I traded for this pin with Mike Hanley who purchased this game new in the box. I am the 2nd owner. Since I have owned the game I have gone through pretty much the entire machine in terms of mechanics, electronics and cosmetics.
The final product is beautiful!
I tore down the topside of the playfield and cleaned the playfield, replaced the original black rubber with white rubber. I replaced the black post rubbers with purple Cliffy posts. I also found a pair of NOS sling plastics no eBay and installed them (there was a chip on one of the originals). I removed the two subway ramps and gave them a much-needed cleaning as well.
Machine was mostly LED’s when I got it but I pretty much re-did them all. Most LED’s are Comet and coin takers. I did the backbox, GI and inserts. (I don’t do the flashers typically as they can be too bright). I had to completely remove the ringmaster assembly to access many of the LED’s so I inspected it while out and installed a new ringmaster head decal.
I removed and cleaned the boom balloon assembly as well. Sometimes it does not latch when it pops up onto the playfield. I was trying to fix that. It is better now but still not 100%.
The coil for the backbox cannon was broken free from the backbox tub plastic it was mounted on (bad idea Williams) but I was able to fix and reinforce this area. It is solid and better than new now and works perfectly. I replaced the backbox cannon ball with a new one as well as new playfield menagerie ball. I also removed the bell mod that was in the backbox and restored to original and added a red cliffy post where a black one would have originally been.
The neon tube was not working. After much research and testing I determined the transformer was bad so I ordered one from overseas and replaced it. That worked on the bench but not in the game. Next step was to replace the U3 IC chip on the driver board and that got the neon back in action!
The ringmaster was not registering all the time on quick hits (common issue) so I was able to fix this by cutting the leg of a cap on the eddy board (responsible for timing) and this worked like a charm!
Additional items:
Installed off board battery pack (removed the old one off the board).
New coin door lock
Cleaned and vacuumed the cabinet
Purple superbands on the flippers
Color changing LED in the “Defeat all Ringmasters” insert
Installed CV keychain from the original goodie bag
New barrel spring
Replaced the rubber in the backbox for the cannon ball
Installed plastic washers under the NOS sling plastics to keep them from breaking
Reflowed several of the lamp board header pins (some lamps were flakey)
Comes with original manual, coin box, coin door security bar and goodie bag (which I personally detached from the cabinet).
Display is working great and in nice condition
Home rom installed
I addressed a service bulletin for the high wire lock switches. They were not working reliably so I adjusted the tension on each switch by moving the actuators back a notch. They work great now!
A couple interesting things:
Being home use only it only makes sense that a couple of the service bulletins were not addressed. One of the bulletins I read about was to instruct the operator to drill a hole in the playfield and install a post to the left of the ringmaster to prevent the ball from getting stuck there. Well there is no hole or post in that spot. I was able to move the stand up target just slightly to the left and the ball does not get stuck there. I was not about the bust out the drill on this playfield!
Mike Hanley (the original owner) is good friends with the designer of this game, John Popadiuk. Turns out that Hanley is immortalized several times on this machine. This I found out when I noticed Hanley’s name on the backbox and asked him about it. You can see Hanley’s name on the playfield as well. There is another super cool Easter egg as well and if you come by I will show it to you!
The Bad:
Boom balloon does not latch every time when it pops up to the playfield. I have tried to address this but may still tinker with it.
Occasionally the VUK to the playfield on the right takes a couple tries to get the ball out. I have since adjusted it and it appears to be working as it should now.
There are some minor nicks and dings here and there. I took lots of pics of everything and they can be seen here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/eel1dsxuf2vn6rt/AABDsx1xAE5rMQrKVcceODiUa?dl=0
Gameplay video here (1st bit has glare from backbox but I fixed it ½ way through):
$12000
The final product is beautiful!
I tore down the topside of the playfield and cleaned the playfield, replaced the original black rubber with white rubber. I replaced the black post rubbers with purple Cliffy posts. I also found a pair of NOS sling plastics no eBay and installed them (there was a chip on one of the originals). I removed the two subway ramps and gave them a much-needed cleaning as well.
Machine was mostly LED’s when I got it but I pretty much re-did them all. Most LED’s are Comet and coin takers. I did the backbox, GI and inserts. (I don’t do the flashers typically as they can be too bright). I had to completely remove the ringmaster assembly to access many of the LED’s so I inspected it while out and installed a new ringmaster head decal.
I removed and cleaned the boom balloon assembly as well. Sometimes it does not latch when it pops up onto the playfield. I was trying to fix that. It is better now but still not 100%.
The coil for the backbox cannon was broken free from the backbox tub plastic it was mounted on (bad idea Williams) but I was able to fix and reinforce this area. It is solid and better than new now and works perfectly. I replaced the backbox cannon ball with a new one as well as new playfield menagerie ball. I also removed the bell mod that was in the backbox and restored to original and added a red cliffy post where a black one would have originally been.
The neon tube was not working. After much research and testing I determined the transformer was bad so I ordered one from overseas and replaced it. That worked on the bench but not in the game. Next step was to replace the U3 IC chip on the driver board and that got the neon back in action!
The ringmaster was not registering all the time on quick hits (common issue) so I was able to fix this by cutting the leg of a cap on the eddy board (responsible for timing) and this worked like a charm!
Additional items:
Installed off board battery pack (removed the old one off the board).
New coin door lock
Cleaned and vacuumed the cabinet
Purple superbands on the flippers
Color changing LED in the “Defeat all Ringmasters” insert
Installed CV keychain from the original goodie bag
New barrel spring
Replaced the rubber in the backbox for the cannon ball
Installed plastic washers under the NOS sling plastics to keep them from breaking
Reflowed several of the lamp board header pins (some lamps were flakey)
Comes with original manual, coin box, coin door security bar and goodie bag (which I personally detached from the cabinet).
Display is working great and in nice condition
Home rom installed
I addressed a service bulletin for the high wire lock switches. They were not working reliably so I adjusted the tension on each switch by moving the actuators back a notch. They work great now!
A couple interesting things:
Being home use only it only makes sense that a couple of the service bulletins were not addressed. One of the bulletins I read about was to instruct the operator to drill a hole in the playfield and install a post to the left of the ringmaster to prevent the ball from getting stuck there. Well there is no hole or post in that spot. I was able to move the stand up target just slightly to the left and the ball does not get stuck there. I was not about the bust out the drill on this playfield!
Mike Hanley (the original owner) is good friends with the designer of this game, John Popadiuk. Turns out that Hanley is immortalized several times on this machine. This I found out when I noticed Hanley’s name on the backbox and asked him about it. You can see Hanley’s name on the playfield as well. There is another super cool Easter egg as well and if you come by I will show it to you!
The Bad:
Boom balloon does not latch every time when it pops up to the playfield. I have tried to address this but may still tinker with it.
Occasionally the VUK to the playfield on the right takes a couple tries to get the ball out. I have since adjusted it and it appears to be working as it should now.
There are some minor nicks and dings here and there. I took lots of pics of everything and they can be seen here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/eel1dsxuf2vn6rt/AABDsx1xAE5rMQrKVcceODiUa?dl=0
Gameplay video here (1st bit has glare from backbox but I fixed it ½ way through):
$12000
