What? A Captain Fantastic Falls From The Sky?

I was at church this past Sunday for Mother's Day. I was actually thinking to myself "I should mention pinball to people and maybe someone will know of one in the area" So after the service I was talking to a new member who I'm friends with and pinball came up. Another friend happened to be walking by and told me she had one and I could have it. I was flabbergasted! I asked her to tell me about it and she said it been in her family for over 30 years but did t work anymore. She said the scores won't reset all the way and she was moving to Austin so I could have it. I asked what is it? She says "It's a Captain Fantastic" I just about died on the spot. To make a long story a little shorter I told her that if it was in good shape I'd give her a little money for it. Here are the pics of it. My brother, nephew and I picked it up today.

We've adjusted every score switch and fixed a couple of other things like the scoring motor and were able to coin up an actual game. It has a lot more work to go but the prospects look "fantastic" for this one. The back glass is about a 9. I'll reserve judgement on the rest till we get it cleaned up.

Im posting this from my phone so I apologize if it's a little messed up.
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#2 9 years ago

DPH

CapsLock42

Inactive member

10y 23,650 53

Great find, and cant beat that price. Have fun getting it up and running!

#3 9 years ago

LEO

Arcade

Quoted from CapsLock42:
Great find, and cant beat that price. Have fun getting it up and running!

Thanks.
We had a blast tinkering with it tonight. I had to leave early in the process, but my son and brother stayed a bit longer to work on it. When I left hardly anything was working. In about 30 min. time they had the game coining up, resetting to zero and serving up a ball for play.
I think the only major problem that is left to fix is that the drop targets do not reset after they are all dropped.
Now to do a lot of cleaning. Should be really nice when we get finished with it.

#4 9 years ago

MAL

Hyperball91

Inactive member

Perth - West Aus

10y 59,400 487 1

That was a great score, and a freebie too, excellent. It should clean up really good. Have fun bringing it back to life. I used to love tinkering with my EM's many moons ago, I had more fun doing that than playing!

#5 9 years ago

???

daniel0265

Inactive member

Hacienda Heights, CA

10y 20,150 131 6

If only you had $1.00 for each play.

#6 9 years ago

JNC

jodini

Pinside member

Omaha, NE

10y 59,400 1,013 3

I love it! Ya never know when you'll find a machine! Next time I'm at a funeral, I know what to talk about now!

#7 9 years ago

WEN

jrpinball

Pinside+ Addict

Sometimes all you have to do is bring it up. I started a new job last year, and mentioned my hobby to my boss and co-workers. My boss told me his brother has a game that he wants out, and one of my co-workers said his neighbor has one in his garage. Too bad neither one is even remotely close to me.

#8 9 years ago

RHO

spiroagnew

Inactive member

11y 121K 982 161

Good looking machine. Lucky guy! All the best on the restore!

#9 9 years ago

DEN

KingNine

Pinside member

Quoted from jodini:
I love it! Ya never know when you'll find a machine! Next time I'm at a funeral, I know what to talk about now!

I just about spit my coffee out when I read that!

#10 9 years ago

CJM

EM-PINMAN

Pinside member

11y 111K 5,311

Great find as those machines go for some $$.

Ken

#11 9 years ago

MAT

snyper2099

Cincinnati Pinball

16y 103K 7,645

No one is paying attention but this is how you find good games. Next time I see a thread whining and bitching about how overpriced a certain title is and how some guy can't seem to find any good pinball games no matter how hard they look, I will point them here. Thanks for sharing.

#12 9 years ago

TPV

gearheaddropping

Pinside member

Macomb, MI

12y 67,300 2,042 16 20

Nice! That will clean up nicely.

#13 9 years ago

LEO

Arcade

Quoted from gearheaddropping:
Nice! That will clean up nicely.

Thanks.
We will post photos of the process here as it happens if I can remember.

#14 9 years ago

DEN

KingNine

Pinside member

I'm at work right now and all I can think about is "I wan't to work on my new machine!"

Edit: Plus I have some dumb charity event to help kids to go to tonight. So now I have to wait longer...

#15 9 years ago

GAB

WOLF

Pinside member

New Castle, PA

11y 43,650 1,602 2

Seriously re-thinking my religion after reading this. Great game and great find.

#16 9 years ago

LEO

Arcade

OP
Quoted from KingNine:
Plus I have some dumb charity event to help kids to go to tonight.

Stupid kids. Always getting in the way.

#17 9 years ago

MAL

Hyperball91

Inactive member

Perth - West Aus

10y 59,400 487 1

OP
Quoted from KingNine:
I'm at work right now and all I can think about is "I want to work on my new machine!"

Lol, I used to think that too years ago. I'd be at work and couldn't wait to get home to resume work on fixing my pin(s).

#18 9 years ago

JAH

Hogey

Pinside+ Frequent

Monclova, OH

10y 76,800 997 21 1

PF looks real good...should clean up well. Original drop targets too...that's a plus. Great game....I love mine. Have fun.

#19 9 years ago

ACE

2FlippedOut41Mo

Pinside member

Sour Lake, TX

10y 49,900 331 5 18

Quoted from jodini:
Next time I'm at a funeral, I know what to talk about now!

Sadistic, hilarious, and absolutely brilliant thought.

#20 9 years ago

ACE

2FlippedOut41Mo

Pinside member

Sour Lake, TX

10y 49,900 331 5 18

Also, congrats on the find, cousins! I will be over soon to see it.

#21 9 years ago

LEO

Arcade

Quoted from Hogey:
PF looks real good...should clean up well. Original drop targets too...that's a plus. Great game....I love mine. Have fun.

Turns out is has 3 out of 5 original. The top two must have come from another game entirely.
Anyway here are some of the tear down photos.

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#22 9 years ago

LEO

Arcade

And some more. One of the chime coils is burnt up and is missing the plastic striker tip on the rod.
Also the rubber grommets on the chimes are toast.

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#23 9 years ago

SHP

labnip

Inactive member

12y 118K 9,928

just WoW

#24 9 years ago

LEO

Arcade

Quoted from labnip:
just WoW

Thanks.
Forgot to take a photo of the cleaned up plastics. They came out awesome.

#25 9 years ago

WEN

jrpinball

Pinside+ Addict

Quoted from Arcade:
And some more. One of the chime coils is burnt up and is missing the plastic striker tip on the rod.
Also the rubber grommets on the chimes are toast.

Ah, ya see! I knew it was too good to be true!

#26 9 years ago

DEN

KingNine

Pinside member

Quoted from jrpinball:
Ah, ya see! I knew it was too good to be true!

I know right? We'll be bringing it back to the original owner now.

#27 9 years ago

DEN

KingNine

Pinside member

I missed out on most of that tear down fun helping those darned kids at that charity thing.

Can't wait to polish and wax it. I think it will shine nicely!

#28 9 years ago

LEO

Arcade

$100 parts order placed last night with PBR. Amazing how fast little items add up.
Getting pop bumper rebuild parts, new chime coil, new chime grommet and sleeve kit, some flipper plunger links and pawls, and some playfield post.

#29 9 years ago

CBM

spfxted

Pinside member

Saddle River, NJ

12y 147K 24,661 4 9

#30 9 years ago

???

daniel0265

Inactive member

Hacienda Heights, CA

10y 20,150 131 6

Quoted from Arcade:
$100 parts order placed last night with PBR. Amazing how fast little items add up.
Getting pop bumper rebuild parts, new chime coil, new chime grommet and sleeve kit, some flipper plunger links and pawls, and some playfield post.

Hobbies are always money pits. Like owning a boat, car, house, kids and so on. No matter how much you spend, it's never the end. $1 here $5 there and sometimes $100 over there. Adds the heck up.

#31 9 years ago

WEN

jrpinball

Pinside+ Addict

But we don't mind so much spending it on pinball!

#32 9 years ago

LEO

Arcade

Had some time to get under the apron today.
Cleaned up the playfield a bit and took the metal pieces out to the brass wire buffer. Came out really nice.
I have since buffed the lockdown bar assembly but do not have a photo after it was done.

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#33 9 years ago

???

Shoot_Again

Pinside member

Vancouver, WA

12y 83,400 8,453 2

Looks fantastic pun intended. Great find and looks like it is nice not too beat up. Congrats

#34 9 years ago

VCP

Vic_Camp

Pinside member

Clifton, NJ

12y 103K 1,849 44 28

I remember buying a CF over 10 years ago from a guy in work for a very reasonable price and being excited to get it home for its rebuild and cleaning.Back then i couldn't wait either until my day job would end to go home and work on the games when more then 150 machines passed through my garage.These days i can't wait until i get home from work so i could get on the heat pad in my easy chair. I miss the old days!

Your game looks to be in very nice condition and will clean up and play "Fantastic" for sure. I liked the game and kept it in my collection for a short time before finding it a good home. It's great to hear that more and more guys are getting the EM's restored and playing again these days. Thanks for sharing......................

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#35 9 years ago

DEN

KingNine

Pinside member

Quoted from Vic_Camp:
I remember buying a CF over 10 years ago from a guy in work for a very reasonable price and being excited to get it home for its rebuild and cleaning.Back then i couldn't wait either until my day job would end to go home and work on the games when more then 150 machines passed through my garage.These days i can't wait until i get home from work so i could get on the heat pad in my easy chair. I miss the old days!
Your game looks to be in very nice condition and will clean up and play "Fantastic" for sure. I liked the game and kept it in my collection for a short time before finding it a good home. It's great to hear that more and more guys are getting the EM's restored and playing again these days. Thanks for sharing......................
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Did you paint the head trim red or did it come to you like that? I kind of like it. We are going to put red skirts on the pop bumpers on the rebuild.

#36 9 years ago

DEN

KingNine

Pinside member

Did a little work on the playfield wear. Did not have a blue paint pen that matched so went with a ultra fine tip marker pen. Did two or three spots then dabbed with a paper towel. Came out nice.

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#37 9 years ago

VCP

Vic_Camp

Pinside member

Clifton, NJ

12y 103K 1,849 44 28

OP
Quoted from KingNine:
Did you paint the head trim red or did it come to you like that? I kind of like it. We are going to put red skirts on the pop bumpers on the rebuild.

No i did not paint it red.I would never paint any pin over the original factory design...
Red skirts sound cool on the pop bumpers though.

#38 9 years ago

WEN

jrpinball

Pinside+ Addict

Don't tell Steve Young that you're putting red skirts on the game when you order them. He'll yell at you!

#39 9 years ago

???

Pinball4life

Inactive member

Colorado Springs, CO

10y 18,650 398 12

Seen a lot of those in my time, I don't think they made any red heads. The wear spot is very common, but better on your's than most. Overall you have a beautiful game....congratulations!

#40 9 years ago

DEN

KingNine

Pinside member

Quoted from Vic_Camp:
No i did not paint it red.I would never paint any pin over the original factory design...
Red skirts sound cool on the pop bumpers though.

I've never painted over a factory design either. I do have to admit it doesn't look bad except that the rest of the machine is white.

#41 9 years ago

DEN

KingNine

Pinside member

Quoted from jrpinball:
Don't tell Steve Young that you're putting red skirts on the game when you order them. He'll yell at you!

LOL. If we don't like em we have white to go back with.

Quoted from Pinball4life:
The wear spot is very common, but better on your's than most. Overall you have a beautiful game....congratulations!

Thanks. We just finished waxing and buffing it. Haven't posted a pic yet but you can see a bit of it where Arcade posted the work he did under the apron.

#42 9 years ago

DEN

KingNine

Pinside member

Here is a shot of the play field waxed and buffed. We have started using Chemical Guys carnauba wax. It has a high level of real carnauba plus has the added benefit of smelling like piña colada sno cones.

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#43 9 years ago

KID

pinkid

Pinside member

10y 48,650 1,479

That cleaned up really nice. Good work.

#44 9 years ago

DEN

KingNine

Pinside member

Thanks! Can't wait to get the parts in from PBR and start putting this gem back together.

#45 9 years ago

LEO

Arcade

Here is what $101 in parts gets you now a days.
But it is worth it to get the machines playing like new again.
We got our chime unit all rebuilt and nice again.
Put on the new flipper links and pawls as well as some super bands.
Then rebuilt all three pop bumpers. The new red skirts look really nice.
Too bad the bumper caps are yellowed. But I did not see reproductions on PBR's web page.
Lots more to do, but ran out of time.

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#46 9 years ago

PMM

PMcGee

Inactive member

Dayton, TX

12y 55,400 353 59 28

Planetary Pinball has the repro pop bumper caps. Set of 3 for $17. Item number PPS-A-3713-26-SET.

#47 9 years ago

LEO

Arcade

Quoted from PMcGee:
Planetary Pinball has the repro pop bumper caps. Set of 3 for $17. Item number PPS-A-3713-26-SET.

Great news.
Thanks for the information.

#48 9 years ago

MAO

MikeO

Pinside member

Overland Park, KS

11y 88,400 3,625 41

Quoted from Arcade:
Here is what $101 in parts gets you now a days.

Just shy of $300 doesn't seem like it gets you much more. It's still worth it to get the items you really want/need. Glad to hear you are making great progress and making a huge difference with this game.

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Mike O.

#49 9 years ago

LEO

Arcade