Category: In The Collection

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.

I was contacted by a couple that had two “old pinball machines” in storage. They thought one worked and one did not. Apparently about 25 years ago 10 pinball machines were found in a warehouse on Powell Street in Vancouver. This couple decided to take two of them home. They played them for about 10 years until they were retired to storage space in their house. That’s where they sat until I showed up – shoved in the back corner, covered in dust, surrounded by boxes and other unused items.

Backglass is in good shape, just a few minor areas where the paint has worn away. Depending on light placement you probably won’t notice it. The playfield looks good. It’s just dirty. All plastics are in great shape. One drop target is broken. Luckily you can buy new sets of these.

At this point I’m not sure what is wrong with it mechanically – if anything.

El Dorado, a classic Gottlieb wedgehead pinball machine from 1975.

I found this machine near 150 Mile House in BC Canada – over 5 hour drive north of where I lived at the time.

This machine is going to take a little work to get running, but it should be a pretty good player once it’s complete.

Our Ship-Mates is in fair condition considering it’s age. The backglass is in great shape expect it has a clean break along the top right corner. I should be able to repair it so the break is barely noticeable.

The cabinet on this machine is a strange one. It also has a lockdown bar which has the ball plunger attached to it.

I quite like Volcano. I put it up there with Black Hole and Haunted House – also made by Gottlieb in the same era. Volcano doesn’t have the lower playfields like the other two, but it plays about the same. It has 10 drop targets and a funky skee-ball ramp – which then carries the ball under a subway and fires it out through a flap in the playfield. It’s similar to how a pitch and bat fires a ball. Volcano also has a crazy number of active bumpers and slingshots. For an older wide body, the ball really flies around the playfield.

This is an interesting pinball machine from 1980 – James Bond 007. Instead of having the common 3 or 5 ball game, this one is based on time. You start with a particular amount of “time units” and earn more during game play. As long as you have time left, it doesn’t matter if your ball drains.

Apparently, when this machine came out, this rule change just confused people. The machine was not a big hit. In response, Gottlieb released new programming to change the game to 3 balls. I think this probably made matters worse because earning “time units” during game play means nothing – and that was half the point.

This game has the original “time unit” code in it and it actually isn’t that bad.

This machine is huge. A widebody from Gottlieb’s “Star Series 80” line.