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[astyy]

Have you read @Nedreud shop log on doing up the Gold Ball (I have the same machine)? I don't have the electronics skills that these guys demonstrate even with the support of this forum so that kind of project for me would get expensive and maybe never working. That aside, working on the mechanics, wiring, replacing the odd PCB component is fun indeed and rewarding.

These less popular machines remind me of what would be parked in the corner of a cafe when i were a lad. We must be a similar age.

 

[MrSpireite]

Have you read @Nedreud shop log on doing up the Gold Ball (I have the same machine)? I don't have the electronics skills that these guys demonstrate even with the support of this forum so that kind of project for me would get expensive and maybe never working. That aside, working on the mechanics, wiring, replacing the odd PCB component is fun indeed and rewarding.

These less popular machines remind me of what would be parked in the corner of a cafe when i were a lad. We must be a similar age.

I am 43, just it's the machines that would be at the leisure centre and in the fast food joint that I remember mostly. I have a vivid memory of Gorgar and Black Knight but I used to do most playing over the school holidays on Skegness Pier and also a the top end of Skeggie where there was an arcade and a small ice/roller rink that I nearly offered some sheckles about 15 years ago when that was closing down and they seemed to be selling off their machines. Would have killed for their KISS machine at the time. Though the wife only said I could pay £100 for it, didn't have the nerve to ask.

 

[windoesnot]

plus I am a cheap bastard....

Not to put a downer on anything but this might not be the hobby for you then

 

[astyy]

My leisure centre memory is a Zaxxon which is right up my playlist on the mame cabinet and takes me right back.

I wonder how many people on this forum got the bug through living near arcades - I was a short ride to Bognor pier.

 

[MrSpireite]

Not to put a downer on anything but this might not be the hobby for you then

Probably not but I can but hope.....

 

[windoesnot]

You should have tried maybe 10 years ago

 

[MrSpireite]

My leisure centre memory is a Zaxxon which is right up my playlist on the mame cabinet and takes me right back.

I wonder how many people on this forum got the bug through living near arcades - I was a short ride to Bognor pier.

I was brought up in Chesterfield and you can't get more caught inbetween both coasts than there, to the left Blackpool, to the right, Skegness.

 

[Nedreud]

Not to put a downer on anything but this might not be the hobby for you then

Nah! Ignore the naysayers! I'm ruddy cheap as chips too! Hell, I'll try and fix anything at least once before resorting to buying a replacement. There are very few things that can't be repaired or recreated on the older SS games. DMD and modern games tend to have a lot of moulded scenery that can be really hard to find and almost impossible to repair, but SS games are generally flat single-level and re-use far more parts from across a series of games.

In fact, I've not bought many new parts at all. Obvious purchases are "consumables", i.e., balls, coil sleeves (and I got ribbed for cleaning some old ones that were still tip-top), rubbers and lamps. I did by some new parts for the linear-style flippers in VECTOR, but decided not to get a full "rebuild kit" as they were £55 a pair and VECTOR has 4 flippers! I simply improved things by doing a full stripdown of the flippers and meticulously cleaning and polishing each component.

There are a bunch of handy tools, mostly inch size for US parts, and stuff like wax for polishing and cleaners, but you might have adjustable spanners and, according to at least one member on here, Pledge is the best polish for pinballs Because I'm happy to fix the electronics I've bought a lot of electronic components too but if you hunt around you can get good prices on everything and things like capacitors, resistors and diodes are just few pence each. I recently found some new-old-stock Motorola 6800 microprocessors for 32p each, they're usually around £5-10 (they're obsolete and haven't been made for years).

 

[Nedreud]

I am 43, just it's the machines that would be at the leisure centre and in the fast food joint that I remember mostly. I have a vivid memory of Gorgar

I'm 41! Lot of us around this age I nearly bought a Gorgar back in 2013 for £500. Well-known title so little more pricey.

My leisure centre memory is a Zaxxon

For me it's TRON. And 1942. And Galaxians. Cocktail cabinet

 

[MrSpireite]

Nah! Ignore the naysayers! I'm ruddy cheap as chips too! Hell, I'll try and fix anything at least once before resorting to buying a replacement. There are very few things that can't be repaired or recreated on the older SS games. DMD and modern games tend to have a lot of moulded scenery that can be really hard to find and almost impossible to repair, but SS games are generally flat single-level and re-use far more parts from across a series of games.

In fact, I've not bought many new parts at all. Obvious purchases are "consumables", i.e., balls, coil sleeves (and I got ribbed for cleaning some old ones that were still tip-top), rubbers and lamps. I did by some new parts for the linear-style flippers in VECTOR, but decided not to get a full "rebuild kit" as they were £55 a pair and VECTOR has 4 flippers! I simply improved things by doing a full stripdown of the flippers and meticulously cleaning and polishing each component.

There are a bunch of handy tools, mostly inch size for US parts, and stuff like wax for polishing and cleaners, but you might have adjustable spanners and, according to at least one member on here, Pledge is the best polish for pinballs Because I'm happy to fix the electronics I've bought a lot of electronic components too but if you hunt around you can get good prices on everything and things like capacitors, resistors and diodes are just few pence each. I recently found some new-old-stock Motorola 6800 microprocessors for 32p each, they're usually around £5-10 (they're obsolete and haven't been made for years).

That's what i thought.

I would imagine people are in several camps.

1. Ridiculous expensive restores where they basically replace everything and it might as well have been built from scratch.

2. Cheap fixes to get a good looking honest machine

3. Just get a machine play it and flip it when it breaks down.

 

[Steve C]

That's what i thought.

I would imagine people are in several camps.

1. Ridiculous expensive restores where they basically replace everything and it might as well have been built from scratch.

2. Cheap fixes to get a good looking honest machine

3. Just get a machine play it and flip it when it breaks down.

All of those plus maybe a few more!!

At the end of the day owning a machine is going to come down to availability + budget + practical skills = what you get/end up with

 

[MrSpireite]

All of those plus maybe a few more!!

At the end of the day owning a machine is going to come down to availability + budget + practical skills = what you get/end up with

Yeah.

Totally agree.

At moment, not that much cash in the back pocket.

Been selling stuff on ebay for years but we all know how bad ebay is nowadays for actually making your cash to spend on yourself, seem to get less and less per month.

 

[Nedreud]

owning a machine is going to come down to availability + budget + practical skills

Bingo! Hit the nail on the head.

Time is a major factor that it often overlooked in terms of cost. For some people time is probably their most expensive outlay because they have so little of it. I'm in no rush and generally have at least an hour a day to fiddle with something (although a whole weekend once in a while would be nice). I've spent a lot of time restoring stuff on PARAGON. Stripping assemblies down to the last nut, bolt and washer, chucking everything in the tumbler, then meticulously hand-polishing everything with the Dremel. The result is a "Concours" class finish way beyond the original build. PARAGON will be a show stopper. One day...

But for others I guess it's "cheaper" to buy new and replace to save time. Ability comes into it too. And patience. I guess some folk are just itching to play a game! I have to admit that's why I bought VECTOR. With PARAGON in pieces I was itching to play but didn't want to rush a job half done. GOLD BALL is different again because it was an opportunistic purchase I wasn't planning - I'm pretty much knocking it back into working order. No major strip-down of assemblies, just a good clean and checking everything is well adjusted. I'll do a full restore one day but after PARAGON. Right now I want it playable ASAP!

 

[astyy]

Right now I want it playable ASAP!

Get round here quick! I replaced the level and digit transistors on the faulty score display and it's working again - so we are in one of those Golden moments where I think everything is working and it's even safe to approach when switched on. I'm not expecting this window to last for long though....