Back glass is average, but the red can probably be fixed good enough. If not, I've had a second glass for many years before I got this which is similar condition that I could send off to BGresto if I feel like having better and not be without a glass in the meantime. Pictures of some of the mud dauber nests when I got it. Before I loaded it into my car, the seller and I threw about 10 or more mud nests out onto the ground. The mud spot on the MPU is actually remnants from one of the biggest.
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your lock down bar is perfect and the rails for the glass look good in the photos , also nobody drilled a big hole in the front cabinet to place a credit button , that seems to be a common thing to do on 1980 pinball machines in the 1990's, if you buy a bgresto glass you do not need to send him your glass because there is no copy rights to old stern pinball machines cost was about 350 or less i forgot already and 12 weeks .

Is Steve charging different rates for different titles? I got a quote of $255 plus $55 shipping, total $310 for a different title just a bit ago. After tax time, I'm gonna bite the bullet

https://www.shapeways.com/product/WV6TYWTKB/80-s-stern-ss-pinball-coin-plate-chute?optionId=43403498&li=marketplace

theses white plastics seemed to be difficult to find through most stores. this place found a use for their 3d printer

no your right it was months ago when i bought it , i knew it was something between 300 and 350

The lift channel is rusted to the glass. How do I loosen that to replace or clean the channel?

if you buy a replacement BG you can salvage the original lift channel or replace with a new chrome one, i didn't need any grip tape steve has a real nice clear tape around all of the edges so the channel i bought from marco just pressed on its a little unnerving pressing hard on the glass but it fits

the stuck lift channel to glass is covered in pinside , they had suggested hanging it upside down for the glass to land on a mattress or something given time , by this method they didn't need to sweat breaking the glass

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/removing-the-metal-lift-frame-from-the-backglass#post-4764868

i 'll look around some for the blog on rusted channel i did see this one

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/gatecrashers-hardware-vids-review#post-1725958

https://www.marcospecialties.com/control/keywordsearch?SEARCH_STRING=lift+channel

$8.00 for a new lift channel

nope i was wrong
marco
Product Name SKU Qty Price Subtotal
Backglass trim 1/8 inch side plastic set (3) M-1889-1-2 1 $9.95 $9.95
Lift trim metal 1/8 x 28.5 inch P-6242-107 1 $27.99 $27.99

38.00 all together

I just got it by spraying Rain-X auto glass cleaner on the non-painted front and wedging an old skewer in bit by bit. It is rusted to the point where I can see through parts of it, so I'll replace it.

also that link#859 has the pinsider named gatecrasher who was selling these lifts and i suspect marco may have been selling from him

you need a 28.5 inch long lift channel, measure it to be sure

http://www.planetarypinball.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PPS-01-4162-7

planetary pinball has it for about 20.00

marco must of ran out of chrome channel lifts 28.5 inch long

The two posts at the "G" and "A" standup targets need rubber rings installed.

Nice play field.

Steve seems to think that Big Game came from the factory with a 3/16" thick back glass and that is what he sent me. I have yet to talk to anybody who has an original 3/16" back glass. Everybody has 1/8" thick back glass. If anyone would like a 3/16" thick back glass, you can buy mine and I will buy a 2nd back glass from Steve and make sure he sends me a 1/8" thick back glass. It is a beautiful back glass except for the thickness issue.

Do you have any idea how much a 3/16" back glass weighs?

50% more than a 1/8" glass?

You noticed that too 'eh cotton? That's a short shot too. A fella could do some damage to those posts exposed as they are without the rubber.

Also, nice pick-up Agent_Hero
and very nice example Dragon.

The only problem with the Marco trim is that is black instead of white. If you want white you can buy some white trim strips used to build showers at Home Depot and have white.

I found my post about using white shower trim.

Post #662

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/big-game-club-the-safari-has-started/page/14#post-4589371

You would be surprised at how much the 3/16" weighs compared to the 1/8". Yes, I understand the math but that MF is heavy.

It won't matter to you if you are getting new glass and channel.

But to answer your question, the channel is stuck to the glass with two small pieces of black cloth double back tape that wraps around both sides. You can take a razor knife and cut thru the tape on the front side of the glass to release its holding power. Once you have figured out how the front side works you can carefully cut the tape on the backside. Then you can take and awl of small screwdriver and carefully pry between the glass and the lift rail at the ends of the rail.

Yes you are correct sir, how did that happen? when i did the extra lighting i shifted some posts around , whoever stripped the feild before me had some taller and shorter posts out of place , i fixed that but i probably moved the rubbered one elsewhere

yes not placing a rubber on your post can result in unpredictable outcomes

i think i recall you preferring the white ones in a blog a while back now that you say this . white allows for an original look , and original looks allows the machine to be what someone is looking for when they are looking for the brand and expecting its condition to be original , and a machine that looks original is great to see

Yes Sir I need a set both mine are missing

On the test fixture running big game I noticed that in attract mode when the game advertises the seven digit displays continuous solenoid Q18 turns on. That makes me think they at least had the idea to use that solenoid circuit to advertise the fact this game has 7 digit displays.

Anyone ever see a big game with a topper or anything else to advertise 7 digit displays? Might have been an idea that just never got used or I guess even a software bug that is unnoticed since Q18 is not used.

No.

But the 7 digit display was a master stroke in marketing. The 7th digit, i.e. the units digit never leaves zero. You can score 500 points. But you can never score 501 points or 509 points. You can score 510 points.

So, Stern added a 7th digit, but left it non-functional and still got to claim bragging rights for Seven Digits.

I can't think of a solid state game that you can score less than 10pts in so I guess everything before that was 5 digit and they where the first 6 digit SS. =D

It was new plasma display hardware and they did computer controlled all seven digits. You can have an audit show in the single digits for things like number of games played even if you cant score below 10pts.

do you think that q18 could have activated a separate audio sequence? the ipd says this about big game
"It was also the first electronic game to use 7-digit score displays. To advertise this, all four score displays simultaneously animate the numbers "1234567" during Game Over mode, followed by flashing "7777777" for three seconds, repeating it again after displaying high scores. There are no added sounds during this animation."
why do they bother to mention what it doesn't do? maybe other machine did do this?

Not sure about sound. I guess if they had something completely external from the normal SB300 sound board Q18 could be used to enable it.

Q18 turns on during the time when the game flashes 7 777 777 in attract mode which lasts maybe 1 second. Since Q18 stays on for longer than a quick pulse I was thinking flash lamp, but hard to say.

Q18 is close to the transistor for general illumination relay circuit perhaps a playfeild lighting effect was drawn up in the early work with the 7 segment flashing attract but never made it into production

Poor photos, but I joined the club tonight!

This game looks like it’s going to clean up really nice! Lots of connectors need attention and need to order a BGresto backglass. Game boots and starts a game but no solenoids and the displays are throwing up random numbers.

Super happy with the game and can’t wait to get it flipping.

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Very nice. Looks pretty clean overall. Appears to have both original spinners, very little insert wear on the cards and it looks like the teardrop plastic is there although might be broken?
Really hard to find one so nice. Congrats!

I agree.

Thrillhouse is making play filed protectors for Big Game. You should consider placing one on this nice play field. Play the hell out of it and keep in nice.

https://beehivepinball.bigcartel.com/product/playshield-playfield-protector

Oh yeah, unless you specify otherwise, BG Resto will send you a back glass that measures 3/16" thick instead of the 1/8" glass currently in your game.

Ok, thank you for the heads up in the glass thickness. I assume that means his default thickness is a little too tight for trim and the slot in the head?

You can buy and will have to use a 3/16" lift rail and 3/16" side trim. But it will fit into the head without issue.

I just don't know where he came up with the idea that Big Game has a 3/16" thick backglass. My Hot Hand and Meteor back glasses are 1/8" thick.

My original BG back glass is 1/8" thick, as are Seawitch, Nine Ball, Catacomb, F2K, and Dragonfist. No one here responded that they had a 3/16" back glass.

Mine is nice. There is nothing wrong with it. But I would prefer a 1/8" thick glass.

Proper play field glass is 3/16" thick, though.

the 1/8 is a snug fit with no wiggle room in the back cabinet for the big game i'm working on , i'm dumbfounded you have a 3/16 glass in yours and it fits and doesn't get jammed , i'd be shaving out the wood in my glass channel if that was sent to me and i wouldn't know any better .

Stern, or the cab builder, was so imprecise when building these pins. I got the glass in and still have room left over. What you say does not surprise me. Yours could be fixed with a little bit of work. It would not be difficult to do but you would need to do some paint touchup afterwards.

I installed this protector over the weekend. There are debate threads about them on here and I got it based on the one consensus in those threads being that they're a good idea for early solid state games with imperfect inserts. The debate threads also mentioned that rollover inserts could be problematic with these protectors, but mine seems fine without any adjustment. The order included drop target shims to raise them a bit, but those also seem fine without adjustment. I only had to trim a small piece from the corner of one of the drop target areas for it to fit properly. The only negative so far is that it feels like it's a dust magnet in that if I'm working on the game for a few hours, raising and lowering the playfield, I feel like I see a spot here and a spot there where I have to take a soft cloth and wipe a few areas before putting the glass back on it.

Overall, it's worth the $90 to not feel like every game is slowly wearing away original artwork.

I kept pictures of my game from when I first bought it and periodically compare the wear on the playfield to how it is today. Thousands and thousands of plays later, no more wear. I think regular waxing and checking the ball condition does just as good as anything else.

I think Thrillhouse makes is of .020" sheet. I made my own 3 years ago using .030" sheet. I had to remove my inserts and reset them .030" higher to match the "new" height. I had some cupped inserts. The pin played quite well with the protector on. But I restored and cleared the play field and like it better this way.

If you are happy with the way it plays you are good to go. But if you want level all you need to do is put some heat on your inserts, drive them out, and tap them back with a wood block to match the level of your protector. I never glued my inserts back in. I just tapped them with the wood block in and they stayed put.

I agree. My Dragonfist inserts have not cupped and I just keep it waxed. It still looks good.

My Catacomb and Nine Ball have many cupped inserts and they both got a protector.

I think this is the best use of these protectors. Instantly makes games with cupped inserts play much better.

Thought I would rebuild the Drop banks & touch up the Targets and hand polish the metal while the Cabinet is being rebuilt

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Nice job! I put Mylar over mine after doing that. They still look new years and thousands of plays later.

Yes I put Mylar on as well , I am hoping they don’t get caught if the Mylar starts peeling off

I am also looking for a pair of the metal brackets that go behind the top flippers , I thought I read that someone was going to make these ?

You won’t have this issue.

You’re on your own here.

Thanks for reminding me that I need to contact Kerry at Mantis about making these as well as some other pin parts. He should be back at work now after a 2 week shutdown.

Joined the club picked up Big Game and a Cheetah

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You lucky dog! I hope to have a cheetah one day too but right now it doesn’t seem possible. I’ll have to wait until no one cares about these games anymore I guess. Haha

Congrats! Sweet pick-up.
Let me guess,
an unadvertised special?

do you have that cheetah setup yet? show us some pics !