I was just thinking the same thing. Most likely a relative.

That's not odd, Blackout is an absolutely fantastic game, one of my favorites. Yours looks great

Nothing to see here, just an aluminum foil backglass and cardboard coindoor.

pin1 (resized).jpeg

Might be trying to keep out the alien waves.? Similar to aluminum cap.

Needs one of those metal locking bars across the coin door.

Good to see its got a coin slot…

They killed a fairly decent game for it too.

Very lucky indeed.

0613220945 (resized).jpg

0613220954 (resized).jpg

0613220954a (resized).jpg

I really wish people would learn what connectors are for. Apparently the easiest way for them to remove the head was cut the wires! At least the color coding and lots of shrink tubing will help fix it.

motordome (resized).jpg

Best orbit shot ever!

Hokus Pokus.

Maybe not. If the appearance of the cab could be an indication of the rest of the machine, it might have been completely wasted play field wise.

33c7551f88c998f0f75c5a8d4422521b8b0edeae (resized).jpg

i gotta horror story for ya

PXL_20220617_040311293 (resized).jpg

...could also be comedy, i suppose

...Fixed their typo.

d6da35844ea88e037a6d5f7850fadb819a0a0914 (resized).jpg

Went to an auction today, 90 miles round trip. Selling a Bally Star Trek and Gottlieb Qbert's Quest which is a rare widebody. I was expecting parts machines till I got there. This was the picture from the listing:

700941798_zm (resized).jpeg

I would not of taken them if free. So rotted the bottoms fell out and components were hanging by the wires. The Star Trek was so rotted that the display board latches were frozen and I almost ripped the head off pulling on them just to see if the transformer was there. Multiple mouse nests on the PF, met the brother of the deceased and these were stored in a leaky shed.

20220625_120550 (resized).jpg

20220625_120553 (resized).jpg

20220625_120618 (resized).jpg

Yikes. I’ve always wanted to try a Qbert’s Quest in good shape. Looks interesting.

Ugh, that's a shame. Such a hard game to find. I can't imagine that there's more than just a small handful of examples floating around.

Yeah too bad, however would have been worth getting the rare Q-Bert’s pop bumper caps and backglass in any condition. Also playfield plastics were probably good too. I came across a Gottlieb Black Hole one time that had been sitting on an open porch for years. It was really bad as well, but I basically saved a lot of parts. I just took the playfields out and some of the boards actually worked too. The cabinet was rotted, but surprisingly nice playfields, playfield glass, lockdown bar, etc…

I posted this in the Blackout group but it also deserves to be here, I picked this up for 60.00 even though I had 3 pinball friends with me at the time and they said don't touch it leave it there. The cabinet, head and playfield are trashed but I am going to save it. I have already found a replacement cabinet, head and a playfield that's good enough for a Hard Top and have tumbled all the metal parts and dumped the post and other odds and ends in the ultrasonic cleaner. The backglass and boards look decent but my plan is to get it back together for now and next year start a high end restore on it once my new worksop is done.
Jeff

bo1 (resized).jpegbo5 (resized).jpegbo2 (resized).jpegbo4 (resized).jpegBO19 (resized).jpegBO20 (resized).jpegBO21 (resized).jpegBO22 (resized).jpegbo playfield (resized).jpeg

Wow that backglass looks really good! Is that the one that was on the game? Nice save there

I would have put on the paint mask, some gloves, and loaded up ( I will allow I spent some time growing up on my grandparents who raised livestock, where shoving shit was part of the job ). And then cleaned it up.

Only 884 units produced !

Assume the cabinet is trash. Build another cab. Assume the cab can be cleaned up. Replacing a bottom in a cabinet is perhaps a 4 hour affair---at the most.

Here is a guy who is looking for Qbert's Quest plastics.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/qbert-s-quest-plastics

I was at the warehouse clean-out 2 winters ago where a Game Plan Cyclopes was sitting with no play field glass and 3 inches of cat shit covering the entire play field. The guy who had the warehouse deal kept the Cyclopes. The play field cleaned up nicely and was going to need only minor touch up.

Sometimes there is gold under all the shit.

Star Trek ? 17,000 units produced. Not really worth the time. But a lockdown bar and receiver have some value.

Yeah that's the backglass that was on the machine, I knew it was still worth more in parts than the 60.00 but I will have more fun rebuilding it than parting it out
Jeff

And sometimes there is more shit under shit.

Did the Q*Berts Quest sell?

Personal opinion - please don't hardtop that second playfield. It's in far better shape than many, and just needs minor touch-up to be really nice.

Richard

Sometimes.

I'd by them for $60 and strip them down for every last nut and bolt.

That play field would restore and clear coat nicely.
Or for a little over $100.00, a play field protector could be installed. I like play field protectors. I have made 3 of my own. They smooth out the bumps and cockeyed inserts. They play fast. And they are available for Blackout.

https://www.playfield-protectors.com/Home/Details/rAT3vCJbr0eDNORcmmnPKQ?catgoryid=22&name=Blackout%20%7C%201980%20%7C%20Playfield%20Protector

I have one on my White Water. It came with it, always wondered where it came! I will be ordering for 2 of my pins. I can’t find one for Superman.

These needed seen to be believed. The rust on the components under the PF's was extreme. I found the head keys and pulled the BG on Star Trek. Half the ink immediately fell off. The display board latches on Star Trek were so rusted they couldn't be moved. I felt the head was going to tear off as I yanked on them. Even the lock down bar was wasted. The lock down bar release lever was frozen. Plus my machine tear down kit doesn't include a Haz-Mat suit.

I still would have paid $60, I have plenty of PPE

Kudos then. If you would of driven 10+ hours roundtrip to salvage them, my hat is off to you. I was 2 hours roundtrip and that seemed like a total waste of gas and time.

Isochronic_Frost confirmed games sold and shipped out of state. I pity the buyer who bought these sight unseen.

Here's a fun one... This Dancing Lady don't dance no more. Probably salvageable with some work, but make sure to keep that dust mask on, that's a lot of mouse shit...

iuSwhhi (resized).pngR4x9bBm (resized).png4fxxl44 (resized).pngkDShiaY (resized).png

1983 was the dimmest time for pinball when Qbert was made. The highest selling game that year was Williams FP II at 3,400 units. Qbert is rare because they didn't sell. No one cared after the 1982 video to pin game crossover, Bally Baby Pac-Man which hit 7K units and was the best seller Bally had to it's demise with Williams.

"Build another cab."

Why? To save a rusted out POS whose highest price ever sold was $4K when near mint? With a roached out PF with mouse piss and nests for what? The satisfaction of restoring a "rare" game nobody wanted when new and now a select few want?

Reality rules.

You would be surprised at how many people seem to want that title these days.

I could see someone spending big money on a restored example.

It's not like you would be manufacturing a whole line of them.

But I get that not everyone wants to tackle a game that needs that much help.

How it started.

1d73b436f844e49dfd4c4bd8be92d52a34af663b (resized).jpg

How it ended 90 days later.

I'd try and save Qbert for the hell of it.

2dff402f13c68f59f7905b81dcf2d42e373ece9d (resized).jpg

37538611ef2d21c6c1a4a15d76db55c85fc13af6 (resized).jpg

a464eaefb4bf6e9241bf3c427e3e7a68236c0abc (resized).jpg

pintastic_2021_12 (resized).jpg

So that is 2 playfields I've had hanging on my wall or destined for my wall that people have brought back to life. I'm still amazed at how many people thrown these out or just want to get rid of them. My Space Shuttle wall hanger and Lethal Weapon 3 wallhanger are now destined to go back into games when people are ready. My old Attack From Mars overlay isn't finished by the recievee but is going into a homebrew. I'll keep throwing stuff up on my wall people are getting rid of but have a personal rule that if people will actually use them they are theirs at cost.

Long story short... never throw out pinball stuff as someone is always looking for it.

20220627_053350 (resized).jpg

I'm sure of that, pinball people gravitate what is considered "rare" even if they never played the title and just look at production numbers. Good for them. Hercules is "rare" but horrible to play. Gottlieb's last EM's are "rare" but many are crappy players. But rarity makes them desirable to a certain group.

Bally EM Evel and Mata Hari are "rare" and they are unique because they are so few from the SS versions.

Qbert was a poor playing game and even though "rare" isn't a game you'll see PF's from CPR (unless Stu owns one). I will be proved wrong when someone ponies up to have HEP do one.

There was a Q*bert's Quest at FPF about 5yrs ago. It was fun to play a few games on that strange figure 8 layout and get the hang of saving the ball with those flopped flippers all the way at the bottom.

Fun? its OK. Do I need one? enjoy a few plays at a show and keep waking.

Example video-

Lots of people buy games for the theme alone, not just because they are/aren't a good player or are/aren't rare.

Lots of people want Gottlieb Mario Bros just because of the theme, even if it's not a wicked good playing game.

Different collectors are interested in different things.

Yes, some collectors go bananas over rare EM versions of SS games, while others have little interest in them.

The Galloping Ghost Pinball in Brookfield, Il has one. Played it last november.

https://gallopingghostpinball.com/games

They must not have updated their page - they had more pins than listed last trip there.

^This- fun for a few games, but then time to move on.

Saw on f book

9DA8358E-2168-4E5D-82B1-144C0C6046D9 (resized).jpeg

94DF33DC-C09D-496B-8818-81DC09A79DA6 (resized).jpeg

Innovative

"*Not recommended for households with small children"

Richard

I like the "key to back" wire hook with the missing key. And the kitchen cabinet grade magnetic catch is a nice touch.

Before the dishwasher:
22A62B08-9FED-45AD-A296-CCB86E92BF60.jpeg
After! Look at that!
E4DE8B42-E863-4AED-8150-56EED102A421.jpeg
Dang…D9CC2F2A-5AB5-4082-BEEC-56662B55EBD4.jpeg

(Doesn’t really matter, I’m gonna use this wire to recreate a different harness on a scratch build so these connectors weren’t ever going to be used).

I know most pinheads don’t like pinball coffee tables (I kinda dig the idea of its not saveable) but this one is worse… the pinshelf?
Bingo games aren’t my thing, but a shelf?

seattle.craigslist.org link

E328ED34-E869-4F97-B7A9-21EF9543B5D3 (resized).jpeg

At least there's a place to put your Bingo cards and chips