You'll float too.

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As my newly acquired pinball found a place in my garage and I started to have a good look at it in the dim fluorescent lamps, it looked like some creature that was alive and an uneasy feeling came over me.

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FEAR

Those of you who a fan of Stephen Kings work will know of Pennywise the Clown also known as IT. It is an unreasonable and pitiless creature which is a bully at it's core. Was this machine the mechanical form of IT, sent from another dimension to cruelly taunt, bully and harass me? Would it have a warm and cordial manner to give me a false sense of security before bringing me back to reality that it was sent to torment me. Would I be able to turn the tables against it, overpower it, bend it to my will and defeat it?

IT is a shapeshifter. The current form of IT is a decrepit looking machine that has been washed by the waste of the sewers. The paint has been washed away in certain locations, in others it is cracked and missing. It's outer skin has expanded in places and creatures have feasted upon its bones. Red cancers have formed on some of the metal components. Solenoids have expanded and blistered like festering sores. On closer inspection it once had a vine growing through the backboard, camouflaging it during its long hibernation.

IT's face is completely gone, there is only the empty vastness of space in its place with pin pricks of light. It is unable to move as its legs are missing, unlike the spider form of IT only 4 are needed. IT no longer talks, the chime box is missing and all you can hear is the hum and clunk of its insides as it comes back to life.

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Stare into the Deadlights with me as I battle the bully and make IT shapeshift into a new form.

ITs first form was a pinball manufactured by Bally in 1973. There were 3550 units manufactured, IT is numbered 2241.

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It obviously was once a fine looking creature as Mr Ivon gave it the Bally tick of approval and sent it out into the world.

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From ITs birth in the USA, IT made its way across the Atlantic to Germany where it was branded by Lowen-Automaten. This could explain the missing chime box, as there are a few reports of machines being shipped to Germany without factory installed chimes. (No wonder IT is tormenting me, it has been silent for its entire 44 years.) A few other hints on the machine point to IT living in Germany. IT even vomited up a German coin while I was moving it around.

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IT tormented hundreds of people across Germany as it moved from Beer Hall to Sausage Hut to Pretzel Bakery and back to many other Beer Halls. Taking coins from unsuspecting people and returning nothing but pain and misery. Eventually the villagers worked out the evil that was IT and started to ignore its seductively flashing lights. The villagers banded together and drove it out of the Beer Hall into some farmer's shed and this is where it hid and hibernated for many years. During this time is when IT shifted into its current form, the paint ran with water, people tattooed it with Niko pens, vines grew through its head, its face was smashed into a thousand pieces, the legs were used to prop up a part of the shed that was falling down. Eventually someone came across IT hiding and seeing the pure evil in it decided to remove its presence from Germany. IT was tricked into a metal container and was then sent across the seas to the remote island of Australia.

The container containing IT was opened in Brisbane. From the docks it quickly changed hands and then hid out in a garage for a while. Eventually this became too much for that custodian and he made his best effort to make it gone. This is where I came across IT and was seduced by the allure of turning it back into its original form. Will I best IT or will I fail, and just be one of its many victims. Only time will tell.

Thanks for that info g94. Do you know what the translation is?

Based on this info I decided to have a close look at the coin that IT vomited up and it was not German. It is Yugoslavian. Looks like IT has been tripping all over Europe tormenting people. What great moments in history has IT been a part of before it made its way to Australia? Will the journey end here or will IT reveal more secrets as I try to tame it?

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Silverstreak02

This is where I am having some conflict.

Option 1 will be attempting a total restore and making it like new.

Option 2 involves repainting the washed away sections of the play field in the theme of IT and leaving parts of the original artwork there as though it is being transformed. No matter what that clown stays as it is the best part of the artwork. There is some pretty cool IT artwork on the net which could be adapted to suit the stencil style graphics that the machine already has. With the cabinet I thought attacking it in the same way. Total refurb to new on half the cabinet blending into its current condition.

I do not have a back glass and so I would be trying to duplicate the original, instead of doing that could put my time into making an IT version in the same theme as option 2 with elements of the original Circus back glass and elements from IT.

I really like history and see merits in both a total refurb and locking away (sealing/maintaining) parts of the machine in its current condition to preserve its journey. I think just preserving the machine in its current condition is not an option as it is too far gone to look cool.

The original play field artwork on the machine is pretty "ordinary", the design looks rushed. So I have no real attraction to it, other than the clown, which is the bit that the artist seems to have put all their effort into.

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I have been thinking a lot about this as I have been playing with the mechanics of the game and decided not to make a decision until the game is mechanically working. Mechanically I already have the machine working 90% and can play a 4 player game. I was going to post about this soon.

Anyone have some words of advice?

Cheers