I was curious about that. I have a few Bally’s with this type of “glass in frame”, were all of these supposed to be tempered from the factory? Some glass appears wavy if you get down eye level and look across with the lock down bar area, thanks for any updates. I assumed they were all tempered but maybe not?

Big Ben’s actually a fun game, I’ve had a couple nice examples over the years. I always enjoyed the simple yet open playfield and actually liked Big Ben better than Triple Action and Wild Card that I also had. Just wish Big Ben had a 100,000 light, (although it was difficult to rollover). The pop bumpers seemed so strong

Wow! That backglass looks actually good! I’ve always been amazed at that era Bally backglass how well they hold up. Wizard, Hi Deal, Odds & Evens, and a few more, yet Bally Champ didn’t hold up??

That spinner is from a Williams Aztec, odd that was used as a replacement.

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…

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

Actually, the last of the Gottlieb EM’s are the best players in my opinion. Games made after 1976 were very fast from the factory and the rare games were even better. EM’s such as Strange World, Cleopatra/Pyramid, Sinbad/Eye of the Tiger, Close Encounters, Hit The Deck, TKO/Knockout SS, Space Walk/Count Down SS, Volley, Jungle Queen/Jungle Princess, Vulcan/Fire Queen, Jet Spin/Super Spin, etc… all great games to me.

Yes, anyone that’s been in this hobby a long time knows games once we’re very cheap and not very collectible. Pinball expo in Chicago once had a US Amusement Auction on the last day of the show, it was very interesting and fun to attend. In 1994 we brought some games to sell in the auction and most games went under $100. Ms. Pac-Man went for $80, Bally Supersonic $90, Gameplan Sharp Shooter $65, and a like new Premier Hollywood Heat, (which was only eight years old at the time), sold for $265. Bought a Bally Kiss at that time for less than $200.

There were other fees and taxes, but from what I remember it wasn’t all that much. Maybe 15% or less? Whatever it was, most all the games still went dirt cheap.

Yes, but I feel Paragon is on the verge of being the next high-end Bally of that era, just like Fathom and Centaur. It’s easily the best wide-body the company produced by and has a huge following. I wouldn’t buy that one for $400, but just saying I see how people might want too.

This talk about playfield glass is interesting where I’ve heard people say it just explodes while removing from a machine. As much as that sucks, I’ve been fortunate (knock on wood) to have never had or seen this happen. However, I’ve seen some people remove playfield glass where they’ve slid the glass down to where it’s just few inches or so left in the game to get a better grip and the glass is really bowed down for a moment. I’m thinking is this where or how it breaks??? I saw the unfortunate pics of the Pirates and looked like the glass left in the game was right there near the lockdown bar. I’m just curious if it does just explode what causes this?

Yes, I did have this happen to me one time when I was first getting into the hobby with one of my games, after that I’m always nervous when people set tempered glass down on the concrete floors. I couldn’t believe how this was constantly done at replay fx and they actually even had some explode like this! Yet the repair guys always stood the glass on end next to the game on the concrete floors.