Category: In The Arcade

A fun drop target based game. It looks simple, but it isn’t.

After arriving in the arcade, our Comet had a bit of an issue and the boards need to be repaired. Hopefully it won’t be out long.

‘Jack-Bot’ is third in a series by Williams with the pin-bot theme. The playfield is similar to Pin-Bot but the rules are different.

A classic. I love the music in this machine.

Ours was in pretty rough shape and the cabinet has been custom painted. This one also just got a new Xpin bi-colour display.

A great little machine from 1964 with a boxer theme.

You have to use the ball lifter to play each ball.

“Rock, rock, rockin’ Rollergames.” – Yup, that will get stuck in your head.

This game is themed after a very short lived roller derby TV show.

Super fun game. A great multi-player machine.

GIANT BACKBOX!

There really isn’t much more to say about Williams Big Guns except GIANT BACKBOX!

I’ve been trying to locate one of the Williams Magna-save machines (Black Knight, Solar Fire, Grand Lizard, Pharaoh). In my quest to collect unique pinball features, Magna-save has eluded me. A Grand Lizard showed up for sale and I contacted the guy. Someone managed to buy it before me, but he also had an Interflip Dragon and a Williams Big Guns for sale.

I ended up buying the Big Guns since it also has an unusual pinball feature – a GIANT BACKBOX!

Big Guns is a really dark machine. The entire back section is covered with several layers of plastic ramps and decals with only about 7 lights under all of it. It isn’t nearly bright enough to make the plastics glow or even light the upper playfield. I placed a bunch of LED strips under these plastics to brighten it up.

The rules aren’t deep, getting multi-ball isn’t too difficult, but it’s a really satisfying machine to bash the ball around. The music is cheesy and gets stuck in your head. The cannon firing the balls across the playfield is just cool. What’s not to love?

“SAVE THE QUEEN!”

You won’t have a hard time finding this in the arcade given it’s GIANT BACKBOX!

Over 10,000 of these machines were made. Strange it’s so hard to find one in good shape. The inks used on the backglasses do not age well and it is unusual to find one without flaking or cracking. Same with the playfields. Worn down paint and bare wood is common.

There is not a lot of wear on our playfield. A little around the inserts in the center. I plan on touching it up and giving it a clear coat to help preserve it. Until then, it will be in the arcade.

This machine is from Spain. I love the modern contemporary art on this one.

A fun, old, electro-mechanical to knock a ball around on. It’s surprisingly fast.

We found a Sega Starship Troopers pinball machine in good shape. It had been completely converted to LED already. When it does it’s light show, it’s quite the thing.

Clear the planets of bugs, mash the brain bug that pops up from the playfield, then nuke the planet.

“KILL EM ALL!”