(Topic ID: 107803)

CIRCUS Gottlieb 1980 Fans and Members welcome!

By jodini

9 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 74 posts
  • 35 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 9 months ago by BorgDog
  • Topic is favorited by 8 Pinsiders

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There are 74 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 2.
#1 9 years ago

I just recently found one of my favorite System 80 games - Circus! I will have to admit, I haven't been into this hobby long enough to say a whole lot about this pin, but I do love the artwork. People are really drawn to it at my house and like to play it...so that makes it a keeper.

Yes...I did put the LED's in there on purpose and I do like the look. Not for everyone, but it's such a bright game...so it works for me.

I put a video of my 10 year old son playing the game, which I thought was very fitting since that's how old I would of been when this game came out! ENJOY!

Would like to see some other players out here!!!!


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#2 9 years ago

Manual removed.

#3 9 years ago

I have never seen this game in person. Artwork looks really nice and it seems like a good player. Nice find.

#4 9 years ago

Never played one but I love the theme and artwork. I will definitly pick one up if I ever get the chance.

#5 9 years ago

Yeah...the LED's don't look that great on film, but it looks nice in person. They look way too bright on the camera!

It's a wide body, so you have plenty of time to think about your shots, which is nice. Heard about some pretty high scores (500,000-700,000)...haven't quite got that close!

#6 9 years ago

I have two of them and a NOS PF to go into the better one so I'll take 2 1/2 tickets please.
Best get that GTB manual down before you get in trouble with the copyright upholders

#7 9 years ago

It suffers from slow game play like Genie, but throw in a powerball, put WPC legs on the back and it's a different game

-c

#8 9 years ago

Mmmm...cant type.. gone to find 2 spare WPC legs

#9 9 years ago
Quoted from wiredoug:

Best get that GTB manual down before you get in trouble with the copyright upholders

Opps...sorry! Took it down.
Thanks for the heads up.

#10 9 years ago

I saw that it should to have 6.5 degree lean on the playing field...true?!

#11 9 years ago

I had one for several years and really enjoyed it.

#12 9 years ago

I had one for a while that was dead and needed the usual repairs for Sys 80 games. That roto target gave me fits but I finally got it working. Fun game for sure and plays similarly to Genie but is different enough to stand apart. The clowns kinda freaked my wife out so it left after a while. I actually had it on location for about a month.

#13 9 years ago

The clown is not that part that freaks out my wife...it's the girl dancing around the pole (ropes) that she doesn't like!

#14 9 years ago

This was my first game ,enjoyed playing it ,great looking art. As my collection grew with newer games it didn't get played much had to sell it to make room. Kinda miss it sometimes ..enjoy!

#15 9 years ago

I have the backglass on display...really like the artwork.
Can I still join the club!!??

#16 9 years ago

Only if you sell me your backglass!

#17 9 years ago

Gorgeous artwork and you gotta love the Jumping Jack/Jack in the box drop targets

#18 9 years ago

Jodini:
My backglass was missing alot of the inks from the reds, oranges and light blues....like yours appears missing as well. I touched it up, and it turned out really nice, but as a wall hanger....not sure how good it would look on a machine.....

#19 9 years ago

Then you are out of the club! HA! Just kidding.

Yes, I passed up a nice Circus last year that had a great backglass, but worn playing field. At least the playing field on this one is pretty nice and that's where I'm looking most!

Joe

#20 9 years ago

Circus was the second pin I owned and it's a great game, imho.

Awesome art, nice variety of shots with excellent flow and fun sounds. You can choose between one of two tunes, which is nifty. I'm pretty sure I put 31" legs with 3" levelers on the back and 27" legs up front to speed things up.

If I had a bigger basement, I would love to own it again. Good fun.

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#21 9 years ago

If anyone is interested I have a cabinet with a pretty nice complete playfield that I intend to take to PAGG in May and have at the flea market. It has boards but no back glass and the boards I cannot say are working or not. It's been folded up since I got it. When I got it I didn't realize how hard it was to find a back glass for this thing.

Central CA

#22 9 years ago

I'm interested, PM sent.

Steve

#23 9 years ago

I have one for sale...
I haven't posted in the market, yet.
Posted on Craigslist - Detroit Metro
Just putting it out there...

#24 9 years ago

WOW...at $425.00! Nice deal!
detroit.craigslist.org link

#25 9 years ago

Mine is no longer available.

#26 9 years ago

So anybody else out there have one of these? I can't believe there are only 4 guys!

#27 9 years ago

I has been my experience that a lot of guys that collect system 80 machines are not on pinside. Not sure why.

#28 9 years ago

There are a lot of System 80 collectors here too, seems like more every day.

Steve

Quoted from Gov:

I has been my experience that a lot of guys that collect system 80 machines are not on pinside. Not sure why.

#29 9 years ago

I have an HUO Gottlieb Circus just waiting to be played...but I need a backglass for it! Anybody have a nice bg for sale?

I kid you not, I actually have a documented HUO with the sales receipt. The guy I got it from, it was a Christmas present for him and his sister back in 1980/1981 I believe.

The only PROBLEM was they had a dart board near the game growing up and someone wildly missed years ago he said and hit the backglass shattering it.

But the cab, the pf, everything is in perfect condition....just no backglass...

#30 9 years ago

Man...I hope you find a backglass! Sounds like the playing field should be mint! Would love to see pics!

#31 9 years ago

I could have sworn when I had mine that either Marco or Bay Area had a backglass for sale. I could be imagining that though, but I remember being surprised that they had it.

#32 9 years ago

By far my favorite pinball theme,nothing better than Clowns & Circus

#33 9 years ago
Quoted from jodini:

Man...I hope you find a backglass! Sounds like the playing field should be mint! Would love to see pics!

Thanks! Yeah I keep watching out for one. If Marco or BAA had one it was wayyyyy before my time. Action Pinball had a used one for a while but it was soooo beat. Hindsight maybe I should have bought it. When I get to the point where I can work on it and still no bg, I will probably have to go the make a repro route which won't be cheap but this game deserves it.

Another somewhat sad part of my story getting this game that I didn't mention is when I went to go look at it, the coin door was pried open. He told me that they lost the keys years ago so the only way they could play it was to actually put in a quarter. So before listing it, he got his quarters back. I already got a new coin door for it but a drill and a few minutes is all he needed...oh well

The pf was actually dirty but under it, it was perfect. The cabinet is flawless no fade, no scratches, nothing. The inside the same all clean and new looking. The goodie bag, the original shipping papers still there along with the sales receipt. Pretty cool!

#34 9 years ago

Here is a photo of the glass I have displayed..and a small "before" photo showing the typical ink loss....
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#35 9 years ago

Hey guys, I'm a newbie on here and I just picked one of these machines up for restore. It's got some funky issues. To start I'm going to update all the boards on the thing and go from there. Looking forward to seeing this thing going! Amazing machine!image.jpgimage.jpg

#36 9 years ago
Quoted from jodini:

Man...I hope you find a backglass! Sounds like the playing field should be mint! Would love to see pics!

Okay, fingers crossed!!!!

Someone JUST posted a Circus backglass in eBay with a buy it now. Spendy and not perfect but something is better than nothing. And of course they list it NOW when the temps are cold.

Fingers crossed it makes it here okay!

Its all I need to have a complete and nice Circus!

#37 9 years ago
Quoted from dankme:

Someone JUST posted a Circus backglass in eBay

thanks to you i noticed and grabbed the lock down bar i need for mine .. thanks

#38 9 years ago
Quoted from wiredoug:

thanks to you i noticed and grabbed the lock down bar i need for mine .. thanks

Nice! That is another rare item for sure.

1 month later
#39 9 years ago

Just joined the club. Picked up a non working Circus only for the fantastic art work!
It has battery leak damage and i think the cpu board is beonde repair. Also missing a display.
This will be a project for me to get it up running, but hope im up for the task.

#40 9 years ago

I have owned one for about 4 years and it has never been set up or turned on. I bought it to fix up and then a guy that was buying a couple other machines from me saw it and wanted it. I offered it to him for $50 more than I paid for it (to cover my fuel for picking it up) and he asked me to hold it for a few months for him. I never have a problem doing that for someone because I have plenty of other stuff to work on.

Long story short - about a year later he came to pick it up and spotted an Earth-Wind & Fire I had sitting in the garage and took that instead. Then somehow the Circus got buried and I never dug it out since.

Seeing this post reminded me about to so maybe this Winter I'll dig it out and do something with it. That and an Amazing Spiderman I bought around the same time are the two project machines I have had sitting around the longest without doing anything with them. Maybe I'll just set them up side by side and deal with the typical System 80 issues on both at once. At the same time I should get my Black Hole & Haunted House up and running and put a row of System 80's in the gameroom for a change. Guess time will tell.

Thanks to original poster on this machine - it kind of got me interested in digging it out to do something with it. Maybe it will end up at Allentown this Spring for sale. I don't have room for all the machines I have in the gameroom so I don't want to get too heavy on System 80 stuff. Black Hole & Haunted House are going to stay for a while but the other System 80's need to get fixed up and sold one of these days.

Anyway - one more Circus accounted for. Since it was a fairly low production game (under 2000 if I remember correctly) you don't see it too often.

#41 9 years ago

I owned a mint one that ended up selling for like 1300 on ebay. Super nice game. I walked away from another because it was missing all boards and the BG was toasty. He had like 15 system 80s folded up in storage. Crazy

2 weeks later
#42 9 years ago

Such a underrated pin if you ask me! The art on this is stunning! If anyone wants to share their stories on how they brought theirs to life that would be awesome! Unless of course you were lucky enough to buy one working!

2 years later
#43 7 years ago

Hate to see no loving for the "Circus"! So sold mine from 2 years ago and just inherited 2 more. Such a pretty game and the sounds are great! Any more loving out there!

#44 7 years ago

Absolutely love my Circus. I have it next to Star Race and together they take up a lot of space! In my opinion you just can't beat the combination of artwork and play most system80's offer. Wish I could find a new bg for Circus but mine is not all that bad compared to many I've seen.

#45 7 years ago

Anyone else out there! I didn't even realize that I started this thread 2 years ago....I must be the biggest fan!

#46 7 years ago
Quoted from jodini:

Anyone else out there! I didn't even realize that I started this thread 2 years ago....I must be the biggest fan

I think there are several pinsiders who own Circus and a few with it on their wish list.

#47 7 years ago

I've got one

4 months later
#48 6 years ago

I have one in really nice condition except the roto target recently started acting up. Beautiful and fun game for sure.

#49 6 years ago

Second only to Hercules as the widest flipper game? And Hercules is using a billiard ball.

Tied with the other super wide System 80, and a bit wider than a Bally Space Invaders pin.

#50 6 years ago

i have one of these circus pin ball machines, if theres a club, i sure would like to join. by the way does anyone have a owners manual or a setup manual for one of these gottlieb circus machines. Thanks fellas for any replies.

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