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Every now and then, you hear a story that makes every pinball fan a little jealous. Recently, I was called out to Pontypool to look at a Gottlieb Class of 1812. The amazing part? The owner had wanted a pinball machine for a long time and was incredibly lucky to be gifted this one by…
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Location: UO Arcade (Urban Outfitters), Cardiff City Centre The Machine: Sega Batman Forever (1995) The Mission: I was called out to the new UO Arcade tucked inside the Urban Outfitters store in Cardiff. It’s a cool, somewhat hidden spot where retro arcade cabinets mix with modern fashion. Their solitary pinball machine, the giant Sega Batman…
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Machine: Bally Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man (1982) Location: Bristol, UK Issue reported: Right flipper extremely weak, barely moving the ball. The Initial Assessment I traveled to Bristol to look at this absolute classic. The owner reported that the game was working, but the right flipper had lost almost all its power. A quick test game…
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The Hidden Treasure in Cheltenham Today’s job took me to Cheltenham to look at the best-selling pinball machine of all time: The Addams Family. The owner had purchased it over 20 years ago for a fraction of today’s value and didn’t realize he had a serious collector’s piece sitting in his home. The Symptoms The…
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The Quest for the Childhood Machine Finding the specific pinball machine you played in your youth isn’t easy. You can’t just walk into a shop and pick one up. That is why, when this client finally found his “Holy Grail” — a Data East Star Wars (1992) — he didn’t hesitate to buy it, even…
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Repair log: Fixing a reset issue on a Gottlieb Capt. Card in Llandeilo. Diagnosis of sticking latch relays and general service on a vintage EM pinball machine
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Machine: Williams Twilight Zone (1993) Location: South Bristol (On-site Service) Issue: Random Game Resets / Rebooting during play It is arguably the most common issue on 90s Williams/Bally (WPC) pinball machines, but it is also the most frustrating. Today, I traveled down to South of Bristol for a service call on a Twilight Zone that…
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The Problem The center plastic on the Gottlieb Big Shot is notorious for breaking due to airball impacts. Original replacements are incredibly hard to find (Unobtanium), and leaving the game without it ruins the aesthetic. The Solution Since no new old stock (NOS) parts were available, I decided to manufacture a custom reproduction in-house to…