Don't leave out Dragonfist from this rare Stern discussion now.
Quoted from pinlawyer:Had a 1981 Iron Maiden. Rare for a reason. Beautiful game, but man, it sucked donkey balls!
LOL....Donkey Balls!! I don't hear much mention of Dragon Fist. That is a cool game.
I've grown to love Viper, and play it more than any other classic Stern in my lineup (which has 10 classic Sterns). The rules are great, the shots are great, if simple, and the center turret seems at first like a stupid novelty (think Hot Hand), but grows to become a fun challenge. The only part of Viper I find less than appealing is the sound.
13EBBC9B-90C1-440A-8971-6F31FB461EA6 (resized).jpeg21A976DB-28E5-4576-97D7-D0E76F1D41F6 (resized).jpeg29DF9120-350E-4765-8E29-7195FEB4A1E3 (resized).jpeg6CBF5C35-C82B-4311-951D-B39A03B20D63 (resized).jpeg
Quoted from pinlawyer:I've grown to love Viper, and play it more than any other classic Stern in my lineup (which has 10 classic Sterns). The rules are great, the shots are great, if simple, and the center turret seems at first like a stupid novelty (think Hot Hand), but grows to become a fun challenge. The only part of Viper I find less than appealing is the sound.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
Nice collection! If I'm ever in Phoenix I'll give you a buzz and you'll have to invite me over to play. State law.
Nice Classic Stern lineup you've got there. =)
I'm tempted to set up all 10 of my Classic Sterns for a Stern only lineup for a while since I own a bunch of Ballys and Gottliebs from the same era and usually end up throwing them in the mix.
If I did set up all 10, it sure would be a sweet looking and playing lineup:
star gazer, quicksilver, nineball, f2k, ALI, quicksilver, big game, stars, stingray, seawitch. =)
mitch. there was a quicksilver for sale here in sask recently for $2500 cdn. was on kijiji for a couple weeks.
my buddy has a gazer. besides a nice bg i cant believe they are worth crazy bucks. gameplay is meh. he has room for 13 games and sg is #14 so he keeps it in the back and uses for storage. if it wasnt a gift to his his wife he would have sold it years ago.
Quoted from dothedoo:Two Quicksilvers?
Yes. 2 of them. One will be for sale soon. =)
Quoted from pinlawyer:I've grown to love Viper, and play it more than any other classic Stern in my lineup (which has 10 classic Sterns). The rules are great, the shots are great, if simple, and the center turret seems at first like a stupid novelty (think Hot Hand), but grows to become a fun challenge. The only part of Viper I find less than appealing is the sound.
What, no Nugent? I hope to purchase a Dragonfist at some point but I feel I will have to eventually trade to acquire that one.
I think classic Stern machines are unique but there is no way that I could justify owning more than a couple of them at any given time.
Had a Nugent....restored it up...played it for a month..sold it. Very few early Sterns make the grade I've found. Stars is THE shining star of the early Sterns. =)
Quoted from terrapinmark:[quoted image][quoted image]
Nice! Send out some update pics as you progress through the restoration! I think you should keep the bumper sticker on it! ha.
Quoted from DRDAVE:The wide body Sterns were hit and miss.
Great: Cheetah, Big Game, F2K
Not so great: Iron Maiden, Viper, Split Second
But hey so were the Ballys.
Great: Paragon, Embryon, Hot Doggin
Not so great: Future Spa, Space Invaders
I remember playing Split Second at Pinball Expo back in 2004 and it would put you to sleep. It was that bad. Not long after I bought a few NOS wired Split Second playfields at nearly giveaway prices. Someone asked me if I was going to make a Split Second from parts? I said, "Hell no, but look at all the flipper assemblies and drop target parts!". This was way before anyone had thought about making any repro parts for classic Stern.
I really wanted to like Viper, had a chance to buy a real nice one years ago but I just couldn't get into it. I almost bought the game for the backglass alone, that is one sweet backglass.
Quoted from BrewersArcade:Sold my non working Stargazer in original condition (old rubbers, some wear) for $2000 last year
Wow I just looked at my purchase history and I bought mine 4 years ago for the same price in the same condition (except that it was working).
I felt the price was a little high for an unrestored example, but they were getting scooped up so quickly I didn't want to miss out. I had let 2 or 3 others slip through my fingers.
If I were still looking for one I'd be ecstatic to pick it up for $2K. That was a good deal.
Quoted from DRDAVE:Had a Nugent....restored it up...played it for a month..sold it. Very few early Sterns make the grade I've found. Stars is THE shining star of the early Sterns. =)
Trident is another good early Stern. Pretty easy with no drain on the left, but it's a good layout and ruleset.
Quoted from DRDAVE:Had a Nugent....restored it up...played it for a month..sold it. Very few early Sterns make the grade I've found. Stars is THE shining star of the early Sterns.
There's your problem right there, you restored it. Classic Sterns don't play the way they should unless they are original. Restoring them lets all that "magic" out of the machine.
Quoted from BrianBannon:I remember playing Split Second
Played at pinburgh last year and I thought it was pretty fun. Would like to find one again.
Quoted from terrapinmark:[quoted image][quoted image]
To Terrapinmark.
"Hi Joe, I am the guy who bought the game from you/Mike F. for $2K. It is getting a high end restore currently. Will be finished in about a month. Interestingly (I live in Ohio now) I grew up in the Maryland/Northern Virginia area. The game you sold had a Time Out Amusements sticker in the cabinet. This was the VERY machine I used to play as a teenager at Springfield Mall Time Out Amusements arcade. Here is your former game. Guess who put the "magnetic bumper sticker" on the game. LOL"
Your Star Gazer play field looks interesting. I have some questions. I'd like to talk with you about the color of your play field. John Greatwich, who is responsible for making the repro Star Gazer play field took a lot of heat for the color of his repro play fields.
First, let me attach some pics from a Star Gazer that lives in Dallas and was at the TPF festival. The color on this play field is a deep dark blue with matches the deep dark blue of the plastics. The apron is also a deep dark blue color. They all match.
IMG_3518 (resized).JPGIMG_3535 (resized).JPGIMG_3569 (resized).JPG
Next, borrowing your pictures, the blue on your play field looks like it is a closer match to the blue of Greatwich's repros. Your apron also looks to be of a lighter color of blue that more closely matches the color of the 10 pointed star in mid-play field.
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Screen Shot 2018-09-18 at 8.40.36 AM (resized).png
Anyway, yours seems to more closely match the color of the Greatwich repros. Maybe it is the lighting. Maybe it is my computer. But I was wondering if you might have some other pictures of your Star Gazer in different lighting conditions?
Here are a couple of other pics showing different apron colors.
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Screen Shot 2018-09-18 at 8.50.40 AM (resized).png
I'm building a Star Gazer with a Greatwich play field and this color biz has me scratching my head. Any light you can shed will be appreciated.
Thank you.
OP: Apologies for hijacking your thread.
Quoted from DRDAVE:The wide body Sterns were hit and miss.
Great: Cheetah, Big Game, F2K
Not so great: Iron Maiden, Viper, Split Second
Too true. Split second, Maiden, free fall are all boring as shit... Viper is by far the worst.
Quoted from dothedoo:Trident is another good early Stern. Pretty easy with no drain on the left, but it's a good layout and ruleset.
Yes, Trident is a good one, though I always thought the best MPU100 game was Stern Magic.
That's funny... I assume most people didn't pass enought time on Iron maiden and Viper to really appraciate it.
I have both in my home and you have to understand the rules and the game need to be tune all right to enjoy it. I don't think many poeple past enought time on iron maiden to appraciate...
Quoted from BrianBannon:Yes, Trident is a good one, though I always thought the best MPU100 game was Stern Magic.
I have yet to play a nice one. All the ones at shows have been crap.
Quoted from BrianBannon:I remember playing Split Second at Pinball Expo back in 2004 and it would put you to sleep. It was that bad. Not long after I bought a few NOS wired Split Second playfields at nearly giveaway prices. Someone asked me if I was going to make a Split Second from parts? I said, "Hell no, but look at all the flipper assemblies and drop target parts!". This was way before anyone had thought about making any repro parts for classic Stern.
I really wanted to like Viper, had a chance to buy a real nice one years ago but I just couldn't get into it. I almost bought the game for the backglass alone, that is one sweet backglass.
Agreed on that Viper backglass. Still have the NOS framed one I bought from Ted Estes years ago.
Quoted from dothedoo:Trident is another good early Stern. Pretty easy with no drain on the left, but it's a good layout and ruleset.
Agreed on Trident. Especially with the home rom. =)
Quoted from Redketchup:That's funny... I assume most people didn't pass enought time on Iron maiden and Viper to really appraciate it.
I have both in my home and you have to understand the rules and the game need to be tune all right to enjoy it. I don't think many poeple past enought time on iron maiden to appreciate...
I found the biggest fail for Maiden was the "Delay of Game" factor. Same goes for most of the 1981 Sterns. The ball would drain, count your bonus...then waiting....waiting...game might say something...then serve up the next ball. Catacomb, Orbitor 1, Freefall, Split Second, Viper and Maiden especially suffered from this.
Quoted from pinzrfun:I sold my Stern Stingray recently when I picked up a Bally Strikes and Spares....wish i hadn't.....
I've got a NOS field waiting to go into my Stingray. I'm hoping it's as fun as Stars....but I don't think it will be.
Quoted from cottonm4:To Terrapinmark.
"Hi Joe, I am the guy who bought the game from you/Mike F. for $2K. It is getting a high end restore currently. Will be finished in about a month. Interestingly (I live in Ohio now) I grew up in the Maryland/Northern Virginia area. The game you sold had a Time Out Amusements sticker in the cabinet. This was the VERY machine I used to play as a teenager at Springfield Mall Time Out Amusements arcade. Here is your former game. Guess who put the "magnetic bumper sticker" on the game. LOL"
Your Star Gazer play field looks interesting. I have some questions. I'd like to talk with you about the color of your play field. John Greatwich, who is responsible for making the repro Star Gazer play field took a lot of heat for the color of his repro play fields.
First, let me attach some pics from a Star Gazer that lives in Dallas and was at the TPF festival. The color on this play field is a deep dark blue with matches the deep dark blue of the plastics. The apron is also a deep dark blue color. They all match.
[quoted image]
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
Next, borrowing your pictures, the blue on your play field looks like it is a closer match to the blue of Greatwich's repros. Your apron also looks to be of a lighter color of blue that more closely matches the color of the 10 pointed star in mid-play field.
[quoted image]
[quoted image]
[quoted image]
Anyway, yours seems to more closely match the color of the Greatwich repros. Maybe it is the lighting. Maybe it is my computer. But I was wondering if you might have some other pictures of your Star Gazer in different lighting conditions?
Here are a couple of other pics showing different apron colors.
[quoted image]
[quoted image]
I'm building a Star Gazer with a Greatwich play field and this color biz has me scratching my head. Any light you can shed will be appreciated.
Thank you.
OP: Apologies for hijacking your thread.
Just to give some history,
I purchased this Star Gazer originally from a non pinball buddy of mine. It was in his dads house and has been HUO since probably 1998. The pin was stored in their basement so thats about of natural a playfield as you can get. Believe it or not he sold me this Star Gazer and his Tron arcade machine for $500 total!
Quoted from DRDAVE:I've got a NOS field waiting to go into my Stingray. I'm hoping it's as fun as Stars....but I don't think it will be.
Stingray is a blast! The 55K saucer award is a little unbalanced but double your bonus, light your spinner, and try to collect 55K's all day. For an EM to SS transition game, it's really good.
Quoted from CrazyLevi:I love how these threads always turn into show and tell
Never fails.
Quoted from Mitch:I'm happy with where this thread is going. Really enjoying it. Might have found a seawitch.
According to too many pins this thread is single-handedly destroying Pinside and driving people away. Nice to see there's a survivor!
Quoted from dothedoo:Nice collection! If I'm ever in Phoenix I'll give you a buzz and you'll have to invite me over to play. State law.
Same goes for me. My brother lives out there. I'll bring you a 6 pack of you favorite beer for my entry fee. =)
Quoted from CrazyLevi:According to too many pins this thread is single-handedly destroying Pinside and driving people away.
Sad because we just got our membership numbers back after all his warehouse sale threads.
Quoted from CrazyLevi:According to too many pins this thread is single-handedly destroying Pinside and driving people away. Nice to see there's a survivor!
Thread is now doing what original poster asked for. As far as my warehouse deal (deals) it was people on Pinside that kept asking me for information I didn't have at the time. Believe it or not two years later I am still waiting on the one seller to find time to hook up with me to finalize things on second storage unit (a 10x40 full to the ceiling). My fear isn't if he will sell it to me at this point - I know it is mine when he is ready. I am just wondering if it was under water with Florence and if it is now a unit full of trash! I contact him about every two months and every time his reply is the same "I'll let you know as soon as I can find time to deal with it". I can't believe he is spending more on storage then the machines are worth but that is totally his choice!
In any event it is great to see some useful information here and not a lot of talk about what if Stern did a remake!
Quoted from too-many-pins:Thread is now doing what original poster asked for.
Oh thank god your pleas did not go unheeded!
Quoted from DRDAVE:Agreed on Trident. Especially with the home rom. =)
So... As a guy who is currently babysitting a Trident for a friend - Can you clue me in on the Home ROM?
No apology needed. You aren't hijacking my thread. We are part of the Classic Stern family. Very interestingly I am friends with Bill Morrison who you probably know. We talked at length about the differences in color. I am putting a greatwich play field in my game. It is noticeable lighter as you mentioned. However, the current play field would require a ton of work. (I already had the reproduction). Anything you may see with my original play field would be the lightning as it is definitely darker. I don't have a good picture of them side by side. Here are some additional pictures. We did shoot a thin layer of additional clear on the reproduction.
IMG_E8824 (resized).jpgStar Gazer Pinball Top Playfield (resized).pngQuoted from dothedoo:I have yet to play a nice one. All the ones at shows have been crap.
Quoted from BrewersArcade:Just to give some history,
I purchased this Star Gazer originally from a non pinball buddy of mine. It was in his dads house and has been HUO since probably 1998. The pin was stored in their basement so thats about of natural a playfield as you can get. Believe it or not he sold me this Star Gazer and his Tron arcade machine for $500 total!
Awesome deal! Interestingly, the game did boot up when I turned it on. I will send pictures of the restore!!
Quoted from terrapinmark:No apology needed. You aren't hijacking my thread. We are part of the Classic Stern family. Very interestingly I am friends with Bill Morrison who you probably know. We talked at length about the differences in color. I am putting a greatwich play field in my game. It is noticeable lighter as you mentioned. However, the current play field would require a ton of work. (I already had the reproduction). Anything you may see with my original play field would be the lightning as it is definitely darker. I don't have a good picture of them side by side. Here are some additional pictures. We did shoot a thin layer of additional clear on the reproduction. [quoted image][quoted image]
I know this has been brought up before but when does it stop being a restoration and become a new build?
You have an original back glass. I have a repro.
You have original plastics.. I have repro.
You will need repro pop caps as do I.
You are going to install a repro play field, as am I.
You have an original Stern cabinet, as do I. Except my cab is a sacrifice Dracula which is an original Stern cabinet.
All play field parts will be shopped and replaced. New flippers. New coil stops. etc.
When does your original SG become a builder? Repro play field + repro back glass + repro pop caps + repro plastics.
And then say you sell your old worn play field to someone who will restore it and put it back together. What will that guy have?
Which machine will have the most value? The one that looks closest to original? Or, say one with highly polished stainless lock down bar and polished rails as opposed to a machine with the rails and lock bar regrained to look original?
Obviously, the documented mint condition unmolested pin would be worth more than all of the others but by how much?
Let me dial my shoe phone. I'll call Agent 99 and see if she has the answers
Quoted from cottonm4:I know this has been brought up before but when does it stop being a restoration and become a new build?
You have an original back glass. I have a repro.
You have original plastics.. I have repro.
You will need repro pop caps as do I.
You are going to install a repro play field, as am I.
You have an original Stern cabinet, as do I. Except my cab is a sacrifice Dracula which is an original Stern cabinet.
All play field parts will be shopped and replaced. New flippers. New coil stops. etc.
When does your original SG become a builder? Repro play field + repro back glass + repro pop caps + repro plastics.
And then say you sell your old worn play field to someone who will restore it and put it back together. What will that guy have?
Which machine will have the most value? The one that looks closest to original? Or, say one with highly polished stainless lock down bar and polished rails as opposed to a machine with the rails and lock bar regrained to look original?
Obviously, the documented mint condition unmolested pin would be worth more than all of the others but by how much?
Let me dial my shoe phone. I'll call Agent 99 and see if she has the answers
Let me know what Agent 99 says. You are correct though! I think I am between a restoration and a rebuild. Although I do also have a repro bg I will probably use the original. I will use an original MPU so I can benefit from the ROM change. I did find NOS stern spinners!!! But I will need the bumper caps too. I have original and repro plastics. I have had all of the repro stuff waiting until I finally found a SG. Interestingly I found the SG and a Quicksilver within 6 weeks of each other after searching for years.
Any ideas on the value of Cheetah? None has ever sold on Pinside and it seems to show up less often than some of these other titles. There's only 37 owners listed on Pinside. Any information on what range they are selling in?
Quoted from n1teowl:Any ideas on the value of Cheetah? None has ever sold on Pinside and it seems to show up less often than some of these other titles. There's only 37 owners listed on Pinside. Any information on what range they are selling in?
Sorry, not selling mine, but I paid equivalent of about a grand US$. Not that common indeed: You see Big Games all the time for some reason. My Cheetah was the first and only one I saw for sale in about 10 years of casual looking.
On Big Game vs. Cheetah: On paper Cheetah is the better game (more drops etc), but some argue the bingo-feature on Big Game is more fun than the somewhat different one on Cheetah. Haven't played enough Big Game to comment much (never liked that game very much), but the Cheetah sure is fun and one of the better uses of a wide-body playfield without getting into slow-moving/boring-ball mode.
Quoted from Dr_Dude:Sorry, not selling mine, but I paid equivalent of about a grand US$. Not that common indeed: You see Big Games all the time for some reason. My Cheetah was the first and only one I saw for sale in about 10 years of casual looking.
I have a Cheetah too, and I'm considering selling it to fund something else. Just trying to get an idea of what it's worth, which is tough to do when it rarely comes up for sale
I need to find a cheetah to go with my big game. I’m sure I’ll be looking for a long time, if not, forever though. Never even hear it mentioned in casual conversation, let alone see one for sale.
Quoted from n1teowl:I have a Cheetah too, and I'm considering selling it to fund something else. Just trying to get an idea of what it's worth, which is tough to do when it rarely comes up for sale
I want to buy your Cheetah
I have an NOS PF for it
Quoted from terrapinmark:...I did find NOS stern spinners!!!
Where? I could use a couple!
(PM me, we'll keep it secret)
Quoted from n1teowl:I have a Cheetah too, and I'm considering selling it to fund something else.
I would love a cheetah. pm sent
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