. He wants $35 for it, but it sounds like he is going to throw it out very soon unless someone pays that. I hope someone will save it from the trash at least. I covered it back up, but if he left it outside, it’s now been outside in two nights of rain.

I believe his name is Ike, his phone is 765-635-5375, and they are at 210 Stoner road in Anderson IN. Good luck Indianapolis pinball / arcade collectors. Post back if you pick it up.

You're reading The ‘almost’ Craigslist $35 cocktail deal is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

A simple circuit was the problem

About two weeks ago I had noticed that the housing for my interlock switch was broken. It was like one of the tabs had busted and the original owner had tried to rip off the remains and took the back corner of the casing with it. Such a strange break with a corner chunk missing, and I removed all loose objects when I brought the Hyperball home. I cut the soldered wires, made some quick disconnects and taped the old one down while I wait the 10 days for the new switch to arrive.

In the meantime, I ran through some tests with Bill K. on the phone, checking out different voltages on the driver board and everything kept showing up fine. I was starting to go through the switch matrix tests on the Marvin3m website for testing System 7 Williams games, but I was getting stuck. Unplugging 2j2 and 2j3 was showing circuits 20-28 were open in test mode. This made sense since there were 8 pins, but my four right pins were giving me a reading of .11-.22, instead of just over 4 VDC (which Bill said is an ok reading).

Hyperball is tenatively in working condition

I played the heck out of it on Saturday after I got back from seeing District 9. Another Jeff and I worked through the settings, setting the game to freeplay and changing the other settings to an easier mode like was recommended on this Hyperball fan website. I did some cursory cleaning on the control panel and we figured out a simple problem with the balls getting stuck in hole 29. (Wiring mesh was blocking the holes, needed to be pushed back into the cabinet)

I am holding my breath, thinking the problem surely couldn’t have been that easy, the interlock switch from Meunier here in Indianapolis was only $4. Bill said the boards I gave him to test were some of the nicest he’s ever seen, very clean. In the least, at least I got an upgrade to Jess Askey’s V.6 Hyperball roms to rule out any issues with previous revisions.

But now I am having regular issue with the cannon not recoiling. It’s like the spring is getting stuck in the mashed position. I’ve tried taking it out and stretching it out, and I’ve scrubbed down the cannon shaft two-three times with a brillo pad, but I’m still having issue. Tonight will be a more in depth dis-assembly to see what I can figure out.

Would like to get the cannon fixed and purchase some bulbs in time for a party at my place on the 12th of Sept. If you are in the area and want to play some Hyperball, let me know.

Update – 9.4.09 After I took the cannon all apart and got at the solenoid I found quite a bit of built up dust / grime. I scrubbed the inside and out of the plastic shaft where the cannon feeds with mineral spirits, and I scrubbed down the cannon again with a magic eraser. I also cleaned off the outside of the solenoids and the cast metal framework, but I don’t think that made much difference.

As of right now, the cannon is no longer sticking, so a good strong cleaned seemed to have solved the problems. Bulbs ordered from PinballLife, can’t wait to be done with this baby.

You're reading Got the Hyperball working is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

William’s Plastics Molds

I haven’t seen any photos albums showing the warehouse full of parts and tools that Gene hauled back from Bally, so to see injection molds, theroforms, and molds, just a protean of parts and even historical items was particularly thrilling. Items counted in the thousands for sure, and this is what is left from some 3+ containers already shipped to a company named PSPA (Pinball Spare Parts Australia).

If you have visited the warehouse yourself you know that there are an overwhelming amount of plastics, ramps, toys, buttons, capacitors and boards to keep a collector busy for days. Originally earlier in the summer the idea was to have a sale on the remaining pinball parts inventory. I don’t know how they did in terms of net sales, but they sure didn’t price items at blowout prices. Pinball Inc. was acting as a rep for PSPA, and those guys must know that they can still sell those parts at a premium, even if it means later shipping them back stateside from from Australia.

The center piece(s) of all of this inventory are those original molds, which can still be used to reproduce brand new parts for some of the most popular Bally, Williams and Alvin G. machines. Here are just a small portion of the photos showing the molds and some of the parts that were up for sale in the warehouse. I’ve included a few photos from the album below.

If you want, help me ID everything and I can add labels to the photos in the album, leave a comment in this post.

NOS Bally / Williams arcade items

But as a result of the liquidation of all of this pinball ‘stuff’ related items came to light – including original arcade game artwork. In early May Troy Smith has been selling off some amazing finds, so it is logical that he could have gotten those items from the Illinois Pinball warehouse. Look at the following list of posts for artwork that Troy has put up for sale over the last couple of months (All artwork for IPs and licenses owned by Williams / Bally at closing);

• May 20th – NOS Artwork – Journey and Robotron bezels (WOW!!!), Galaga 88 Sideart, Joust Marquee, Warp Warp CPO, Cyberball CPO and EDOT monitor bezel.
• May 21st – X-Men, Street Fighter, Etc.
• May 23rd – Misc Bally Capcom artwork – Sideart, etc.
• May 26th – NOS Game seat – Game ID not known
• May 31st – Sheer volume of artwork / parts – $1000+ shipping bill
• June 9th – NOS Joystick grommets for Bally games
• June 11th – NOS Space Invaders Deluxe CPOs (6)
• June 11th – NOS Ms. Pac-man cocktail CPOs

One of the last great arcade and pinball parts lots

The Williams inventory that Gene purchased is probably one of the last, if not the last major parts cache left. Many of those items have sat there for ten plus years and who knows what all was kept by Gene and what went with Pinball Inc. There is a ton of documentation, BOMs for Bally vendors, a tremendous amount of schematics (including one for an unfinished Williams vector) and possibly some other amazing goodies that may come to light, and some things we may never see again.

As a result, there has been a ton of talk about Pinball Inc.’s purchase of the IPB warehouse pinball parts cache. Here are some of the better links;

IPB Sale to Pinball Inc.

• RGP – Illinois Pinball Sale Announcement
• RGP – The former IPB sale is awesome
• 2 Month pinball parts sale at Illinois Pinball – Gameroom Magazine
• World Cup Soccer, Star Trek, Demolition Man Plastics
• The Pinball Blog – Shift in power for pinball parts resale?
• The Pinball Blog – Pinball Inc. Containers Shipped to AU
• Container progress of pinball parts shipped to AU by Pinball Inc.
• RGP – Original 2 Month Pinball Parts Sale End Date
• RGP – New Pinball Parts Sale End Date – 1 Week early

Pinball Collectors flying to Bloomington, IL!

• Crazy research into flights out to Bloomington

Other relevant links concerning the Illinois Pinball Warehouse

• Williams Factory Tour Photos ’88
• Illinois Pinball Collection Tour – Photo Album 1
• Illinois Pinball Collection Tour – Photo Album 2

You're reading Illinois Pinball Warehouse – Pinball plastic molds & parts is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

The dreaded Williams pinball ‘Audit Mode’

The pinball newsgroup search has not been working for a number of weeks now, so researching troubleshooting tips has been tedious at best. However, there is always Marvin3m.com and Clay has written up some amazingly in depth information on that website, including a three page novel on troubleshooting Williams system 3 -7 pinball machines.

When we powered up the Hyperball I got a similar display code in player 1 as I had in May that I assumed was an error message – 3509 6, and 04 00 in the ‘ball-in-play’ display in the bottom middle of the head. However, after reading through Clay’s materials, I now see;

In audit mode (“04 00″ in the credit/ball-in-play display, where “04″ is audits, and “00″ is the first audit number), the numbers shown in the player1 score display are the value for the audit number shown in the ball-in-play display. For audit “00″, which is the software identification audit, the last number is the game’s current software revision number. The middle three numbers are the game number (i.e. 497 is Firepower). And the first number determines the “flipper ROMs” version installed.

So, in the case of the Hyperball, the 509 is the game number, and as best I understand it, the operating system revision would be ’3′ and the software revision number is 6. I believe that the software revision was upgraded during diagnostics, originally I had a different number spitting out when I got the same audit mode message. This would mean that Hyperball is running through a system of checks and it is getting stuck on the first one – the software identification audit. Correct?

What I don’t understand is that in this information Clay list three possible software revisions, or flipper rom versions?

• 0 = Yellow Flipper ROMs (system4)
• 1 = Yellow Flipper ROMs (system4)
• 2 = Yellow Flipper ROMs (system4)

Where is ’3′ on that list? Do I have some corrupted ROM data that 3 is the default indication? I wonder if I should do some searches for ‘audit mode 2905′ instead.

Other ‘tests’ I’ve tried

One of the first things I did when I was troubleshooting the Hyperball in May was to replace the batteries. So, the batteries are brand new and shouldn’t be causing an issue. I have read something weird about turning the game off and on really quick and that it can reset the CMOS I believe. But doing that didn’t change my audit mode message. I get the same message when the coin door is open or closed, it doesn’t matter.

We also noticed that inside the coin door the interlock switch casing was broke.

We didn’t have continuity on that circuit, the button wasn’t depressed and the spring for the button was sticking out of the housing. We held it manually in place, checked continuity and then the circuit was closed, so we taped up that interlock temporarily until I can purchase a new one online. (Haven’t started looking, any suggestions for best price for that one item with shipping? Marco Specialities?)

My next step for testing the Hyperball

I guess is to look more closely, as recommended, at the battery holder. Everything in the game looks very new, hardly any dirt, and at a far away glance the holder looks fine. But I guess I need to visually examine it closer to see if all of the contacts points are intact.

I’ll also have to check out diode D17 and see what I can find.

If I’m missing something else obvious and you are an experienced Hyperball owner or good at pinball repair, let me know.

You're reading Problems still with my Hyperball pinball is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

Wild Fyre could use a touch of love

I guess the story was that this guy dropped off the Wild Fyre to the current owner’s place saying he couldn’t get it completely working. I noticed one pin that had some scorch, but in theory this pinball could fire right up. I haven’t tried just yet, we took it easy and stayed in the air…it was roasting outside.

If you aren’t familiar with this pinball, like me, it’s a Roman Chariot / Fire themed pinball. There are parts of the illustrations that I like, and we even commented that the illustration style oozes of Stan Lee or Jack Kirby, but the color palette isn’t really refined – the yellow and the oranges mixed with greens and blues really don’t work for me.

The playfield is in really awesome condition, certainly the best part of the machine. There are just a couple of wear spots but you won’t find any major sections with ball swirls, only minor wear that you’d have to really search to find in the photos. Click the playfield detail shot below to see a whole gallery of the Wild Fyre.

I don’t plan to keep this, 1978 isn’t an era of pinballs that interest me. I actually thought about keeping the Galaxy or Flight 2000 pinballs I picked up, at least the playfields had some challenging shots. Those machines had seen a larger volume of use, but the backglass on this game is certainly the worst part, you’ll see in the photo album it’s seen better days. But if someone found a solid backglass this might make a decent machine, the body has the typical wear….or maybe another collector will be interested in the playfield alone.

Drop me a line if you think you can restore this pin to a playable condition and are interested to purchase for an affordable price.

You're reading Picked up a Stern Wild Fyre Pinball this weekend is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.