New pin pickup - it's a doozie

[shardian]

I was at the local arcade Saturday with the wife, and they had the obligatory price tags on everything. There was something different this time though - the prices were pretty low!
Here sat this pin I had been playing since they first brought it in new. After talking over with the wife, I decided to go look at it with the manager this evening.

Well, it is sitting in my gameroom as we speak. Am I happy with the purchase, well I really don't know. Do I know what I am going to do with it now that I have it, no I don't. For now, we will play it and think about it. I was hoping to negotiate, but I had to pay full price plus tax.
Hell, I am considering shopping out my Lethal Weapon to sell, plus another game or two to offset the entire cost and keep it. Time will tell.

While it is incredibly clean for a route game, it does have a few coil issues. The autolaunch is wussy and will not launch the ball (good thing there is a plunger). The left sling is dead, but it did work when I first started playing it at the arcade. The right sling is wussy, and tends to fire when I activate a flipper. I assume the switches are just poorly adjusted too close. The VUK doesn't always sense the ball - but launches when the game searches for it. Just a dirty opto.

The cabinet is simply immaculate. How a game can be on route for several years and not appear to have a scratch on it...just makes my brain hurt from thinking about it.

The playfield needs a tear down and cleaning, but it will look damn near brand new. The only thing I see that is not fixable, is that the ship is missing a small chunk where the ball smacks it repeatedly. I would assume that is pretty typical. There were even brand new slingshot plastics in the parts bag.

Here are some pics. I'm the ugly dude in black, and dirty as hell. And yes, that is the obligatory Billy Mitchell thumbs up.
Jimmy - the guy in red - is my fellow gameroom bud that dragged me into this hobby into the first place. He left this evening with my Jungle King Mame. Sayonara first ever project cabinet.

[Zero_Hour]

 

[ChadTower]

 

[Pinball Wizard]

Would you mind telling us how much you paid for it?

[shardian]

Would you mind telling us how much you paid for it?

Less than the going rate...but not too much below. 

[shardian]

Austin Powers and Apollo13? Why would there be stickers of those games on there?

As for the theme, it doesn't tie into the movies well at all. I have noticed something I have never previously seen this pin do before - occasionally the ship will sway back and forth like it is in water. I don't know if that was a software upgrade, or it just never noticed it before. Jimmy also logged time on this machine over the last few years, and had never seen it before either. It was a nice touch, and one of those 'little things' that make these crazy machines more fun.

[shardian]

No, this one has the standard textured compass decal. I read about where the sample games shredded the decal and dumped it all over the game within a month on location.

[Jeff AMN]

Your kicker problem is probably the VUK switch. Those are somewhat problematic on Stern games. They use that fork switch and one or two might fail every few years. I just fixed one on my dad's TSPP on Sunday, as a matter of fact.

[shardian]

Your kicker problem is probably the VUK switch. Those are somewhat problematic on Stern games. They use that fork switch and one or two might fail every few years. I just fixed one on my dad's TSPP on Sunday, as a matter of fact.

The VUK works 90% of the time as it should. I did notice at Marco that there is a switch in there that is available as a replacement. Interesting. I'm hoping a cleaning will fix it, but I might have to bite the bullet on the switch. Minor concern considering my other coil issues.

[Jeff AMN]

Your kicker problem is probably the VUK switch. Those are somewhat problematic on Stern games. They use that fork switch and one or two might fail every few years. I just fixed one on my dad's TSPP on Sunday, as a matter of fact.

The VUK works 90% of the time as it should. I did notice at Marco that there is a switch in there that is available as a replacement. Interesting. I'm hoping a cleaning will fix it, but I might have to bite the bullet on the switch. Minor concern considering my other coil issues.

Hmmm, if it works 90% of the time I'd just try resoldering the wires and the diode. Sounds like you might have a touchy connection there.

Your coils are fine, trust me. If you have an issue with a coil, it's almost always just a cold solder joint or a bad coil sleeve, but coils very rarely fail (like, almost never).

[ChadTower]

Buy a whole bunch of new leafs now.  Just do it.  You'll be glad you did. 

[shardian]

Buy a whole bunch of new leafs now.  Just do it.  You'll be glad you did. 

Yeah, you're gonna have to elaborate as to why. Surely if games from 50 years ago can still use the same leafs, Stern can make theirs last at least 3 years...

[ChadTower]

You'd think that but you wouldn't be playing the odds.  It's a cheap part and really annoying to wait a week on replacements.

They're almost as bad as the crap Williams put into the pin2k games.  Same part number but for some reason those switches are half as reliable than in the games before them.

[shardian]

I'm sure I have a few leaf blades in my parts bin if push came to shove.

[shardian]

List of Stern games Chad has owned or worked on:

Being familiar now with my DE Lethal Weapon, I can say this:
If you've worked on a DE/Sega game, you've pretty much worked on a new Stern. The manual is pretty darn nice though. Not the print quality (it sucks and is stapled together common copy), but the detailed information laid out in a "pinball for dummies" style.

[Pinball Wizard]

Austin Powers and Apollo13? Why would there be stickers of those games on there?

The mixmaster needed a textured decal to whip the ball around.  When the game first shipped, they reused old decals from Austin Powers and Apollo 13 - AP had that black and white spiral thing, and Apollo 13 had a moon decal on a playfield spinning disc.  Take a look at the flyer, you can see the Apollo 13 decal on it.

Could you show me where the "mixmaster" is? Heres the link to ipdb page:http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=5163 which has the playfield sectioned out into small areas. Trying to find it on the flyer hasn't helped me yet.

[Namco]

Austin Powers and Apollo13? Why would there be stickers of those games on there?

The mixmaster needed a textured decal to whip the ball around.  When the game first shipped, they reused old decals from Austin Powers and Apollo 13 - AP had that black and white spiral thing, and Apollo 13 had a moon decal on a playfield spinning disc.  Take a look at the flyer, you can see the Apollo 13 decal on it.

Could you show me where the "mixmaster" is? Heres the link to ipdb page:http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=5163 which has the playfield sectioned out into small areas. Trying to find it on the flyer hasn't helped me yet.

http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=5163&picno=32303

[Pinball Wizard]

Ahh. Thanks. I remember that from my old Apollo 13. Can't believe Stern even considered using those decals.

[shardian]

Got to spend a bit of quality time this evening.
- left sling had a bent switch. Fixed, adjusted, and is nice and strong now.
- right sling was pretty much stuck on. Adjusted and it fires correctly, but really weak. Results in a drain down middle when hit and headed for flippers... didn't test coil.
-Auto plunger: Reflowed and added solder to lugs. Ohms out to 4.1 ohms, and has the same voltage at both lugs. Still only knocks ball about 2" up the shooter lane. Now what???
- Didn't see anything wrong with the VUK. I guess the switch is going bad.


Notes: All the mods I've been eyeing online are badass! I may not do them all, but the green spotlights on the Dutchman is going to happen. Amazing how much ambience 2 green lights adds.

[shardian]

I just won an auction for the whole collection of Zizzle Pirates of the Caribbean action figures.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170386447472&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:US:1123

I'll probably only want a few of them, because too many is overkill.
I'm definitely going to use:
- Jack & Will (swordfight above parlay hole)
- Jack the monkey
-The Treasure Chests
- Maybe Davey Jones and a Pirate or 2.

The rest I'll just relist to get most of my investment back.

[Jeff AMN]

Nice pickup, those little guys are awesome. I really like the figures in my LOTR, and they should fit right in with the POTC machine.

[shardian]

Nice pickup, those little guys are awesome. I really like the figures in my LOTR, and they should fit right in with the POTC machine.

The same guy had a nice set of LOTR figures that sold for like $10. It wasn't complete though. I considered picking it up too for the newer LOTR cabs that left off most of the figures. Eh, if LOTR owners weren't bidding though, who's to know if I would make any money reselling them!

[shardian]

FYI. autoplunger and right sling had broken plunger links. Simple diagnoses,simple fix. I like this kind of open/shut troubleshooting.

[RichSorr]

I have one of these on Location. out of the other Stern games we have in other locations (nascar, ripleys, tspp, roller coaster tycoon) These seem to have the least issues. Fun game to play as well, tons of cool mods

[shardian]

I'll post this here too:

What do you all think this hole is for on the playfield?

[shardian]

Seriously, smartass. Is it a hole for a ball save post? I asked w/o a picture at KLOV, and was told "flipper dimple". I know what the flipper dimples are and what they are for. That is not a flipper alignment dimple.

[ChadTower]

Looks like the size of an alignment hole.  But I don't know what you would align there.  What are the other similar holes down the drain for?

[shardian]

I have all my pin orders in now. Got the green LED's and plungers, so sickness be damned, I'm installing them! I got the plungers installed, and I'm at 100% playability now. Went to install the LED's and wouldn't you know it, the spots are 555's. Dammit. When I filled out my order, I went by the manual, which explicitly stated #44. I trusted that, and ordered on it. I knew I should have looked closer...
Anyone have a use for 2 green #44 triple LED's?

I also got in the zizzle toys. Those toys are excellent quality, and extremely detailed for a 3.5" figure. I'll definitely install a few. The only thing that irritated me is that the monkey is in chinese garb from the 3rd movie. I'm not a fan of that at all.

Anways, now I'm broke out in cold sweats and shaking, but it was totally worth it to take a load off my mind. Now I'm going to lay down again.

[gatordad]

Congrat's
I have only played that game a few times so I did not have a chance to really get into it.
I love the theme and the movies are all good too, lots of good poster material for the walls around it.
After you get it cleaned up and tuned in let us know how much you like it.

[shardian]

It works perfectly now. We play every day a few games. It grows on me more and more. I finally locked all 3 balls in the spinning disc  for Tortuga 4 ball multiball yesterday. Man, that was awesome! The best thing about this multiball - quadruple playfield scores while all 4 balls are alive (then triple, then double as you lose them).

I still haven't achieved heart multiball, or Davey Jones battle.

A local collector is currently enticing me with a trade deal. He has a Riverboat Gambler and a Whodunnit on his trade block, and cash - any combination of the three. The Whodunnit is interesting, and my wife really likes that one in pinMAME. We'll go look at them in person in a week or two, and see where it goes from there.

[Flake]

RBG is a fun game.  My parents have one.  I would imagine its not worth more than $800 though in average condition.  Never played a WhoDunnit.

[Jeff AMN]

WhoDunnit is complete garbage and barely worth $1,000 (and only for the boardset)

pinballjim hates everything, so take that with a grain of salt.

The game is actually quite a bit of fun, especially if you're not just flipping randomly and actually trying to solve cases. You'll be told where to shoot a lot, and the majority of the fun is in nailing the shots on command.

[ChadTower]

IMO, Who Dunnit is fun to visit, not really to own.  The stop and go nature gets old after a while unless you're a guy who really loves his DMD animations.

[shardian]

Jeez, I'd rather listen to Xiaou2 than Jim sometimes...

I'm just considering possibilities for now. Pirates may just end up staying for all I know. It is nice to be in a position where I can entertain all sorts of offers.

As for the whodunnit, I've only played it in PinMAME. Wade originally had this pin, and it has been traded around town for a few years. So, I know the history of the machine and have a hands on opinion I trust a whole lot more than Jim's. Is it a step down? Probably, but it also isn't a straight up trade either. I would expect to get good money along with the pin.

My wife played a Cyclone at a friend's house, and she was a huge fan of it. And actually, the idea of an amusement park theme would be great. I personally like RollerCoaster Tycoon, and Cyclone was pretty fun. It would be cool to get one of those in trade + cash.

[shardian]

I guess there's just no point in arguing with a pin snob. Man, you aren't even a pin snob though - you're the cheap ass who pretends to be 'arthouse' cool to cover that fact.

[Flake]

I guess there's just no point in arguing with a pin snob. Man, you aren't even a pin snob though - you're the cheap ass who pretends to be 'arthouse' cool to cover that fact.

    

BTW - I recently acquired a Cyclone.  Great game.  I just wish I could remove the mylar because there is one spot bubbling.  Its not bad and from what I can doesnt impact the game play but its just one of those things that bothers me a bit.  I have been told/read however that to attempt to remove mylar by myself would have disasterous results so I'm not going to mess with it.

[Jeff AMN]

The Cyclone/Comet/Hurricane trio of games are all decent, but they tend to get relegated to the low spot on the totem pole if you have a varied collection. Kids and casuals will love them, however. My wife really liked the Hurricane I had, but I found it overly simplistic.

[Flake]

Flake - you can use a syringe to shoot some superglue into that bubble and press it down flat.

Not a bad idea.  Can I borrow one of your heroin needles?  oh wait, were not supposed to share.  Thats what did in my dream girl Pamela.....other than the age factor.

[shardian]

And you're the buyer's remorse guy that overspent and is desperately scrounging up a trade to pay off some bill?   We've all been there, man. 

Nothing desperate about it. I wholeheartedly admit I bought this machine purely to flip. I thought I pretty much said that in my opening post. Hell, the initial plan was to simply be a proxy purchaser for a guy at KLOV. I did not like this game at all on location. I've been playing this same machine off and on for the past 3 years. Once it got  home though, I started to like it. That's where the conflict comes in. On one hand, we both love it and want to keep it. On the other, I still want to sell it and open my pin pickup possibilities WIDE OPEN. Who wouldn't want that kind of flexibility and opportunity? Forgive me for speaking openly about options I am considering. Are you jealous or something?

Did I spend bill money? No. We have a special fund where we keep all the money we make off of craft sales and games I sell for profit. Did I empty that fund? Hell yes. Does it need to be replenished through the trade/ sale of this game? Not technically. Does something have to go from the gameroom to refill the fund. Absolutely. It's all part of the fun of this hobby. I'm not tied down to any machine I own. I love having fairly heavy turnover in the gameroom. It keeps things fun and interesting.

Bottom line, it doesn't matter what I trade this pin for - any pinball is fun pinball, and any game is always for sale if the price is right.

[gatordad]

I actually have a who dunnit.
It's fun and I have had it for about 6 months up and running
It was my first pin and I cut my teeth on pin repair on this game
2 transistors, jumped a burnt trace, installed a new ramp, fixed the slot wheel, rebuilt flippers, striped the playfield, clean wax etc.
I learned alot with this game so I have an attachment of sorts to it.

It's a keeper for me as my kids really like it and it is constantly in use during parties
I paid 1000 for it and have since put another 150 in parts to fix it up. ( I probably overpaid based it's selling condition, but like I said it was my first pin so you live and learn )
It is a good, fun, family safe themed, moderately priced dmd game IMO