Advice on converting to a Custom Pin

[CJBob]

As I get sucked further into this hobby I can't stop thinking about the ultimate machine for my basement: Toronto Blue jays likely focused on the 1993 world series. I was at game 6 with my wife when Joe Carter hit the home run, I of course still have the ticket stubs which I could include in the cards for the machine.

It should logically be a baseball themed game and the '83 Bally Grand Slam looks like it should fit the bill. Is the most important starting point a nice playfield and working electronics assuming this doesn't get changed out and I customize the rest from there?

All advice appreciated before I head further down the rabbit hole.

 

[WARLOCK]

Personally, I looked at a Raptor's pin to re-theme. I picked an Inder Canasta 86.
Most important to me was playfield perfection, and customize the rest from there.

Having said that, the more talented guys like Drano and Adrian, re-theme the pf as well.
So, your call, but if you like the pf and it has the right theme, my talents indicate do the cab. and bg.

Good luck with figuring out what you wish to do. It is fun, and the rabbit hole just keeps getting deeper.

 

[DRANO]

I'm in the process of re-theming an old Williams EM into somehting new.
I also enlisted the help of a friend to physically modify some of the game's features.
I think the most important thing would be to find a base game that is actually fun to play. If you're going to be doing all that work, make sure you'll enjoy playing it.
To that end, a game that is already a baseball theme may be a good fit, but since you're changing the theme anyway, it's not necessarily mandatory.

 

[Monkeybug]

Here is some reading for you.

http://pinballmakers.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Doing a new theme can be as simple as new artwork or can be as complex as modifying an existing playfield, rewriting rules etc...

 

[CJBob]

I've got a Bally Grand Slam which is already baseball themed. It's the 2 player version and keeps track of runs scored, to me it's the right choice for a Blue Jays theme. I will work out the final design but am trying to get a sense of which pieces are the simpliest / most logical to replace:

1) Backglass - Definitely must be redone, this likely has to be related to the Joe Carter home run
2) Cabinet - Repainted. This will be sitting beside other Bally's from the same era so paint it is.
3) Pop bumper caps - already have baseball theme and I assume this I will keep for now, not sure how tricky to get new ones.
4) Plastics - Baseball themed but I'd like to replace these with custom. How tricky / expensive is this?
5) Playfield - Already baseball themed and blue and green which fits. I don't think I'm going to change this.
6) Sound - The sound isn't currently working and when it does work isn't at all baseball related. I'd like to change this so proper baseball music is played at the game start up, game start, high score achieved, game end, etc.
7) Fly away targets. I love these, could customize but need the right 5 letters.

All suggestions appreciated:

 

[Monkeybug]

You can add an external MP3 Trigger to add custom sounds. Check out this video (and the others) from the custom Goonies game: