Excited to be in the club as of 12/13/14. Sold my TFTC prototype for $3450. Picked up this players TZ for $3850. Its been HUO since about 1999. Just a little fade to the decals, looks uniform (as opposed to one side full color, other side faded to B&W). Invested about $900 in a new clear plastic ramp, new german clock board, NOS clock plastics, new reinforced slot scoop, cliffys, lastrotienda piano mod, new legs and a few new PF plastics, along with new side rails, glass guides, new carriage bolts and mirror blades which will be installed in a little over a week or so when my stepdad visits to help with his mad carpentry skills. She isn't perfect, nor will she be after these changes, but I think she's gonna be a very pretty girl

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I added some cool new decals today to TZ, one for the lamp and one for the backboard

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Finished my TZ restoration yesterday with the help of my stepdad. New side rails, mirror blades, and some touch ups. Before and after restoration pics, below

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Yesterday I re-grained the steel inside TZ using the Rejuvenate stainless steel scratch remover kit from home depot. Hopefully regular use of their steel polish will keep the pieces looking almost as nice.

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Sammy I'd probably just regularly wax it rather than put on some sort of fugly overlay

The laretrotienda piano and rocket have landed in TZ

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Just be careful with the Piano install- and be extra careful too when working in your game around the rocket, lest you break it off its perch and have to run for the superglue, or even the touch up paint.

The Piano I believe needs to be elevated a millimeter or so above the piano "swamp" hole, otherwise the ball will on occasion collide with the bottom lip of the piano, eating away at the finish very quickly. See above picture installed elevated above the two screws, the second directly on the bracket (seated too low, bottom edge damaged by balls from playfield). I wouldn't even worry about the supplied tape on the bottom of the piano, just leave it be and wedge it "high" like so.

Laretrotienda's pics showing recommended install position I believe are extremely hazardous to this mods condition and I've reached out to tell him so and discuss my proposed solution.

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Mirror blades are back in. This game just isnt the same without them.

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Check out the original flyer from Bally, that's not actually the case. The yellow always went upper right

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Check out the red clock housing from Bay Area Amusements (brushed finish, not the EMS one) with the Ingo clock board and white face

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For a moment I flirted with the idea of selling my TZ to fund an MMR but they're too expensive still, even from people who bought them and regret the purchase. Maybe I'd regret the purchase too...

Anyhow! I finished a mini Playfield Swap...now it has the prototype look without "flip here"

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Submitted for your approval, the original mini playfield vs. installed CPR repro prototype variant with HSA clearcoat. I also put on black switch covers. No more ball drop wear and the mini PF sides are also now clearcoated, thus the cliffys are no longer needed.

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That's a really terrific looking, fully restored TZ. It should command quite a premium

Slot mod is in da house!

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Big shout out to Lermods for helping bring Robby to life. Love the slot, too.

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Now a two time simultaneous member of the club! I picked up my second yesterday and will move my restored playfield from my first TZ into its cab, then sell the old cab- with the unrestored playfield.

My restored TZ playfield has been permamently rehomed to a new cabinet (original decals!) for Christmas

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Do what you wanna do...in living color

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Cleaned up the inside of the cab today, probably the first to do so in 20+ years. This towel took quite the dirt/grime beating!

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I sprayed this natural cleaner into a terry towel and buffed out the dirt gently

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Hey guys- Im looking for the 4 gray TZ mini playfield covers. If you recently upgraded to the great lakes kit without these big switches, these should be leftover in your coin box. Even 2 would help- I have a lead on another two. I dont want to buy an untrimmed aftermarket set. Thanks in advance if you can help!!

A member based here in the states has me covered now, I think. Thanks for stepping up, dude!

What so proudly we hailed, at the Twilight (Zone) last gleaming #ColorDMD #TZ #Now

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Sent you a PM! Thanks!

The four door panels were shaded in the original ROM, so a color had to be chosen. Personally I'd have gone with dark orange, given that's the color of the panel inserts, but the blue lightning strike on the white door with orange panels may not have looked right (Randy would have to comment, Ill ask him at TPF). As is, the game is far more eerie and sinister feeling in color than it was in black and white.

Side note, I just novus 2'd my decals. Amazing how even a super clean game's original decals just caked on the dirt over the years.

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The Laretrotienda Piano is the bomb, but you need double locking Velcro and to mount a clock connector on top the piano just right for the vibration of the ball to not knock it loose or for the ball to careem into the finish. It's a pain in the a#$

New additions to TZ this TPF weekend- Pinsound sound board w/Chris Granner's original DCS encode, Red LED strip for slot scoop, blue for skill shot scoop, white for piano trough.

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It's way higher fidelity. But as such, a bit different. You can hear instruments, its not just computer synthesis. It takes all the DCS tracks Granner recorded and replaces the low res downconverted ones. The callouts, which weren't in DCS to begin with, were ported over from the original mix.

The LED strips weren't too difficult. I got 3 cointaker bonus strips, one for each scoop/trough. They connect to regular GI lamps with included alligator clips. I definitely recommend the configuration I chose (slot red, skill blue, piano cool white). I more or less just affixed them to the underside of the scoop apparatus.

I'll be making one for Pinsound within the next week or so. Meanwhile, one last thing...I put in Cointaker's new afterburner pop LEDs. Who needs a dead end sign to light up town square now?!

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Submitted for your approval, Twilight Zone in DCS, featuring Chris Granner's original soundtrack, plus color DMD, from start all the way through Lost in the Zone.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/twilight-zone-in-dts-pinsound-wcolor-dmd-full-gamelitz

Be kind to your TZ. If it doesn't play right, restore it, don't sell for a Ghostbusters. Btw, is it just me or has the value on the pin gone up on avg $1K in the past couple years?

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I believe it's ok to let go of pins sometimes but a BW TZ for a Stern GB? Reaally....?

Submitted for your approval- my Twilight Zone room.

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Fun story to share. I'd been exploring letting go of my "TZ room" concept to get a TAF and Ghostbusters Premium. TAF was the game of my childhood, and I figured it would be good to "switch it up."

A buddy of mine who is seriously a Stern defender told me "sell TZ now to get GB/TAF- GB is way more fun and the playfield issues have been solved."

I did a little more homework and it seems we have no evidence at all their quality issues have been resolved- so I deleted my for-sale ad for TZ.

The very same day, I finally figured out the simple mystery of how to hit the Camera shot. Id racked up many LiTZ wins and high scores, but generally hitting the Camera shot had been all about luck for the first two years of ownership. Understanding this elegant shot now, the real purpose to the magnets in the game become, for the first time, all too apparent- opening up a new dimension to this game I have not seen before.

The second before the ball comes down to the middle flipper, hold down the left flipper and keep it down, till you smoothly slam the ball with your middle flipper into the camera. This necessary TZ pin skill is required for re-liting jackpot, ball control, jet bumper added, camera bonuses. The real purpose of the right magnet in the game is so you can time and then make this classic trick shot.

That would be par for the course on Pinside right lol. Actually, I was really young on day 1- frankly, I don't think I played pinball except incidentwlly on a TAF in a bowling alley my parents took me to- so I consider myself excluded from that class. No offense taken, good sir.

I've also started to play the "shot through the bumpers" intentionally, when lit, as well. Really fun and a more difficult shot, one that requires probably the most precise timing in the game. As before, TZ seems to take on a new level of enjoyment when just focusing on high scores and not as much on mode progression.

The TV is one mod that always made me very curious, but the $200 pricetag always gave me pause.

Side note/fun fact- the Mini-PF lamp decal was both my idea and design concept...though Pinball Pimp created it and with his graphic software/printing tools has both created it and manufactured it.

Less is more, but some mods like the Piano and Robby really do belong. I initially put in both the slot and the rocket. The rocket blocked views and got knocked down by air balls, the slot never looked right when looked at from more than a foot away.

Agreed. I custom spliced the best of the DCS Granner and remastered mixes plus the opening track from the TZ Horror show track to make an "ultimate" TZ track. I also have the Horror Show and original tracks separately loaded onto the thumb drive on the board. The TZ Horror Show mix is a total riot especially around Halloween.

A few cues from the DCS granner track are far superior to the remastered- the super skill shot track, the piano track, etc. I also am in love with the actual Rod Serling/TZ episode opening to the game from the horror mix. Its all about finding the ones you like and making your own.

The DCS track loses the golden earring melody that plays during main gameplay, not the 'TZ song' which plays during multiball. That said, the remastered Golden earring is in my remix.

There's actual sixties looking TVs on ebay- I think I'll pass on a "generic mod" for $50 less. For my part, I'm weary of "generic" mods in pinball. Look at all the junked out TZs out there now- $5 rockets, $2 dolls, generic plastic TVs...

Yes, but variants of the same that were $200 used the thumb drives.

If you go with the red clock, you have to switch to the white face for optimal look.

You did have to strip the entire playfield top and pop the PF out of the cab- right? I figure if I were going in that direction, I may as well attempt a playfield swap with a brand new 3rd hole already pre-drilled and give myself a perfect glazed donut

But what about when the Powerball releases from Lock? If memory serves, powerball doesn't always register on dispense. I think it does when I hit an orbital immediately after though, perhaps it senses no magnetic presence from ball?

Pending a cleared cashier's check, my beloved TZ is sold. I am, as such, making a number of my special framed TZ Tom Whalen matching numbered Artist Proof Lithographs for sale. These are $100 each including the frame (trust me, you want the frame for this price, super nice) PM me for the ones you want. I'm only keeping Time Enough At Last and Eye of the Beholder, that is, unless you make me an offer on the whole set!

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Living Doll has been claimed. The Invaders and Nightmare at 20,000 Feet still available!

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On second thought, I'm gonna keep the rest of the art. Shifting two pieces to the bedroom, leaving the other two in the pin room! Living Doll was actually the only one I really wanted to sell. Just needed to figure out the layout to keep the rest!

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With TZ re-homed and new art on its way, I decided it's time to move the rest of my wonderful litho collection. Ask is $100 framed each. These are truly fantastic. Send me a PM for the one(s) you want!

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Last two art pieces, $100 each. Looks great next to your game. PM me if interested! Thanks

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Amazing TZ Litho Art, Artist Proofs, by Tom Whalen! I have these two for sale, $100 each, framed! The Invaders and Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. Send a PM for one or both! Comes from my former TZ pinball room, would look great in yours!

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