You do very nice restoration work!

If someone put a gun to my head and said to name the best Gottlieb wedgehead ever, I would have to say "King
of Diamonds"!

You can do that with pop bumper, slingshot, knocker etc coils that are single wound. Flipper coils that are double wound are not as easily modified I would think. I'll have to ask my brother. He winds coils for Steve at PBR.
How's that "Top Card"? Anything else since?

Still haven't found any "LCA" in cans lately. Have to go with alternatives. This is a good time of the year to try new
brews. Will let you know if I hear any leads on "Egg Head". Have you ever played "Square Head"?

I'm at Vic's now and we were just discussing plans to integrate the "Top Card" into the downstairs line-up.
Looks like "Spin A Card" will be pulled (it needs work, and the head is DIFFERENT!). We're going to put "2001" in
it's place, and put "Top Card" in place of "2001". We're not doing it today; it's off to another local pinball gathering!

That's almost what I first suggested to Vic, but he doesn't want to move and then re-level all those games. They're
not in exact chronological sequence anyway, and he doesn't want to hide the sweet cabinet on the "Sing Along" by
placing another game next to it. I also suggested putting the "Top Card" between "High Hand" and "Atlantis", but
again, he wants to make the minimum amount of moves. That's what happens when you get old!!!

I had the pleasure of playing a very nice "Frontiersman" (courtesy of Harry I ) at the last York show. Great playing game with very interesting strategy. Great backglass too.

Fun game and plays very fast. I owned one briefly a while back. I got it in a package deal with a Gottlieb "Cow-Poke". Cleaned up and shopped the "Big Deal" (it came out great!) and sold it to my Dad's neighbor.
I believe he still has it. Just about paid for the whole deal so I ended up getting the "Cow-Poke" nearly for free!

Niiiccccccce!!!

Years ago, I got a ratty "FAC" off eBay. This one also had a very nice backglass but was a wreck otherwise. The playfield was much worse than yours, and the cabinet had a horrible brushed on attempt at the original design.
Today it stands among the many other superb pins at the Silverball Museum in Asbury Park, NJ. Oddly though, the backglass currently in the game is not the original one. I kept that glass, and put another decent one in it's place.
After spending many hours bringing it back to life and making it more than presentable, it pained me to sell it, but at the time I was unemployed and needed cash to pay the mortgage! If it were today (thank God), I would have never sold it! The last time I was there, it was still probably the best playing game he has there!

Were you with your wife or girlfriend? I think I remember your "FAC" at Allentown, but didn't think you were selling it. My brother bought the "Card Trix" from the guy who had two "FAC"s and a "CT".

Nice game, but not really diggin' that funky cabinet style. If I ever get to mine, I think I'm going to convert it.

That cabinet is spectacular for a game that old. They must have used much better paint back then!

Once I crack one open, I never set it down anyway!

Are the inserts sunken down? That is common with this game. I have an otherwise nice PF, but the inserts are really sunk down. So many to fix too! That's keeping me from doing the game.

I never eat and pin!

_{Post edited by jrpinball : clarification}

This is how the "Flip A Card" turned out. I didn't do a totally hog-wild restoration on it, but it turned out very nice.
The spin feature needed a lot of work, and when I was done with it, it spun like no other I've seen before or since!
I also repro'd the score and instruction cards and the "tax stamp" on the left side of the upper arch.
As I mentioned, it is now part of the collection at the Silverball Museum in Asbury Park, NJ. Still plays great last time I was there.

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_{Post edited by jrpinball : clarification}

Yes Vic, those are the factory original caps. It's an add-a-ball! Lovely creature that it is!

I have a '64 "Mad World" that I'm working on. It had the same problem you describe; the motor kept turning after
starting the game. It was one of the switches on one of the score reels. I think it was the top switch in the stack.
Still have other issues on the game which I'm slowly ironing out.

Vic, mine is the "peachiest" I've ever seen. DMs is also quite "peachy" but most "KODs" have faded PFs.
Look underneath the slingshot jewel posts to see what the original "coral" (I call it "peach") color should look like.
Herb made his overlay from a faded original and then used it on his "retro" disaster! One of the reasons I wouldn't want
to buy one!

Holy crappola! What a nice "Pin Up"! Another mint one pictured right here on Pinside!

Great looking game Rat. Enjoy it!

I

Oh, ok that explains it. The two are one and the same. I thought maybe someone uncovered a hidden stash of mint
"Pin-Up" machines.

You have two "HTD"s? Cool!

Does the sample game have red inserts where the production game has yellow?

I've seen at least one "Hit the Deck" with red inserts on the playfield. I know "Neptune" has them because they are "WOW" lights. I'm not sure if the "HTD" was a sample game or not, but it did have red inserts.

Yes, "Neptune" does have red inserts because they are "WOW", but I know I did see a "Hit the Deck" with red inserts too. The late Dave Christiansen (not the artist) had one. I'm not sure what happened to that game, but I'm pretty sure it was sold before he passed away. I remember telling him that his game was different from any others I saw previously because it had red inserts. Previous to me pointing that out, he wasn't aware of his game being a variation in that respect.

Strange! Just looked at "Poseidon" (export version of "Neptune") on IPDB, and it has yellow inserts for the "WOW"s, even though it is an add-a-ball game. So apparently both playfields were made with both red and yellow colored inserts.

Nice lineup hoov! Nice condition on all those games! That "Abra Ca Dabra" is cherry!

Yup, you nailed it. "Sing Along" is basically a cross between "Kings & Queens" and "Cross Town". It's a very pretty game though and would go great between the other two!

Would be inclined to believe that day will be coming sooner than later!

In these photos, you may be inclined to think that the head of "Wing Ding" is rectangular, but it is indeed a "reverse" wedgehead. It's the only game of this series that was made in both AAB and replay versions ("Zig-Zag").
I got the lower part of this game from someone who found it in the trash, but I no longer have the playfield.
Damo may have a tough time finding a backglass, but I'm sure one will turn up for him somewhere. I needed a backglass for a Gottlieb "Play Mates" years ago, and I thought it would be nearly impossible to find one, then my buddy found two NOS "Play Mates" BGs in a house somewhere!

Silly question, but did you try to polish out your original plastics with Novus 2?

Did that "DJ" come from Buddy R? If so, it was in nice condition from the previous owner. It had a few issues when the owner previous to Buddy had it, and I went down to fix it and I was amazed at the condition of it. It's the best example of "DJ" I've ever seen.

The four cards alone are probably worth quite a bit. Four legendary players there.

The color match is dead on; great work!

From page 38 of this thread;
Just went back and saw this. Wow; a "KOD" sample game! You say the inserts have black numbers on them instead of red. I wonder if the roto target was redone with stickers. I would think those numbers would also be black because Gottlieb already had made black targets with the same card designs for their 1960 "Spot A Card" woodrail.
The score reels number font also looks different on your game than those of the production game.

I remember returning from vacationing in Vermont back in '76 and seeing this game brand spankin' new in the local arcade. At the time, I thought that maybe these were made for each state in the US.
Slight correction; pinball was never illegal in NY state, just NYC until 1976 when Roger Sharpe made the "shot heard round the pinball world" in front of NYC officials and the mayor at the time, Abraham Beame.

Big Don is all aces in my book! He did a fantastic restoration on a Gottlieb baseball themed woodrail which he brought to last year's York show (the name escapes me at the moment). Great guy and a great asset to the hobby!

Rich just acquired a Gottlieb "Show Boat". Why is this significant? I don't think he did so intentionally, but with the addition of "Show Boat", he now has all three Gottlieb pins that have six live pop bumpers. The other two are "Corral", and "Thorobred", both of which can be seen in the photos that Vic posted. I can't think of any others that have six. In fact, the only other pin I can think of that has six live bumpers is not an EM. It's a game I once owned but have since sold; Williams "Whirlwind".

That's an odd card tray on that "QD". The ones that say only "BUTTONS" on them are meant for export. I never saw one of that style in that form. "Subway" and "Hurdy Gurdy" have only the word "BUTTONS" as well, but are not export games.

"Ice Show" has five.

Whoa, that's cool; even the plastics have the numbers in black! I've seen the foreign versions of "Diamond Jack" that have blue colored plastics instead of green. I'd like to get a set of those.
Maybe the the spot that is "pricked" is for a pin such as the ones used on several other games.
Yeah, that's definitely a different number font on the score reels. I've never seen these variations before.

Great find! One of the best reverse wedgehead games. Let's see the BG. Most are pretty bad.

It most certainly is. Often overlooked due to it's drab pastel artwork which doesn't bother me. Very fun player and very challenging. Get one if you can. Girl's red sweater on BG is often flaked, and playfield inserts are often sunk down. I have one with a very nice playfield but the inserts are severly sunken in. The aab version "Card Trix" is a lot of fun as well.

Yup, hard to find a good one. It was repro'd once, but sold out in a hurry. It's time for a rerun. I was fortunate to find a game with a pretty nice original.

Rebuild the flipper assemblies, clean and wax the playfield, replace all the rings and use the stock coils. The only game I would use jacked up coils for is "Drop/Pop A Card". "KOD" certainly doesn't need anything but stock.

"Team One" is a title that is often found in super clean condition. I owned a super cherry one for about 15 minutes.
It was at the York, PA show a couple of years ago. There was a Williams "Palisades" woodrail in the flea market area that I had my eye on, but the seller wanted a little more for it than I wanted to spend. I saw the "Team One" for sale inside the building, and just grabbed it in time as someone else was eyeing it as well. I brought it out to my van and then went out to the flea market area and asked the guy with the Williams woodie if he would be interested in a trade. At first he said no, but I convinced him to at least come and take a look at the "Team One" I was offering. I knew that once he agreed to come and give it a look, he would take it as soon as he saw how cherry mint it was. That's exactly what happened, and so I came away with the "Palisades" I wanted at a much more reasonable cost to me.

"Blue Note"/ "Rock Star". I knew it just from looking at it, but verified it on ipdb.

That particular one has a sloppy stencil job on the lower left "wing". Goes to show you that even the factory isn't perfect when painting cabinets.

Ooh, nice!!!

I rescued this "Mad World" from Todd Tuckey at the Allentown show a few years back. It was a total mess. It's mostly done, but still has some gameplay issues. I'll leave the cabinet as a flaky original. I could use a new backglass because this one is cracked in the lower left corner. Not really horrible otherwise.
All of the fuses in the game were bypassed with soldered wires because all the fuse holders were broken!
There was no playfield glass (it's shorter than a standard glass by about 1 1/2") so I had a sheet cut for it.

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Here are a couple of "before" photos. This is what the ball push up lever and the front door looked like to start with.

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I've had this "Bowling Queen" for many years. Did the playfield a little over a year ago. The cabinet isn't the greatest, but I'll leave it original. It plays great. I could use a plastics set and a set of the catalin plastic balls for the animation unit. Never soak the balls in Super Clean. That's what I did, and the white ones turned purple from the color of the red ones. Now they all look like plums!
I reprinted the score/instruction card and the manufacturers certificate. They came out awesome. I don't like the little window in the original S/I card, so I printed the score levels right on the same card that the instructions are on.

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Yeah, it was a real mess when I took it out storage, but it cleaned up nice. It has a little bit of touch-up here and there. There was a little bit of flipper swipe on the left flipper into the Gottlieb logo, but I touched it up. I'm not the world's best artist and my touch ups are pretty readily detectable but I'm happy with how it turned out.

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The front of the head had this ugly red paint on it. I manage to get it off and it looks a little better now.
I also installed a better backglass in it.

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Hah! A "Golden Arrow"! I just moved my "BQ" and "Mad World" out of the way to make room for a nice "GA" I just nabbed. It was in the same home since around '78. It won't need much. Photos coming. Likely going to bring it to Allentown.

That is one schweeet "Blast Off" ! I like your keyless front door lock. Where's the coin return flap though?
Are the red metal flippers correct for that game? I recall others I have played had regular white plastic ones. Nice touch though even so.

You da man! Congratulations. Your pins are niiiiiiicccce!

It's what you call a "rictus" (look it up).

One of the very best ever. All around great pin. Wish they made an add a ball version.

Really, wow! I've had some pretty long playing balls on "NS", but don't think I ever got out all the rollovers on my brother's game. A couple of years ago on Super Bowl Sunday, my brother had some guys over and one of them who is a fairly weak player got all the rollovers out. I don't know if he realized it when it happened, but we were all drawn over to the game when we heard the barrage of "pops" coming from the knocker.
On "NS", it is very important to have the kickers set very touchy. You want the ball to be deflected away from the side drains even if it just nicks the slingshot. Also, you want to install nice juicy, bouncy donut rubbers on the outlane posts and center post. Experiment with the pitch too. Usually "NS" plays a little friendlier with a somewhat shallow pitch.

Try putting green LEDs under the green inserts, and yellow ones under the yellow. Also a red LED under the "special" insert. They really pop that way!

A word of caution. You may need to add a resistor for the red "special" lamp if you replace it with an LED. My brother said his "special" LED fried shortly after it lit. That's because it is powered by solenoid voltage through a sand resistor. I'm not an electronics expert, but clearly this circuit was designed for a #44 incandescent lamp only.
As far as your other questions about LEDs, I'm no expert on those either, so you may want to either consult "Cointakers" about it, or wait for other Pinsiders replies.

It's all over!

All that game would have needed was Steve Kordek's autograph, and it would be essentially priceless!

Where are the bloody chimes?

That is one schweeeeet "EK" EM! Just gorgeous. I really thought he was a cool dude back in the day. Saw him make a lot of jumps, and wipe out a lot too.

No, not really. Read above.

I've owned both "Lawman" and "Sheriff". They are very good players in their own right. The bonus feature is pretty cool, and because they are multi-players, some type of bonus feature which pays out after each ball, adds a needed competitive component to the gameplay. You can't compare them to "Atlantis" because they are quite different, and were not intended to be similiar. Yes, the playfield layouts are pretty much identical, but that's where the similarities end.

Single player wedgeheads, with their five balls rulesets are usually always preferred by players over the single ball resetting rulesets of multi-player games. It would have been great if the the multi-player games were designed to play as single player games when only one player was selected, but that would have been entirely too complicated and costly.

Gotta love "Show Boat". One of a handful that have six pop bumpers. No plastics on that game either; rather odd. BTW, is that a repainted cabinet? The backglass was repro'd. Some may still be floating around.

Does the cat like it?

Vic, that game looks ***bleepin'*** immaculate! Can't wait to see it in person and play it!

"Astro" is an often overlooked wedgehead. It's classic Gordon Morison art and is a blast to play.

The cool thing about "Sweet Hearts" is how you can save a ball that has drained out the left outlane. There's a few other games where this is possible as well. I've done it with my "Flipper Fair".

I see "Big Albino" is still in the mix.

I'm surprised "Fabulous Fantasies" never did a remake of this game and called it "Magic C_ck"!

Fifty percent of the words will probably be "f-words" and the other fifty percent will likely start with a "y"!

Gizz, you're really on a roll! You stole that game! Nice! You're up to __ games now, and had __ games two months ago.

Gotta say, as an EM guy, if I had the space, one of the early SS games I'd love to own would be "Firepower". And, I love "Mata Hari" too. Did you sell the "Thoro-Bred" to "cantbefrank"? He was thinking about buying one; just wondering if he got yours. Well, you're doing it the way it should be done; selling the ones you don't want to make room for the ones you want. Some of the Williams titles are definitely great games; "Teacher's Pet" for one, and there are many others. You got the fever bad, but it's great, isn't it? "ACD" is such a hot game lately. I had to add it to my wanted list. If it happens, it happens. Happy hunting!

Oh, I just can't stand it! Pinball pulchritude!

Real schweeeet!

Wow! Nice score. That pin is schweeeeet! Where was it listed?

"Can easily be touched up with a Sharpie".

Two-player games of this era don't get much love from wedgehead snobs (like me), but I've always liked this one. Very nice restoration and great looking score card too. I'm not a big fan of irreversible mods such as drilling extra holes in the playfield, but it was tastefully done and does make the game pop. I said long ago that if I found a decent copy of this game, it would be a keeper.

Had one of these several years ago and sold it at the 15th annual Allentown show. It was nice, and I think I let it go too cheap. It played super fast and was a lot of fun. Great looking game too.

l'd love to find a rectangular head one. I believe those have dark blue playfields as opposed to the lighter blue of the wedgehead variety.