Scored a barn find - perhaps literally as this thing looks weathered. I got this Black Jack in a local estate sale and it's had to have been sitting for years (and years). $98.75. Actually, I bought it for $100 but after I got it home, I found 5 quarters stuck in the coin mechs.
It was a slight gamble in that they didn't have any keys to open it up so I couldn't look inside to see what's there or not there. It powered on (most all of the GI lights come on) but it didn't boot. Of course, they wouldn't let me drill the locks out until I bought it. So I did...figured worst case I might get some cabinet hardware compatible with my other late 70's Bally projects and if any of the displays or boards worked or in good enough shape to be rebuilt, that would be a bonus.
Found lots of dirt, debris, and several abandoned wasp nests in both the cabinet and the backbox. The backglass is surprisingly about a 7/10....no flaking and just a few scratches. The cabinet is somewhere between poor and a basket case...MIGHT be salvageable but that'll be a big job (plywood on one side is de-laminating and the fibreboard bottom is bowed out). The MPU, SDB, and Lamp boards are all there and actually look good...no burns, hacks, or anything except for a spider's nest and wasp nest on the SDB. The MPU still has the original battery installed and no corrosion damage at all. The original cage around the power supply is even still there. Big old wasp nest camped out on the Player 3 display board. Someone put in a Stern SDU-100 at some point to replace the original Bally SDB.
The playfield has a few wear marks here and there but nothing serious. I think with a little elbow grease, the playfield will clean up nicely. No broken plastic pieces tho most are warped from the incandescent bulbs and most are faded. The playfield underside is oddly clean and the metals parts free of rust. The original manual and full-size 11x17 schematics were still stuffed in the coinbox.
I'm a few weeks away from finishing my Mata Hari project and then I'll dive into this and see if I can, at least at first, get it booted and running. First order of business will be to re-pin all of the connectors and go from there!
BJ-Front.jpgBJ-Left.jpgBJ-Right.jpgBJ-BG GI Lights Up.jpgBJ-Boards SDB Nest.jpgBJ-Player 3 Nest.jpg