The Bride of pinbot (BOP) is a unique machine in all of pinball.  This is the second in the Pinbot series, and arguably the best one of the group.  Only 8100 units were ever created.

This is the only pinball machine that shares the same circuitry as the legendary Williams Funhouse, and if you haven’t noticed, Funhouse has exploded in value by almost 2x in the last year.  We expect the unique nature of this game and lineage to follow the same value trend.

Bride of Pinbot shares much of it’s playfield similarities with Pinbot and Jackbot, where the right side contains the skill shot.  They also share the concept of a translucent mini pachinko style upper playfield on top of the 3 pop bumpers.  The rest is all unique to the BOP.

The main playfield toy takes up a good portion of the back of the game:  the 4 faces of the Bride of Pinbot. This object is a large spinning cube that also doubles as a mini playfield used to lock balls and show the state of metamorphosis.  The object of the game is to guide the Bride through her multiple stages in becoming human, to the dismay of her husband Pinbot.  Only videos can truly show what this is all about.  Add to this one excellent techno-inspired sound track and light show.   The special backglass is created to show lightshow animations as well as point values.

This game is fun and tough because of it’s quick ramps and short playfield area in front of the flippers .  Nothing like this game will ever be reproduced again.

Restoration

We’ve restored a few Bride of Pinbot machines in the past.  Here are a couple restoration photo montages:

Summer 2012

Video

Winter 2012/2013

We were given a little bit of a challenge – restore a completely non-working Kiss pinball machine and keep it under market value.  Well, why not!

This machine was brought to us literally in pieces.   Since this is a Kiss pinball machine, everyone seems to have a place in their hearts for it.

Restoration

• Cabinet repainted (3 colors)
• Back box rebuilts, repaired and hand painted.
• Displays repaired
• Backbox wiring repaired
• New MPU board
• Driver board, transformer board, sound board, lamp board and AUX lamp board completely rebuilt.  Not one of these darned things worked right.
• Playfield stripped, sanded down, repainted, cleared and new graphics installed.
• All new playfield parts (except plastic artwork – which was flattened and reused)
• New legs and hardware
• New coin door
• LED conversion
• All metal polished

Inquire

We’re currently working on this level of affordable high-end restorations on the following machines:

Xenon

Eight Ball Deluxe

Pictures

The before and after pictures tell the real story here.

BEFORE and AFTER

Not many people have heard of this game, probably due to it’s low production numbers.  However, most people have seen and played it’s older siblings:  Bally Eight Ball and Bally Eight Ball Deluxe (1981).   The Eight Ball Deluxe is considered one of the best designed pins of the era and also has a universally loved billiards theme.

The Stern Sharkey’s Shootout is a re-release of the Eight Ball Deluxe pinball with modern technology:

• Better graphics on clear coated playfield
• DMD display and animations
• Better lighting
• Better rules and depth
• Way more reliable hardware
• Added ramps and playfield toys.
• Multi-ball

This machine also has some unique features:

• Magic Eight Ball – where it captures the ball and awards various prizes
• User controlled outlane pop-up save posts and center save post.   Use the extra flipper buttons individually (or pressed together) to pop up save posts.  This is a very unique and fun feature to pinball.

Drop Targets:

• The drop targets in this game are very well used.  Each target is associated with a ball number.  Play Eight Ball or Nine Ball as the game modes progress.
• In Trick shot mode, the game will set up and light certain targets (and drop the rest).

The truth behind this game:  originally this game wasn’t very special to me… because it played horribly.  The reason was that half of the game didn’t work correctly.  Once the machine was reconstructed with new parts, the game rules really showed.  By far, this is way better than the original game from which it was modeled.

Restoration

This machine, which upon initial view appeared that it only needed some cleaning and TLC.  Well, after finding out that much of it did not work made me understand why it came to me in the first place.

• Full teardown, cleaning and waxing of playfield.
• Full LED replacement
• Backbox color changing LED bar – we pulled out the ugly flourescent light and went with a color changing LEDs.  This was such an improvement!
• New DMD display
• All new drop targets and stickers
• New slingshots
• New EightBall motor assembly.  This is often ignored!
• Retextured legs and new hardware including cabinet protectors
• Refinished cabinet
• New molding
• New rubbers and balls
• All new pop bumpers and fixed and mylar in this area (this area gets a lot of use)
• Cliffy protector kit on hole.

The result is night and day… and from the pictures, you can tell this is a beautiful and  modern machine!

Pictures

You would think it would be easy to keep up to date with monthly news.  I don’t know where the Summer has gone.

We’ve been busy with a lot of custom orders and will have some restoration articles coming very soon on the following machines:

• Prototype F-14 pinball
• Full restoration of a very very bad Kiss pinball.
• Update to the Gottlieb Playball blog – did another restoration, this time with LEDs and a couple more items.  It’s certainly worth the look.
• Another WWF Royal Rumble restoration – will update the respective blog on that machine.
• Our STERN Sharkey’s Shootout is finally finished.  It had a lot of broken elements.  Before it wasn’t so much fun to play… but now that everything is working (restored and with better lighting to boot), it’s a lot of fun.
• We’ll be starting a big restoration of our Bride of Pinbot shortly.  It’s going to get the full treatment and lots of chrome.  ooooh shiny!
• Did a nice restoration on a 1986 Williams High Speed and an Arctic Thunder arcade.  We’ll just put a couple pics below.
• Had some pictures of our Stargate and Getaway restorations from earlier this summer (see below)

Misc Pictures from late summer:

Multicade (1981 resto/upgrade)

Midway 1999 Arctic Thunder

Williams 1986 High Speed

Williams 1992 High Speed II – The Getaway

Gottlieb 1995 Stargate

Go Braves!

Among the pinball collectors and enthusiasts, the Demolition Man machine is considered a “B” title and thus does not get that much attention.  Often, that also means it stays on route longer collecting money where the “A” titles are consumed, restored and put away forever.  This is yet another case of – the collectors got it wrong.

I too dismissed this machine for a long time, because of the typical comments about the movie and back glass artwork.  Agreed, the movie was a little campy, and I’d rather see some action scene for graphics rather than 3 heads.  Luckly, you don’t pay any attention to these things when you’re playing this game.

History

This machine is one of Williams SuperPin (widebody) designs, which means it was built around a larger budget and encompasses a few more items than a standard size machine.  From initial glance at a typical (dirty) machine, it just looks like a complicated mess.  However, after peeling the layers of this onion, I could see a brilliant web of ramps and features.

The only way to truely appreciate the complicated layers and interwoven ramp systems was to be able to see through them clearly and have the machine lit properly.  So away we went with extensive flame polishing of all the clear plastic ramps.  The result was literally night and day.

Restoration

Because this machine was so well played, it required a heck of a lot of repair, cleaning and part replacements:

• New pop bumpers
• New slingshot plastics
• Flame polished ramps
• New flipper bats and linkages
• All metal parts chrome polished

Additionally, this machine had lots of repairs:

• Fixed non-working cryo claw
• Fixed heavy acid damage CPU
• Fixed ball trough optos
• Fixed flipper optos
• Fixed elevator optos
• DMD display replaced
• DMD driver board repaired
• Full LEDs including flashers
• Under cabinet lighting flash effects
• New legs and hardware
• New backglass

The result was like looking at layers of fine jewelry.

Ok, so what’s so special about Comet you say?  Well ok, it’s considered by most as an average pin from the 80’s.  Sure, I’ll concede that.  However, it WAS just an average pin from the 80’s.  Something changed my mind about this machine that was worth writing about.

I see a lot of pinball machines, and it’s easy to gravitate to the pop-stars of the the 90’s era such as Funhouse, Twilight Zone, etc.  They have all kinds of gadgets and craziness to them with layers of modes.  However, there’s just something about this pin that makes me want to play it over and over.

It’s 1986, and multiball was already invented and starting to be a mandatory feature in most Williams pins of this era.  However, this machine is just a single ball player.  What this machine does give us is character.  It’s based on an amusement park and feature roller coaster – Comet.  It’s not necessarily a ground breaking idea, but it brings you back to this era.  The Comet also has a lot of completely different shots, just like a real amusement park

• Comet Roller coaster (main center ramp).
• Spiral loop (upper left). Possibly this resembles a slide at a park?
• Dunk tank – with a dummy that taunts you and screams when you dunk him.
• Shooting range (ducks and rabbits).  Light these to increase bonuses.  Cool thing is that the bonuses alternate between balls, so the challenge changes depending on which ball you are playing.
• Inverted inlane and outlane on left side.  This is actually a very simple and fun feature.  It’s the very basics of learning how to nudge your pinball machine to avoid ball drains.
• Seriously offset slingshots.  While not immediately apparent, it creates quite a wild and unpredictable ball action near the flippers.
• Funhouse outhole with bonus feature
• Cycle jump – which is also the count down timer Million Feature only activated if you light the “1986” lanes.  This jump also can smack the ball off the glass which is a fun thing to do.

So really, this machine is jam packed with fun… and none of the shots are boring.  This machine never gets the feeling of being one-sided or single flipper one-trick pony.

Restoration

This machine was actually not in bad shape when we picked it up, considering that it was 26 years old.   We stripped the playfield down and removed the protective mylar.  Thank you, Williams, for putting this down at the factory!  While it’s a pain to remove, it preserved the machine beautifully.

After finally getting all the mylar off, it of course removed all the graphics on the inserts.  So we buffed the playfield to a high shine and reapplied new insert decals.  In the end, I was even surprised how nice it came out.  What a treat.

We then enhanced the game dynamics by adding deep color LEDs on the playfield and backbox.  It totally transformed this machine while also preserving the machine and lighting circuitry (allowing it to run cooler and with less current draw).

All of the ramps were broken – as expected.  Since they are no longer available, we sanded them down and repaired them as best as possible.  After a fresh coat of paint and clear coat, they came out pretty nice.  While we were there, all the star posts were replaced with factory new translucent red ones for a clean and tidy appearance.

Put all new flippers in, linkages, fix all the broken switches, power supply issues, new chrome legs, rebuilt coin door and DONE.   I actually played this machine for 3 hours straight before wrapping it up for delivery.

I’ll miss her no doubt, but she went to a great home where the owner grew up playing this model when he was a child.   What a great way to relive some memories – only with a better machine then when it was first released.

Pictures

Another classic Gottlieb “wedgehead” pinball from their arguably most sought after period.

True to Gottlieb’s single player design, the Skyjump is packed full of great features.  The great think about a single player  Gottlieb machine is that it still uses the same number of relays and logic circuits as the multi-player pinball machines.  This allowed Gottlieb to create depth and rules to the game, rather than it just be a simple target shooter.

Another signature feature of the this era of Gottlieb machines is their use of a long series of drop targets.  This machine integrates the 7 drop targets with the 7 numbered inlane and outlanes placed all over the playfield in order to achieve higher target scores.  Some of these shots can only be reached by rebounding shots off the pop-bumpers.  Additionally, The center pop-bumper advances the 10x lit drop target, so that the shot changes all the time.

Wonderful color graphics, Gottlieb’s patented chime sound and score match replays make this machine one of Gottlieb’s all time greatest hits.

Original Condition

This machine, seemingly typical of all Gottliebs from this era, needed some serious love.  If left alone, it probably would have rotted to the ground in another 10 years.  However, we put our hands on this one just in time.

The cabinet artwork was seriously worn off, however the wood was still solid.  If left alone, the wood would have started to delaminate and absorb water, eventually ending it’s life.

The front door and entrance area were completely worn away.  A previous owner had spray painted many of the metal pieces in attempt of preservation.  While admirable, all of this had to be junked, along with the original legs and shooter assembly.  Even the score card tray was worn and rusted.

The playfield was another issue.  It had the typical surface area cracking (as all pinball machines prior to clear coating have).  There was some wear down to the wood in front of the drop targets as well.  Again, not too bad.  This alone made it worth the restoration effort.

The backbox was suprisingly in good physical condition, but the glass had started to delaminate and the graphics were peeling.

Restoration

There was no choice but to do a full ground up restoration on this machine.  Everything had to be removed from the cabinet and it needed to be sanded down, repaired and repainted.  Of course, there are no available stencil kits for most Gottlieb machines, so we had to create our own for this model which is very time consuming.

The playfield was completely stripped, cleaned, buffed out and repaired.  All star posts were replaced, rubbers, bulbs replaced and original plastics flattened, cleaned and reused.

The backglass was repaired and resealed.

All mechanicals were disassembled – as this machine did not work when we purchased it.  So no point trying to trouble shoot this one.  New flippers, linkages and sleeves were replaced.  All pop bumpers were remvoed and completely rebuilt with new parts.   We also added pop-bumper mylar to protect that area from any future damage as well as used stealth mylar in the area in front of the flippers and drop targets.  That way, it can be pulled up without any residue and replaced in minutes without damage to the already delicate paintwork.

Summary:

• Cabinet and head fully stripped, sanded and repainted with our 4-stage paint process  (blocking/sealing primer, base coat, 2 color custom stencil).
• New replica Gottlieb coin door, shutes, lock plate and all hardware
• New modern pinball chrome legs
• Playfield stripped, cleaned, buffed and paint repaired.  Mylar and stealth mylar used for protection.  Multi wax stages
• New star posts
• New rubber
• New ball
• New pop-bumper assemblies
• New bulbs
• Plastics flattened and cleaned
• New flippers, linkages, contacts and solenoid sleeves
• Cleaned and aligned all switch contacts
• sanded and repainted upper and lower playfield skirts.
• Repaired backglass and re-sealed
• All circuits repaired to 100% operation

Pictures

Before

After

The “wedge head” pinball machines are part of a unique series produced by Gottlieb in the late 1960’s to mid 1970’s.  They are called this because of their unusual shaped back boxes.  As well, these machines are just a little bit smaller than machines produced by their competitors Bally and Williams in the same era.

Wedge heads are considered top prizes by electro-mechanical pinball collectors world wide because of their unique game play and cutting edge features.  Gottlieb owns the top 25 spots in the ratings of the top 300 electro-mechanical ever made… so there has to be something about these machines!

Features

The Playball from Gottlieb actually differentiates itself from other machines in this era because of the following innovative features:

• Ball is stored and ejected out to the playfield from between the flippers.
• Auto plunger – no manual operation for shooting the ball on the playfield.  Use the right flipper to actuate the plunger.
• Auto ball save – must hit 10 or 100 point shots or the ball will be saved.  The flippers wont even be activated until points are accumulated.  This is so cool for this era!
• Single player game – which means they used all the typical logic for rules.  This makes this game have depth other than just shooting the ball around hitting targets.
• Score and Runs – and awards collected for reaching certain levels of each
• Match play – match the score with a “random number” at the end of the game and receive a free credit.

Restoration

Gottlieb pinballs, well in fact most any pinball that is 40 years old, suffers from a lot of wood damage, wood rot, and rust.  Additionally, most playfields will be worn to the wood by now in many places and much of the gloss finish has been worn down over time.   However, the mechanisms usually can all be brought back to life because of their excellent build quality.

Our electro-mechanical restoration process concentrates on getting the most out of these machines, while retaining high (but recoverable) street market value.  Often, these machines are worth $1000 more than the investment when completed.

This Playball had the typical rust, paint damage and wear.  The cabinet retained good structure integrity, but the back box had been pryed apart and was damaged.

After repairing all the wood, we created our own paint stencils and stripped the machine down for the 4-stage paint process (prime/re-sand, base coat, stencil color 1, stencil color 2)

The top side of the playfield was also stripped down.  This allowed us to restore the paint and extract a high gloss luster.  Plastics were replaced along with many mechanisms.

Additionally, we replaced all the external hardware with new chrome pieces

Restoration Specifics

• Cabinet and backbox strip
• Cabinet and back box wood repair
• Cabinet and back box 4-stage paint process – hand created stencils
• New Gottlieb replica coin door, locks, strike plate, coin insert cover and plastics, start button
• New legs, bolts, feet (with more modern versions)
• lockdown repair, all mechanisms for lockdown removed, rust removed and prepared
• Playfield removal, stripped and repaired.
• Playfield detailed and protected
• New star posts
• New rubber
• New ball
• New lights
• New flippers and mechanisms
• New coil sleeves
• cleaned and adjusted ALL contacts on playfield, solenoids, wipers in backbox and cabinet
• cleaned and adjusted vari-targets, ball counter, match counter, score wheels, logic wheel
• new pop bumpers and added mylar protection
• repaired flipper skirt and added new score cards

Pictures

Before

After Cabinet

After Playfield

2nd Machine Restoration (Sept 2012)

We were awarded another restoration contract of this fine pinball machine.

This machine also had a full cabinet repaint, plus a little more work.  We also added a full LED treatment!

If you have an electro-mechanical pinball machine, and would like yours restored to this level, contact us.  Or follow the link to our restoration services.

February must be pinball time.  Well, I’m thinking it’s pinball restoration and repair month anyway.

In the queue:

• Firepower (the classic solid state game from Williams)
• Star Wars (very fun game, maybe my favorite DE after playing it a little)
• Aladdin’s Castle (nice EM)
• Playball (old old EM, very cool game)
• The Shadow (oh boy, love this game, but it needs some TLC)

Couple random pics for this month:

Oh, and that cool pinball clock – I want one.  Waiting for the designer to sell it.  Perhaps, we can get some stateside and sell them here at CastleClassicArcade.  It’s made from a real Bally plasma pinball display like this 

WWF Royal Rumble (Data East 1994 Widebody) Pinball

This machine worked for the most part, but was in need of a full tear down.  Found a couple things wrong, bad lighting circuit and a couple of melted coils from failed circuitry.  We also put in new drop targets.

This machine also suffered badly from lamp heat damage – so we did a full LED kit on it… and there are literally a ton of bulbs in this widebody.  Added some color changers in strategic spots and now the game shifts moods nicely.

Again, I kind of agree with the positive reviews on this machine.  It is a under rated pin, and kids absolutley love this thing.  The other pins in the room get completely ignored when this is on.   It’s Time To Rumble!

If the following isn’t an awesome example of before and after, I don’t know what is.  

Before LEDs

After LEDs