I repaired a Hits and Runs last December. Genco made some neat games and their use of DC power was unique. I also like that their cabinet art wasn't generic and fit the theme of the game.

Though they had some cool pins, it seems that their arcade games are the most desirable. Gypsy Grandma and the Two Player Basketball are quite valuable.

Some pics of the Hits and Runs for the thread.

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I had a Showboat and I have a South Pacific. My buddy has a Mercury.

How's the Mercury? I dig that retro sci-fi look and lighting all those kick out holes looks like a fun challenge.

I have a merry widow playfield. Great artwork.
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I've got a beautiful flipperless Big League from 1940. It's really a piece of art. Only one I know to exist, too.
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this may come in use for some of you, not original but a better than nothing option - repro post from Shapeways that I did for a mate with a Captain Kidd.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/55TRBXLJB/genco-pinball-captain-kidd-1940-s-playfield-po?li=search-results-1&optionId=16521745

The posts are made from nylon but will need a clear coat sprayed over it to shine it up. If anyone is interested let me know as I have worked out it is cheaper to create a branch and say have 4 posts in one print job which makes the parts cheaper per unit.

I have a 1941 Seven Up with a "conversion kit" from Victory Games.

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Here's what the South Pacific ended up like.
The Mercury is not quite as nice. He hopes to have it ready for Pin A Go Go this May. His BG is an original in decent shape, mine is a repro I did. And his plastics are quite warped.
I had to make a new front door and repaint the front of the cab. Someone had torn the door off, no key I guess. Lock down bar is a repro a friend made, still trying to get the color right to match the side rails.

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Where would I go to find schematics for a Genco Captain Kidd? The Pinball Resource does not have them.

Invent a time machine?

Genco did not ship schematics with early games. Any factory stock of prewar schematics was turned in during wartime "paper drives". Long story short: There ain't any.

Clean the switches. Clean the steppers. Replace the selenium rectifier with a modern bridge. Game should mostly work after that.

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Here's my genco South Pacific. Great shape. One owner. missing one plastic but wverything original and top shape. I wonder how much they sell forimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg

The South Pacific is a beauty! Best of luck with it...

My two Gencos - Springtime and Show Boat. Both unmolested originals and play well. Leaving the cabinets alone, although I did clean up the legs a little.

Video of the Springtime: https://vimeo.com/116675853

Video of Show Boat: https://vimeo.com/131439411

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Here is a Rip Snorter I have, great backglass and plastics.

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Woow! I now officially quit collecting woodrails. Wooooow! It's like a genco vertical pinball and a pinball all in one.

Just absolutely breathtaking. You just made my day. I'm getting a gottlieb green pastures tomorrow and I'm not even thinking about it.

Can you please go on my Facebook group page called "EM pinball" and post that video?

The South Pacific was my first Genco pinball. These genco machines are really amazing machines.

My South Pacific is now for sale if anyone is interested

I had a 1951 Genco Stop and Go until recently (part of an 8 game trade for a NIB WOZ75). Very cool game! Two inverted flippers, both actuated from a single coil so they flipped at the same time wether you hit the left or right flipper buttons. You could win a replay by laps or miles. Rollovers scored laps and made the car on the playfield do laps, bumpers scored miles. Love the artwork! Fun game for it's time.

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I have a '37 Genco Junior countertop. Your list shows it as '38, but IPDB shows as '37. It was my second pin!

Glad to find some other Genco owners.

Some real beauties in this thread!

I have a 1934 Genco Subway that someone turned into a coffee table and I just happed upon it last year at an auction, didn't know it was going to be there and lucky for me I was the only one that bid on it.

John P. Dayhuff
Battle Creek, MI.
269-979-3836

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Here's mine... A 1940 Genco Cadillac that I bought in October 2015. The previous owner played this when a kid, and it had been in his dad's attic for the past 30 years. They were clearing out the house and wanted to send it to a good home. The steppers and switches needed cleaning and the bulbs & sockets needed attention. The credit cancel circuit still needs some troubleshooting, but it works great and is fun to play.

Pretty basic game play... Complete bumpers 1 -12 and get a credit for every bumper hit. Getting the rollover lights that row of bumpers. The bottom rollovers & bumpers light at a preset score and add "arrow" credits. Get so many preset arrow credits and it adds a credit. Knockoff button under the cabinet.

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The original bulbs were colored, so I put colored covers over the new ones. Not sure if it shipped that way as there's no color photos or fliers, but it looks great when you get it all lit up!

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WOW you guys ROCK!!! This is pinball!!

Love those vintage Genco machines. Saw a "Harvest Time" at an auction about a year and a half ago. I'm kicking myself now for not going all out for it. Gorgeous machine!

If anyone comes across a Merry Widow please let me know!

I picked up a Genco Double Track last year. I haven't started it yet. Its missing a spring and one of the curled steel bumpers is broken off. I also saw a few broken wires. Hopefully, the wiring is similar on both sides and I can use it as a comparison. The only thing that troubles me is that there was no playfield glass so the playfield is dirty. Not filthy, but it needs a good cleaning. The varnish, in a few areas, seems to be lifting. I asked around to different sites and Naptha was mentioned the most as a cleaning fluid. Just worried about destroying any original paint. Any ideas on cleaning?

Thanks!

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Wow, that is a cool one I have never seen before. It's got style times two!

That Genco double track is nuts! It would make nudging interesting!

Just picked up a genco argentine. Can anyone tell me how to turn it on?

Did you try coining it up? It probably activates with a timer when the coin slide is pressed in.

The Argentine shown above is now mine

I'll be starting on trying to get it going once I get my Grand Prix fixed. She'll be a bit of a project, with a number of playfield bumpers missing as well as being currently non-functional. My initial thoughts, before any testing, are probably a bad rectifier and maybe some connector issues but we'll see. There's a fair amount of corrosion present too - definitely spent some time in a barn or garage I think. Playfield and cabinet held up well though, and the backglass is mostly all there. If I can get it running, I may get BGResto to make me a new one.

Hi All,

I'm new to this site, but not new to pinballs.

I have 3 Genco's: Tally Ho ! Archer and Airport.

Tally Ho ! is fully working, complete with the timer unit, which seems to be missing from a lot of the early Gencos.

The Archer I am working on at the moment and is a complete train wreck ! So, I have a couple of questions for anyone out there who has an Archer, or Genco spares in general.
Does anyone have a fairly decent hi.res. picture of a backglass they can email to me ? Mine, as many others of that period, has really bad paint flake and I want to photoshop it back to as near original as possible. I have scanned mine, but I have a lot of blank places that need to be fixed and I'm not sure how true the actual colours are either.
Secondly, does anybody have, or know where I can get any of the playfield rebound springs ? Does anybody make them still, or has anyone had any made ? Mine are so rusty that I don't think anything can bring them back.

Thank you to anybody who can help.

Kindest regards.

Chris H.

1934 GENCO GRIDIRON.

This ongoing restoration is about 95% complete. A few wire gates need to be modified and installed and the power supply needs to be replaced. I'll design a score card for the circular card holder on the apron. The door needs a lock as well. This game utilizes the PAMCO ball kickers, under license, which elevate the subterranean balls to the playfield.

I've been in the hobby for almost three decades and this is the first Gridiron to cross my path. If anyone else has one (or its identical counterpart, Goal Kick, released in November 1934, a month earlier), please contact me.

Among the prewar manufacturers, Genco, in my view, built the most solid cabinetry. The art deco motif is unpretentious. The wood selection is attractive, albeit utilitarian. I like the playfield art and color palette on this game and who doesn't love the football theme?

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Got the Argentine all cleaned up and mostly working. Still have a couple issues I could use some input on if anyone has any ideas. Fortunately they aren't show stoppers.

1. The coin slide lockout coil does not pull in when credits are on the game or when it's in Free Play mode. In Free Play mode, the coil will lock in if I close the switch associated with the coil, but that's the only time. Closing that switch in Regular mode, even with credits on the game, won't power that coil.

2. The Credit Takeoff circuit activated by the bar on the bottom of the game doesn't work. Pushing on the takeoff bar simply drops out the lock relay, de-powering all the solenoids.

3. The 4 purple bumpers across the middle don't score, they only cycle playfield features. This may not be a problem - I'm just not sure as I can't find anything that says if they should or should not score. I just have a feeling they should but can't find anything wrong with them. The bumpers just have one copper spike on the skirt and a carbon ring on the playfield, and those are obviously working since the feature stepper cycles.

If anyone has any clues on any of that, I'd love to hear them. Also, if anyone has a 1940 vintage game and could snap a photo of the coin door and takeoff switch plate, that would be helpful.

Here she is after the first game:

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And here she is after managing to recover most of the heat-damaged bumper caps with judicious use of my heat gun:

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My guess is that the bumpers should score. Next guess would be that it scores through a switch on that feature stepper relay thing.

Here's a couple snaps of a 1941 vintage coin door. Note that someone has bent the thing on the coin slide to compensate for the broken switch and missing fiber peg.

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Okay fixed that.

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I have a Big Chief and a Harvest Time both in need of restoration, which I haven't started on yet. Other than a less than stellar backglass on the Harvest Time they both are in pretty good condition and appear to be mechanically complete. I hope they someday look remotely as nice as the stuff you guys have pictured on this thread.

wow!!
i use to steer clear of wood rails, but i have always liked "art deco" stuff, and some of these are incredible!!
really liked the double field horse race!!

I have a 1948 Merry Widow pinball which is working for the most part. Any interest in it??

I am, where are you at?

I have a
1941 genco captain Kidd
1952 genco 400
1957 genco motorama

Sadly no photo on the new phone of captain Kidd.

I had a mate design the posts, diamond posts and globe covers which are available online from shapeways

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I also have a 1948 Merry Widow and a 1947 State Fair. Trying to get them fixed up and working again but parts are trouble.

I was able to take the double track apart. There is not much to it as far as wiring and relays, but someone cut wires disabling coils and switches and rewired other parts of it. If I had a schematic, I would rewire the whole thing but they don't exist. Now I have to find someone that has this game and see their insides. Fat chance of that happening.

One fuse has mostly wires that end and have no beginning?? Two relays have no way of powering up their coils. One is attached to a broken tilt pendulum. So its possible that I don't need them. One switch, and its wires are missing. I still have to compare both sides and hopefully I can make some sense of it.

It would've been nice if everything was where it was suppose to be. Then it would be easy. Now it's just a mess.

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I figured out the wiring for the machine. I added a separate DC + line to the horse section. The game also shared AC and DC - common with each other. Now they are separate. I need to replace some of the wiring. It crumbles when I touch it.

I decided to start with the horse section. I took it apart, cleaned , lubed, rewired, the section. It is ready to go.

Now I have to rewire some of the dual playfield. Then I'll test it and if all works well, it will be time to do the playfields. I am missing one of these spring steel type of deflectors. Does anyone have a spare that I could buy?

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Give me some measurements on the spring. I have some of these from One-Ball games that should work.

O.K. Thanks. I will measure later tonight when I get home.

Sorry about taking so long to get back to you. It's about 2 3/8" long. Including the curve.

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Mine is 2 3/4". You're welcome to it if you think you can make it work until you find the right size.