(Topic ID: 223135)
Linked Games
Granny and the Gators
Bally, 1984
Topic Gallery
I'm really interested why there isn't much love for this game!?
It has great game play all the way through in my opinion.
Playfield has a very smooth flow through the top right gate and back down to the left inlane to the flipper. If you get your timing right you can keep that loop going to help get an extra canoe pretty quickly.
My main strategy is to go for the ammo stand up targets to load up on bullets and when you miss you usually get all of the other necessary targets and objectives done.
The vid portion of the gameplay is pretty fun as well. Time spent working on the controls is definitely needed to get good at this game though. It has a Williams Defender or Stargate feel to the gaming with the control layout.
Let's get this club started!
I owned a baby pac man for a while and always wanted to find a Granny and the gators- really rare game. Would be nice to own both
Quoted from Coz:I owned a baby pac man for a while and always wanted to find a Granny and the gators- really rare game. Would be nice to own both
Baby Pacman looks cool. That's my next game to get.
I played Biffbar's when I picked up my Baby Pac. Not the easiest game to get the hang of. Odd why the pinball "slings" are solid plastic. Definitely interesting, but I still prefer Baby Pac.
Quoted from GLSP3022:I played Biffbar's when I picked up my Baby Pac. Not the easiest game to get the hang of. Odd why the pinball "slings" are solid plastic. Definitely interesting, but I still prefer Baby Pac.
I am tempted to add star posts and at the least, some rubber!
Not a lot of room under the Pf. Maybe room for slingshot!?
Funny you mention those dead slings, no action, just a thunk when the ball hit the hard plastic. That part of the game had been bothering me for a long time. I think I know why they did it, there are star rollovers between the two slings which work up to lighting the saucer for an "extra canoe".
I modified the game few weeks ago, removed the hard plastic at the slings, and put a large rubber ring around each one. Getting much more bounce from the ball, and much improved pinball play. Still trying to figure out the best rules to use with the new setup.
Lincoln City, OR
Quoted from Moto_bone:I'm really interested why there isn't much love for this game!?
It has great game play all the way through in my opinion.
Playfield has a very smooth flow through the top right gate and back down to the left inlane to the flipper. If you get your timing right you can keep that loop going to help get an extra canoe pretty quickly.
My main strategy is to go for the ammo stand up targets to load up on bullets and when you miss you usually get all of the other necessary targets and objectives done.
The vid portion of the gameplay is pretty fun as well. Time spent working on the controls is definitely needed to get good at this game though. It has a Williams Defender or Stargate feel to the gaming with the control layout.
Let's get this club started!
I wrote a big response to this and it sadly was deleted by the internet monster.
Although not officially confirmed I’ve seen reports that Granny & the Gators only had a production of between 400-600 or less! It was more expensive and less popular than Baby Pac-Man. Plus when you add in the reliability issues and the tendency to rob parts you’re probably left with less than 200 of these guys hanging out! It’s a rare game, although I would one day love to own one!
I’m partially in this club because when I bought my Baby Pac-Man from the self-proclaimed KING of Baby Pac, Appolo, he had a spare Vidiot Deluxe board he got from an operator who had 2 Granny’s and gutted one for parts.
I hope to see more love for these come about!
Quoted from Isochronic_Frost:I wrote a big response to this and it sadly was deleted by the internet monster.
Although not officially confirmed I’ve seen reports that Granny & the Gators only had a production of between 400-600 or less! It was more expensive and less popular than Baby Pac-Man. Plus when you add in the reliability issues and the tendency to rob parts you’re probably left with less than 200 of these guys hanging out! It’s a rare game, although I would one day love to own one!
I’m partially in this club because when I bought my Baby Pac-Man from the self-proclaimed KING of Baby Pac, Appolo, he had a spare Vidiot Deluxe board he got from an operator who had 2 Granny’s and gutted one for parts.
I hope to see more love for these come about!
With production numbers so low it's also a Wonder why the value is so low. Maybe perhaps no one can find good concrete pricing so they just throw a price on it similar to baby pac?
I'm going to be working with a local company to hopefully get a reproduction control panel overlay made. They aren't strangers to making arcade art and overlays so I'm pretty optimistic that they can get it done nicely!
What are the reliability issues that are of the most concern? I know I can rebuild all of the Bally boards myself but that vidiot board is def a new one for me.
Any components that I should keep on hand?
My machine had a brand new Samsung crt and chassis and does have one nagging issue: on the initial start of the game I get no video. If I reboot, the video comes right on.. any ideas?
I decided to pull up the mylar to clear coat the playfield. Came up nicely. Tiny speckles of yellow came up at the drop targets but that will be an easy repaint.
Used the heat gun method on this one. I've had bad luck in the past with freezing it.
IMG_20180816_174055 (resized).jpgMVIMG_20180816_174100 (resized).jpgMVIMG_20180816_174715 (resized).jpg
1 year later
Quoted from AvngRHulk:This thread is old and I see not too many have this game it seems, but would anyone know of one for sale?
I went to a local auction and a non-working one sold for $1600.
Been looking for a long time
Quoted from Isochronic_Frost:I went to a local auction and a non-working one sold for $1600.
Been looking for a long time
Dang I really hope to find one, I think I’m offering a fair price for one so we’ll see
Quoted from AvngRHulk:Dang I really hope to find one, I think I’m offering a fair price for one so we’ll see
Your price is beyond fair! $2500 should get you a very nice, restored example! The only reason that one went for $1600 is probably because it had almost no wear which is quite common on this title.
I’m still hustling as well. Hopefully something worthwhile will come up soon!
Anyone know what tube GATG used by chance? Once example I found is missing the CRT and I’m wondering if I should go the LCD route or if these are easier to source than for Baby Pac
Quoted from Isochronic_Frost:Your price is beyond fair! $2500 should get you a very nice, restored example! The only reason that one went for $1600 is probably because it had almost no wear which is quite common on this title.
I’m still hustling as well. Hopefully something worthwhile will come up soon!
Anyone know what tube GATG used by chance? Once example I found is missing the CRT and I’m wondering if I should go the LCD route or if these are easier to source than for Baby Pac
I’m actually not sure, I was under the impression they used the same monitor. I’m actually in the middle of restoring my baby pc man and I’m not looking forward to disassembling the drop target mech in order to swap out the targets. If you don’t buy it let me buy it lol,
Quoted from AvngRHulk:I’m actually not sure, I was under the impression they used the same monitor. I’m actually in the middle of restoring my baby pc man and I’m not looking forward to disassembling the drop target mech in order to swap out the targets. If you don’t buy it let me buy it lol,
They don’t, Baby Pac uses a tiny vertical one, and Granny’s is a bigger one mounted horizontally.
Quoted from AvngRHulk:I’m actually not sure, I was under the impression they used the same monitor. I’m actually in the middle of restoring my baby pc man and I’m not looking forward to disassembling the drop target mech in order to swap out the targets. If you don’t buy it let me buy it lol,
The Baby Pac 5 bank is super easy to take apart. I’ve done it many times.
Take out the lockdown bar when you work on it. Makes it 5000x easier. Mine never had one installed so I had to source one. I usually leave it off. So much easier without it. Only time it’s useful is if you’re cranking on the joystick.
Both use the "same" monitor, its just mounted different in each game. A 13" cga crt in a horizontal frame.
Quoted from gutz:Both use the "same" monitor, its just mounted different in each game. A 13" cga crt in a horizontal frame.
Are you certain about this? Anyone have pics of the chassis?
Quoted from Isochronic_Frost:Are you certain about this? Anyone have pics of the chassis?
Yup. They both use a 13" cga monitor in a horizontal frame. Typically a wells k4800 or electrohome g07 from the factory. Any 13" cga would do though, and I prefer k7000 chassis.
Quoted from gutz:Yup. They both use a 13" cga monitor in a horizontal frame. Typically a wells k4800 or electrohome g07 from the factory. Any 13" cga would do though, and I prefer k7000 chassis.
Damn I did check some GATG pics I have. Crazy.
How on earth do I locate such a tiny CRT?
Quoted from Isochronic_Frost:Damn I did check some GATG pics I have. Crazy.
How on earth do I locate such a tiny CRT?
I actually have one with some slight burn in from you guessed it a granny and the gators (“gold”) burned in, that’s why I mentioned them possibly being the same. I’m trying to keep my extra monitor either for a GatG I find or if my baby pac blows out.
1 month later
Quoted from Isochronic_Frost:I went to a local auction and a non-working one sold for $1600.
Been looking for a long time
Only took me 63 days to track down another one.
I’m getting pretty good at pulling these odd games out of the woodwork.
This Granny has had a terribly hard life. It’s devastated. Obviously I still wouldn’t pass it up since you’ll NEVER seen another. This one has the highest serial number I’ve ever seen, 509! And the lowest recorded is 131, so I’d hazard a guess that they probably made 500 of them, and started serials at 100 and I’m assuming they stopped before or around 600.
The real big prize here is that I got not one... but TWO fully populated Granny & the Gator playfields!!! Plastics and everything. I’m going to touch up the one with wear and the pristine one is getting cleancoated and swapped into my game. I’m gonna pimp this Granny OUT! The playfield in it has almost no wear either but my opinion is the other is the nicest.
If anyone desperately needs or wants a really gorgeous original playfield for their game, shoot me an offer in PM. If I don’t hear from anyone then you’ll see an add in a few months after they get triple cleared and have proper time to dry. I doubt these playfields will EVER become available again.
29B99228-04EB-457D-8774-C363562DF6E1.jpeg30FBDE35-F230-4ECB-A744-C8E885E0AE7A.jpeg71F3BF27-5AC6-4A59-AFF6-D3926BF91DDA.jpegF587B4E0-1B54-4A1A-ACEC-C9D907532F87.jpeg 2 months later
Ottawa, ON
Finally got my Granny operational after a long dry spell. Connectors is the word of the day. Going to have to do much re-pinning in the near future... 
I plan on replacing all of the pots on the Vidiot Deluxe board - the internet has very little info on this. From what I can determine, all of the pots are 10k values, which is different from the Baby Pac-man Vidiot board. Can anyone verify for me?
20201220_063005 (resized).jpgQuoted from jj44114:RT1 and RT2 are 2k, others are 10k.
Perfect! Parts Ordered. 
My machine has rubber bands on the slings, makes the play a lot better IMHO. Added small LED strips to either side of the monitor to balance the backglass lighting. My favorite machine!
20201227_134213 (resized).jpg20201227_134222 (resized).jpg 1 year later
Picked up a project Granny & the Gators serial # 590 a few months back. Thanks jj44114 for the tech support on the vidiot deluxe! I have gameplay on the monitor now and Granny lives! The game still needs a good shop and cleanup.
Has anyone bought a new backglass for this game? What’s the best quality option? Can anyone recommend? I’m also looking to buy a new control panel overlay. Thanks
3CA8F846-972B-4F34-B8F5-9EDCBAE7FF6A (resized).jpeg4D78C824-ED30-4837-8024-14B6FCAD5162 (resized).jpegDCF11E5C-D99D-4C2D-85B9-B686654AE85E (resized).jpegQuoted from jk:Picked up a project Granny & the Gators serial # 590 a few months back. Thanks jj44114 for the tech support on the vidiot deluxe! I have gameplay on the monitor now and Granny lives! The game still needs a good shop and cleanup.
Has anyone bought a new backglass for this game? What’s the best quality option? Can anyone recommend? I’m also looking to buy a new control panel overlay. Thanks
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
Exciting to see some life in this topic! Congrats on the pickup.
Game looks to be in decent shape.
Where did you get it?
I believe there was a company on Facebook that made a run of CPO’s a few years ago. Should be able to search it and find it easily. Hopefully they’ll make another run!
Post or register pics of your serial number. Mine from last year #509 was the latest number by almost 200 entries! Yours adds another 81 possible entries. If they didn’t skip any numbers for GATG that puts the known range of production serial numbers at around 400.
Quoted from Isochronic_Frost:Exciting to see some life in this topic! Congrats on the pickup.
Game looks to be in decent shape.
Where did you get it?
I believe there was a company on Facebook that made a run of CPO’s a few years ago. Should be able to search it and find it easily. Hopefully they’ll make another run!
Post or register pics of your serial number. Mine from last year #509 was the latest number by almost 200 entries! Yours adds another 81 possible entries. If they didn’t skip any numbers for GATG that puts the known range of production serial numbers at around 400.
Thanks! It was filthy and dusty, the cpu battery had leaked (put in an altek) and the vidiot deluxe wasn’t booting. But overall pretty decent! Very happy finding one. It popped up on Facebook marketplace in Ontario Canada. The sticker on the playfield plastic shows it was originally routed in Manitoba, Canada.
I can’t seem to get the text colors on the monitor correct. I ordered new trim pots for the vidiot deluxe, so hopefully that solves the issue.
Very cool about the serial numbers! Here’s some pics:
0CA803E2-BD15-4B74-9760-F32EBAA57A01 (resized).jpegE1992F48-34F6-4A16-8D2E-AFFAC13137F4 (resized).jpegC63F88F0-C10A-40B8-82B2-9A9639F88086 (resized).jpeg2E8A5AC0-8C6E-408A-A8F9-E85D06753EED (resized).jpeg9B3B548F-BD2C-48DC-9488-3B29E5FC24AD (resized).jpeg086EDD30-2A31-4290-AF8C-3B2AAD8B2A40 (resized).jpeg2D4E47DE-C7F8-4A2E-BD20-8328C47F6FA3 (resized).jpeg8AA0D27A-7E4C-448C-B5D5-C2B30EC93DF8 (resized).jpegAF05EABF-B162-4F26-AA05-D69CCFDD37A1 (resized).jpegC6779624-1AFF-49C4-A474-F190928B1E69 (resized).jpegCBFBFC47-B6C5-4591-B976-1B4B3474D343 (resized).jpegQuoted from jk:Thanks! It was filthy and dusty, the cpu battery had leaked (put in an altek) and the vidiot deluxe wasn’t booting. But overall pretty decent! Very happy finding one. It popped up on Facebook marketplace in Ontario Canada. The sticker on the playfield plastic shows it was originally routed in Manitoba, Canada.
I can’t seem to get the text colors on the monitor correct. I ordered new trim pots for the vidiot deluxe, so hopefully that solves the issue.
Very cool about the serial numbers! Here’s some pics:
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
Awesome!!! Thank you! I’m gonna add it to the Database.
Hopefully you keep that routing sticker on there, very cool to have the history and some provenance behind the game!
Mine came from White Plains, NY and I promise it was far more filthy than yours! What trim pots are you ordering? I should shotgun replace all of mine as they’re rusty. They work so they’ve been left alone but should probably get replaced for long term reliability.
Don’t forget the monitor also has some adjustments on it so if the new pots don’t fix it, you may need to go directly to the monitor, or even recap it!
Quoted from Isochronic_Frost:Awesome!!! Thank you! I’m gonna add it to the Database.
Hopefully you keep that routing sticker on there, very cool to have the history and some provenance behind the game!
Mine came from White Plains, NY and I promise it was far more filthy than yours! What trim pots are you ordering? I should shotgun replace all of mine as they’re rusty. They work so they’ve been left alone but should probably get replaced for long term reliability.
Don’t forget the monitor also has some adjustments on it so if the new pots don’t fix it, you may need to go directly to the monitor, or even recap it!
Excellent! I’ll probably keep the routing sticker on it. So I changed the pots yesterday and it solved the text color issues! I’ll have to recap the monitor one day, but I’ve never done one before. Here are the pots I ordered from digikey:
5- Trimmer 10k ohm .5w
2-Trimmer 2k ohm .5w
15BA5F70-ABED-4CA8-9C5A-C3BFC32ADFAC (resized).jpegD0F4D126-E61D-432D-AA6B-F9C66131DB3D (resized).jpeg6841B66D-6030-4BA5-B547-90020A243FB0 (resized).jpeg79A8BAEA-8904-4717-8487-838A43E83E20 (resized).jpeg8325A07E-DA16-473C-BE5B-5BD3328E5C58 (resized).jpeg
Quoted from dmieczko:Joining the club today - non-working project, but hoping to get it up and running soon! Anyone have a rubber ring schematic I can take a look at?? Thanks.[quoted image]
Congratulations! The manual can be found at ipdb.org
56FAE355-4572-4454-B2D6-D20F581CAE07 (resized).jpegQuoted from Isochronic_Frost:Only took me 63 days to track down another one.
I’m getting pretty good at pulling these odd games out of the woodwork.
This Granny has had a terribly hard life. It’s devastated. Obviously I still wouldn’t pass it up since you’ll NEVER seen another. This one has the highest serial number I’ve ever seen, 509! And the lowest recorded is 131, so I’d hazard a guess that they probably made 500 of them, and started serials at 100 and I’m assuming they stopped before or around 600.
The real big prize here is that I got not one... but TWO fully populated Granny & the Gator playfields!!! Plastics and everything. I’m going to touch up the one with wear and the pristine one is getting cleancoated and swapped into my game. I’m gonna pimp this Granny OUT! The playfield in it has almost no wear either but my opinion is the other is the nicest.
If anyone desperately needs or wants a really gorgeous original playfield for their game, shoot me an offer in PM. If I don’t hear from anyone then you’ll see an add in a few months after they get triple cleared and have proper time to dry. I doubt these playfields will EVER become available again.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
they al had EDOT scraps for the bottoms
63837D36-0348-4A99-B8F8-4A884A0A5ACD (resized).jpegQuoted from robotron:they al had EDOT scraps for the bottoms
[quoted image]
I know, it wasn’t me that was asking about it, but I had confirmed that last year in the “What Did You Bring Home” thread.
Yours has had a rough life! Wow, did you end up selling it?
Quoted from Isochronic_Frost:I know, it wasn’t me that was asking about it, but I had confirmed that last year in the “What Did You Bring Home” thread.
Yours has had a rough life! Wow, did you end up selling it?
actually in decent condition sold as -is to poster dmiezcko above. wasnt working though. with some t moulding amd some TLC it will clean up nice.
3 weeks later
Upgraded the dead "slingshots" with regular plastic posts and a bouncy rubber ring years ago. It really does help give the game some action, and it is easily reversible.
The right sling was easy, just three normal posts plus a rubber ring. The left side ring wraps around two normal posts plus two thin nylon posts in the back (thin so the ball would not get stuck). Used some video game board nylon standoffs for the two skinny posts but anything similar would work fine. Used only existing holes for screwing down the hardware.
Side art is being repro’d for this. We used scans from both Todd and my machines. You may have seen it on TNT’s latest video. Still tweaking the side and some artwork, but finally art is getting reproduced for this awesome game! So many of them are just destroyed. It’ll be available through Jeff at Classic Arcades Inc.
OK, another (hopefully not stupid) question from a new owner: my paddle buttons work great, but the one on the right looks original and the left one looks clear with a paper paddle image inside. Is there a source for new paddle buttons with the proper image? If not, I know I can purchase a replacement button - does someone print the paddle image on a sticker to mount inside a new button?? Thanks!
PS - absolutely loving the gameplay on this machine so far. Brutal, challenging, FUN.
GnG-buttons (resized).jpgQuoted from dmieczko:OK, another (hopefully not stupid) question from a new owner: my paddle buttons work great, but the one on the right looks original and the left one looks clear with a paper paddle image inside. Is there a source for new paddle buttons with the proper image? If not, I know I can purchase a replacement button - does someone print the paddle image on a sticker to mount inside a new button?? Thanks!
PS - absolutely loving the gameplay on this machine so far. Brutal, challenging, FUN.
[quoted image]
Replacements aren’t available. I bought a spare control panel a couple years ago for my own machine should I ever need it. The little plastic wafers are interesting, maybe if one could find out who produced them, it would be pretty easy to get them remade?
They have little alignment notches on the back so when you put the button back together the image faces the proper direction. They are both the same, it’s not specific for left or right
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