Two pins at a drive through Wild Animal Safari

[Le Chuck]

About 45 minutes from my house there's this drive through wild animal safari.  They have a kids area with the usual skee-ball and ticket machines and a few other arcade games but mostly redemption.  I'm trying to get them to sell me one of their machines off the floor, we're down to haggling over price so I went up to check it out again and ended up getting some pinball in while I was there.  They have two Stern pins tucked in the corner.  Indiana Jones and Shrek. 

Shrek - non working.  Has been inop for at least 6 months.  I got the girl behind the register to fork over the keys and let me poke around it to see if I could track down the fault.  Looks like coils that run the ball lock over by donkey are frozen up and the left outlane switch is throwing a fault.  I'm no pin guru but those both seem like pretty easy fixes (I can do basic maintenance like flipper rebuild) and I'm wondering why the folks that run this place would let a pin that expensive sit dead for a half a year plus.  So question one, is it worth it to try and trade repairing the pin for price off the machine I want to get from them? 

Indiana Jones - Good lord, is anybody else completely disappointed in this pin?  First ball I rack up 50 mil plus hit the jack pots and activate some kind of crazy ass multiball that looked like about 12 balls bouncing around the playfield.  I couldn't even tell what I was supposed to be doing.  After the second ball I walked away and let a kid who was waiting finish.  This never happens to me, I'm a mediocre pin player at best.  I routinely can't finish the mansion and I own my own AF.  This pin wasn't even fun.  Question two, am I missing something or does this game really suck balls?  It is pretty tho. 

[ChadTower]

The cashier gave you the keys to the inside of the game without knowing you?

 

[TopJimmyCooks]

The local waterpark/gocart track here in Wilmington, Jungle Rapids, has a TSPP, Starship troopers, addams, and south park.  I like the Troopers the best. I can't tell if I like the Addams family or the Southpark because they haven't worked for THREE YEARS.  Still take your tokens, though.  they keep the addams turned off lately.

I know I could easily fix the southpark (just 1 flipper not working) but I can't imagine it's a high priority for these people.  Nobody plays the pins, ever until I go over there and start playing.  Thank god they do not dispense tickets.  

[Le Chuck]

The cashier gave you the keys to the inside of the game without knowing you?

 

Oh yeah, I waltz up and ask how long it's been out.  She says that it's been out as long as she has worked there and asked if I knew anything about those "things".  Next thing you know I've got the door open and am cycling through tests.   

My favorite answer I got from them thus far:

What do you do when something breaks?
-We own all the machines here so we usually just sell it and buy a working something else.
 

[Le Chuck]

The local waterpark/gocart track here in Wilmington, Jungle Rapids, has a TSPP, Starship troopers, addams, and south park.  I like the Troopers the best. I can't tell if I like the Addams family or the Southpark because they haven't worked for THREE YEARS.  Still take your tokens, though.  they keep the addams turned off lately.

I know I could easily fix the southpark (just 1 flipper not working) but I can't imagine it's a high priority for these people.  Nobody plays the pins, ever until I go over there and start playing.  Thank god they do not dispense tickets.  

Offer to fix the SP and take TAF off their hands for a grand. If they bite you won't regret it. 

[TopJimmyCooks]

good idea.  Or I could offer them my mystic in trade.  32 years old but at least it freaking works. 

[TopJimmyCooks]

the good news is the joint owns it rather than an operator, no stickers or anything.  Maybe I'll read up on dmd pin repairs and see if I can guess what it would take to fix something.   

[Le Chuck]

So Wild Animal Safari Owner Guy calls me up and wants to trade repairs for the machine I want.  I offered to just buy the machine outright and explained that I am not a professional tech.  He seemed fine with that (the place is in the middle of nowhere and I imagine the service call price already puts him upside down).  I'll be heading out to diagnose and make a parts list.  I better not be getting in over my head here but I probably am.  I can always just walk away but I really want what he has and if I can get it for a steal so much the better.

[Nephasth]

What machine is it that you want, if you don't mind me asking?

[Le Chuck]

What machine is it that you want, if you don't mind me asking?

^This.  It's in rough shape, has been beat to hell and has some light mechanical issues.  Not a great candidate for a refurb but a really good candidate for a speeder makeover. 

[Nephasth]

Loved that game when I was a kid!

[RayB]

get the Shrek. Its a fun pin.

[Le Chuck]

get the Shrek. Its a fun pin.

I'll just be happy to get it working, it looks like it has some sweet features.  I really want to give that mini playfield a go.  Once I get it operable I'm sure I'll be able to hang out for a few hours and playtest.  That'll probably satisfy any itch for ownership that pops up whilst I'm fiddling with it. 

[Nephasth]

Indiana Jones - Good lord, is anybody else completely disappointed in this pin?

 Im guessing you mean the Stern version?

They have two Stern pins tucked in the corner.  Indiana Jones and Shrek.   

Hey, you're a good guesser!

[Le Chuck]

I haven't played the Williams Indy in a while, I remember it being a sweet pin tho.  Off topic but there was this cafe I used to hang out at in Paris that had a Monster Bash right next to an Indy.  Spent most of my time on the MB but I'd rotate over to Indy for a change.  France still has a lot of pinball, almost every decent cafe has one tucked away in a corner and the french for all their faults do seem to enjoy a good game.  I got my TAF from a German brauhaus, which isn't France but they do seem to have a similar respect for pinball.  Definitely more-so than arcade games which I almost never ran into.   

[ChadTower]

This might actually work out for Le Chuck.  When I first got into pinball I was doing some contract work at a place that had a Shadow in one break room and a Twilight Zone in the other.  Both had been unreliable with minor issues and the facilities woman was tired of "spending $250 to fix a game we don't actually need and that nobody plays".  I offered to buy the TZ from them and was told "people like that one but if you fix it for us you can have the other (Shadow)."  I was new to pinball, like I said, so I had not yet managed to fix the TZ (turned out to be a ball trough opto and dead clock) when the company announced it was moving to a new building and was going to Red Cross auction off all surplus including the pins.  I ended up getting the TZ and Shadow for $1550 combined in the auction.

Then, just so karma could have its piece, the Red Cross didn't cash that check until 18 months later and it bounced.   

[Le Chuck]

Headed out to the safari today. 

Popped the top on Shrek and had it working in about 5 minutes.  Cold solder joint on one coil and a switch needed adjusting.  Probably from getting banged around or something.  Either way easy fix and play tested for about half an hour.  Fun game, definitely better than the train wreck of Indy, but fairly shallow in my opinion.  The donkey pinball is a fun feature but feels cheap.  PBJ is spot on about random crap being shouted by the game that doesn't influence anything.

Skeeballs were easy fixes too.  Really they didn't even need repair, just maintenance.  Unjamming ticket dispensers and the like.  Got all that done and showed the girl behind the counter how to clear a ticket jam. 

Have to order a coil for the crane machine, after I get that installed I'll be bringing the Super Hang On home for what I consider to be a very good price.  $300. 

[Le Chuck]

So you fixed all their games for free and then paid too much for a ---smurfy--- old game?

Damn, dude.

 

I don't think that's too much for a ride on super hang on, but yeah, I did some light repair work for a few hundred off the cab.  I haven't seen one in the wild for years so I'm not ashamed. 

Edit:  Money hasn't changed hands yet, do you know of one cheaper within a state radius of AL?

[Le Chuck]

You're adorable. 

[yotsuya]

I bet this was actually the inspiration for Konkey Dong.

[Le Chuck]

I bet this was actually the inspiration for Konkey Dong.

Nah, it's a snap shot from jimbo's last family reunion.  That's him laying on the branch playing dead I think.  That jimbo, what a kidder. 

[TopJimmyCooks]

All squealing like a pig aside, it seems like a fair deal to me.  Any working ride on is something that ops still see as valuable as a money making game.  Even though it's an old game, put it next to arctic thunder and it will get plays.  so $300 is not bad for an earner.  it would have gone for a lot more at the one op attended auction I had the misfortune to attend.  It would cost a lot more to source the ride on components new. 

Plus its for a speeder bike, so any sacrifice necessary is not too much. 

I would also ask the zoo to call you first for anything else they need looked at or sold, so you get first dibs if you want something else.   

[Le Chuck]

All squealing like a pig aside, it seems like a fair deal to me.  Any working ride on is something that ops still see as valuable as a money making game.  Even though it's an old game, put it next to arctic thunder and it will get plays.  so $300 is not bad for an earner.  it would have gone for a lot more at the one op attended auction I had the misfortune to attend.  It would cost a lot more to source the ride on components new. 

Plus its for a speeder bike, so any sacrifice necessary is not too much. 

I would also ask the zoo to call you first for anything else they need looked at or sold, so you get first dibs if you want something else.   

I did, they are.  They have one of these:  http://www.coinopexpress.com/products/machines/redemption_machines/The_Boogiemen_3100.html

It's an older model in black and purple.  It has some power issues (as in it's a doorstop), I'm pretty sure they are going to toss it and go with another Hoops game.  If anybody wants to come out my way to pick it up I'm sure I can get it for PBJ cheap.  I'm not interested tho, seems like an albatross to me.

Incidentally I was talking to them about their earners.  The best earner they have is a custom penny press, followed by skee-ball, then by a hoops, a stop the light ticket redemption, super hang on, ride on kiddie helicopter, then the two stern pins.   

I asked them if they had recouped their investment on the pins yet, they said they're not even close and regret getting them. 

Oh, and the 300 is minus parts so that's my total cash out of pocket after everything is fixed.  I'm sure better deals have been dealt but I'm happy with what I'm getting and imagine I can recoup about half of that from the inevitable part sell-off once I'm past the point of no return on the conversion. 
       

[Pinball Wizard]

Shrek's not bad, I finally played one, but it suffers from the same problem as Family Guy - it's REALLY easy to keep the ball in play and the machine makes non-stop voice call outs that have nothing to do with the game.

Neither Indiana Jones game did much for me.

+1 to this. For some reason I feel that Family Guy plays a little bit better than Shrek, but have the same issues. Indiana Jones isn't a great game by any means, but I guess I'd probably still play a game or 2 if I was out and about and saw one.


Le Chuck: Good deal man! You are getting something that you wanted and that is what really counts. Personally I would have probably tried to do some work to get one of the pinball machines, but you still ended up with what YOU want, and this is all that matters.