I've owned 9 or so different data east titles, some more than once. Of the ones I've owned, Time Machine is my favorite. Looking to acquire one again...

New to the club! For the past 25 years I've been an EM guy. I grew up with a Williams OXO in my room and was hooked! I learned how to fix anything EM from the time I bought My first game Bally Amigo. Fast forward and now my kids are getting bored with dads antiques so we decided to thin that herd down to the "keepers" and have brought in a Back to the Future, one of my favorite movie franchises. I always told my wife if I ever made the switch to SS games BTTF would be one of the first. I may be simple coming from EM games, but this to me a really under rated pin. I get thee drawbacks but for the nostalgia it rocks! I read somewhere on here there's rumor of a remake- I'm in, and it will be my first NIB pin purchase, just make it Great! Then came a Monday Night Football. Another family favorite theme, and a pretty fun game. Most recently (well, they've all been since Christmas) we've added a Twister- I know, wrong club, but not too far off. Twister was another title I told myself I'd have since the first time I played one. Love the multiball disc and the Van Halen tracks.
I had a Simpson's and Checkpoint way back in the late 90's I ended up with only because people that had them wanted to get rid of them and I was "the pinball guy" they knew, they were priced right and I knew I could flip them pretty easy.
Anyhow I'm pretty new to the forum, didn't really know there was a pin forum or I'd have been here a longtime ago!

Welcome aboard. There are a ton of awesome DE games. I’ve been collecting for 25 years, and when I started I didn’t know a Bally from an Atari. And so other than a Phantom of the Opera, I never bought any DE games. I bought a Tommy in 2018, and now I’m hooked on DE. So many great games.

Yes, I have one, message me. I can get it off my spare Secret Service backbox. I’m still selling parts off my populated playfield if anyone needs them.

The history is basically Chicago Coin was selling off their assets and in 1977 Stern Electronics Inc. was created when the Stern family bought them. Later in 1982 they closed the pinball division “temporarily” ending the production of Orbitor 1, despite having over 4,000 orders for it. In-between this time Stern bought Seeburg which actually owned Williams manufacturing so Stern owned Williams for a brief time technically. Stern made arcade games until filing for bankruptcy in late 1984 about when the retheme Quicksilver Lazer Lord was revealed. After the bankruptcy Gary or possibly his father Sam Stern reformed them into Mylstar and produced a conversation kit that was the original Prototype of a standard body Flight 2000 called Gamatron, they marketed this kit from 1985 to 1986.

In 1987 the glorious Laser War was made by the newly formed Data East by Joe Kaminkow and Gary Stern. They went on until 1994 making Maverick as their last machine which kept rolling to production with Sega buying them. Then Sega continued on to 1999 making Harley-Davidson which finally came full circle with Gary buying them out then making it the new Stern Pinball Inc. we know today.

Now there’s the big history in case you’re all wondering. I find their story probably one of the most fascinating in pinball because of how clever the Stern family was. Always coming out of the bankruptcies on top.

*Pinstar, not Mylstar.

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Pinstar....
Mylstar is Gottlieb.

Did you know there are led displays available?

https://www.pinled.de/en/p/dotmatrix-display-128-x-16
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/520-5042-ST
https://ksarcade.net/led-128x16-dot-matrix.html
https://www.pinballsolutions.eu/product/128x16-dot-matrix-pinball-led-display-for-data-east-orange/

Google is your friend...

Thanks, $300 is a bit pricey. Hoping to find a used one for cheaper..

LOL!!! Nothing is cheap anymore...
1990's, just the glass alone 128x16 $200.00 new.
It's the price to pay when only five games use this one display.

Oh I know I’ve bought plenty of displays in the past. I don’t plan on keeping this game long so thought I could save some money.

Beginning a full shop out of Rocky and Bullwinkle today. What draws the line between restoration and a full shop?

8F495C5E-95BF-44D1-BC22-E6644D139058 (resized).jpeg

If you want restoration... then you better get the correct legs, etc,etc,etc.
Shopping out a game so you could have fun playing it is another thing.

Can anyone tell me where this mystery wire is supposed to go? It looks like a ground wire... however, I can't figure out what it would have connected. There doesn't seem to be anything "missing" a wire and all the other connections where this wire could reach, seem clean. But maybe I'm stupid, or missing a clue. Or maybe this wire was shortened, or should be going somewhere else (in the cabinet)?

FWIW, the game works and I'm not aware of any critical missing functions in the HU / free play environment. But stray wires bug me.

20191107_200403 (resized).jpg

Could that be for a dollar bill validator?

It looks like someone might’ve connected it to a screw on the coin door. The 2 creases ok the wire make me think it might’ve been jammed in where the door closes.

It is a ground wire. I have one on my Robocop. It attaches to your switch plate with the screw near your green switch button.

Awesome, thanks! I'll crimp an eyelet and put it back where it belongs.

At least wait and see what the code update is like. It's going to be quite the overhaul from what we know.

Oh really? Didn't realize someone was doing a code update for my machine.

Have you tried reaching out to Mantis ?...He makes all sorts of these type Stainless stell pinball parts...usually better.

Does someone have a link to the service bulletins for data east games...taking delivery of a Tommy and a Secret Service this week and want to go over everything when they get here

Just sold a r&b and thought it was a lot of fun especially for the price. Would have keep it but limited on space.
They just don't seem to fetch the money they deserve so I was careful about how much money I put into it.
Think a color dmd would be nice. A lot of animations.

This one is exhibiting some really crappy problems that I suspect are all due to a faulty power supply. Worked fine for a while then slowly went downhill. It also has a pretty crappy decal job on it before I got it. I'm thinking of stripping the cabinet, re-decal'ing, color DMD, new power supply. I'm thinking of stripping down the playfield and giving it a good wiping down, adding cliffy's, then selling it. That's what, $750 total?

I shouldn't complain because I got it for an absolute bargain...

If you replace the power board I'd be interested in your old broken one to rebuild.

It's nearly complete. Chad H is doing a comprehensive overhaul but still keeping the spirit of the rules like he did with DE Star Wars.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/star-trek-25th-data-east-club/page/10#post-5488056

Here's some of the changes early on in the discussion. He says there are a lot more than just what's on this list:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/star-trek-25th-data-east-club/page/8#post-5330344

The community has also added some suggestions. I have also been emailing back and forth with him for several months with ideas.

Quite possibly, but I'm going to suspect that it was this this cable that got annihilated at some point or another.

Good to know. PM me with an offer after looking at those photos.
IMG_9555 (resized).JPGIMG_9557 (resized).JPG

Sorry for the shitty pictures. I do video and photo things for a living, so when the photo is just for me, you better believe I take the shittiest pictures imaginable.

Here you go. Be careful. There is no one to call.

I followed the steps on one SB and would up with a board that no longer worked. I had to reverse what I did.

http://arcarc.xmission.com/Pinball/Stern%20Service%20Bulletins/bulletins.htm

And auto mechanics drive pieces of crap for daily drivers

Thank you sir...I'm sure there is something I can gleam from it...

Looking for plastics for a DE Secret Service. Pm me if anyone has any that they're willing to part with.

Please!

Thought I'd throw this out on this page as its a general flipper question. I picked up a Secret Service today and like every machine I seem to buy, someone had a go at the flippers prior to my arrival (one series wound and one parallel wound coil- jeez). I'd like to just remove these original brackets and go with the Williams style and be done with it...any issues with using these style brackets/bushings? and what coil should I use with them? ( I have a bunch of the 11629 coils lying around)

I have a DMD from my JP I would be willing to sell if that is what you are asking for. Please PM me if interested.

Pm sent

DE Star Trek and JP do not use the same displays....They are different size. JP is 128X32, Start Trek is 128X16

I just assumed they were the same, so thanks for pointing out they are not.

So the ST is half height of “standard” DMDs?

Yes, ST, TMNT, Checkpoint DE Batman and Hook are all half height displays. Checkpoint being the first DMD game... I believe Williams introduced "standard height" soon after 120X32 which was much better.

I have a Data East Star Trek, so you are saying a JP won't work?

No, it will not work...

Thanks for the link. Anyone had an issue with the ball kicker arm? The only issue I have with my Tommy, ball has to kick up several times before making it. Thanks.

Guy in Toronto selling a larger Data East DMD. On Kijiji if anyone is looking for one. $250Cdn asking.

Okay thanks looks like I'll have to buy a new one for $230 online..

I'll check.. After the game is on for awhile the display seems to warm up and start working some but the middle never fully works so it appears to be gassing out..

A other DE in the lineup!

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AntennaMan -

Maybe I'm too stuck in older machine mindsets, but to me, you should be able to change the faceplate to quarters, put in a quarter coin mech and go. The link you sent is only for the door, does not include wiring or the coin mechanisms, so you won't be much further ahead from where you are now.

I had that with my Data East Simpsons. Kept playing it and eventually smelled something burning. Replaced the transistor Q46 and everything worked great.

Had this issue fixed but it seemed to have returned again last night. Right flipper on GnR has very little power. It is very weak and seems to go in slow motion. Any ideas on things to check in terms of power? Thank you.