Pinball Machines

Vic Flange

Vic Flange

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Anybody else own/owned any pinball machines?
I have owned about 30 or so down the years. Currently down to 3. Great fun but can be high maintenance and they are bloody heavy!
This was from about 3 years ago.

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vonbeck said:
Always wanted one or two , never had the room
Nice collection 😃
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They are certainly an eye catching centre piece in a room. The older ones look lovely just stood there, lit up. I’ve owned the full range down the years from the old, score reel type electro mechanical (no electronics, just relays) to new lcd monitor equipped ones.
The old ones are better on the eye but rely on a LOT of maintenance to keep playing well.

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Vic Flange said:
Anybody else own/owned any pinball machines?
I have owned about 30 or so down the years. Currently down to 3. Great fun but can be high maintenance and they are bloody heavy!
This was from about 3 years ago.

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My friend that lives a few doors away has a few, and has great knowledge about them. He has parts and has repaired and restored many.
 
I wasted plenty of money on the StarTrek and Adams Family ones; never did particularly well. I always liked the idea of owning one, but they seemed very expensive and I was worried I would get bored of the same table quickly. Did they keep their interest over time?

Congratulations on a lovely collection
 
Chopper250 said:
I wasted plenty of money on the StarTrek and Adams Family ones; never did particularly well. I always liked the idea of owning one, but they seemed very expensive and I was worried I would get bored of the same table quickly. Did they keep their interest over time?

Congratulations on a lovely collection
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The newer ones keep the interest longer as they have really deep rulesets.
They are ludicrously expensive now. The first one I bought in 1997 I paid £120 for. The last one I sold went for £4.5k.
 
At my peak I had 7 .. (Mainly 1980's Williams/Ballys machines) Star Trek, Indiana Jones, Twilight Zone, Whitewater, Shadow, Creature from the Black Lagoon and a modern day Stern Pirates of the Caribbean


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Now down to Twilight Zone, Indiana Jones, Star Trek and Pirates of the Caribbean

All are custom builds now, amazingly the IJ is a "beta" version with the "lost plastic" installed. Also has the light boards installed behind Indy on the bridge and also behind the Ark, Stone and Grail which flash along with the jackpot lights on the playfield

Pirates has a bunch of extra visual mods added to it, Twilight zone mods to the candy machine etc

They are a full time job to keep running, luckily my degree was in Electronic Engineering so I can fix pretty much most issues. We started converting the old ones to full LED builds as the lower power draw helps protect all the old electronics
 
Was flicking thru some old photos and forgot that when I got my TZ, the previous owner had limited storage room so simply cut though the two looms from main box to back box :eek:

Took months to rebuild, test and get working again
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gdavison said:
At my peak I had 7 .. (Mainly 1980's Williams/Ballys machines) Star Trek, Indiana Jones, Twilight Zone, Whitewater, Shadow, Creature from the Black Lagoon and a modern day Stern Pirates of the Caribbean


View attachment 822977View attachment 822978View attachment 822979View attachment 822980

Now down to Twilight Zone, Indiana Jones, Star Trek and Pirates of the Caribbean

All are custom builds now, amazingly the IJ is a "beta" version with the "lost plastic" installed. Also has the light boards installed behind Indy on the bridge and also behind the Ark, Stone and Grail which flash along with the jackpot lights on the playfield

Pirates has a bunch of extra visual mods added to it, Twilight zone mods to the candy machine etc

They are a full time job to keep running, luckily my degree was in Electronic Engineering so I can fix pretty much most issues. We started converting the old ones to full LED builds as the lower power draw helps protect all the old electronics
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Excellent collection. Mostly WPC so I bet you got through a few TIP 102’s :ROFLMAO:
The Stern SAM board-set is as bulletproof as you can get for a pinball machine.
Owned all of those in the past with the exception of CFTBL.
My IJ was also an early production model with the full Path Of Adventure lighting.
My Twilight Zone was a very early model with white clock face and different coloured Lock inserts.
 
gdavison said:
Was flicking thru some old photos and forgot that when I got my TZ, the previous owner had limited storage room so simply cut though the two looms from main box to back box :eek:

Took months to rebuild, test and get working again
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Ouch!
My TZ had broken down not long after it was bought and just put into storage. When I bought it for £700 it was almost mint condition. I had to replace the MPU board as the leaking batteries had eating every track below the battery holder but they were readily available 25 years ago.
 
@Vic Flange my TZ is white clock too 👍 Now has White LEDs in it to keep it cool

Yours is the first early IJ have heard of in UK, Both my IJ and TZ came from the same collector in Germany which was amazing he had two early build versions

I loved CFTBL, however our hologram was not the best and had bled the picture so was not as clear as it used to be

Thanks for starting this thread .. nice to see pics of other folks collections
 
gdavison said:
@Vic Flange my TZ is white clock too 👍 Now has White LEDs in it to keep it cool

Yours is the first early IJ have heard of in UK, Both my IJ and TZ came from the same collector in Germany which was amazing he had two early build versions

I loved CFTBL, however our hologram was not the best and had bled the picture so was not as clear as it used to be

Thanks for starting this thread .. nice to see pics of other folks collections
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My weirdest pinball related story was that I once won a Whitewater in a raffle (£15 ticket I believe). The thing was, I already had a Whitewater. :ROFLMAO:
Phil Palmer at Pinball Heaven bought it off me and allowed me to swap out any bits that I wanted as he was going to use it as base for a mint condition rebuild. My WW ended up really nice afterwards.
 
Never owned one myself but grew up with a mate who did. The hours we wasted on it... The first house I bought was just down the road from a dodgy little place in West Norwood that dealt with all kinds of slot/ pinball machines and I seriously wanted to get one then but SWMBO kiboshed that idea ☹️
 
Vic Flange said:
If he is on the UK pinball forum I probably know of him. ;)
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Not sure, as pinball is not really my thing; but I'll let him know about this topic here and ask him.
I have gone along and helped collect and deliver a couple of machines he has repaired or upgraded. Yes, they are heavy.
 
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I was collecting too at one point and this remnds me in storage I have 7 left, CFTBL, Fun House, Adam (gold Chip) whitewater. TZ, Star Trek and an old juke box. Oh an a whirlwind in long term loan to a mate.
 
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