(Topic ID: 52867)

EM : Show us your EM Pinball Machines!

By Rat_Tomago

10 years ago


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There are 13,743 posts in this topic. You are on page 155 of 275.
#7701 7 years ago

Wow, worst first ball ever. At least with zero points you get to play your ball over. Anyone giving lessons around here?

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#7702 7 years ago

Shovel the sidewalks first.

#7703 7 years ago

I've got you beat. I tilted a game before I scored a single point once. Game over.

#7704 7 years ago

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#7705 7 years ago

21 is truly one of the hardest games to win a special. But a match and a dealer bust means I can play on.

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#7706 7 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

21 is truly one of the hardest games to win a special. But a match and a dealer bust means I can play on.

O-din, Thanks for posting a photo of your Williams 21, a game which evokes fond memories for me. Here's a photo of me back in the mid-sixties (yellow shirt in front of my mom) in my family's suburban, southern New Jersey basement, with our Williams 21 in the background. I played that machine constantly.

I'm 57 years-old now (and still need to acquire a Williams 21 at some point). The photo depicts me playing an Addams Family board game with two friends. I posted this photo awhile back in a thread.

When we moved to a larger house in 1970, my dad added a few Gottliebs and pitch & bats to the basement gameroom; but, that Williams game was my favorite in the line-up. I agree that it's very hard to earn the special on that game.

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#7707 7 years ago

It would be cool if you could find the same one. The game is pure genius.

#7708 7 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

21 is truly one of the hardest games to win a special. But a match and a dealer bust means I can play on.

So true!

#7709 7 years ago

I'm sure that didn't discourage players from trying. I bet 21 was a big earner back in the day.

#7710 7 years ago

Here's a couple of quick shots of the Bally Time Zone I picked up this weekend. Fun game with that tunnel that always drove me crazy trying to get the thing stopped at 5000.

The playfield is pretty dirty but will clean up nicely. I took the tunnel cover off and did a quick shot of ME and Novus on the area between the tunnel and the flippers and it came out great. Doesn't show really well here because the glass is on and per normal, it's scratched.

Game has 64k on the meter, inside is surprisingly clean given the condition of the playfield. Cabinet is average, it will clean up pretty nicely too. 20170101_133123 (resized).jpg20170101_133123 (resized).jpg20170101_133033 (resized).jpg20170101_133033 (resized).jpg20170101_131334 (resized).jpg20170101_131334 (resized).jpg

#7711 7 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

I've got you beat. I tilted a game before I scored a single point once. Game over.

What's the opposite of a "skill" shot? I've plunged on my Flying carpet and watched it breeze over the top lanes, bounce once off a post, fly past the pops and land straight between the flippers. Zero points and on to the next ball.

#7712 7 years ago
Quoted from TopMoose:

What's the opposite of a "skill" shot? I've plunged on my Flying carpet and watched it breeze over the top lanes, bounce once off a post, fly past the pops and land straight between the flippers. Zero points and on to the next ball.

That takes some skill. Own it and be proud.

All you can do when that happens is laugh. The alternative is to smash the game against the wall and as tempting as that has been at times, not a smart move.

#7713 7 years ago

For those interested in why it is so hard to get a special on 21, first you have to get 21 card points on the score reels, which is an effort in itself. Then hit the gobble hole before you gain any more card points and bust.

I had it at 21 on one game sizing up my shot, but drained down the middle and busted before I could attempt the special again on the next ball. So I'll try again, and again, and again....

#7714 7 years ago

Made it back to my friends apartment today to try and fix the jungle princess and forgot to bring the schematic

When the game turns on it just keeps resetting itself, the motor keeps spinning and the play counts going up. Will try and attach a video sorry for the quality really bad lighting in here. Any tips on what the problem most likely is / what I should be looking at/for?

#7715 7 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

For those interested in why it is so hard to get a special on 21, first you have to get 21 card points on the score reels, which is an effort in itself. Then hit the gobble hole before you gain any more card points and bust.
I had it at 21 on one game sizing up my shot, but drained down the middle and busted before I could attempt the special again on the next ball. So I'll try again, and again, and again....

Here's a video of my bro's "21" at the York Show several years ago. The "Jig-Saw" to it's left is mine.

#7716 7 years ago
Quoted from ryansherwood:

Made it back to my friends apartment today to try and fix the jungle princess and forgot to bring the schematic
When the game turns on it just keeps resetting itself, the motor keeps spinning and the play counts going up. Will try and attach a video sorry for the quality really bad lighting in here. Any tips on what the problem most likely is / what I should be looking at/for?
» YouTube video

check all pf switches first. sounds like it is scoring.

#7717 7 years ago
Quoted from jrpinball:

Here's a video of my bro's "21" at the York Show several years ago. The "Jig-Saw" to it's left is mine.
» YouTube video

Nice! Mine's working perfect so I decided to work on something else instead.

I love the way these old plasti-koted playfields clean up. I even give them a little wet sand with alcohol on 1500 grit between the magic eraser and novus 2 and I still never get to the paint. Shiny and smooth as glass. There were those crinkly protectors around the pop bumpers but underneath was pure gold.

The only thing left to do is wax it, put it back together and play it.

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#7718 7 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

why it is so hard to get a special on 21

Can anyone tell me if there is much difference in the rules between WMS 21
and WMS BlackJack which came out a few months later with same basic PF layout.
or for that matter WMS ClubHouse.

#7719 7 years ago

Fwiw - Dirtflipper is selling a 21.

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#7720 7 years ago

I have one of those hallways that lead to nowhere when you go upstairs. But I think I have it figured out...

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#7721 7 years ago
Quoted from pinwiztom:

Can anyone tell me if there is much difference in the rules between WMS 21
and WMS BlackJack which came out a few months later with same basic PF layout.
or for that matter WMS ClubHouse.

I can tell you it's similar to Lady Luck. Haven't played Black Jack yet. Hell Toro's up and running againg.

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#7722 7 years ago
Quoted from Amesra:

I have one of those hallways that lead to nowhere when you go upstairs. But I think I have it figured out...

Cracked the code

#7723 7 years ago
Quoted from Amesra:

I have one of those hallways that lead to nowhere when you go upstairs. But I think I have it figured out...

Seems like a much higher "heavy tilt" penalty That wall/railing sure is awful tiny! Be careful, even if you don't get a little too excited while playing...

#7724 7 years ago
Quoted from Amesra:

I have one of those hallways that lead to nowhere when you go upstairs. But I think I have it figured out...

Do you also have a wife?

#7725 7 years ago
Quoted from EMsInKC:

Do you also have a wife?

Maybe Behind that drywall and new paint...

#7726 7 years ago
Quoted from EMsInKC:

Do you also have a wife?

Of course. She has the rest of the house.

#7727 7 years ago
Quoted from Darcy:

Maybe Behind that drywall and new paint...

With all joking aside.

That is a great use of that space. What else could of gone there, a book shelf? Looks like there is no room for a chair in that area. The Pin looks just fine, in its own dedicated place.

#7728 7 years ago

Uhh, my wife would have said the empty space looks better than a pinball machine in there.

I've contemplated asking if the third bedroom upstairs that is used for basically storage could be used to house my overflow pins. Haven't worked up the courage for that one yet.

#7729 7 years ago
Quoted from Amesra:

I have one of those hallways that lead to nowhere when you go upstairs

Love the Van Halen posters!

#7730 7 years ago

I was looking for a tall 4 player Jet Spin but ended up with a Super Spin...oh well, looking at a very beautiful backglass......I'm very happy!
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#7731 7 years ago

I'm pleased to say I got the special on 21 for the first time yeterday. A slow roller into the gobble hole from above. Best part is it was during a money game.

#7732 7 years ago
Quoted from EMsInKC:

Haven't worked up the courage for that one yet.

That might take a few nice dinners and a foot massage.

#7733 7 years ago
Quoted from Shiny_balls:

I was looking for a tall 4 player Jet Spin but ended up with a Super Spin...oh well, looking at a very beautiful backglass......I'm very happy!

Super spin is cooler, IMHO
Love the 2-player versions!

#7734 7 years ago
Quoted from dasvis:

Super spin is cooler, IMHO
Love the 2-player versions!

yep, agreed

#7735 7 years ago

I like the 2 players version better as you can see more of the gorgeous art work.

YVes

#7736 7 years ago

I remember when I learned that 2-player were only made for operators with less money it took me a while to look at my 2-player variants the same way next to my 4-player machines. It's funny though, because the 2-player machines ended up being more collectible because like people said, you can see more of the artwork. (I'm not sure that's 100% true though, I noticed since the heads are shorter some of the artwork is actually CUT OFF, compare nearly any of them, but noticed it on Out Of Sight/Far Out, Wild Life/Jungle and Duotron/Magnotron personally, most pre-dominantly on Out Of Sight/Far Out where they did some major changes to the artwork, but yes you do end of seeing more of the central parts of the artwork - I'm glad I have Magnotron though, it looks much more robotic and cool with the extra reels and the art is very accommodating )

So, they level themselves out:

4-player: meant for operators with more money to spend "the better model" | 4 players can play | see less of the artwork | harder to maintain
2-player: meant for operators with less money to spend | only 2 players can play at a time | see more of the central points of the artwork | easier to maintain

Voila! Congrats on the pickup!

#7737 7 years ago

Oh, and although it seems you were more focused on the cosmetic part/size of the "bigger" game (which IMO got a lot less pretty in that era like many say), I find it fairly rare that I ever have players 3 or 4, especially in a larger collection where there is so much else to play - nobody wants to wait around. It would probably differ in a smaller collection or one with only one game. Of course your mileage may vary but that is my take on it.

By the way, Super Spin is VERY pretty. I think I might almost like that one more as well! Who knows. No reason to not feel confident in your purchase.

#7738 7 years ago

Really nice looking Super Spin! Cabinet looks perfect, has it been restored? Can we see more of it?

Love the artwork package on this game BG, playfield and cabinet are right up my alley. Never played it, but it looks like it would be a lot of fun.

#7739 7 years ago
Quoted from Otaku:

I find it fairly rare that I ever have players 3 or 4, especially in a larger collection where there is so much else to play - nobody wants to wait around.

We usually have several games going simultaneously at my house--so there is not as much waiting.

#7740 7 years ago
Quoted from bek1966:

Really nice looking Super Spin! Cabinet looks perfect, has it been restored? Can we see more of it?

Thanks!
Yes, I restored the cabinet myself with home made stencils (poster papers from Staples)
Making stencil is hard work but worth it.... I like under spray a bit....not too much.
I'm doing the playfield now, about a month to be done.....but you can see the cabinet now.

4 player is 4 inches taller than 2 player (with 100K lights)

I'm not sure the older machines like Card Whiz/Royal Flush, Surfer/Surf Champ, Jumping Jack/Jack in the Box, Duotron/Magnotron .... 2 inches difference???
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#7741 7 years ago

Nice work on the cabinet restoration. I like the under-spray look as well. Please post more pictures as your work on the playfield progresses. Thanks for sharing the project!

#7742 7 years ago

Yes no doubt about it great artwork on Super Spin

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#7743 7 years ago

Overspray, not underspray...

#7744 7 years ago

This is a slightly older photo from two weeks ago, I will have to take a new one now that the World Series backglass lights are working.

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#7745 7 years ago

I am excited that through a deal with a local business I do arcade machine repair for, that I am beginning my foray into public operation of pinball in the town of Ephrata, PA. (For those who do not know, my collection is in Union at my grandmother's house where I often stay for weeks at a time, but my "actual" home is out in PA. So no, I am not operating 3 hours away all the time!)

I am going through two machines to start and one is an EM. I think this will be a good experience for me and I am certainly keeping the very nice games in the basement, no worries. Here is the first contender. It got pulled out of storage last night and got plugged in for the first time in my ownership - I previously did not persue this rough project Space Mission because I found there is cat hair/dander inside, I am slightly allergic, and don't want that in my collection basement because I find it impossible to ever fully get rid of in between all of the switches, wiring bundles, and mechanisms. Just feels too dirty for my home collection, but will clean up great for this. Got it running (it's a bit rough mechanically, still working through it, but is in really really beautiful cosmetic shape but not perfect enough for me to worry about) the same night at our arcade collector "shop" (shared between a few guys) in Rockaway, NJ and cleaned up the playfield. It turned out BEAUTIFUL.

Next I am going to rewire the coin door, not only because the coin door wiring was all cut up, but also because I am wiring my own already-planned circuitry for supporting a wider array of today's standards of payment. Stay tuned for that!

This will accept quarters as originally designed.

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#7746 7 years ago
Quoted from Otaku:

This will accept quarters as originally designed.

And if history repeats itself, it will probably accept a lot of them.

#7747 7 years ago

Damn, the blues on the playfield are beautiful! What will you be charging per game?

#7748 7 years ago
Quoted from Matesamo:

Damn, the blues on the playfield are beautiful! What will you be charging per game?

Thanks! Although I can always try other settings, I am going with 50 cents per game on any older pins and 75 cents on anything a bit newer. The 1980 value of 25 cents is 73 cents today.

Although all of my personal EM games strictly always use 5 ball settings because that's the "proper" way for EM games to be played (meanwhile SS is more proper on 3), I think I am going to offer 3 balls as those 4-player games can really take forever on 5 ball. I'm not sure how I feel about that as it seems to be secretly hiding more of the game from players, but I mean that's how they were built - but also everybody seems more familiar with the 3 ball standard of later pinball and I would hate to see somebody accidentally walking away from a game after ball 3 if the game were on 5 ball settings.

My game lacks a 5c relay (it was a factory option for the very few operators still taking nickels for 10 cents a game in 1976, it steps up for 1 coin then steps up again for the second and triggers the credit unit/game start when the second coin is inserted as stated) which is the only way to accept 2 coins for 1 play, so I have designed my own circuit for accepting multiple coins in return for 1 play. I will freely demonstrate it once it is assembled.

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#7749 7 years ago

Finally completed first ( and maybe only ) p/f swap on my HTD. It now has a NOS p/f. Fun game

Thanks for all the tips from various posters.

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#7750 7 years ago
Quoted from Otaku:

I am excited that through a deal with a local business I do arcade machine repair for, that I am beginning my foray into public operation of pinball in the town of Ephrata, PA. (For those who do not know, my collection is in Union at my grandmother's house where I often stay for weeks at a time, but my "actual" home is out in PA. So no, I am not operating 3 hours away all the time!)

I think it's great you're doing this - I've always thought about doing it.

Just be very careful when you have machines available for the public to play. I'm not sure if you split in the profits at this "local business" but if you do here's a few things to consider:

Check with local, state, and federal authorities to see if zoning issues, taxes, fees, permits, certificates apply for coin operated devices available for the public to play.
Check into insurance coverage in case someone get's hurt playing one of your games and sues you.
Be prepared to respond to any service calls needed.

Maybe your local business has this covered - IDK

Here's a thread on this (there's many if you search) https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/getting-started-as-an-operator-questions#post-3528355

Good luck - sounds like fun!

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