I've had a couple of copies of "Pinball Pool" in the past, and I remember putting a chime box in one of them.
One thing to know about the early SS Gottliebs with chimes; the plungers are hollow to make them lighter and thus more responsive to the shorter AC pulse of the SS electronics.

They also had different coils A-17876 instead of A-5195 on the em's. I added chime boxes to my Pinball Pool and Count-Down, like them both better that way.

Exactly. We shunned them at the start. Space Mission & Klondike were our games of choice when the SS pins came out.
The first SS that really did it for me was Eight ball deluxe. Still does!

LOVE Mystic!

I think I like how Mystic sounds in comparison.

Trek is pretty tough sound wise, gameplay is ok though.

For me it was Black Knight. Sure we had a bunch of Playboys around and some other also ran solid states that I can't even remember the titles, but BK gave me a new kind of playing experience none of the EMs had.

Now I like the some of the early Bally and Stern solid states that I don't remember playing back on location. They are some fine tuned machines.

The ones I like now are

Skateball
Frontier
Stars
Flight 2000
Nine Ball
Sea Witch
Future Spa

None of which have ramps but also none of which I remember playing back in the day.

Skateball is the one that first got me going. The sounds are actually really good and the artwork to me is perfect for the time. Can't believe we never had one around here at least that I know of. But it's the layout, speed, and gameplay the really makes it fun. It's like a super EM if they had kept making them.

Stars is the one that is the closest to an EM as it still has a four bar chime unit which is mounted to a wood resonator, not plastic, so it sounds really good, and a simply great layout and basic rules. A crowd pleaser whenever I have guests. My kid loves it too.

Frontier is something really special too. A rare item that I have a super nice example of. It plays crickets.

Same here. Walked into the bowling alley one day and it was there. What a trip playing it after seeing nothing but video games for years. I still enjoy playing that one.

another gemini

ebay.com link: 1978 Gottlieb Gemini VERY RARE only 300 ever made Last Gottlieb 2 player EM

The seller is asking $15K. This Gemini has only 8,000 plays on the meter. It was part of the Stan Harris estate.

Stan was a major operator in the northeast USA, particularly in the Philadelphia area. My family had several routed Harris games back in the sixties and seventies. My late father knew Stan.

I always wondered what became of the Harris collection.

My Night Rider has a Harris decal on it.

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The GTB Gemini is located in Castro Valley CA. Wondering if it might have come from the late great pinsider <blownfuse> Steve Charland's collection.

I've played a few copies of it. The prototype played horribly. Everything was too powerful. Later issues played better, but I just didn't like several things about it.
Didn't like the deep cabinet, the cheesy posts, and that overlay looked so washed out. It could have been made way better, but I guess costs require some short cuts. It's interesting, and it does have several good points about it. There are a few different play modes; even a "Diamond Jack" mode. If they were getting blown out cheap, I may have bought one and tranferred everything to an original "KOD", using a real playfield, original cabinet, metal posts, round top flippers, etc. That would have been an interesting hybrid for sure.

I want to say though, that I do commend Herb and everyone involved in that project for their efforts. I wish it would have been more successful, and would have spawned several more EM remakes.

Every once in a while something special comes along and you jump at it

today was that day for me

ebay.com link: itm

Beautiful purchase, Pinhead52! Who knows when a NOS Neptune playfield would present themselves again?

But.... "I already got a one!"

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should have sold it to me!

Wow....so cool. When I was a kid, my family owned a Neptune. Bought it brand new (for $500 I think) in 1978 when I was 12. My mom sold it in 1983....man I wish I still had that pin. Imagine a HUO Neptune in 2019?

Ive got a reproduction glass, a NOS pf, will have to get it repainted. $3K is my est.

Of the few that were made, many were lightly used. They're out there somewhere.

Ok. Who's going to pop on this one?
ebay.com link: 1976 Gottlieb Canada Dry 4 Plyr Pinball Machine FULLY RESTORED FULLY WORKING

Some Canada Dry exec should put it in their office. Very sharp looking machine.

The seller is a great guy and got me into the hobby by selling me my first machine back in 2004. When I met him he had an EM Evel Knievel, EM Charlies Angels and EM Bally Black Jack set up in his basement. Jim has always had a nice assortment of rarer and interesting titles.

Not a great theme or particularly desirable but there were only 275 made.

1970 Bally King Rex

ebay.com link: 0

I am a Bally fan but I would have to guess that the arcade in Hell has a King Rex, El Toro and Ro Go.

I had a nice "King Rex" once, but sold it. I thought it was a decent enough game, and really thought the three play modes was a cool feature. Loved lighting those hieroglyphs on the backglass for extra balls. The cabinet art is very colorful and attractive as well.
It beats the crap out of "Ro Go".

"Darling" is an attractive looking game, but a dud to play. I'd still take it over "Ro Go". I used to enjoy playing "Satin Doll" at the local arcade back in the day. It played very fast.

I bought my king rex from someone in Wisconsin who had 3 of them. Not a bad game. Certainly no el Toro or darling

King Rex didn’t make the cut
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/worst-pinball-game-ever

I recently rebuilt a Ro Go for a local client of the museum. Gameplay is pretty basic, but it does have good action. Hardly the worst machine I’ve ever encountered.

More fun than El Toro for sure. Would also take it over Darling. Probably wouldn’t put it in the “worst” category... far too many mediocre Chicago Coin pins and misfires from the big three below it.

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WMS Wild Card
Never owned one, but played it many a time at the PPM.
One of the last EMs made.
Very fun, fast and lively game.
It was on my want list for long time, back when i was still buying games.
$1000 starting price is a little steep though IMHO.

There is one in Tampa for sale. The playfield is slightly better, but the cabinet is worse. I’d like to pick it up, but he won’t budge from his $2000 asking price. I agree it does look like a fun game.