Just joined the club this Thursday. Added a couple Daleks and one Davros. This Gold Dalek sits on top of the upper right pop bumper and when you have ball bouncing around up there, his arm and gun stalk jiggle!

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This Supreme Dalek is waiting for the Doctor to exit the TARDIS

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Davros lurks in the upper left corner:

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...and the entire pin is guarded by my life size Dalek!

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Just gotta get one of those nice alternate translites now!

What's the difference? What makes L1 better?

I joined the club a couple weeks back. I got a very, very nice DW from Tigerlaw. I had to do a bit of tweaking with the mini playfield to get it to sit level. It truly is a great game with multiple ways to score big.

Post was a follow up to an earlier one where I asked about l1/l2 and stated someone posted they liked l1 better.

My post was designed to get a dr who owner to chime in.. But has failed.

Wait, what?! Tigerlaw sold his DW!?!?

Finally joined the club, maybe a tad sooner than I expected but a machine popped up close enough in fantastic condition, so I jumped at the chance... took the Aerobarge / Retardis on a pre-weekend day-off road trip...

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Funny enough, the trip took 7 hours... but after I unhappily discovered that WPC wiring is a nightmare and removing the pf / backbox was probably an horrible idea, it took almost that long to get it down to the basement (single interior stairwell) in one piece!

But the confusion, surprise, and shocked delight when my girls heard the Attract Dalek shouting from down there, unseen, made it all worthwhile

Game itself is in amazing shape... was stored the last 15+ years, so the cab and pf are almost perfect. While it shows some typical time expander wear, it's all very serviceable and won't be seen with cliffy's. I also had to devise a fix for the 3-door daleks to reset, but that was simple.

I don't know why this game gets such a middling rap... there's so much to do, so many targets, and that damn "O" ramp is not easy to make (for me anyway). Frakking lightning flippers!

I still need to tighten the outlanes (they're WIDE open) for the kids but looking forward to exploring all the strategies meanwhile...

So the import / export of text overlays and photos kind of messed up the alignment, but here's a preview of an idea I have, since I have a vinyl cutter. The small letters might be an issue.

Would anyone else be interested were I to try perfecting these for sale? If so, at what price? Not trying to bleed anyone or make promises... just wondering how much effort I should put into this beyond my own amusement.

To that end, if there's overwhelming opinion I could be swayed to change the text. As it is, I tried to blend a suitable homage to Tardis and Pinball lore...

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the coindoor pictured is not the correct door for the game.

It should look like this.
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I'm not saying it is not a cool idea, just that it may not work on games with the original door.

Was more than one coin door used originally? My game was built in November 1992; it came with the original manuals, including a dated insert that says it's ready for use with new bill validators, which would have gone into the blank panel to the left of the coin slots.

Maybe the type of door was a specified option, sort of how the toppers could be optional as well?

As for supporting multiple door types, I might be able to accommodate some if there is interest, and I'm given a good pic and/or dimensions to work with. The one you showed might be problematic given the raised panels, though.

EDIT: OK, quickly scanning back through pics in this thread, I do see multiple different door styles used. Including at least 2 more games with the style I have! OTOH there's also at least that many with the 3-slot (or compatible) version. Interesting! But at least it means mine is likely in fact "correct" in a sense; it must have been a distributor option.

check ipdb...different doors shown there on some full on restores. Either way coin door decals won't work with multiple styles

Not sure. Yours is probably correct then.

Has anyone who's installed the USB-Tardis mod, had to modify the LED wiring? The dedicated thread did not mention this as being required. And I don't think anyone here mentioned anything other than hooking up the original harness to the LED in the USB unit.

However, the LED in mine flashed and blew out immediately when I turned the machine on. I'd wondered if I should have put a resistor in-line "just in case", but then I wasn't sure how bright or dim the "stock" LED would be, so I didn't have a guess as to what resistance to use.

Also, the windows in my USB unit were black, not white... I wonder if the LED was changed as well?

Kinda bummed I have to redo this thing, as I carefully cut mine so the doors would be properly open and I printed an interior shot you can see through the habitrail.

I think you might be referring to my thread... but no I did not. it's been working great since I installed it.

Would love to see pictures of yours btw! I have contemplated the habitrail pictures in mine as well.

Did you change the light in it to a 12 volt 3mm LED from Led-Switch.com?

Any pictures of that?

FYI, My thirteen year old son is doing his first restoration on a Doctor Who.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/my-first-restoration-with-dad-dr-who

I know some of you have already been on his thread with ideas and encouragement, Thank You
For anyone else here please feel free to give him advise, he is already amazed at the outpooring of help here on Pinside.

I may be joining the club today. I'm going to check out one a non-pinhead has. The guy has never done maintenance. He says the only issue is sometimes the Tardis won't kick out the ball. The playfield and mini-playfield both look good. Anything else I should look out for?

Play a game and see if the MPF goes up and down and stops in the right spots(don't just use MPF test, use gameplay)...see if it has to "retry" to go up ever. Check if MPF is crooked. In MPF test, stop with the bubble optos showing and do a switch test on the optos for all those....check to see if MPF stops flush with playfield...look at MPF beneath playfield for old grease gunk buildup...basically the rest of the game is cake to fix/shop, MPF is #1 concern. If it needs work on the MPF and has cabinet fade try to get it under 2K. If cabinet is not faded and MPF is good I'd go more.

How much of a cost deduction would you guys place on faded reds on the cabinet? In a lot of locations you can't even really see the side of a pin. Just curios, mine's not for sale.

What a great project. I have some decal scans I can send your way. PM if interested.

If you're looking for wear spots, besides the obvious inlane/shooter lane spots, the major ones I found that you may not think to look for (other than the edges of the Time Expander) are:

• By the rubber pad at the top of the shooter lane
• In the 'H' lane where balls drop through the trap door
• In the 'H' lane by the rubber pad at the top

Nearly every one is faded...personally I could care less about a cabinet. You never see it if you have more than 1 game.

Here's a few..

I wanted the doors open because it fits the motif of the game: the balls are the doctors, and of course they exit the Tardis that way. It was a pain to cut them to open, but IMO the effort was worth it. It does not photograph well and the flash is harsh against the cut edges, but when you stand over the game and pan and tilt you can see and appreciate the details better.

The interior is a photo I found online and scaled to size; it's one piece curved around the back wall and tucked behind the open doors. This is still a "test fitting". For the final version, I'll either use glossy photo paper or an acetate laminate overlay. I might also extend the photo further down into the hole.

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No deduction. DW is a rare game that fade won't drop the price much, if at all. However a nice unfaded cab could demand a premium.

Agreed!

Original text based on misreading: Why do you say this? I love my DW but I wouldn't call it rare...

Same here...says 7000+ were made...though you don't find them that often.

When you don't find something often I guess that means rare. Although for DW rare might be a bit extreme, but they don't seem to turn often.

Maybe if you selected my whole quote.....

It is a rare game in that fade won't really drop,the price much.

Sorry, dsuperbee, you are right. I didn't catch the miss quote. Yes reds do fade easy.

Sorry. I read your text as the two portions were independent. I read it as (1) it's rare and (2) fade doesn't impact it much.

I'll edit my post.

Nice unfaded examples are also make the game particularly attractive to Dr Who fans who also want the game to serve as a showpiece in their homes. I put new decals over the old ones on my DW and it came out brilliantly and wasn't a whole lot of work. Then a diehard DW fan gave me an offer I couldn't refuse!

I worked as a bartender and after closing we would go to an after hours club and drink until 6am. We would then head to the diner down the street to sober up over breakfast and coffee. They had a DW behind the hostess and I would take my breakfast at the game and play until sobriety kicked in. Mine will never be for sale.

Yep, but we have an agreement in place that he gets dibs to buy it back if I sell it.

He is rocking my Addams Family now.

I'm officially in the club! Needs a little work, though. Anyone have some sling plastics? Any new plastics will be protected with the Pinbits guards, I promise!

Hey guys I am looking for some advice. I have some insert wear starting around the red inserts in front of the time expander. I don't want it to get any worse as it's wearing the edge of the playfield there. What would you suggest? Mylar the area? Clear coat is not presently a option.

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My Dr. Who has this issue. I'm currently touching up the black around the inserts and I'm gonna try one of these Makrolon protector sheets from Bay Area Amusements to cover the touch-ups and protect that area. I'll see how that goes shortly.
http://bayareaamusements.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=BAA&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=GS-DW-PF-PROTECTOR

I have one of the playfield protectors for my F-14. But, I was hope to not have to go that route. Hmm has anyone else had to mylar that area?

My DW has the issue as well. Eventually I was planning on leveling the inserts, doing touch up, and a spot clear. However if that is not what you want to do touch up and mylar would be OK.

I'm planning to do some work on the time expander inserts myself using 2PAC (jc660). I keep getting interrupted by other tasks but will certainly post here with results...

Hmm in the meantime I might just mylar the sucker in the to prevent any further damage.

They have been out of stock on that one forever. Do you know when it's coming In?

I actually got mine about 4 weeks ago, and it's just been stored flat waiting for installation. I've been too busy with other things to finish the playfield touch-ups. I didn't notice the protector was out of stock when I posted the link. I must've got one of the last ones.

On a related note, I mentioned to Mirco that I would love to be able to buy a new repro Dr. Who playfield someday. Mirco said he didn't think repros would ever be ran, as Dr. Who is the most parted out machine in Europe, and spare parts including playfields always seem to be floating around, and it was doubtful that enough pinheads would want new Dr. Who playfields to make it worthwhile. That's a bummer, as I see a lot of Dr. Who playfields roached out around these Time Expander inserts.

Interesting tid bit about parting Dr Who in Europe.

Less DW as more people realize it's awesome means higher price...

(Which doesn't help if you have one and don't plan to sell)

Three's a crowd
don't think any amount of nudging was going to split up these

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^awesome. Would be in for those!

Indeed, very nice!!

I know, I know. I can't believe I did that either.

Jodester is awesome at dialing in games and mine needed a couple tweaks with the time expander. I'll get it back from him one day I'm sure, he tends to swap out games ever six months or so and I'm saving a spot for the triumphant return of Doctor Who.

Just saw the "COW" transmat whoops. Never heard that mentioned before.

I'm so proud - getting my first mini-playfiled errors now - really feel like I'm in the club. Seems like there is some "slippage" in the motor. Get errors for both CW and CCW directions, with the playfield coming up, and suddenly dropping a bit. Fine when testing with the main playfield up as there is no gravity to drop is down a bit. Feels like there is some play when I manually pull on the mini-playfield lower "bar". I have a Frankenstein replacement motor, so can't even get the miniplayfield out to tighten things up. Any suggestions?