I wouldn't really consider it a skill shot for two reasons.

1. like you mentioned, it may not always "bounce" across to the other hole (which to my experience is what normally happens). If you get the wrong lane to start with, you can jiggle the game and get it to drop in the correct hole.
2. If you miss falling in the correct hole, you can always hit the ball back up into the lit hole to get the 10X scoring.

And no, I would not want to look at a JJ or JIB with anything other than the friendly blue clown face (Clowns don't scare me!).

And, sometimes, the Left hole is the Right hole.......

Clown targets are the only way to go...anything else is sacrilege.

You can still get the 10x bonus by shooting the ball in the lit hole so it's not all doom and gloom if you miss it on the plunger shot.

There are other games where one shot IS more important. Games with sequences that you have to complete and one of the numbers appears only on the upper rollovers. I think in another thread Sure Shot and Buccaneer were mentioned. I am sure there are plenty of others. Those are games where, by 5th ball, if you haven't made the 1 rollover, you might as well just let the ball drain........

While we're talking JJ, I wish the upper rollovers did something other than score 50/500 points - that's my only complaint about my favorite EM of all time.

And, sometimes the Right hole IS the Left hole!! And stop calling me Shirley.

- Lt. Frank Drebin

Agreed! Sorta akin to Christine. If a machine ever speaks to me, or molests me- Im out man! Well, after a couple days, maybe a week just for research. A month tops...

Very nice looking JJ!

Ken

Swampfire, nice Jumping Jack. Mine is perfect except for the cabinet. The guy that painted yours really knew what he was doing. Maybe I'll repaint mine over the winter.

Absolutely unreal, then. Awesome.

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I bought this one for $100.00 it was in pieces and did not work, It was filthy too. it also came with the usual playfield wear. I replaced All the drops with clowns NOT bull's-eyes
It is no work of art but I have about $225.00 into it and it plays perfect. I am not the kind of guy that will put a ton of cash and 100s of hours into a game that is only worth $500-600 . I like em to look good and play well.

I hope that my membership is approved .

Brian Lenker
Madison hts, Mi
586-344-0721

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This can be done in about 45 minutes without cutting up the target cage:

Note the video is 17 minutes long, but it doesn't include pulling the target bank out.

Different strokes, I guess. I personally don't care for JJ that much and I absolutely love Ship Ahoy (AAB Buccaneer). I know most of my buddies really like Jumping Jack. I like most Wedgeheads more than most multiplayers. Among multis, my favorite is Royal Flush, followed by Big Indian (yes, I'm an outlier there), Spirit of 76, and Target Alpha. Then all the rest of the 3" games.

There are probably 20 Wedgeheads I would prefer to Royal Flush, so that's kind of my pecking order. Jacks Open, Volley, Subway, Kings and Queens, Ship Ahoy, Slick Chick, Gold Strike, Sky Jump, Top Card, Pop a Card, King of Diamonds, Sky Line are a few great Wedgies.

I have a beautifully restored one that Herb did at Fabulous Fantasies years ago and it is almost like new. It is by far my favorite EM and now also my only EM. I have noticed over the years people generally either love or hate it. I played it often as a kid so I love the game. Very challenging and as others have noted, great ball flow.

I see i will have to do a video on drop target change. I can do a bank of ten in 30 min. No dremel cutting. so easy. Check out my youtube page airaces1 on all kinds of tips on em repair. I have 38 years in pinball repair. Thanks john p

I joined this club Bought the machine already a year ago but it had been sitting untested.
Yesterday finally assembled it and tried it. I was happy surprised to see I could start a game and most things worked.
Now the shopjob has started..

I hate the cutting, please no one do that. Airaces is right, no big deal to do it right, several youtube videos out there including one that demonstrates on the huge El D/Target Alpha bank.

I also see no need to cut. if you pull the pf out and lay it flat you can work on it with ease.
I lay it on the pf glass of another machine, perfect working height.

Hi "Friends of Jack in the Box"
Pinballfever has a JitB not running: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/jack-in-the-box-wont-start
- I do have a schema, but not a pin. Would one of you tell us "where exactly is the 15 Amp Fuse" located in the pin ? Cabinet ? Near player ? Right of ... ? Left of ... ?
The 15 Amp Fuse (schema F-22): "Transformer -> Red-Wire -> 15 Amp Fuse -> Red-Black-Wire -> Bounce Switch -> Red-White-Wire -> ->

And, please: Where exactly is the Bounce-Switch located in the pin ? Yours sincerely Rolf

I didn't realize there was a group devoted just to these machines - I have both of them as projects, but now I have to thin the herd and I think these two are going to go. Contact me if you're interested in the projects, they are rough.

Didn't see this group until now and I have a JITB that I bought non working years ago as rolf_martin mentions. I've never played the game but CactusJack and rolf_martin are graciously helping me troubleshoot it in an EM Tech thread.

My goal is to first get it working then go through it cleaning and adjusting contacts, replacing coil sleeves etc and restore it. I have new drop targets, plastics, bumper caps for the game and the playfield/backglass aren't too bad I think. I'll post photos here for your review and advice.

There are parts of the playfield that are "rough" but most of the playfield seems to be in good condition making it worth fixing it up. (I'm planning to remove all the top parts then clean up the playfield with ZEP Citrus Degreaser and wax it with Carnauba but first I want to get the game "working".)

You can see the rough parts and what looks like "planking"? Also on both sides it looks like someone put red duct tape down that shouldn't be there.
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A photo of the lower playfield, looks like the paint is cracking slightly but but still seems smooth, maybe the playfield can be touched/fixed up and clear coated to protect it? Your input on restoring it is welcome and very much appreciated!
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In this one you can see the holes, looks like someone in the past screwed something in the playfield. Four holes in the middle playfield and 4 holes where the flippers are. I'd like to fill in these holes and color them to match but need your expert advice on doing this.
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"Holes" below the flippers, not sure they're supposed to be there?
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Overall shot of the playfield showing how it looks.
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Photo showing backglass condition. BTW you can see someone painted the front of the backbox and cabinet, the backbox is missing the stenciled design on the bottom.
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Cabinet.
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Bruce

Hi,

Does anyone have the complete rules for this game ?
Can you score an extra ball ? How ?

And how should the top lights work ? On my machine always the left (red) lane and hole is lit.
Should it alternate/be random every game / everytime you get all 10 targets down ?
Should the light go out when you hit it ?

Got my game finally working.. now testing if all features work correct..

And I spent more than an hour replacing a broken droptarget, was a bit happy that it was the second from the left so it wasn't too difficult to reach.
Finally got it working, played a test game, then had to lift the playfield for another issue and forgot to remove the pinball from the outhole.. which came down on the playfield and broke one of the center targets.. aaaargh don't want to waste more time replacing these droptargets (and even don't have a spare clown target left)

Does anyone have the complete rules for this game ?

You should be able to get a copy of the owners manual from the Pinball Resource. The rules for the game are pretty simple though, just knock down all the drop targets!

When you do you will get the bonus of either 100 or 1000 points per target and either a special or an extra ball and will change the drop targets from 50 points to 500 points each (the yellow 500 points when lit light will come one).

If you get the extra ball, the switch near the top of the shooter lane will turn it off when you plunge the ball.

To increase the bonus from 100 to 1000 per drop target, you need to get the ball into the lit hole at the top of the play field. This will cause the white "10x bonus when lit" light to come on. The lit hole will also score 3,000 instead of 300 when its on.

Can you score an extra ball ? How ?

To Score an extra ball in the game you need to get all 10 drop targets down while the "Shoot Again" light is lit. That light should change when the score motor turns. It should alternate between "Shoot Again" and the "Special" light. There is plug you can adjust to make special award liberal or conservative.

And how should the top lights work ? On my machine always the left (red) lane and hole is lit.

During the game either yellow or red hole should be lit. You should never see both holes lit or both holes go dark (unless in tilt mode).

The two holes and the 50 / 500 roll overs to the right and left of the drop targets should alternate as you play (I think when you hit the pop bumpers). The AX relay in your game will control this feature. Move that relay carefully by hand and you should see the lights change.

Broken clown target: Been there done that! Always remove that ball! I put a sticker under the lock bar to remind me. You can get new targets from the pinball resource.

I am at work right now, so I can check more on on how the game works when I get home tonight if you have more questions.

Rolf, the bottom holes below the flippers should have nickel-plated wire that sits on the playfield. Designed as an anti-cheat so the ball does not easily bounce back into play from below the flippers. As for the holes in the middle, yes, I would fill and color match. Duct tape is a creative idea for the area up top that gets hammered from the constant kick out hole wear. I would touch up as best as possible then clear all to protect. There are several good resources on the web for this type work. Cliffy did one a few years ago with Varathane clear (I also use) that demonstrates what can go wrong (color shift, chemical reaction) here's the link to his efforts: http://www.passionforpinball.com/jjresto.htm

Lastly, Melamine foam (Magic Eraser) and 91% alcohol will do the best job of getting the deep down dirt out.

http://www.pinballrebel.com/pinball/cards/

Select Gottlieb on the left. Then scroll down to Jack in the Box (or Jumping Jack if that is what you have).

MikeO: thanks, but I was looking for more detailed info (ie now what makes the red/yellow hole alternate)

zeke_world: many thanks !
OK I've tested some more. The A relay underneath the playfield will correctly let the other color lamps show when I push it.
The AX relay in the backbox switches between red/yellow when I manually set it.
Problem is that this doesn't alternate (almost) during the game. Until now it was always on red.

Now I set it to yellow by manually switching the AX relay. After hitting all drops it got to red again and then stayed there, no matter how many times all drops went down again. Seems either the scoremotor or bonusunit under the playfield controls it ?
I checked the schematics but can't find what controls it (don't have much experience reading this type of schematic)..

Is there a switch on the match relay cam? This is a very common place to drive an alternating relay. And this AS style relay is prone to getting gummed up which will leave your alternating function non operational.

I don't have my Jumping Jack set up at the moment.

stashyboy, many thanks for the advice! (I think this post was meant for my questions)

The red/yellow hole lights are controlled by a make/break switch on the Alternating relay (A).

The Alternating relay is controlled by a switch on the 00-90 Unit relay (AX).

The AX relay is an 'AS' style 'mini stepper'. Chance are good that it's gummed up and not able to step freely, so may need a rebuild/cleaning/lube. But it's activated by a switch closing on the M relay (so whenever 100 points are scored), or by switch P3E on the Player Unit closing.

I got it working ! The AX relay indeed needed cleaning, a few minutes in my ultrasonic cleaner and partly disassembling it did the trick.
Many thanks everyone. Glad to see it's now completely working like it should.

Great - glad you got it sorted out. Enjoy the game.

Is there a resource where I can get new ones or do I have to make new ones? I'm not sure PB Resource would have these wires.

I would check with PBR first, if you have other parts you need. If he doesn't have a set, many on this forum will have spares from games they have parted. The spacing looks to be standard about 3" long.

I have two of these games. One is fully-restored with a clear coated playfield - it's amazingly fast and fun. The other one is all original and in line to be restored. IMO one of the best EMs made

Nice! Now finish working on it so you can knock those clowns down!

Make sure you clean out the drop target assembly so they 'snap' down when you hit them. Mine had gunk on the back of the switches that score the 50/500 points. Don't want any sticky clowns! Also helps to have the pop bumpers switches adjusted so the bumper's 'pop' with the slightest contact with ball.