(Topic ID: 41349)
Linked Games
Twilight Zone
Bally, 1993
Topic Gallery
Berrien Springs, MI
Obviously a different board for the door lights (no hole for flashers). Location of the lock lamps seems off? I doubt it makes a difference though. Great news if this means that you have/are an after market source for these boards. Some of my traces around the lamp sockets are getting a bit dodgy.
Quoted from SilverBallz:lamp placement seems okay, doesn't it?
just no holes in the door.
They seem to be slightly lower than original. I doubt it is really noticeable though once you are playing the game.
Quoted from GLModular:» YouTube video
Nice board Tony. The 'Gum' and 'Ball' insert flasher lights on the door panel now work again with your new board without having to get an aftermarket add-on mod to make them work.
Gord
Quoted from GRB1959:Nice board Tony. The 'Gum' and 'Ball' insert flasher lights on the door panel now work again with your new board without having to get an aftermarket add-on mod to make them work.
Yes, but you might think this was a bit overkill just to add two flashers that can already be added with existing aftermarket kits... 
This could only be done by recreating the -entire- board!
Quoted from ShaunoftheDead:damn, thats some tragic slot machine wear
Wow! You're not kidding!
Quoted from ShaunoftheDead:damn, thats some tragic slot machine wear
Yikes...worst I've seen. But, great board! 
damn, thats some tragic slot machine wear
Pretty much everyone who has seen it has commented about that.
When I bought it, it had two (yes -two-!) layers of mylar over that area and both were worn through! All of the mylar on the door panel was swiss cheese and came off in tiny pieces, but amazingly there was no wear there.
The cabinet has seen better days too. Doesn't matter much to me. It plays fine and it's perfect for carting around to shows, using it as a test machine, and the like.
Tony
Quoted from GLModular:The cabinet has seen better days too. Doesn't matter much to me. It plays fine and it's perfect for carting around to shows, using it as a test machine, and the like.
That's a great attitude to have about it and I couldn't agree more. I know that the more and more I work on mine and make it nicer and nicer, the less I want to take it to a show. Which sucks because I'd really love to take it to a show and be able to share it with everyone. I remember how much joy I got from playing a really nice TZ at PAGG this last year(my first pinball show). It was the first time I had played TZ in probably 10 years. I ended up playing TZ(there were three of them there last year) the most, by far, that day.
Oh, and I WILL be buying your powerfield switch mod along the line of my resto process. That's a no brainer!
Just curious....in this condition what is that Twilight Zone worth.....just want to know for my own information as I am trying to understand the impact of condition on a machine....the book has a Twilight Zone going for mid 5's so it is always good to know the "bottom end" for one working but with a lot of wear.....are they only worth $2K or $3K or even less.....again, I have no clue so if you were to sell it what would you ask ????
Again, just curious.
Thanks in advance for your response....it helps me down the road as I increase/improve my collection so I don't overpay.
I think it's great that parts like this board are being newly designed and made. It's all good for pinball.
I'm a big fan of adding back features that were originally designed into prototype and sample games but were later dropped from production games due to cost. SS skull lighting comes to mind.
But just because there are holes in the NOS TZ door board for flashers does not mean that they were meant to be there. Ted Estes, the software designer for TZ, notes that the holes were included when the boards were originally fabricated, but that the design team decided that they were distracting and misleading, and were not even included in prototype games. But over the years a mythology has arisen (perhaps partly driven by aftermarket manufacturers) that, because the holes are there, they therefore should be populated.
Some people probably like them, and this is purely my personal opinion, but I like to keep my games true to the original design philosophy. Hence, no outlane extenders on my STTNG, and no door flashers in my TZ. Here are Mr. Estes' thoughts: http://gameroomblog.com/guides/twilight-zone-pinball-prototype-vs-production.
I got this game as part of a larger trade deal years ago, so it really isn't going to be a fair comparison to what a similar condition game would sell for today.
I'd be amazed if you could even find one in this condition anymore. Reproduction playfields, plastic sets, and cabinet decals have had the unfortunate side-effect of pretty much decimating the availability of unrestored, heavily routed, player's games.
Everything now is about $1200-1500 worth of parts away from "collector" condition, so if the book says mid 5's, I'd wager you won't find anything less than 3K.
Tony
Quoted from GLModular:I'd be amazed if you could even find one in this condition anymore. Reproduction playfields, plastic sets, and cabinet decals have had the unfortunate side-effect of pretty much decimating the availability of unrestored, heavily routed, player's games.
Everything now is about $1200-1500 worth of parts away from "collector" condition.....
No truer words.....
Seriously. You could buy a good used playfield for about $500-$600, touch it up and clearcoat it for another couple hundred, buy all new cabinet artwork for about $275, all new plastics set for just under $175, and barring anything wrong with the boards or coils, have a full cosmetic restore well within that price range. The rest of that $1500 you could spend getting all new parts just for the fun of it.
Thankfully my TZ, while routed in it's past, had been OUO(office use only) for the past 7 years, and rarely played at that. It is about 98% all factory original. When I got it, the guy gave me some of the broken parts that had been replaced and showed me some of the areas that still needed attention. He was just one of those guys that never takes the glass off. Thankfully, I am!
Quoted from GLModular:Pretty much everyone who has seen it has commented about that.
When I bought it, it had two (yes -two-!) layers of mylar over that area and both were worn through! All of the mylar on the door panel was swiss cheese and came off in tiny pieces, but amazingly there was no wear there.
The cabinet has seen better days too. Doesn't matter much to me. It plays fine and it's perfect for carting around to shows, using it as a test machine, and the like.
Tony
OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is the worst condition TZ playfield i've ever seen. How the hell did that get wear through layers of mylar and still wear a track on the field. I've done fields that had the grove but it wasn't through a layer of mylar besides. Those balls must have looked like a 12 sided die to do that much damage. I'm amazed. TZ usually doesn't wear.
Quoted from CaptainNeo:OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is the worst condition TZ playfield i've ever seen. How the hell did that get wear through layers of mylar and still wear a track on the field. I've done fields that had the grove but it wasn't through a layer of mylar besides. Those balls must have looked like a 12 sided die to do that much damage. I'm amazed. TZ usually doesn't wear.
My guess is that the slot was not adjusted correctly at one point and was shooting the ball down into the pf more than usual. It looks like it was actually bouncing.
Probably the weld broke from the ball pushing the standup back and hitting the edge of the scoop. with the weld broke, the ball was launching high in the air and slaming on the field more. Even if, still seems way excessive. I'm sure the balls were pitted and rusty as hell. Probably pits from slamming into the side of the scoop.
Quoted from pintaculous:Here are Mr. Estes' thoughts: http://gameroomblog.com/guides/twilight-zone-pinball-prototype-vs-production.
I read that article as I was doing research on this. While I can appreciate his view from a historical documentary aspect, I can't help but believe that his story is only a small aspect of what really happened during the course of this game's development. I'd be curious to hear Pat's side of the story on this one.
While I can concede that some people might find it distracting because it's a direct flash (not a peripheral flash as is the case with most flashers), I am not sure how anyone would have found the Lock flashers to be misleading since the flash pattern has little to do with the steady-state on/off of the insert lamps. I think this is pretty clear in the video.
Also, if the design team thought that it was distracting enough to warrant removing the two, why wouldn't they have removed all four from the start? Two are going to be just as distracting as four and unfortunately the light show doesn't look nearly as good with just the two. Seems a rather odd decision to make, IMO.
My gut feeling is that much of their design decisions may have been made based on the rudimentary software they were running at the pre-prototype stage versus what came later (because according to Estes, the Lock flashers were eliminated before the prototype units were even made). The question would be, given the final production based software, would they have opted to keep the flashers in or not? Would the way games are designed, modded, and played today have swayed that decision? We'll never know.
The only thing that I can do is give the end-owner the opportunity to make that decision for themselves.
Tony
OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is the worst condition TZ playfield i've ever seen.
You've said that every time you have seen my game! 
I'm inclined to believe rusty pitted balls did most of the damage given the mylar destruction over the center of the playfield.
I don't remember if the scoop welds were broken or not. Most likely they were. The target there had been bent to hell (normal).
Quoted from GLModular:The only thing that I can do is give the end-owner the opportunity to make that decision for themselves.
Tony
Personally I don't have much interest in it, but since they already sell an upgrade why not get a whole new PCB?
Not a fan of this, but a huge fan of GLModular. Actually just picked up some Capcom parts last month.
Quoted from GLModular:I read that article as I was doing research on this. While I can appreciate his view from a historical documentary aspect, I can't help but believe that his story is only a small aspect of what really happened during the course of this game's development. I'd be curious to hear Pat's side of the story on this one.
The only thing that I can do is give the end-owner the opportunity to make that decision for themselves.
Tony
Totally agree, Tony. Be fun to hear what Pat would have to say. As I said, I'm grateful you and others are making new stuff. And I have your very cool magnetic flipper "opto" boards in many of my games!
John
Quoted from starbase:So is this board for sale? Going to be restoring mine and it looks like a nice addition.
Not yet, but should be in about a week. I don't have the correct color LEDs to match the insert at the moment, but have them on order.
No pricing until all the production parts are in place. I'll make a separate post in the marketplace when these are ready.
Tony
Quoted from GLModular:You've said that every time you have seen my game!
I'm inclined to believe rusty pitted balls did most of the damage given the mylar destruction over the center of the playfield.
I don't remember if the scoop welds were broken or not. Most likely they were. The target there had been bent to hell (normal).
maybe I block it out of my memory and forget that I already saw it. I don't know how, it's pretty memorable. I have restored a TZ once with a wear line almost as bad as yours. Yours hits the door tho. The wear is amazing. But the fact that it busted through the mylar as well, that's the part I can't figure out.
Quoted from GLModular:Not yet, but should be in about a week. I don't have the correct color LEDs to match the insert at the moment, but have them on order.
No pricing until all the production parts are in place. I'll make a separate post in the marketplace when these are ready.
Tony
I'm in for one for my never-ending-will-I-ever-finish-it TZ restore
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