I have only ever seen one atari, a Superman, and it didn't work so I didn't get to play it. So fairly rare these days and there isn't much info on how to repair them.

I can't think of one i played that I liked.......

I need to start making threads about "How Stern isnt like Atari/Capcom" or "I only play Atari/Capcom and High Roller Casino and Nascar. Also gotta have the "The build quality of the Atari/Capcom." Could be a new trend.

They're often in beautiful cosmetic shape! That counts as a plus, right? Even though that's from them crapping out right outta the box and then just sitting for two decades.

I love superman, if I found a fully working one I would be tempted, but like sealclubber said they are rare which means harder to find parts, less people that know repair etc..

I need to get my Space riders up and going soon

--Jeff

They are not too hard to work on. They are different from the more "standard" pins but once you understand them, it is easy to fix them.

I need a lock-down bar for my Airborne Avenger, I have to keep moving one between two of my machines, so I can not have them both setup at the same time If anyone out there has a spare they would like to sell let me know.

I may go for an Atari someday after mastering the repairs on Bally -35 era and Williams Sys 4-7. The art work on the Atari machines is great. I have to say I haven't really played them enough to know if they are fun to play. I have played some Superman before and I enjoyed it though it's a bit slow playing widebody. Based on the ratings it sounds like I should try to play a Space Riders and see if it's fun.

When I started collecting I managed to get all but two (Superman
and Hercules). Even had one of the '4X4' protypes. Artwork was great.
Gameplay was not. Still have a Middle Earth just to say I have one
Atari but space is at a premium so won't be getting another one.
For those that may not be aware, everything is unique. Electronics,
solenoids, switches. Plan on getting another one for parts which
isn't all that difficult to find.
Steve

I keep wanting to get into making replacement boards for Atari stuff, but I'm just not good enough at doing the redesign work that's needed. The hard to read styling of the original schematics don't make things any easier for me either. Makes me a sad panda that I can't.

Hell, the first diagnostic board I made was designed so I could work on a Superman, so I do have a bit of a soft spot for them.

I played a few Atari pins back when they first came out, but compared to the then newer Bally and Stern pins, let's just say , no one was plunking down quarters claiming ' dibs' on the next game. ~SpOoKy

I've had two Atari Superman pins. Fixed both, sold both. Sure, they are a bit different, and some parts may be hard to come by, but same goes for so many other pins.

I was tempted to pull the trigger on a proto ATARI Middle Earth at Allentown 2 years ago. It looked and played like brand new, for $700. (It sold)
I actually liked how it played- very different and challenging. Superman is the same way, it's a very fun older pin to play.

I sometimes see the same Time2000 for sale and think that I might go buy it.

The best one:

RR.gif

I recently tried to fire up my Middle Earth again, and now it just sits there, and blows a fuse. Ugh. It used to blink the lights & at least work the flippers, but it's fallen apart by itself a bit.

I've got two Atari's in the collection, Superman and Hercules and I love them both. Also have a RR translight in a light box hanging on the wall, it only took about 15+ years to get my hands on one. Cool stuff.

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

I have a Middle Earth. I fixed it to the point it was playable and man is it a boring game. Great to look at but BLAH.

Anyone wants to buy my Middle Earth here in Columbus, OH make me an offer! I have a 2nd populated playfield for it as well.

i will speak for superman - i had my playfield clearcoated - raised the rear legs and lowered the front - lastly put a power ball in it. it's a great great game this way - super fast and challenging. it will not leave my collection. it is the most played of about 40 pins.

i have a spare set of boards that work - i think i will sell them someday as it's stupid to keep them as backups.

i suggest people try a superman that is set up right. i had middle earth and agree it was slow and boring - but a good first game for children because they only sell for about $400 working.

thanks ed

There was a populated middle earth playfield on ebay a month or so ago with lights wired to a 110 power cord. It's a very cool looking playfield, aka nice wall art.

The only one that I have had at the house is Superman. I really like it. It is also very advanced for the time and very reliable. I have one here right now next to two other Steve Ritchie games Hyperball and ACDC Premium.

anyone ever play an Atarians?

I'm happy to say that I no longer own my Airborne Avenger. Only nice thing I have to say about it is that it was easy to move out.

The op I worked for had me scrap two Airborne Avengers. I save one of the backglasses though......

I would love to get the Road Runner pin, but only one was made.

IPDB says two units and and the pictures look like it may have been a decent game...

http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=3517

Backglass.jpg Playfield.jpg

I guess its all in who you know, or maybe it was being in the right place at the right time......LOL.

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

I guess its all in who you know, or maybe it was being in the right place at the right time......LOL.

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

RR is an awesome looking pin, and the layout looks fun as well. lt's too bad with todays technology that a game like this couldn't be duplicated...
Atari, you fail for not releasing this. (l'd like to know some of the reasons it was scrapped)

Well, you can play RR using VPinMame: http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=1544

Haven't installed it yet to play but looks decent.

index.jpg

It sure helped that Atari was owned by Warner Bros./ Communications at the time.

All those early Atari pinballs suffer from crappy hardware design (boards, power supply, displays, etc).

What would be nice is if someone could refit classic Bally hardware boardsets and power supply in these machines and put them in the backbox where they ought to be.

Or maybe somebody could do some new boards using raspberry pi/ardino setup like this guy did with a Bally Fireball home pinball:

That's a neat design feature in the Road Runner machine there, a spot target that can only be hit by catching the ball on the flipper and having it roll up the inlane to it. I don't recall seeing that on any other machine.

I also like the messenger balls behind the drop targets.

I've been trying to find out how many Middle Earth were made. Is there any record of production numbers at all?

I played a Roadrunner at Pinball Fantasy in Vegas in 96, it was a good playing game, a real shame it didn't get produced. Superman is undoubtedly the best production game they put out, I know where a bunch of other Atari's are sitting, have thought about getting one just to say I have one, always thought Middle Earth looked interesting with it's offset double flippers, but doesn't sound like it's a very good player. Any others besides Superman that are decent??

I was about to make almost the same post. My Superman is cleared, is super clean, back legs up to max, front low (it looks the way it should) and works perfect. Flippers are strong and have no problem making the left shot up to the bonus rollover. When set up and working right, this game is fast. Really freakin' fast. I think that too often no one knows how to fix this game, so it languishes in disrepair, then people complain they're slow. It's also all about hitting targets, and is so challenging that I think so many ops and casual owners have it set to slow it down. I know when I picked mine up it had almost no incline.

An all-time favorite and so different than anything before it.

I used to own a Space Riders, gameplay was just ok, beautiful backglass.

PC040059.JPG

I've also heard that using a TZ Powerball can increase the speed on the playfield. I picked one up to try out on my Time 2000, but haven't actually put it in the game yet. I'm hoping that between raising the back legs and using a lighter ball, that it will make these Atari pins a bit more fun to play.

Too bad the only pinball machines Atari made were wide body types.

Mr. Pinball 2013 price guide says 1,108 were known to be produced based on published numbers, but is possible as many as 6,554 were produced. Not sure why the big range.

i just repaired an atari space riders for a guy. the game was very clean, and he got it for free, so it was worth a shot. there were issues with the cpu board, but i was able to repair it. it took a while to figure out how they operated, its different than the other makers. they did offer excellent documentation and from that i was able to figure out how the board operated, and then repair it. that being said, i played it and its a good game. not great, but there are lots of bally SS game that i would barely rate as good. luckily, it didnt need any parts, other than some common IC's for the board. if i had needed other parts, then who knows. might never have gotten fixed.

When Atarians came out I thought it was the coolest game ever. Great colorful artwork, widebody playfield, computer generated sounds. Hell, even the coin slots were cool.

Actually, I think it was just my endearment of the Atari 2600 that allowed me to instantly like Atari pins. Middle Earth was another nice looking game and its unique playfield layout was enticing, but as barakandl said, gameplay is BLAH.

Right after high school a friend and I started buying cheap pins. We bought a Space Riders -- another good looking game with its mirrored backglass. But if ME is BLAH, SR is DOUBLE-BLAH. Couldn't sell it fast enough.

From what I've played, Superman is the best. Wouldn't mind playing one again some day.

Someone will say that about JJP one day.

I love Atari artwork. Very nostalgic to me. Would love to have a book with all their artwork from the 70's to the mid 80's.

played middle earth. fell asleep between the ball movements. played a herculees, didnt think much of it. played a superman a couple of times and it was ok, but still slow.