Hi, I posted an intro of sorts at this thread here> https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/an-idiot-gets-his-first-pin-hilarity-soon-to-ensue ; from there and another post, some folks asked for pics and progress and such. So here goes…?
Before I get into it, please indulge me a bit because I feel compelled to explain myself: frankly, this is all a little intimidating! I’ve read lots of stories and how-to’s and marveled at the talent here on Pinside. The knowledge and restorations on display are utterly astonishing! I hope someday I’m better equipped to achieve the same. Though I’m terribly self-effacing, I seriously believe I could do it and might enjoy some bragging rights…
...but not this time. I know many will raise pitchforks and say anything less than perfection is an affront to the hobby. Truly, I get it: you’re gonna spend resources on something you can only do once, so go all in to the point of obsession and do it right! I concede the wisdom there because it’s how I approach most of my projects (within $ and sometimes time constraints). Often, I won’t even start something I’m not sure I can do right, unless it’s so far gone I can’t possibly make it worse...
So hear me out because here’s the thing: this is my first pin. I didn’t buy it for just myself, but half with (and for) my wife. And for our daughters. All for the purpose of PLAYING IT and having fun - DUH! Happily, from clocks and watches to hi-fi’s and cars to models and furniture, fun lies in all manner of D-I-Y projects and my achievement rap sheet is a mile long. Breathing new life into old things is perhaps my true calling. But I also love old things well preserved in a state that betrays their life.
To illustrate this, consider a car show: be it a concours or cruise-in, I greatly respect the talent, resourcefulness and dedication required to restore and preserve an ancient vehicle in a showroom-new state - let alone better than factory-floor. They absolutely deserve adulation. You can learn immeasurably from the process and lifestyle.
But I spare even more affection for the soldiered survivors in the parking lot: older vehicles living workaday lives, sporting unique tales on their imperfect fenders, weathered chassis, and worn (but comfy!) upholstery. The ones that look good for their age, and run even better, but clearly aren’t (and may never be) trailer queens or garage trophies. Nonetheless, like a revered old relative, they bear their experience with pride, and you can’t deny their right to honest blue-collar respect.
Of course some things are beyond excuse: survivors deserve respect, but heaps should be stripped of their history and restored, or parted out so others may endure. And I do have standards. Where to draw the line?
Back to Space Shuttle: a respectable and desirable game, though not obnoxiously so. Common enough to still be found affordably in nice shape. And plentiful for those seeking to acquire and perfectly restore to better than new at considerable expense - even though they'll never be as valued as a well-worn Medieval Madness.
So here’s the deal with mine. It was a route survivor that last operated in a club in Florence, KY (a Cincinnati metro burb), before it was purchased by a woman in Oxford, OH in 1999. She had it as her children grew up, and made reasonable efforts maintaining and cleaning it. She had the fold-out manuals and assorted spare small parts. She’d attempted a battery box install - even if it didn’t work, she’d the sense to eschew the integrated holder. The playfield was nice but worn in a few spots, though she kept it waxed (more on that later). Rubbers had been replaced at least once, and the playfield plastics and toys were clean and well preserved.
Residue beneath and around the Quarters Vending sticker indicates it had one more route life previously, but I don't know what it was
She was asking $900, but due to a non-functional pop bumper and some other admitted minor quirks I offered $600 and she countered $700, which seemed fair, though I asked more questions. While testing it out to answer them the day before I arranged to drive to get it, the flippers quit so she dropped it to $550. I knew flippers are easy, and everything else seemed to work (except voices maybe?). So for 94% original with no major defects, a clean cabinet, decent playfield with intact components, and perfect glass, I figured that was a reasonably good deal.
But perhaps the best part was, the doorway wall next to where the machine lived in an attached garage, was almost completely blackened with scribbled scorekeeping and related graffiti and boasting. 15 years of dated play history showing the game was truly well loved and enjoyed. She referred to it as a member of the family; indeed, a friend of hers who was there to assist us with loading was surprised to see it go.
It's not worn too bad, but truth be told I was a little disappointed in how dirty it was
As we conversed I accidentally discovered more backstory: her oldest daughter (doubtless author of many of those scrawls, and implied heir to the machine) - had recently been killed in a car wreck, at 23. The seller was seeking closure by moving on in more ways than one. I discovered all when I asked about an interesting bicycle she had, which I might have offered to buy for one of my girls. But she clearly wasn’t ready to let that one go, so I didn’t ask.
She said she wanted her Shuttle to find a good home where it would be fixed up and played. She was amused it would be “going back home to Kentucky” after bringing so much joy to her family. As we loaded up I told her it was funny that she’d not responded to any of the emails I’d sent weeks ago, but only the text I finally, desperately resorted to when I noticed the number the umpteenth time I saw the same damn CL listing after a month of taunting. She remarked, “Shoot, with everything else going on, I completely forgot to check that email address. You’re the only one who actually texted….”
I know what you're thinking: 'oh, Space Shuttle's pf always gets beat up in the pop area, so that's pretty good actually...' I thought the same, but what my potatocam shot doesn't show is the MYLAR all over the damage. D'oh! And yet the toy shuttle itself is in remarkably good shape... interesting.
A serviceable Shuttle listed for a month with no takers or texters? Either something was up, or she wasn’t really motivated to sell it outright… or maybe I was meant to find it after all.
It isn’t perfect. But it’s a survivor that was cherished and enjoyed and cared for through most of its 30 years. It has a story to tell, and one I should honor. If I stripped it bare, that story would be lost forever under the shine of an “as new” machine. I’d like it to look great, but with just enough character of use that upon closer look, you can tell it’s felt the influence of human hands...
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OK, how does that even happen? I'm guessing a randomly placed sling mylar was already removed?
I have most of the skills to strip and refinish this, but not the bankroll, and definitely not the space. In fact, it’s in my living / dining room for all to see and live around - not a garage or dedicated workshop. So rather than question every decision I made in life, I’ll accept that last point as a defining constraint and CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! I can’t explode this thing all over the place for weeks on end (living room, remember). Forget total disassembly and a rotisserie! The playfield will have to stay in the cabinet, so spraying is not an option. Also, I’ll be hosting distant family and friends on rare visit(s) starting in just a few weeks, so I’m really keen to have this “done” by then. Just as well, because at this point I’m not purposely trying to fix what is not (or should be) broken.
So, since restored Shuttles are common enough to be the same, and I’m not made of money, I chose to honor and revitalize this machine as best I can in a confined open space. At the end, I hope to have renewed it with tributes to its past in addition to breaths of my personal spirit… as we hope to keep this machine for many years to come...
(TBC...? Sorry if I made you my followups here should be more to the point. I just wanted to explain my approach to this.)