The OFFICIAL "Hey, I got a new machine" thread
- Thread starter Seven
- Start date
Okay. Count me in for some shameless grandstanding. Picked up a GTB World Fair this week. Digging the 2-inch flipper games...
DRANO
Super Member
I had a rare double header last Wednesday.
1964 Williams Heat Wave finally found its way back to my collection after selling my original a while ago.
And the same day, a friend in Montreal was picking up my Bally HEAVY METAL MELTDOWN! A prototype no less.
Not to mention my Evel Knieval was picked up the week before.
It's been a busy couple of weeks!
1964 Williams Heat Wave finally found its way back to my collection after selling my original a while ago.
And the same day, a friend in Montreal was picking up my Bally HEAVY METAL MELTDOWN! A prototype no less.
Not to mention my Evel Knieval was picked up the week before.
It's been a busy couple of weeks!
DRANO
Super Member
Heat Wave is a great game and I instantly regretted having sold my old one. It is probably my favorite short flipper game.
This game is over 10 years older than its Gottlieb doppelganger Centigrade 37; which also uses a thermometer feature to track progress.
The key elements on Heat Wave are the small mushroom rollovers. 5 at the top arch and 2 just above the flippers. There are also 2 green swinging targets that rock left and right as you try to hit them. All of these targets and rollovers are lit at first and they will help advance the thermometer. It's not really a bonus but the temperature has a direct correlation to the value of the drop target in the centre of the playfield. You can see it goes from 100pts to 500pts and then Special if you "blow your top". The other words that light up next to the thermometer are "cold, cool, warm, hot, torrid" etc...
The green targets also have lit A+B inserts in front of them. Completing both lit targets will raise the drop target again. You can imagine that this can yield big points on a machine that rolls at 10,000pts. If you've got the target value up to 400 or 500pts and you keep knocking it down and bringing it back up, that's huge! Not as easy as it looks though!
The other really cool feature is that the game gets harder as you play it!
At first all 5 rollovers and 2 swinging targets are lit and will advance the thermometer. But, as you get halfway up, the 2 lower rollovers turn off and only add score. Then the 2 outside rollovers at the top also shut down and eventually you are left with just the centre top rollover. The green targets always advance.
Plunging well is critical and catching more then 2 or 3 of the top rollovers is hard. Getting the perfect plunge and sweeping all 5 is pure heaven!
Nudging off those bumpers and keeping the ball up top as long as you can is also key!
It has some great angles and that rubber triangle between the flippers makes for some fun bounces and saves.
Anyway, there's a lot there that you probably wouldn't notice by just looking at it. It's a smart game that plays great and is very lively.
Perfect design by the great Steve Kordek and fun art by Art Stenholm.
Can you tell I like this game yet?
The only really weak area is the cabinet art. Pretty standard fare.
I think this one will be sticking around for a while.
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stiffler4444
Active Member
I'm not sure what Drano was thinking when the first Heat Wave left his home, but he invited me over to play it and I guarantee I don't know what I was thinking when I passed on Heat Wave at the time. We both own and love C-37 and it really made no sense at the time for both of us to let that Heat Wave go. We were both in purge mode then I suspect. Glad you got it back Drano. Super fun game, one of my fav. 2" flipper games as well.
Oh, and definitely more to report at the end of the month when another 2+ pins are added to BPL.
Oh, and definitely more to report at the end of the month when another 2+ pins are added to BPL.
That sounds really cool. I'll have to look out for Heat Wave.
My new Dragon went from BAO to DOA. It was working perfectly when I looked at it. Overall it was really clean. I didn't take it home but drove it to my office. Set it up. Played it. No issues.
Some people at work played about 25 games on it yesterday. They said it tilted too easy. I went to check it out. I opened the door and loaded it up with credits. I started a game, dragon was mute and I heard buzzing from one of the coils being locked on. I turned it off and the locked coil released. I turned it back on and now nothing. It won't start a game or register credits.
I'm new to EMs so this will be an challenging fix. I'm not even really sure where to start. Fuses I guess - and wrapping my head around the schematic. HA!
My new Dragon went from BAO to DOA. It was working perfectly when I looked at it. Overall it was really clean. I didn't take it home but drove it to my office. Set it up. Played it. No issues.
Some people at work played about 25 games on it yesterday. They said it tilted too easy. I went to check it out. I opened the door and loaded it up with credits. I started a game, dragon was mute and I heard buzzing from one of the coils being locked on. I turned it off and the locked coil released. I turned it back on and now nothing. It won't start a game or register credits.
I'm new to EMs so this will be an challenging fix. I'm not even really sure where to start. Fuses I guess - and wrapping my head around the schematic. HA!
DRANO
Super Member
Good luck with Dragon.
I had a HUO example a couple of years ago. It must've been one of the ones that was pulled from that warehouse cache of NIB games. The game had some stupid number of plays on it, like 275!
However, even though this machine was so new and clean that you could've eaten off of the inside of the cabinet, it didn't stop it from totally misbehaving when I got it set up at home.
Similar scenario with missing sound and I had a bunch of dead solenoids. I traced those down to a fuse but the sound board was somehow fried. If you look at it you'll see how basic and delicate it is. A friend had some experience with these so I sent him the board and he got it working.
But even then, several features wouldn't work properly. I traced it down to the score motor. All those years sitting around had left the contacts tarnished I guess. The original owner didn't play it much either.
I tried to trace the lines and eventually did clean the right switches.. but it was a bit painful for a while.
Still the fastest EM I've ever played and lots of fun. Great in a big collection.
Hope you can get it sorted.
I had a HUO example a couple of years ago. It must've been one of the ones that was pulled from that warehouse cache of NIB games. The game had some stupid number of plays on it, like 275!
However, even though this machine was so new and clean that you could've eaten off of the inside of the cabinet, it didn't stop it from totally misbehaving when I got it set up at home.
Similar scenario with missing sound and I had a bunch of dead solenoids. I traced those down to a fuse but the sound board was somehow fried. If you look at it you'll see how basic and delicate it is. A friend had some experience with these so I sent him the board and he got it working.
But even then, several features wouldn't work properly. I traced it down to the score motor. All those years sitting around had left the contacts tarnished I guess. The original owner didn't play it much either.
I tried to trace the lines and eventually did clean the right switches.. but it was a bit painful for a while.
Still the fastest EM I've ever played and lots of fun. Great in a big collection.
Hope you can get it sorted.
I'm hoping the sound card is good on this. It's the one thing that takes this machine from cool to awesome. BAO!
I bought some stuff into the office so I can look at it today. I didn't even have a multi-meter here yesterday. I'm hoping it is something simple like fuses. I'd like to leave it at the office and not bring it home to the workshop.
I bought some stuff into the office so I can look at it today. I didn't even have a multi-meter here yesterday. I'm hoping it is something simple like fuses. I'd like to leave it at the office and not bring it home to the workshop.
Adam
Active Member
Drano hooked me up with this beauty a few months back as my first pin. A friend got me into it and the family and I have been enjoying f14 almost daily. Soon I will be lucky enought to take care of Diner for a friend so the f14 won't be so lonely 
1976 Volley.
In pretty good shape. A few dings to the cabinet but the playfield and and plastics are almost perfect. Backglass looks like new.
In pretty good shape. A few dings to the cabinet but the playfield and and plastics are almost perfect. Backglass looks like new.
ShootAgain
Member
How about this bad boy? I got this for next to nothing. Needs a bunch of work, but it actually plays.
1951 Williams Harvey.
My favourite parts are the handyman specials. Rubber bands of course, but the surgical tubing with buss fuses is genius. The flipper rubber is fantastic. How it is still attached is beyond me.
It's missing the coin door and coin chute mech. It originally had a wood door, so that's easy enough to make. I'll have to find a coin chute plunger thingy for it. Also the lockdown bar is gone. Other than that, it appears mostly complete.
Someone painted the outside of the cabinet. Sadly, someone "fixed" the backglass and filled in all the missing paint with blue paint. It's going to take some care to to get off and repainted.
This one will have to wait until I have more time, so it's going in storage for the moment. It's a neat machine though.
1951 Williams Harvey.
My favourite parts are the handyman specials. Rubber bands of course, but the surgical tubing with buss fuses is genius. The flipper rubber is fantastic. How it is still attached is beyond me.
It's missing the coin door and coin chute mech. It originally had a wood door, so that's easy enough to make. I'll have to find a coin chute plunger thingy for it. Also the lockdown bar is gone. Other than that, it appears mostly complete.
Someone painted the outside of the cabinet. Sadly, someone "fixed" the backglass and filled in all the missing paint with blue paint. It's going to take some care to to get off and repainted.
This one will have to wait until I have more time, so it's going in storage for the moment. It's a neat machine though.
Here are pictures of the Volley I picked up yesterday. It's in pretty good shape. A little cleaning and it will be good to go.
