Frontier
Bally, 1980Pictures of my restoration I just finished. Thought you guys might enjoy.... NOS playfield; NOS backglass and completely rebuilt everything on the bottom; with new sockets, flipper, pops, slings, etc. Repainted cabinet...My 1980 Bally line up now includes these fully restored examples. Nitro, Skateball, Viking, Rolling Stones. My early production Mystic though nice needs some TLC.
I still remember playing it new back in the day. Hardly see any of them around in my area. Always loved the sound effects!
Awesome game. Enjoy the hell out of it.
Chirp chirp.....chirp chirp.....chirp chirp.....chirp chirp.....
Looks great. Hope that NOS field doesn't suffer the same fate of NOS fields i've encountered in the past. The lacquer on some of these NOS ones, tends to checker and crack off. It will do this under the clear as well, and let go, leaving a hazy air bubble under the clear. Hope yours does not suffer the same fate as many other NOS's.
Quoted from CaptainNeo:Looks great. Hope that NOS field doesn't suffer the same fate of NOS fields i've encountered in the past. The lacquer on some of these NOS ones, tends to checker and crack off. It will do this under the clear as well, and let go, leaving a hazy air bubble under the clear. Hope yours does not suffer the same fate as many other NOS's.
Took a lot of touch up and repair on the NOS field itself. The "pre treatment" was pretty extensive so hopefully that does not happen. The original playfield though NOS was abused in storage. Thanks for the heads up.
Quoted from CaptainNeo:Looks great. Hope that NOS field doesn't suffer the same fate of NOS fields i've encountered in the past. The lacquer on some of these NOS ones, tends to checker and crack off. It will do this under the clear as well, and let go, leaving a hazy air bubble under the clear. Hope yours does not suffer the same fate as many other NOS's.
Was the PF not cleared further before being installed?
Quoted from erichill:Are those 6-digit displays original?
No , Have installed 7 digit display's. Those or what a buddy inserted before we figured it out.
I can hear the crickets already. 
Fun game that's pretty rare, less than 2000 made I think. You know I want you to restore that Mystic next though! 
Beautiful, beautiful game Bill, can't wait to play it! It will probably be in the tourney at TPF next year so I'll have to wait a couple of years. 
Every time my family and I talk pinball and all the different titles that have come through our gameroom, they all say the same thing, "you never should have sold Frontier"
We loved it.
Quoted from embryonjohn:Every time my family and I talk pinball and all the different titles that have come through our gameroom, they all say the same thing, "you never should have sold Frontier"
We loved it.
Yea, There are some titles that should never leave. Have not played Fontier enough to know; but I can say playing Brian Bannon's mint example at the expo was enough for me to do a full restore. Plus I have to have it in the 1980's line up. I was actually concerned on the artwork but the wolves are awesome. Really cool. And they dominate with their look and teeth. Just never saw that in the pictures.
Quoted from dothedoo:Beautiful, beautiful game Bill, can't wait to play it! It will probably be in the tourney at TPF next year so I'll have to wait a couple of years.
Well with that behavior I will put it on 1 credit for 1 susan anthony when you are at my house. 
Looks great Bill! Nice work.
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Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.Team-EM.com
http://webpages.charter.net/chibler/Pinball/index.htm
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info
Very, very nice - at least in Europe this machine is rarely found.
Does anyone know, if there is a plastic set or at least slings and the center plastic somehow available. The usual suspects do not have anything.
Stellar work Bill!
I have owned a couple of these with NOS playfields installed. The wolves remind me of my Husky. =)
Loved this game back when it was brand new in my favorite 1980's arcade.
Quoted from embryonjohn:That center target plastic is made out of pure unobtainium.
Yes - you are right 
But look what I have found...
http://www.planetarypinball.com/product/frontier-plastic-set/
So there is a chance for "original" repros, if planetary pinball receives enough "pre-orders"
Sorry for being off-topic...
Quoted from yancy:Anyone else see a bit of Jeremiah Johnson in the backglass?
More like Grizzly Adams...
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.Team-EM.com
http://webpages.charter.net/chibler/Pinball/index.htm
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info
Looks great Bill. I had an NOS Frontier playfield I bought many years ago from Todd Tuckey. I sold it several years later for what I had in it. Had a few scratches but was very nice. Oh the days of being able to buy nos playfields for 100-250 dollars on a regular basis. Didn't know how good we had it.
Quoted from Atomicboy:Was the PF not cleared further before being installed?
I believe it is cleared hence why I gave him a heads up. You won't know you have the problem, until something drops on the field. Like an air ball or dropping a metal tool. That's when it pops the hazy spot under the clear.
Guys, Thanks for all the great comments. I do find the Bally inlanes quite interesting between the games. You take Rolling Stones with swoop inlanes like Classic stern that plays over the top and flowing. Then Fontier with a lower inlane that looks like it will hop onto the flipper but it doesn't. Then has a pin to stop the ball on the mid of the inlane. Then Ground Shaker ; Mystic. Different. Why ? and not only different but significantly different to the point of why ?
So, This is where I come to my conclusions on Classic Stern. They realized quick, fast , swooping inlanes were great and had awesome ball flow and then. Business decision. All designs have the same inlanes. Ok now we have standard layout and standard design down below. Saves production and saves cost reducing variation. Parts, layout, design, and production. Stern just got it.
What was Bally thinking on the inlanes on Frontier ?
I still love all of my classics but sometimes they make you go "What was the engineers and designers at Bally thinking "..."uhmm.:"....
Quoted from rstrunks:Looks great Bill. I had an NOS Frontier playfield I bought many years ago from Todd Tuckey. I sold it several years later for what I had in it. Had a few scratches but was very nice. Oh the days of being able to buy nos playfields for 100-250 dollars on a regular basis. Didn't know how good we had it.
Yea, You had some nice stuff. I appreciate the Seawitch NOS stuff. Especially the backglass. Still the nicest set of NOS stuff I bought to date and we had a great drive up to your place. I stock piled NOS playfields for the longest time. Now my time is over and my plan is just to finish the stuff I have and keep my collection about 50 pieces of all NOS fields, back glasses and my restored games. I still have a huge stack of NOS backglasses but my NOS fields are very few since I have installed most.
There will be a day I look back and realize those times have past. It is getting close.
Quoted from Classic_Stern:So, This is where I come to my conclusions on Classic Stern. They realized quick, fast , swooping inlanes were great and had awesome ball flow and then. Business decision. All designs have the same inlanes. Ok now we have standard layout and standard design down below. Saves production and saves cost reducing variation. Parts, layout, design, and production. Stern just got it.
I love the classic Stern swooping inlanes....fast and dangerous. How many times has a ball flown down the inlane past the flipper and into the drain? How many times have you tried to trap the ball only to have it roll up the inlane, spin over the bumper and drain? I love them so much I made a set for Xenon.
With the Bally inlanes the ball would come to a complete stop, making the spinner or tube shot wayyyy too easy. I love the way it plays now with these inlanes.
I think Bally was just trying to change things up over the years. I get it. Keep things interesting. I just wish they hadn't settled for the style used in Fathom, Pac-man, Speakeasy, etc. But I don't understand the big gap on those Frontier inlanes either.
Quoted from Classic_Stern:Yea, You had some nice stuff. I appreciate the Seawitch NOS stuff. Especially the backglass. Still the nicest set of NOS stuff I bought to date and we had a great drive up to your place. I stock piled NOS playfields for the longest time. Now my time is over and my plan is just to finish the stuff I have and keep my collection about 50 pieces of all NOS fields, back glasses and my restored games. I still have a huge stack of NOS backglasses but my NOS fields are very few since I have installed most.
There will be a day I look back and realize those times have past. It is getting close.
Bill
Yeah the hobby was different back then. Would love to see your games someday. I have moved from the house where you picked up all the Seawitch stuff from. I have 22 pinballs and 9 video games. Fortunately I have a place for all of them to be set up and playing. Sometimes im in the game room often and sometimes i go 2 or 3 weeks without setting foot in it. You know how life intervenes lol. If you're ever this way let me know and we can try ti get together and I'll do the same if I'm down your way. Lots of great memories of all of the NOS stuff I have come across over the years.
Quoted from dothedoo:I love the classic Stern swooping inlanes....fast and dangerous. How many times has a ball flown down the inlane past the flipper and into the drain? How many times have you tried to trap the ball only to have it roll up the inlane, spin over the bumper and drain? I love them so much I made a set for Xenon.
IMG_0778.jpg
With the Bally inlanes the ball would come to a complete stop, making the spinner or tube shot wayyyy too easy. I love the way it plays now with these inlanes.
I think Bally was just trying to change things up over the years. I get it. Keep things interesting. I just wish they hadn't settled for the style used in Fathom, Pac-man, Speakeasy, etc. But I don't understand the big gap on those Frontier inlanes either.
That Xenon apron is awesome!
Quoted from rstrunks:Bill
Yeah the hobby was different back then. Would love to see your games someday. I have moved from the house where you picked up all the Seawitch stuff from. I have 22 pinballs and 9 video games. Fortunately I have a place for all of them to be set up and playing. Sometimes im in the game room often and sometimes i go 2 or 3 weeks without setting foot in it. You know how life intervenes lol. If you're ever this way let me know and we can try ti get together and I'll do the same if I'm down your way. Lots of great memories of all of the NOS stuff I have come across over the years.
Yea, So glad we got in early. I am pretty settled in on my collection and just adding a few titles here or there. I think I am probably 35 in or so. Pretty reasonable. Plus all of the one's I love I have restored and are nice. I enjoy the new Stern's so that is a plus. All the WPC have been gone for many years now. A few here or there but pretty much classics and new Stern's. Not a bad gig. Can't wait to see your gameroom.
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