Holland, PA
Quoted from Rat_Tomago:I bought two boxes at 30 dollars a box. I also was given a box in the mail as a gift from a kind fellow pinsider with other goodies. If you are patient and check every day then you will find a box or two every month or so. The 1970's Ballys like my Fireball came with Westinghouse #455s. I like the Westinghouse bulbs just as well but there were only 5 that were originally put in the "Fireball" writing and I wanted everything blinking (13 bulbs) so I put in GEs and OMG Heaven. I may take the two bulbs out of the "Bally" so it is permanently lit up. That would free up 2 bulbs for another future machine. Make sure you grab any used bulbs from machines you plan to flip, part out or sell.
Agree with the OMG heaven...there is a difference, and if nothing else, many of the people on this forum appreciate the improvements when different bulbs, or a different wax is used on their machines, etc. A few years ago there were several vendors selling the bulbs on Ebay and I was able to pick up about 10 boxes before they got ridiculously priced. I gave away 5 boxes to friends and used 5 for my collection...
But...Rat is correct, if you are vigilant and keep your eyes peeled, you will find more. I picked up 3 NOS boxes two weeks ago from a seller who was selling off some old audio tubes and parts and already installed them into my newest games.
