guy needs pricing help

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/black-hole-boards

BH on the market for $2800. What am I missing that makes this pin worth so much more than what I would consider to be market value?

For that it should be MINT

Where did Gottlieb put the serial number on these? I have no reason to believe its an early build machine or proto but wanted to look at the serial. Im sure the smoke plexi was probably a replacement but if someone made this they did a good job.

BH brethren, I just acquired a non-working BH. I'm in the club.

I am going through things very carefully before I plug it in and have 2 questionable areas on the bottom PF I need to ask about.

1) there is a resistor that looks like an after-market addition near the fuses. Can I anyone say what this is for and if it's needed? Does your game have it?
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2) there is another resistor added right next to the 2 transistors. Again this looks like a hack. Anyone? Arethese the recommended "pull up resistors" or something else?
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Just throwing something out there...

I've come across a NOS populated BH playfield. Truly unique, I've never seen one. Ever. Still sitting in the original box.

I also have an unpopulated NOS lower PF.

If you're interested in this please contact me directly.

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I don't think I have those resisitors, however I do have a resistor above the two (disc transistors?) like in your 2nd picture.

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This is awesome! I'm sure someone will need this to bring theirs back to life. Keep us posted on what happens with them! GLWS.

They look like pull up resistors to me but not everyone installs them the same way.

Steve

Can we get that sent to CPR to have them remake these?! I'd be interested in a scan near the pops, I fear this is worth kind of a lot of money..... :/

You have a gold mine find there!

Pretty sure that might not work out. The populated playfield would be expensive to ship,and I think they would need to strip it bare to scan it.

Heck I'd chip in for shipping cost to help get these made.

The biggest issue on my BH is just the wear at the top pf pops. Be great to have a scan of that for a decal. I can't buy the pf at the moment :/ stupid important things first

Kevin has already informed me that we already have Hi-Res Scans of the Black Hole Playfield(s), as well as the Haunted House Playfields and Spirit Playfield.....We have tossed the idea around of doing these but nothing have ever materialized....yet.

I'll have a chat with Kevin about these Playfields as well as the Backglasses and see if it's something we can do without going broke on the projects....Note that we have already done the Haunted House Backglass in 2005.....

Stu
CPR Art Director

i love how the window on the prototype is shaped -- like you're looking into a cave or something! thanks for posting!

CPR has done gottlieb backglasses

I think a replacement BH playfield would be well-received. There seems to be a fair number of these machines around and a lot of them have been really messed up by the non-adhesive mylar bumper platters, mine included. I'd be all over a set of new playfields for mine.

oh mannn i would probably be in for Black Hole CPR playfield. my game is pretty pristine except for the worn / slightly planking playfield. those pops really tore these things up! it is a game that had a huge production run, and almost all of the examples i've seen have significant damage around the pops (apparently because of those non adhesive platters mentioned above).

i bet there'd be a market for the painted backglass, too.

i assume the limiting factor is that even excellent examples of this game don't really fetch the big bucks of a DMD-era restoration, thus limiting demand...

You're safe! cpr has the goodies. Good luck with the sale! this is an awesome piece.

Ok, just got off the phone with Kevin ( on another matter ) but I did bring up the BH & HH projects. Since the last time that Kevin & I spoke about these projects there has been new information that has come to light. Steve Young has the Original Films for the BH & HH Playfields and Plastics ( he has already run the BH Plastics a few times ), but Kevin said that we ) CPR ) are basically in negotiations for Both Playfields for BH * HH and maybe the BH Backglass ( I don't remember, we talked about 300 different things )....
That's all I have as an update.....

hooray!

I would possibly be interested in a BH playfield as well.

FWIW, as long as I have my black hole. I'm interested in CPR playfields. Currently I'm looking into forking out likely much more on an HSA restoration..

http://www.hsapinball.com/HSA_PINBALL/hsa100.html
http://www.hsapinball.com/HSA_PINBALL/hsa126.html

I would likely spring for a set of BH playfields as well.
Does anyone know where to find the serial number on a gottlieb?

Check for an ink stamp on top of the backbox. I've also heard of them on the support brace under the playfield, however my numbers don't match. Not sure if I have a Frankenstein or the number means something else.

Serial number is 10025. Did they by chance start numbers at 10000?
I couldnt find a number inside the machine. Are you talking about the rails that the lower playfield sits on?

I don't think so, because mine is 7693. I'm sure someone will know what number they started at. I'll post a picture when I get home of the brace I'm talking about. But it goes between the left and right sides and is basically right in the middle bottom of the cabinet. Like I said, I have a number stamp on mine but it differs from the ink stamp on the head. Not sure what that means, or if it's related at all.

Help with Black Hole serial numbers at the pinball serial number database:

http://www.ipsnd.net/View.aspx?id=307

Here are two places to check for BH serial numbers - inked on the top of the backbox and stamped inside the cabinet sidewall above the shooter lane. I don't have picture handy but I think there's also one inside the cabinet on a cross member.

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hello there,

I'm trying to figure out how to repair the captive ball lamp on the main play field. It no longer lights (or flashes at the start) once all the captive hole targets are hit. I've changed the bulb and that's not the problem. The solder to the lamp fixture also appears fine.
Could it be a resistor? Is there a way to diagnose those?

thanks

Odds are it's the transistor on the driver board. You can still check for a bad lamp socket with a meter and also look at the J4 driver board connector condition (especially J4-2, which goes to that lamp, L37). All that leads back to transistor Q38, a likely suspect.

Another test you can make is to attach a jumper wire with 2 alligator clips. Clip one to the tab on that transistor and then briefly touch the other clip to ground. The light should come on. If so, you'll need to replace the transistor. If not, the problem lies elsewhere.

So I am in the middle of restoring my BH and I can't WAIT to get it going! Closer and closer each day. Need to say it though: I've bought only Williams/Bally pins before (20+) and this is my first Gottlieb. I bought my BH for $400 thinking this would be a killer $500 (and maybe 15 hours of time worth) machine when I got done restoring. NOPE. Wow, this thing needs so much work just because it's a Gottlieb (ground mods, replacing burnt solenoids, transistors, adding resistors, redoing power supply, reflowing solder, blah, blah, blah).

Very excited to get it going, but wow this thing is a hog! Steve is right: System 80: not just a job, it's an adventure!

Stu I'm for the new playfields how much, i might need to go bust a few limbs.

Black Hole became my first pinball purchase a few weeks back. Time to do a little cleaning. I've got some Novus 2, but was wondering about the lower playfield window. Do I use (or not use) anything special to clean the lower playfield window?

Novus 2 is a Plastic Polish....use it for the window.....
Prior to using Novus on the Playfield Clean it good with Naptha.....Then Novus Polish....

the window polishes up quite nicely with Novus 2.

Holy crap, CPR BH playfields?! Just the possibility has me excited. I have a very nice original, very faint pop mylar outlines, but the slight planking worries me long term. BH is probably my favorite game in my collection.

Just ordered the PI-80 from flippp. excited to get the BH working!

Does anyone have a good solution to pitching the incline of the lower playfield independent of the upper playfield? I love the way BH plays with the back legs jacked up high, but when the ball goes downstairs the gameplay is super slow and floaty. Any ideas?

. BH is probably my favorite game in my collection.

Amen to that.

I would be all over a pair of playfields if CPR does them. Its all I need to make my BH perfect. I finally got mine working tonight. It was working when I got it....for 2 days then it died. Wouldnt boot and the lower kicker would lock on during power up. It was a bad 6532 on the mpu.
Its now all working except the two banks of drop targets on the upper playfield are not resetting.
This game has to hold a record for the amount of features in one pin. Flippers...yeah here's 5 of em. Pops...throw in 6 of em.

I do have a question for you BH owners. Is the ball gate by the shooter lane supposed to cycle open and closed constantly during attract mode? Dont know why but it really irritates me.

i dont know the answer but mine does it too.

Yep, that's normal behavior.

Yep, it's an "attract" feature. "Click. Click. Click."

Yeah set it up correct jacking up back high is not how game was designed. Fast does not equal better.

Don't know about the factory MPU, but the ni-wumpf had an option to turn that off.