Author: metatron

If you like the old Stern pinball machines, you’ll love Lightning from 1981. Lock two balls, then hit 9 targets to release them for 3 ball multi-ball. It isn’t as easy as it sounds.

The locked balls stay locked until you release them and carry over to the next game. Even turning the machine on and off won’t release them.

This machine also has 6 drop targets, a horseshoe lane, ramps, a spinner, 4 flippers (two large and two small), and the awesome early voice synth – which sounds like a constipated robot. What’s NOT to love?

Picked up this 1977 Sonic “Butterfly” pinball machine on Vancouver Island. The playfields and backglass on Sonic machines are usually in pretty good shape. The downside are their terrible pressboard cabinets. Any water or moisture and the cabinets turn to the consistency of canned tuna fish. This particular machine had this problem with the lower section of the backbox. It sort of crumbled away. It has since been repaired with proper plywood.

While this machine looks pretty good, it will need a complete tune up.

This 1934 machine, The Mystery Six, was made by Rube Gross and Company from Seattle. This is a completely mechanical machine. No scoring mechanism, no power, no back box. It was 5 cents a play.

If you landed a ball in one of the six red holes (worth 500 points), then landed a ball into one of the two “Forward March” holes, there is a chance the ball rolls under the playfield and hits the lever for the ball in the red hole – which would bump it down to the hole worth 1000 points.

A simple design and rather charming.

Unfortunately, the plastic pegs on this game have become quite brittle so it can’t be played. It will be on display in the arcade.

“Jacks To Open” is a Mylstar (AKA: Gottlieb) remake of a 1977 Gottlieb pinball machine called “Jacks Open”. It’s basically the same machine with a face lift and solid state guts instead of electro mechanical. I guess the drop target arrangement is slightly different as well.

Funny thing, the previous machine I bought before this one was Big Guns – the pinball machine with the massive backbox. This is the opposite. The backbox on this pinball machine is very thin and tiny.

The cabinet paint on this machine is pretty crazy.

This machine used to be a Sinbad, now it is something else.

At one point there was a software company named Merlin. They had someone retheme this Sinbad into a “Merlin” – which was a Linux Tux penguin with a wizard hat. I’m guessing this was in the late 90’s because on the apron “Merlin” is chasing Windows NT.

I got this machine from a Realtor who sold the house of the man who once owned the software company. After the house sold the man gave the Realtor the pinball machine. It sat in the house until a couple days before the new owners took possession – at which time the Realtor just wanted the machine out of there. He contacted me.

The retheme is pretty terrible and it will not be worth it to convert it back to a Sinbad. It is missing the original backglass and I don’t think I can get the retheme paint off without wreaking what is below it. That said, the mechanics and boards are all very clean – perhaps one of the cleanest I’ve seen.

I’ve been looking for a machine to retheme and this is a perfect example. I’ve decided I’ll paint it in UV reactive paints and light it with black lights. The theme will be based on a spooky dark ride.