In this video series, I am working on a client’s “Dr. Who” pinball machine that wouldn’t boot up. It was just dead. None of the diagnostic LED blinks would blink on the WPC-89 MPU board, so I go over the process of how to identify and isolate the problem, then I upgrade the board with NVRAM (non-volatile memory) so that it will never need batteries again.
I’ve gotten a lot of inquiries from people who want to see more information about individual pinball machines and gameplay, and to be honest, that’s exactly the excuse I need to take some time and actually play and appreciate the games. I tend to get so bogged down in repairing things that I don’t play much these days, so I’ve decided to launch a new video series called, “Pinball Showcase” where I go through a game in the club collection and talk about all aspects: the design, art, gameplay, rules, history, and provenance of this particular machine. I hope you will enjoy it – and bear with me as I iron out the kinks of this new pinball recording rig. You can also follow me on Twitch.tv at www.Twitch.tv/mystickrewe
This is an unedited series of videos showcasing some experiments I have been doing trying to repair damaged pinball ramps for which there are no replacements available at the present time. In this case, I’m working on a Bally Party Zone ramp, using different types of epoxies, plastics and adhesives. See work works and what doesn’t. In the end, I figured a creative approach using laser cut plexiglass tabs which were attached to ramps using two different types of adhesives.
Here is another video on a recent pickup: Williams Skylab – a very cool theme featuring a classic real-life space station that was in orbit from 1973 to 1979, and at the time was a huge point of pride for America and the field of science. In this game I take a quick look at the game before I’ve done any work on it, what condition it’s in. What I see wrong. And try to get the game to play a little bit.
This is a story about an impulse buy off eBay for a pinball machine. It perhaps may be a cautionary tale of how sellers can hide the true condition of a machine. This also explains why it’s important to really “low ball” unknown sellers of games. There’s a very good chance what you see and what you get are two different things… here is my story of an eBay purchase of a Williams Love Bug (the add-a-ball version of Williams Doodle Bug).
Here’s the first of another multi-part series of stories on some recent game pick ups. Come look with me as I discover new pinball machines in the wild and take them back to the lair to examine and restore! This was from a lot of about five games I picked up from a company that was going out of business. This was the main game I wanted but I had to get the entire package. Boo hoo. 😉
It’s not easy maintaining a collection of games – there are always things to repair…. I thought I might take a quick walk through our arcade space and discuss what I usually do after a party and what happens to the machines and what needs to be done to the games to get them working for the next event. Some machines hold up; some break down. Take a walk with me and see what work needs to be done?