To you. Pretty contradictory post, but to each their own.

And just because you don't and don't like it doesn't make it not great, either.

Truly in the eye of the beholder! One man's Bally El Toro is another man's Gottlieb Atlantis... Sure there's a general consensus on some games where it's more common for people to like than not like (yet some still dislike them with a passion), and more often than not it's the other way around (there can only be so many "greats") but there still truly are some hidden gems out there. Of course a person won't enjoy them if they don't keep an open mind. I always keep an open mind when trying out a new game, my ratings are entirely based on my recent experiences as I wasn't around to play these when they were new or even remotely close to it. Keeping an open mind is what even brought me to EMs in the first place in a day where my peers aren't even playing pinball let alone any era of it, they're playing with their smartphones.

Comparatively, there are many people here on Pinside that will say what you are saying about this machine towards the best EM single player machine you/we as a community think exists because it's "slow, worthless, and old", without a doubt. Again, all (close-minded) opinion. Or maybe just even taste. That's totally fine too, but at least don't dictate it as fact.

Jungle King (US)/Jungle Life (Italy)

jungle_king_(resized).jpg
image-3_(resized).jpg
image-1_(4)_(resized).jpg

Compared to the multiplayer playfield:

jungle4_(resized).jpg
jungle5_(resized).jpg
maxresdefault_(3)_(resized).jpg

Different people will see things in different ways but heck for me there all great! And if you have a particular title its likely to be even greater.

what was contradictory about what i said? i never said it was a bad game i said it just wasn't great. there were very few games that are truly bad. most are good to fair and yet some are great.

how do you know i have never owed it? and again! i never said i did not like it.

quite a few of my favorites are not great games but to me there are just something that grabs me. they are considered average games. i never knock someone for the games they like. there's many reasons to like a game, game play is just one factor.
i have never gotten upset because someone said xxxx game is crap.

This thread used to be more "user-friendly"....

it still is..... nothing has changed.

Whoa, you took a lot of the things I said personally. (especially the close-minded thing) Wait a second - I was saying over a mass of people, all of that was in response to you of course but 90% of it was referencing others or any person rather than specifically yourself in the content itself. You can like what you like, and I like what I like, and I don't get offended if somebody doesn't like what I like and I'm glad you don't either. Especially if it's a certain kind of machine... saves more for me.

No hard feelings at all dude, hope you feel the same. Didn't mean for it to come off that way at all. Let's keep the peace in the EM lounge.

Back to the machines...

IMG_5970_(resized).JPG

I think I might have posted these two already but finally uploading in beautiful high resolution. (Well, until Pinside resizes it)

Was previously uploading another way and it killed the quality to the extreme. Oooh, ahhhh...

IMG_3731_(resized).JPG
IMG_3735_(resized).JPG

Gottlieb Jungle/Wild Life/Jungle King/Jungle Life for some reason brings out lots of opinions in EM people. I was reading on one of the threads on here where someone hates the game because of the artwork. Granted the artwork is a little goofy, but it's still a Gottlieb and worthy of being played. In my opinion, Jungle is a so/so game. It gets boring real quick...to me. However, I used to own a King Rock and I would say Jungle is a better playing game. I recently saved from the trash pile (literally in the trash pile) a Jumping Jack. That game i think is really fun to play and I dig the artwork too. These last few games i got are not my first choice for my collection, but I couldn't see them ending up in the trash pile. At first i thought I would just use them for spare parts, but instead, I've used them for training my skills on cabinet restore and pinball repair. Then I make someone happy like my father in law by giving it to him, or as I see it, letting him use it....hehe. Anyways, I'm glad you all are as passionate about pinball as I am. Especially the EM's. The games I find GREAT are the ones in my game room. Atlantis, El Dorado, Sky Jump, Abra Ca Dabra, Hit The Deck, Jacks Open, but that's just my opinion and there are so many other great games out there. Wish I could own them all.
On another note, Please keep posting your games. I love seeing everyone EM's, great, good and stinkers....in my own opinion.

Gordon Morison at his best! Always liked "Jungle King", but meh on the multi-players.

One of favorite games.

IMG_6380_(resized).JPG

another favorite

IMG_6409_(resized).JPG

Not my pin. Did get close enough to touch it and snap this pic.
April_17_2016_Mustang_009_(resized).jpg

I like the "Warning This Machine Is Protected By Burglar Alarm" sticker on the apron.

Seen those decals on cigarette machines the most.

Weird that my Star Jet also has a hole between the flippers,
for a small rebound post, that obviously was later removed.

It's a little rough around the edges but it's my first machine. I've posted a pic in a few other areas on pinside but I lurk this thread everyday so I figure I should post here. I'll be starting a restoration documentation thread after I get back from a trip next week!

IMG_2788_(resized).JPG

IMG_2790_(resized).JPG

IMG_2791_(resized).JPG

Doesn't look too rough at all to me, looks like a great example of it! Enjoy it!

Keep in mind with something that nice (unless pictures are lying) that sometimes no restoration is better than an attempted one.

I like the different color coin lights.

Different denominations.

Well I'm going to completely clean everything more than thorough and sand and repaint the cabinet.... depending on how clean the PF comes and looks I might leave it alone. The BG already had a well meaning attempt at "restoration" so not sure there...

How bad is the cabinet? Looks pretty nice to me. Of course your call. But an 8/10 original is always better than a 10/10 restoration as well.

That playfield just "pops"!
Did you paint the cabinet?

Just beautiful!

E

Always good to see another Star-Jet survivor. Playfield looks really nice. Did you try and talk them into selling it to you?

That's one you don't see every day. Nice find.

Let me know when you're ready to dump that junky Sky Jump.

Nice pick up Wayne.

Colors on cabinet look really nice and strong - no fade.

Hear it is a great playing game.

Love, love, love Sky Jump. Great example mate.

The previous (maybe twice removed) owner repainted a lot of the cab with a brush and it looks pretty awful up close.

When I saw the theme l fell in love!

Another one of my favorites in my game room. I'd call this one a GREAT game. Yes, I know a lot of you don't like the bright LED's but I do in the backglass. I will be switching the playfield LED to the retro LED's soon.

IMG_8436_(resized).JPG

I think it looks killer with the LED's.Reminds me of Wild Wild West for some reason.

Another one of my favorites in my game room. I think it's a Great game.

IMG_6406_(resized).JPG

This is part of what is great about this hobby. I found a fantastic condition Jacks Open about 6 years ago, thought I would love it (Card themes are a favorite of mine), but I just didn't. Don't get me wrong, it was a really good game but I have limited space (bane of all collectors) and sold it to get other games. After starting my collecting with mostly '70's 3" flipper drop target games, I have evolved and now have all 2" non drop target games:

Sing Along
Heat Wave
King of Diamonds
Nags

If I had room, I'd still have at least some of the other games I considered very good, just not great for me (Jack in the Box, Abra Ca Dabra, Quick Draw, Royal Flush, JO). If we all wanted the same titles it would be a much more frustrating (and expensive) hobby

Funny, my Heat Wave has a drop target.

In fact several of my 60s games with 2" flippers have drop targets. Which I don't think is a bad thing. As long as it's not the only feature.

image-22_(resized).jpg

Interested in what brand soft white you are pleased with. I've tried the "retro" whites from Nifty and I couldn't get past the greenish color shift. I'm straight back to incandescents.

Still haven't found a better overall "best of both worlds" approach than using incandescent 47's in GI locations and warm white frosted LED's everywhere else. Posted my findings here... https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stealth-led-a-recommended-recipe-for-ems

Done right, LED's + EM's are very worthy. Also recommend using red frosted LED's under star rollovers & double-lamping them.

I've been thinking strongly about popping some red LEDs under the 7 inserts during/in my Sky Jump restoration so the inserts are more of a red than a lighter red. I saw some evidence at Pinfest that it worked well on a different title of machine. Not sure what I want to do yet.

Of course, they would be alongside of every other bulb being incandescent.

Great write-up. Thank you. For what it's worth, here's my review of the Nifty's vs Incandescents:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/williams-swinger-restoration-and-eventual-retheme/page/13#post-2986788

...complete with pictures.

Speaking of which, I know photographing bulbs are tough, but I would love to see shots of yours if you're willing.

Best,
Ryan

I have found also that different combinations work. I use white concave LEDs under small inserts so I can push the close and not worry about the heat. LED 3s under larger inserts. Under star and rollover buttons I use red 44s for a bright effect. For a flaky and cracking backglass I think LEDs are an improvement. I always change score window lights to LEDs. They don't look as nice but they don't bake the ink.

In my experiments I've found that matching color-on-color isn't always desirable. Depending upon the strength of the LED, red LED + red insert can look too *intense red* compared to surrounding inserts. Or it might be just fine... just have to try it.

In general I've had more luck matching red and blue LED's color-on-color with inserts than with any other colors. Orange, green, and yellow inserts in particular have looked terrible with matched-color LED's. I usually go with the default warm white frosted for those.

Just gotta try them all and see what works best with the overall look.

Doh!

Of course I meant combination of 3" flippers + drop target banks (as on the 70's Gottlieb's I listed). I like them but don't think the flow of the game is as good as on 2" and non drop-target bank games. Drop target is not the primary objective on either Heat Wave or Teacher's Pet (which is probably the game I regret getting rid of the most).

It is difficult to get realistic photographs of LED bulbs, but these are respectable (captured with a nice DSLR at Texas Pinball Festival this year). The yellow insert on Top Score is lit with a warm white LED. Yellow-on-yellow looked awful. You could easily tell it was an LED... didn't look consistent with the rest of the lighting.

All of the below shots have LED's everywhere except for playfield GI locations.

freedom_(resized).jpg
Pinball-331_(resized).jpg
Pinball-56_(resized).jpg

Using bulbs in the GI locations is the trick. Your eye sees filaments and assumes the rest are the same. I'm not morally opposed to using LED's in GI locations... just haven't found one yet which looks pretty enough.

Without hitting the drop target on either how do you collect the special?

I like drop target games where there is only one or a few that can be most important shots at one point or another in the game. Also that require a different shot to bring them up again. I've had a couple games with 10+ drop targets and they just don't do much for me anymore.

+1. On those big faded purple-pinkish Gottlieb inserts I use blue LED 3s.

Look closely, those inserts, they are Purple. I thought the same thing as you. Wade Krause corrected me on this and ordered purple inserts for his new Repro Sky Jump playfield he will be doing. So I changed my red LED's to purple on those.