I'm debating grabbing a set of plastics for mine, even though I only need one sling and one ball guide plastic because they have a crack...guess it can't hurt to have backups

which plastic? Don't tell me a lane guide or slingshot?!?

I could live with that, considering the one in there now is perfect, and I cant ever really imagine that plastic getting wrecked by a ball strike...

Thank you.

hmmm, I wonder if this is why mine has been acting up recently...

Every so often, from a full plunge, which I rarely even do at this point, the ball will ricochet off something and go right into the pops instead of climbing the spiral.

I suppose I may have to tear mine down this weekend and take a peak. I need to replace a bumper skirt in there as well (similarly to yours). Fun times ahead.

I would look at the standard wpc "stuff" (connectors being crispy, raised inserts, etc.)

Make sure the ramp flap works, that the visor goes up and down smoothly, that the pops aren't hammered...it's a pretty basic playfield, really.

The cabinets are notorious for fade, if that's a big deal to you. Replacement plastics, the mini playfield, and decals are all currently available to freshen everything up. I've been debating with myself to grab spare for a while now while they are around.

Mine has been basically flawless since I've had it, the only issue being a flipper opto-interuptor being "out of sync" with the other (the plastic spring "lost" its memory, and there was an ever so slight delay between releasing a flipper button and the flipper dropping). I'd hardly count that as a game specific flaw, though.

All in all, it's one of my favorite games; a real, perennial, challenge, that never seems to get old.

Mine has done this once in a while; you go for a full-ish plunge skill shot, and maybe once every 7th or 8th time, it will bauble around at the entrance to the spiral. Made me nervous at first as your sending the ball at top speed into the ramp only to have it go "CLUNK!", but there is rubber and posts there, so I'm not particularly worried, as I am a short-plunge/playfield validation player anyways. I think I may go for a full plunge every 10 games or so just so I don't get credit dot from not hitting the switch...

The next time I shop it out, I'll probably get it tuned perfect; I just don't use that "feature" of the game enough to warrant it at this point.

Not home to test it, but I'm pretty sure this happens in multiplayer games, the scenario is such: player one qualifies and locks a single ball, then drains. Player two then qualifies the locks and the visor lowers, but doesn't kick out the previously locked ball because there is already one in play. Player 2 then has to shoot the saucer or the available eye for a lock; if the saucer is shot, it will count as a lock, and then kick it back out; if the available eye is shot, then one of the eyes will eject a ball.

You can also get some interesting things to happen by locking a ball in a one player game (on ball one), draining, then restarting the game by holding the start button with a ball in the shooter lane.

Those are the two ways I've seen the above described scenario happen...

It's also a coveted tournament machine, that when set up PAPA style, might be one of the best for competition from the DMD era.

And who doesn't like saxophone music?!?!

Suffice to say, mine isn't going anywhere soon.

Forgot to say, looks like you have either a very early production machine, or a protogame. The inserts above the keno card are color matched to their corresponding columns, and the ramp entrance sign is the blue version. If the light boards are red, its a proto. IMO doesn't increase the "value" of the game any, but just a cool difference. There seems to be a bit of confusion with the production runs of JB, so it's kind of neat that yours is different from "most" of the others.

I got one a few weeks ago; before then? Can't really remember...

Getting an MK3 hint in casino run (holding the flippers at the run up to it) has been an equally rare occurrence, as I think I've only had it 2 or 3 times in all the years I've had JB.

Sneaking a ball into the visor as it is closing (Obviously, only during multiball, as that is the only time you can score "Jackbot!(s)" (come to think of it, I've never tested with a plunged jackbot or a jackbot scored during casino run with one jackbot left to start Mega Visor to see if the game will immediately go into Mega Visor in single ball play, or if it will eject another ball into the shooter lane, hmmm...)) at the start of Mega Visor. The visor will act as a "newton ball", and if you hit the visor with the snuck ball behind it into an eye socket, it scores all of your chest hits in one shot!

So essentially, yes, haha.

God I love this game!

Cashier is definitely "backhandable", but not a traditional backhand from a cradle. As jibmums stated, you need to do a "rolling flick" so that the ball is either rolling up or down (but in full contact) with an actuated (flipper in the "up" position) left flipper, and then quickly let off and hit the flipper again when the ball is close to the end of the flipper. Hard to explain, but easier to execute than it sounds.

The real question, is can you backhand the casino scoop? I can about once in a 100 shots. And for perspective, I can backhand the band member shot on GNR 100%, the DocOcc shot on Spiderman 100%, etc...

Huh, and I thought I was the only one, haha.

This game aliases up like crazy, and never goes down...

I'm guessing that was an hour long game, nice work!

I would have done the same, as my GC is somewhere around 8.5 bil.

I'll go a few months and disable extra balls, then go a few months and enable them.

I've only hit megavisor a handful of times, but have yet to actually complete it, or hit the mega jackpot.

uhh, mine is opaque...

Your talking about the visor stand up bank targets, right?

Jack*Bot and Pinbot are the greatest literal example, that code and gameplay make or break a game...

I am ambivalent towards PB; it just never clicked for me. I get it, I get why people like. I just never have.

JB, on the other hand, is in my top 10. Great theme, music, gameplay...even the story behind it's production is interesting.

JB is a masterpiece, and in my humble opinion, one of the greatest competition games ever made.

PB? Meh.

I'm a semi tournament player (remember those?), and I always go for the short plunge/playfield validation exploit. About every fifty games or so, I'll go for a vortex plunge just to make sure the switches get hit before they trigger a credit dot.

When playing casually with non-pinheads, I'll go for the vortex skill shot, as opposed to the fast visor open.

Was bored, and tired of looking at the faded cabinet artwork.

I think it came out surprisingly good, and took about an hour and half per side

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Good ol' fashioned name brand Sharpies the Mrs. had laying around. I didn't feel guilty doing it, as this one is an above average, but solidly player's condition game, and I just couldn't justify throwing on a set of Radcals.

I figured if it came out terrible, I could just wipe it down with 91% isopropyl, and only be out a few hours and a couple of beers, haha.

I've redecaled a cabinet before; roughly an hour to pull the playfield, rails, buttons, and legs; roughly 10 hours with a heat gun and scraper (albeit the original vinyl was brittle and only came off in small patches, I've heard people here say they have had it pull off in sheets, more or less), a couple hours sanding flat any of the residue I couldn't get off with heat and the scraper; an hour of prep wiping down any sanding residue; an hour or so meticulously measuring the decal placement and alignment; 1.5 hours placing the decals and flatbarring any bubbles, then an hour or so putting the rails, playfield, and legs back in and on the game. It was extremely tedious, and the replacement decals were a bitch to line up correctly and trim.

Hence, this player's condition JB gets the "good enough" Sharpie treatment. It came out MUCH better than I expected, as Sharpies apparently match the pantone colors WMS seemingly used on most games of the era. Would I do this on an original MM, MB, TOTAN, or other higher end game? Hell no!

From my understanding, you can with Radcals, the material is apparently much thicker and has a "backing" material of it's own so you don't have to get everything perfectly level; oem decals are thin, and show high and low spots. I mean maybe if your existing cabinet and decals are perfectly smooth you could, but then you'd still have to worry about the lower decals "bleeding" their image through the new decals if they didn't line up EXACTLY, and the chances of the decals matching perfectly are literally almost non existent.

If you want to see the way a master does it, check out the HEP thread to see the way he preps a cabinet for decaling.

That's as designed; If you have one keno square lit, 24 squares lit, the visor open with a ball locked...doesn't matter; it resets back to "zero progress" after ANY multiball is played, no matter how it is awarded/earned. Hence why I never intentionally go for slot machine if I have multiball ready, or close to it (as it would be "wasted"), and I'm certainly not trying to cheat it if I accidently do.

Did I ever mention how much I LOVE this game?!?

There’s a couple bugs related to multiball starts, but only during multiplayer games that I can tell…I’d be VERY interested to see what else there is/was, and what was changed.

That said, JB is about the “perfect” tourney game ever…you just have to do “the things”…simple, right?

Have I ever mentioned how much I love this game?

The nieces and nephews were over the other day, and when I went to shut the games off for the night, I noticed JB had a ball in the shooter lane and was still in mid game, so I played it out.

Hit the game saucer a few times but can’t remember the order of the games, upon hitting it for the slot machine, I “think” I may have tapped the xtraball button once or twice, and initially thought I had cheated to instant multiball (based on the font used), but instead it was a “SPECIAL”. Can’t remember the last time I had that, if ever.

looks great!!!

Care to sell the old plastic bagatelle playfield?

Appreciate the offer, but Hoaky already hooked me up with his old one! (mine had the same scratch from a previous owner's shoddy repair of a pop-bumper/cap with a drywall screw ).

Inspired by HoakyPoaky above, I’m giving my old JB a minor restore this winter to freshen everything up. By any chance, does anyone know the part number for red plastic mini posts (and the associated hardware) for the bagatelle mini-play field?

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-8044-9

Found ‘em!

Anybody know if these arejust glued down, or is there accompanying hardware?

Just a #6 3/8 screw?

Haha, yeah, I’m just figuring this out, as I start the shopping list. Hoaky graciously sent me his old bagatelle, and I’m working on getting it populated. I guess regular #6-3/8 sheet metal screws is it for the new mini posts.