Ty sir! By the way, I will provide updates on my other issues soon! Thanks!

I wanted to ask you: Does this capacitor or lithium battery ever need to be replaced? Does it require some type of maintenance? Is it OK if I just keep it for now? Thanks

I doesnt appear to be doing anything bad at the moment. I would leave it alone.
When it gets time to change it out I would get the nvram.

How would I be able to tell when it needs replacing? Thanks

When they eventually fail, the pin will reset to 'no free play', and give a probably give an error.

If you un-plug the game your hi-scores will reset.

Thanks!!

Question for the team here -

I am replacing my TAF bulbs with LEDs, and cleaning up the inserts and playfield. The majority of the bulbs work great - replaced 555s and #44s no problem, they look amazing. I just turned on the game again to check my progress, and I realized that ALL 906 bulbs have failed, simultaneously.

I understand that 906s must match polarity but would all of them fail at once if one was accidentally switched? ? These are the original 906s, as I forgot to order those in the set.

I want to get some of the easy possibilities out of the way before I got hunting for a bad connection or something (which I seriously doubt, as I was super careful not to pull on anything). Would the change in voltage somehow negatively affect the 906s? Must I replace them with LEDs also for some reason ?

thanks very much... playfield looks great except for the gigantic holes in The Power and the graveyard !!

Check the fuse. Also look up what coil is controlling the flashers (not a real coil) you will understand the circuit better.

Hey thanks - turns out they were working the whole time - they were not coming on during attract mode, nor the tests but they worked fine in the game. WTH. Spent an hour on that! Next problem is figuring out the shooter - I replaced the plunger and must have screwed something up; it's extremely weak now. I am loving figuring out all these problem though!

I could be your playfield is sitting too lown and the plunger is not comoletely centered. I'm fixing the same issue literally as we speak. Just got the parts I ordered.

Typo---meant to say Low not lown. Sorry I try typing too fast sometimes

Anybody here done a high end restoration to TAF? Who did it? Anybody you recommend? Who would be a great option that doesn't go too crazy with prices? Thanks!

I got a request to create a few stickers.
Both go under the playfield.
One is on the Thing assembly and the second goes on the Bookcase assembly.
They are both small with red text stickers.

I need to know the size of these two stickers.
I'm looking for a few good readable images.
The sticker on the Bookcase has a drawing which is hard for me to reproduce.
To get it nice I need a really good image or scan.
Can anyone help me to help others?

Please send me the images directly.
Pinside reduces the resolution too much.
inkochnito at gmail dot com

Peter
www.inkochnito.nl

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Hi, I'm very new here and looking around for my first pin. Do you think £4K for a very clean and shopped TAF sounds reasonable?
It is from a private seller. The ones I see from retailers seem to be going for £6.5K to £7.5K.

Thanks.
B.

Very cool: http://www.pingraffix.com/#!product-page/c1xid/573d2d22-ef70-4aeb-5a55-d6d6a5f3a987

Totally, just go for it while u can!

That's not a bad price if it's ready to go.
Call, drive, go now!

Very good deal if its shopped and clean and has a decent playfield go for it. You probably won't find one like that again at that price. Here in the states that would only get you a heavily routed machine with playfield damage that needs restoration.

Cheers all. Certainly doesn't look heavily routed, unless he's just done a top job on it..

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Beautiful... one question only: wtf are u waiting for?

It is a 4 hour drive away though!
This is what he has to say..

Playfield has been strip down, cleaned, waxed and rebuilt with the new rubbers and bulbs,

Every switch and solnoid have been checked. No faults,
All bulbs have been changed to super bright LED.

DMD is bright and clear,

Flippers have been rebuilt,
Lockbar and side rails have been polished
New premium balls
New glass
New slingshot plastics

Few extra mods:
Addams Family limo
Electric Chair Kickout light blue mod
Swamp kickout light blue mod
Blue light in tunel behind bookcase
Blue cabinet Light mod

Oh and I only have a Honda S2000 Roadster so would need to borrow a truck!
He may be able to ship. I reckon £85 quid should cover that, but then I don't get to see it in person.. decisions, decisions.. Ha.

Ok £150 for delivery and installation. Maybe he is a dealer, or a private dealer at least.

You could do that trip in a day. Take a buddy with and the time will go lots faster. If you don't know the seller, I'd really want to see the game in person.

Good thinking and good advice. I have a mate with a pickup. Might see if I can call in a favor.

That looks like a steal. To be safe I'd check it out first, as you can't see the entire playfield in any of these pictures, or if there are any hacks in the boards etc... what he's showing you looks in amazing shape, it even looks like it has new decals applied to the cabinet... but maybe there's other areas that aren't so great? Make the drive, check it out, and that's a REALLY reasonable price to have it delivered and set up from 4 hours away... I vote drive up in your Roadster and pay for delivery if it looks as great as the pictures make it seem.

There are more pictures of the PF but I didn't post them all and the rest look as good as the ones I did to be fair.
True, didn't think about the boards and the insides etc. But if he has put so much work on the rest you would hope the internals are in similar shape.
He didn't mention that it had new decals, but yes you are right, they look like new as does the whole cab to be fair.
Looks like I know what I might be doing this weekend then. ROAD TRIP!!

You really cant go wrong at that price. If it works well enough and everything works, youve got youself a steal.

grab it. this game is by far one of the best "keepers" of all pins.

ps. we'll all be waiting on lots of cool pix of you picking it up & getting it set up back at home

You guys realize the price he's paying is in British Pounds, right? £4K = roughly $5300. Granted that TAF in the pictures looks pretty nice, but seeing it in person will make all the difference in the world. The seller might be one of those scammers like we've got here in the states who use googled images in the ad and actually have a piece of junk.

I'm not saying to not go look at it and/or to not go buy it, I'm just saying to pump the brakes a bit and take it slow. Don't get in a mad rush and make a hasty decision. Educate yourself as much as possible on the problem areas TAF has, how much they cost to fix(parts and labor time), and what to look for when you go look at it. Then, look at what TAF's sell for in private transactions in and around the Manchester and Sheffield areas. Retailers here in the colonies mark up their used TAF's to as much as $10k or more, if they think they've got something really nice. But TAF's rarely go for that much in private sales, unless it's a TAFG in really good nick. A retailer on ebay lists machines for $9k all the time that would sell for literally half that in a private sale here on Pinside.

All that to say this: Arm yourself with information. It is your best friend and your best bargaining partner in negotiations when you go to look at it.

Still from the pics we have seen its a pretty nice game for $5300 IMHO....

If it is in as good a shape as it appears from the pics, that's a decent price. Looks clean, cabinet in good shape and only minor mansion insert wear.

True, but I'd rather have someone new to the hobby err on the side of caution rather than overspend on a crap game.

If that game in the pics is as nice in person as it looks in the pics, I don't think he has much to worry about. But he won't truly know until he goes to see it.

Plus, it was always my impression that the pin market across the pond was a good bit cheaper than in the states since there weren't as many collectors. Before I got my games, I remember reading of TAFs and TZs going for around a couple thousand pounds over there and trying to figure out how I was going to get one shipped over here since I'd still be spending less overall than what people wanted for them back here in the states. I guess their used pin values have caught up to ours, then?

All good stuff guys thanks. It is a bit daunting coming in new and looking at a 'classic' pin rather than new. My initial plan for my first pin was a NIB GB Premium and possibly add something like a TWD then to complement it later with maybe an older pin as I get a bit more experienced. But it seems I have caught the bug early and after seeing that TAF it looked too good to let go. I know there will probably be others in a similar or better condition down the line, but then again, maybe there wont. But then there are a few places locally that will recon and shop pins I guess.
You are probably right and I should err on the side of caution. The excitement of my first pin is making me get ahead of myself possibly so thanks for checking me.
I think pins over here are expensive from new. For example GB Prem is around £7500 from most distributers here which makes that about $10K. That's a couple of hundred Dollars more expensive than you guys I reckon?
Also, as pinball has historically not been as popular over this side of the pond, there are probably fewer and fewer older pins and pins in good condition coming up for sale. It is in my opinion only a recent fad of people creating games rooms or converting basements here to accommodate these machines (our houses are generally much smaller than yours).
I have never been to a house in the UK that has had a pin table in it. And I cant remember the last time I even saw one in a pub or bar. Probably a TAF in my old local in Sheffield back in the 90's. Ha.

Well, if what you say is true about the state of pinball over there, then rest easy in the knowledge that if that TAF is as good as it appears to be by the pictures, the amount you'll be buying it for is almost exactly what it'd sell for over here, if not less! Surely when you get there and see it, you'll be able to haggle him down a few quid from his asking price, too.

Good luck!

I went to the Gremlin studio in Sheffield for several days back in the mid-90's to take over a Sony PlayStation game & bring it back to the states. Cool town & folks there. Think we walked around the block to the Frog & Duck (????) pub?

Cheers Miguel. Thanks for the great info.
Labnip. Wow, Gremlin Graphics. That takes me back to growing up in Sheffield in my ZX Spectrum days in the 80's. Monty Mole and all that. Fantastic!
It started out as just a shop called Just Micro selling games, then evolved into Gremlin Graphics and then Gremlin Interactive I think it was.
Close, it was the Frog and Parrot just around the corner from the original JM shop on Division Street.
You have a very good memory!

that's it, the Frog and Parrot.
Yeah, the Gremlin Interactive office was pretty interesting. It was like a bunch of old houses (that shared walls) with doorways between them to get into each area. I had to walk up into the "attic" of one of them to visit with 1 guy working in the dark on an original Soccer title. He was doing some cutting edge physics at the time. Everyone there were all squeezed together with like no personal space

no brainer - pick that up for 5300. Looks good.

On a side note, anyone ever have thing not come out during quick MB, etc however he works perfectly fine in the tests? Mine today - he didn't come out for some reason when I spelled thing yet the switch registered when the ball landed there to initiate, music played but no thing. Go into tests and he goes up and down no prob......

Actua Soccer! Why they would call it Soccer for the UK market is still a mystery to me. It was, is and always will be Football.
Anyway, I digress sorry, back on topic now.

So you guys have no problems paying say $5.5K on an old used pin like TAF even though the price of a NIB pin like GB Pro for example is only a couple of hundred bucks more?
Our GB Pros start about £5700 so there is quite a chunk of daylight at nearly £2K between that and TAF to make going down the used route a little more appealing / affordable.
Obviously there are various factors to take into account. Theme, collectability, playability, affordability, nostalgia maybe, but at the end of the day it is still cold, hard cash.

And Addams family fulfills everyone of those factors and they aint making any.more.

$5500 for and old used pin, :doh:uh ya all day long , the quality is way better than the crap stern has been putting out lately

-You already know you love TAF, you have no idea if you'll love GB.

-GB's theme might be great, but you don't quite know if the gameplay will be there.

-TAF's theme is decent, but already you know you love the gameplay.

-GB will only go down in value as its "newness" wears off and Stern keeps churning out games. New Sterns have had a high turnover rate in the pinball community these last few years.

-TAF's will always hold their value, are always collectible, and highly sought after by newbies and veteran collectors alike because it's such a great game.

-TAF's are easy to work on and have been around so long, there's hardly anything that comes up that someone on here doesn't already know how to fix. Pinside has a vast wealth of knowledge on pin repair and a great bunch of guys who share that knowledge freely. I've benefitted from it numerous times.

…Shall I go on?

Bryno dude, if you'd check into a Mustang club and ask if you should buy a Mustang instead of a Corvette, what do you think it would be the general answer?

Shelby

I cancelled my GB premium preorder for a nice TAF with a swapped repro playfield. Still working through a couple issues with it. I REGRET NOTHING

Hey guys need a lil help here. Looks like this is a white wire with purple striping. It is under the PF near the swamp harness (visible in the picture). It is part of the wiring loom that is zip-tied together right behind my hand in the photo. It is NOT part of the molexes that hooks up the swamp switches to the harness of the game.

Appreciate any help you can give me or a reference photo of where the wire attaches to. Thanks!

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I think I figured it out. Does it go to the shooter lane rollover switch marked with the red square in this picture?

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