Well,
Gerry seems to have gone on vacation this summer, but I just wanted to post and thank him again for the work it takes to bring much appreciated pinball stock to us from across the sea.
I had originally intended to set up my 3 container pins within a week or two of getting them. Well... I just finished setting up the last one yesterday night with the help of MWONG. Only a couple of months behind schedule
So... here's a rundown.
This was my 3rd experience in buying from Gerard's batch and my first time buying multiple games.
My first purchase was a Cactus Canyon around Xmas time last year. Then I got a Zaccaria Farfalla about a month or two later.
Both games showed up essentially working (with minor bugs) and in need of a good clean and possible restoration. Very happy with both.
On this last container I started out with a TOTAN, which had been on my long-time wishlist and a nice one appeared at a price I could stomach... so off I went.
Then I spotted a beautiful nearly unfaded Fish Tales with a stellar playfield. Even though I already had a decent one that I was planning to restore, this one offered the benefits of not having to do the cabinet unless I really wanted to, and no full playfield mylar to remove for clearcoating.
And lastly, one of the nicest original High Speed pins I'd ever seen also popped up on one of Gerry's links. It even had the original plastic topper above the beacon and a cabinet that looked near CQ! So, I had to bite.
With the help of Warlock, these games and others were liberated from La Belle Provence in due course and found their way into my new basement gameroom (in progress).
TALES OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS was first to be set up.
Cabinet was decent. Not too faded and only slight flipper button rash. The head was nice and tight, really good trim; no complaints... even though this game is getting a full restore. The playfield had very little wear around the magnet and orb; Easily repaired. But, I also started to see quite a bit of the typical ghosting on many inserts that was not veru obvious online. I could touch up this playfield but, if I want it to be stellar, I'll probably wait for a CPR repro playfield and then restore the original at my liesure and sell it afterwards. It'll be an easier swap too!
The skill shot armament was cracked and the lamp base also had damage.... not to mention a bad scoop and some cracked plastics. I had to pay a quick visit to Mantis Amuesments for replacements. Luckily not too expensive. Overall, lots of mew parts will be needed. The wireform and other metal parts needed re-plating too.
I finally fire it up and a ton of errors pop up. Mostly swithces and whatnot... nothing too bothersome. I feed some balls, credit up the machine and, to my surprise, I manage to play a few solid games on it without any incedent. Mechanically, TOTAN is pretty sound, even though it's going to need a lot of love.
HIGH SPEED came a couple of weeks later after I got around to making some room.
I wiped a few years of grime and spilled beverages off the cabinet and it started to shine. The cab has barely a mark on it... I was in heaven. I did the necessary power conversion and fired it up. I knew from the pics that the displays were borked. I had a replacement set from XPIN ready to go. Installed them with no issue and the game greeted me in German with (what I can only assume is) a settings not saved error. The batteries were a bit cruddy (although not leaking) and when I removed them, the holder got cracked. So, I need to wire in a new remote holder soon.
I power through all the settings (in German of course) until it gets to the end; I add in some credits... the beacon lights up WOO HOO!
I press start and I hear the engine rev and a ball gets fed into the shooter.
Aside from missing rubbers on the slingshots and the fact that my shooter can't seem to hit the ramp dead on, the game plays great.
The playfield has full mylar, which is in pretty nice shape, and only minor playfield issues by the kickback and saucer. This will be a fun shop job!
And finally, FISH TALES last night.
This was one of the games I played a lot as a kid, along with TAF, T2 and NGG. I'd been wanting one for a while... got one... and then found this even nicer example. Mike was over last night to look at a Shadow I'm "holding" for him, and we decided to get FT on its legs and see what's what.
Again, a quick swap of the jumpers to the transfromer, new line fuse and a new N. American power cord, and we had life!
The game was cycling around looking for balls which we promptly added. I went into the menu and one error popped up: Time and Date not Set. Love it
Fixed that and also set to free play. Pressed start and we had ourself a game. Of course, these games never play smooth or perfectly. There is a lot to clean up, but FT seemed to be doing its thing with the exception of a sticky shooter lane switch.
The fish topper didn't flap... that later turned out to be a broken wire at the coil. And the reel also would not spin to allow locked balls. We cuold hear the motor turning fine, so I'm praying its just a broken drive belt (which I have all ready to install) and not a stripped gear. I'll take a closer look tonight but, overall, the game looks good. A new set of pincab protectors to hide some wrinkling art on the cab and a new plastic topper tub and she is looking right as rain.
Overall, pretty satisfied with all my games so far.
TOTAN will be the largest project, but then again, this game seems to have been eluding me. I guess it's only fitting that it make me wait even longer
I stripped a ton of parts off of it (along with pieces of my shadow and LOTR) and I just shipped them off to Mike Chestnut for brass plating.
Looks like I'll have a busy Fall/Winter ahead of me.
Gerry seems to have gone on vacation this summer, but I just wanted to post and thank him again for the work it takes to bring much appreciated pinball stock to us from across the sea.
I had originally intended to set up my 3 container pins within a week or two of getting them. Well... I just finished setting up the last one yesterday night with the help of MWONG. Only a couple of months behind schedule
So... here's a rundown.
This was my 3rd experience in buying from Gerard's batch and my first time buying multiple games.
My first purchase was a Cactus Canyon around Xmas time last year. Then I got a Zaccaria Farfalla about a month or two later.
Both games showed up essentially working (with minor bugs) and in need of a good clean and possible restoration. Very happy with both.
On this last container I started out with a TOTAN, which had been on my long-time wishlist and a nice one appeared at a price I could stomach... so off I went.
Then I spotted a beautiful nearly unfaded Fish Tales with a stellar playfield. Even though I already had a decent one that I was planning to restore, this one offered the benefits of not having to do the cabinet unless I really wanted to, and no full playfield mylar to remove for clearcoating.
And lastly, one of the nicest original High Speed pins I'd ever seen also popped up on one of Gerry's links. It even had the original plastic topper above the beacon and a cabinet that looked near CQ! So, I had to bite.
With the help of Warlock, these games and others were liberated from La Belle Provence in due course and found their way into my new basement gameroom (in progress).
TALES OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS was first to be set up.
Cabinet was decent. Not too faded and only slight flipper button rash. The head was nice and tight, really good trim; no complaints... even though this game is getting a full restore. The playfield had very little wear around the magnet and orb; Easily repaired. But, I also started to see quite a bit of the typical ghosting on many inserts that was not veru obvious online. I could touch up this playfield but, if I want it to be stellar, I'll probably wait for a CPR repro playfield and then restore the original at my liesure and sell it afterwards. It'll be an easier swap too!
The skill shot armament was cracked and the lamp base also had damage.... not to mention a bad scoop and some cracked plastics. I had to pay a quick visit to Mantis Amuesments for replacements. Luckily not too expensive. Overall, lots of mew parts will be needed. The wireform and other metal parts needed re-plating too.
I finally fire it up and a ton of errors pop up. Mostly swithces and whatnot... nothing too bothersome. I feed some balls, credit up the machine and, to my surprise, I manage to play a few solid games on it without any incedent. Mechanically, TOTAN is pretty sound, even though it's going to need a lot of love.
HIGH SPEED came a couple of weeks later after I got around to making some room.
I wiped a few years of grime and spilled beverages off the cabinet and it started to shine. The cab has barely a mark on it... I was in heaven. I did the necessary power conversion and fired it up. I knew from the pics that the displays were borked. I had a replacement set from XPIN ready to go. Installed them with no issue and the game greeted me in German with (what I can only assume is) a settings not saved error. The batteries were a bit cruddy (although not leaking) and when I removed them, the holder got cracked. So, I need to wire in a new remote holder soon.
I power through all the settings (in German of course) until it gets to the end; I add in some credits... the beacon lights up WOO HOO!
I press start and I hear the engine rev and a ball gets fed into the shooter.
Aside from missing rubbers on the slingshots and the fact that my shooter can't seem to hit the ramp dead on, the game plays great.
The playfield has full mylar, which is in pretty nice shape, and only minor playfield issues by the kickback and saucer. This will be a fun shop job!
And finally, FISH TALES last night.
This was one of the games I played a lot as a kid, along with TAF, T2 and NGG. I'd been wanting one for a while... got one... and then found this even nicer example. Mike was over last night to look at a Shadow I'm "holding" for him, and we decided to get FT on its legs and see what's what.
Again, a quick swap of the jumpers to the transfromer, new line fuse and a new N. American power cord, and we had life!
The game was cycling around looking for balls which we promptly added. I went into the menu and one error popped up: Time and Date not Set. Love it
Fixed that and also set to free play. Pressed start and we had ourself a game. Of course, these games never play smooth or perfectly. There is a lot to clean up, but FT seemed to be doing its thing with the exception of a sticky shooter lane switch.
The fish topper didn't flap... that later turned out to be a broken wire at the coil. And the reel also would not spin to allow locked balls. We cuold hear the motor turning fine, so I'm praying its just a broken drive belt (which I have all ready to install) and not a stripped gear. I'll take a closer look tonight but, overall, the game looks good. A new set of pincab protectors to hide some wrinkling art on the cab and a new plastic topper tub and she is looking right as rain.
Overall, pretty satisfied with all my games so far.
TOTAN will be the largest project, but then again, this game seems to have been eluding me. I guess it's only fitting that it make me wait even longer
I stripped a ton of parts off of it (along with pieces of my shadow and LOTR) and I just shipped them off to Mike Chestnut for brass plating.
Looks like I'll have a busy Fall/Winter ahead of me.
