He is hilarious. Unfortunately no relation.

Anyone know where I can find these decals? Pinball Center is the only place I can find them but they want 420 euros to ship them. That's just ridiculous. Guess that is their way of saying they don't ship to the US.

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Another way of getting round that is to create an account with a mob like Shipito. There is a European address (Austria) that you can have items shipped too cheaply and then from there to the US (usually quite cheaply also). Once at your US address it's another relative small postage charge to get delivered. It will be sure cheaper than 420 Euros

"I'm from Jersey! Are you from Jersey?"

He did a good Sinatra.....lol

Welcome to the FT Club!

Having some problems with my fish tales fish finder light not activating when ball comes down right return lane. I checked that switch in test mode and it triggers appropriately but the light fish finder light does not light. Checked the actual light in test mode and it blinks appropriately. I am comfortable doing some circuit board work, but i dont have the schematics. Any help please?

https://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?any=fish+tales&search=Search+Database&searchtype=quick

The manual is in the Documentation area

it has some basic schematics but not all the schematics

Hmmm. If the switch is reading correctly in test mode, and the lamp is lighting correctly in test mode, then all your peripheral I/O is confirmed as working. It appears to a software problem, just my guess.

does that mean replacing an eprom, if so which one?

Please do not rush too fast. This isn't making complete sense. Does the feature lamp light up when the left switch is activated? Does the right switch operate 100 percent when you roll a ball over it in test mode? (Try it about 6 times, with a ball and not anything else such as your finger)

Does the display show as below on power up?

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uggh, beginners mistake. thats exactly what was happening, when i used my finger to depress the switch it activates, but when the ball rolls over it, it isnt clicking. A little adjustment and everything works! Thanks so much!

Easy fixes are good.

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Hi there, hoping to get some help with a ROM question I have for my Fish Tales. After I upgraded to a ColorDMD, I noticed the "XTRA BALLE" display issue during attract mode. I understand this is fixed with an upgrade to a G-5 ROM, and this ROM also fixes an LED ghosting issue. This G-5 ROM fix appears to be well understood, and there are many threads about it.

One thread here also mentioned a Fish Tales "D-6" ROM upgrade fixing the same issues.

Does anyone here know the differences between a G-5 ROM and D-6 ROM for Fish Tales?

Thanks in advance!

G-5 rom was named wroung.
It became D-6 rom and fixes the text problem and has the led ghosting fix.
In other words, it's the latest version as far as I know.
Just send me an email and I'll send you a copy.

I've gained a fresh appreciation for Fish Tales lately as it really is an excellent example of 'less is more' game design. Take off the wireforms and the fishing rod, and the game boils down to just four shots, one guarded VUK, one captive ball and five targets, four of which act as linked pairs, but it feels so much busier than that to play. Space has also been well used in incorporating the mechanics and keeping everything clear and uncluttered. If a certain podcaster is right in the industry needing to bring more ball 'magic' back while making rulesets easier to get into, Fish Tales is a good way to go about it.

Totally agree. I sold a STTNG as i needed some extra cash at the time and bought my Fish Tales with half that cash.... i have never missed the Trek once, the first game on Fishy and i was hooked So from a rules outlook, i went from a complex machine to a far easier one but i reckon the fun factor doubled easily

I'm diagnosing why too many plunges don't make the full orbit, and noticed the ball guide at the top isn't firmly fixed. Can anyone check their FT underside at the top right under that ball guide? I'm wondering about the hole by the red saucer. Is yours the same way? What keeps the guide in place?

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Have you rebuilt the plunge mech? New sleeve and checked for mushroom tip? Have it lined up straight? Also, I found a loose screw on the plate that holds the plunge mech to the playfield on mine.

Mine is same. There is no bolt holding the very end down but the guide should be held firmly in place by other fasteners. There should two nuts in the back under the pf and other screws on the left holding it in place.

Yes, took care of the plunger mech already. I thought that was the problem at first, but after fixing it (broken bracket and poor alignment), plunges still miss more than I like.

Thanks for verifying no nut is normal. I might try high-speed filming the ball and see if I can tell exactly what's happening.

HighVoltage I have a basically newly restored FT that i tweaked and tweaked trying to get the ball to 100% of the time do the full orbit on the plunge. I adjust the launch coil bracket, the ball guides you name it. On my machine (everyone is a little different) I was able to get about a 80% success rate.

It's crazy how finicky this can be... I found that the machine angle + the ball guide angles = how the ball actually travels around that orbit.

So it was a combination of bending the ball guides and the angle of my machine.

WHat i did was take the glass off and just launch balls over and over and watch what the ball was bouncing off / going smoothly against.

Thanks for the feedback, I will try that as well. I was starting to think it was just machine variation too. I had a different FT before, and that makes it worse since that one had a really nice launch, even where it landed on the left flipper you could do the immediate Fast Cast. This one also ends too high on the left flipper and impossible to do a Fast Cast.

Yeah, mine hits the left flipper 100% of the time right on the money

What the heck is it with FT man? Half of the ones I've ever played, including this one I just bought, have what seems like a warped center pf....specifically where it exits left orbit. The ball will completely take an angled turn (like 45° sometimes) but it doesn't happen every shot. 1 in 5 though.
Not sunken insert, atleast I don't think. I actually haven't taken the glass off yet.
My buddy's did this on the right side by the stand ups, mine does it on left. I've noticed it on 2 other FT to some varying degree. What gives?

Specifically this area here. Can't tell what causes this. Ball just completely shifts gears right around small left fish insert and flings itself stdm or straight right coming out left orbit

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I think others have mentioned that in past posts. Only thing that comes to mind is maybe it is hitting that post/rubber at the end of the ball guide. Moving the ball guide right might get is past that post more cleanly. You could take that rubber off as a test and see if its the same.

I think it’s hitting that rubber. It would hit that rubber on the plunge when I owned it every once in a while and richocet straight down the middle. I was able to get it to go to left flipper 100% of the time by adjusting the level on the front legs. There are a ton of posts on here of that same problem and it seems most it all were in leveling the machine. I’d take the glass off and adjust the level and then plunge it over and over until it is set just right.

Well hey John! Notice I'm not bitchin to you about it. You told me about this. It's just I've seen this on multiple FT's...very strange. I guess I need to take a vid and then watch it in slow motion to pinpoint this. I don't think it's hitting the rubber, but it might be. It's not even hitting the insert. Right above the insert the ball just completely changes trajectory and goes 20° to the right. Will play a bunch tonight and see if I can narrow it down with a video.

Catching the corner of a target? That happened to me some times coming back down the right side by the mosquito plastic at slower speeds.

On another note can you, or are you supposed to, be able to back cut the casters club from a right flipper hold position?

I would say NO, you should not be able to back hand the casters club from a RH hold. You can backhand the extra ball though...

Hi Casters!

What value would you put on this game? Looks like an over seas import non LED all working except the topper?

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/389902568434777/?surface=messenger_banner.google.com%2F%3Fgws_rd

I am thinking about going to look at it but would like some opinions on value.

TIA

DDD

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This Tropical Torpedo is pretty tasty. I'm becoming a Sierra Nevada fan.

Really need some better pics of the playfield, but the insert decals that are usually worn on these, look alright as best I can tell. Cab is better (less faded) than most. Verify how clean/dirty the underside is. Playfield does look dirty, but maybe just needs a good cleaning. I'm guessing because of that, the rubber is probably old too. Still, it's not far off or right on if it's clean with good rubber.

My FT has the 3 coin slots too. It came from Finland, and was in very nice shape.

Yes, thats a re-import, which is a warning flag to some collectors that is was probably heavily used and abused, smells, and is full of hacked up electronics and mechanical fixes, so check it over before leaping.

You can zoom in on the playfield image and things look OK from what can be seen. The inlanes and tacklebox area appear OK. Who knows, that may be a large decal covering tacklebox wear.

The side of the cabinet shown does not show much fade or wear, just a small gouge along the bottom and a chip by the lockdown bar. Plus the big gouges in back of the cab shown above, and grime around the back vent.

Check the playfield over, under the cab, inside the cab, under the PF, and inside the back box and give it a full play and get the rest of the story.

$3200 for a decent FT is fair, and if you really want one, you might have to pay their price. There are still unknowns, but I expect someone would eventually pay $3500 if the seller sticks to that price.

Make sure to swap out those flipper bats for some Williams lightning flippers if you do get it!!

It is very strange. I always thought they were hitting that rubber but it comes off fast. I know when I first got it set up it would bounce off of something on the plunge and go sdtm about every other time. I eventually got it to go to left flipper every time. I want to say I lowered the right front leg a little at a time to work it out. I had read on here somewhere that someone else had done the same thing so that was what I did. I think that V_piscopo was having the same problem with his and that fixed it.

In the club! Beautiful example.

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Yes!! This is a must!!

Thanks HighVoltage & Neal_W great feedback.

I am going to try and see it soon.

Also the fish just may be unplugged. See attached, I unplugged mine -check there first.

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Hello, I bought a fish tales . and I want to put him new decals. I would like to ask if someone has the files from the cabinet decals to print them .they sell and ready but it's very expensive. http://www.ministryofpinball.com/en/game-specific-items/williams/fish-tales/fish-tales-cabinet-decals.html

Try emailing RetroRefurbs

Very nice! If you don't mind sharing, how much was it?

It was in a multi machine trade so not really a set amount.

I've tried Dave at rr 3x.
Thru the website and email. No response. What's up?
I just want to buy some decals.

RR fuckin sucks that's what's up. They steal peoples art and sell at as their own. I'd rather have a piss yellow cab than buy from them.

I have a piss yellow cab. LOVE IT!!!

Y’all see Mirco’s new RadCals for Fish Tales cabinets? Pretty cool... Glossy and fairly stiff. They claim you can adhere them right over the old decals.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/revised-rad-cals-for-many-more-wms-games

Damnnnn.......those look sharp. Someone buy a fish tales one and show us the results and let us know how easy / hard it was.

Those look pretty cool. Would be good to hear from a few guys on their thoughts with regard to fitment and quality in person etc

This!^^
I want to see how hard it is to install as well.